Red In The Face

As more than one national media figure whined about the relatively slow media day on Monday, we were intently watching the excitement unfold in Nebraska politics in ways we've yet to see or hear anyone else discussing. Of course, if you haven't been watching Nebraska politics, you may have missed a few things.

Over the last few weeks we've mentioned briefly and noted in our links (in our expanded daily editions) the rise and fall of Nebraska Republican Gov. Dave Heineman's destined-to-fail tax reform bill. While Heineman tried to paint a large and rosy picture of his reforms, in less than a month, his plan to shift much of the state's tax burden onto small and medium sized ag businesses - and off of big corporations - blew up in his face.

While Heineman was making a mess of his tax plan, Nebraska's now-former Lieutenant Governor Rick Sheehy was busy making a mess of both his personal and professional life - a mess that ended with Sheehy's resignation in January.

Sheehy had been the Nebraska Republican Party's front-runner to replace Heineman, after Speaker of the Legislature Mike Flood removed himself from the 2014 race due to his wife's battle with breast cancer. As we noted at the time of Sheehy's political meltdown, the revelations that led to Lt. Governor's resignation were oddly timed. That resignation cleared the field in Nebraska's political race for Governor at a very opportune time for someone, even though Sheehy's philandering ways had been known by many in media and politics for over a year before his resignation.

Enter the 2014 political races - and announcements galore.

We were not at all surprised by the Monday announcement of extremist Republican state Senator Charlie Janssen that he will be running for Governor in 2014 - especially after the timing of the events surrounding Sheehy. Janssen is an opportunist at his core, and a suddenly empty GOP field is - all too conveniently - the only way he would likely ever get a shot at the Governor's chair.

We were surprised by the announcement on Monday that the senior Senator from Nebraska, Mike Johanns, will not be seeking a second term in 2014. According to a report from Deena Winter of Nebraska Watchdog, Johanns had a cancer scare in 2009, and after consulting with his wife Stephanie, he decided not to seek re-election.

While there were many in the media who immediately began calling the 2014 U.S. Senate race for Heineman on Monday morning, we had a feeling another shoe would drop - which it did Monday afternoon, when current U.S. Rep. Jeff Fortenberry announced that he would consider a run for the U.S. Senate to replace Johanns.

Frankly, we'd love to see someone like state Senator Ernie Chambers run for the seat from the Democratic Party. That said, we're of no illusion that most people in the Western part of Nebraska would ever bring themselves to vote for anything other than someone or SOMETHING that has an "R" attached to it - even a stupid pelican. That means, sadly, that in statewide Senate races, Democrats in Nebraska will likely remain without any politically compatible representation in Washington for the foreseeable future.

What this sets up, from our collective perspective, is a 2014 GOP race for Senate between a relatively moderate Jeff Fortenberry and another Republican - possibly even Gov. Heineman. Fortenberry's primary opponent will likely have to side with the extremists - like those who support racist immigration plans similar to state Senator Janssen's. Remember - Janssen will also be running for the Governor's office in Nebraska in 2014, waiting to paint his far-right, tea party colors all over whomever Fortenberry runs against. If that's Heineman, good luck getting Western Nebraska farm and ag interests to forget about Heineman's tax plan.

In other words, Nebraska will be ground zero for the GOP's civil war for the next two years - barring any other surprise announcements.

If you think Nebraska Republicans are red in the face now, just wait until they begin tearing each other apart in 2014.

Bovine Obstruction

There's something to be said for standing up for one's beliefs. There's also something to be said about bovine-level stupidity and ignorance of the facts.

As we noted at the end of last Friday's commentary, and as Sen. John McCain confirmed on the talking heads shows over the weekend, Chuck Hagel will likely be confirmed as America's next Secretary of Defense. That confirmation is as it should be, because Hagel is, as noted by many including McCain himself, more than qualified for the job of SecDef.

That fact is something that people like Nebraska's embarrassment of a junior U.S. Senator, Deb Fischer, still seems to be actively ignoring, even when it's about to run them over. However, that kind of bovine ignorance is also a convenient opportunity for us to once again knock down the growing chorus of fools making the same old false equivalence between those on the political left and right.

Steve Benen observed that hypocrisy on Friday, pointing out that during nearly the entire Bush/Cheney administration, "Americans were told pretty consistently for seven years that to publicly question the Commander in Chief or stand in the way of his national security agenda was offensive, if not outrageous." Then, as if by magic, the attitude of the Republican Party changed on January 20, 2009. That we are still at war quite obviously doesn't seem to matter to some Republicans now.

Our nation is also currently facing challenges like budgetary issues, a broken immigration system, and severe economic inequality, challenges that are equally as dangerous to America's success as Al-Qaeda has ever been - and just as susceptible to obstructionism. Yet many Republicans in Congress today, constantly preening for their next appearance on Fox or right-wing talk radio, seem to be too busy to move forward on any real legislative work that might defend against these new enemies.

The sad thing is, as Greg Sargent notes, is that Republicans can easily win some of the fights going on in Congress - like the budget battle over the sequester. The sequester isn't just some fiction that Congressional aides have created to scare Congresspersons and make headlines. There will likely be a real and serious economic cost to shrinking our government so suddenly - an economic penalty that Americans do not need to pay.

Yet, even while there are a few Republicans in Congress who appear to be successfully working together on issues like universal background checks for guns and immigration reform, there are those like Sen. Lindsey Graham who would rather take away health care coverage from 30 million Americans than do his job to find budgetary compromise with Democrats that can pass both houses.

The battles that are going on in Congress - like those over the minimum wage - are, as Forbes' Rick Ungar correctly points out, "the perfect stage for expressing the core philosophical differences that exist" between the left and right in America today.

Whether America chooses to move wisely past those differences towards progress as we find compromise with each other where we can, or whether our legislators continue insisting on pointless bovine obstruction - like that seen during the Hagel confirmation delay - is really the most important choice that faces us today.

Let's just say we're more optimistic about some the decisions of some of our fellow Americans than others.

Professional Advice

As our regular readers know, on Fridays, we usually have some fun and offer something a bit lighter for both our commentary and cartoon. We even made a New Year's Resolution of sorts, to try and stick to that goal - which we did, in a way, by delivering a lighter commentary yesterday.

Today's edition demands something different however, thanks to the feckless, selfish Republican fools in the U.S. Senate - though we suppose we don't need to repeat ourselves using those adjectives when saying that about Republican "leaders" today.

In case you missed the focus of our collective ire, it came Thursday afternoon, as the Senate began to wind down business, to join the House for yet another week of vacation. Surprisingly, it wasn't another unhinged rant by some nut like the NRA's Wayne LaPierre that stirred our anger.

No, the reason for frustration was something that's never been done in our Federal government. Ever.

The final vote over President Obama's Secretary of Defense nominee - the former U.S. Senator from Nebraska, Chuck Hagel, was originally scheduled in the Senate for Friday morning. After a day of posturing by Republicans for the benefit of right wing media outlets, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid had enough of Republican nonsense, and moved the vote up to Thursday afternoon.

That's when when Senate Republicans, for the first time in history, filibustered the opportunity to vote on a Presidential nominee.

Let us make this clear.

Senate GOP members were so gutless they didn't even have the courage to actually vote against Chuck Hagel. Instead, due to the Senate's arcane procedures, a minority of 40 Republicans prevented the rest of the Senate from being allowed to have a final vote to either accept or reject Hagel's nomination - which is a filibuster, no matter how desperate Republicans are to try and label it otherwise.

No one knows what's going to happen next - but we're willing to bet it isn't going to be good.

Senate sources are fairly sure that after the recess, the Senate will vote again, and Hagel will be confirmed, though we're not sure how they can say that. Four of the six Republican Senators who promised their constituents and the media they wouldn't filibuster, obviously lied on Thursday and filibustered anyway. Only Republicans Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski held true to their word - proving that not all Republicans are craven, short-sighted, ignorant fools. Still - actions like those on Thursday prove that most Republicans in Congress simply can't be trusted on some of the most important issues, including national security.

Right now, GOP leaders in Congress are acting like some of their craziest constituents, people like NRA head nut Wayne LaPierre or an infant child throwing a tantrum - which is effectively the same thing.

We have some advice for how those Republican Leaders SHOULD act, backed up with some critical polling data.

Our message to Senate Republicans is simple: You don't get to pick the President's advisors, or his cabinet members. Period. Your job, with respect to the President's nominees, is simple and is stated clearly in the Constitution: "Advise and Consent."

If the nominee is unqualified for the job they're being asked to take on, have the guts to act like adults, take a stand, and vote the nominee down. If the nominee is qualified - even if you hate the person, personally, or hold a grudge against them - suck it up, and vote them through. There is NOTHING ELSE that is an acceptable reason to hold up a nomination. Period.

This nation WILL be moving forward, with or without Senate Republican obstructionism - as well as those Democrats like Harry Reid, who continue to allow Republicans to obstruct. So our advice to those members who want to continue to delay things is simple: You can either get on board, and help determine our country's destination - or you can be ground under the wheels of progress, like so many worthless, tired old bones.

Think about that on your 'vacation', members of Congress.