Keith and Markos Moulitsas discuss the Republicans absolute refusal to cooperate with the Democrats on anything and the latest numbers from this poll done by Kos' research company -- The 2010 Comprehensive Daily Kos/Research 2000 Poll of Self-Identified Republicans:
MOULITSAS: Well, what we found with this poll—and we‘re releasing it tomorrow at around noon Eastern Time, and this is a nonpartisan independent pollster—is that about 1/3 of Republicans are what to be characterized as sane, about 1/3 think Obama was born in the United States, about 1/3 don‘t think Obama should be impeached. We‘re talking impeachment here, without a hint of scandal.
About 1/3 believe that sex education should be taught in schools and so on. I mean, this is a fairly comprehensive poll.
And the other 2/3 either are completely insane or just aren‘t sure. I mean, 1/3 think that maybe we ought to debate whether Obama was born in the United States; 1/3 think that maybe ACORN stole the 2008 election. I mean, it‘s pretty, pretty crazy stuff. And I think a lot of this is driven by FOX News and Rush Limbaugh and this incredible, reality-bending, ultimate media machine that the right has.
The results are nothing short of startling. Read on...
I agree. The numbers are pretty startling. You can check out the entire results here.
John Amato:
About 39 percent of Republicans think Obama should be impeached, and 29 percent aren't sure. This might be because 63 percent think he's a socialist, and only 42 percent think he was born in the United States.
More than 50 percent of Republicans think Sarah Palin is better qualified than Barack Obama to be president. About 24 percent believe Obama wants the terrorists to win, and 21 percent think Acorn stole the 2008 election (55 percent aren't sure). A solid 31 percent think Obama is "a racist who hates white people" and -- the coup de grace -- 23 percent think their state should secede from the United States.
Republicans think Palin is more qualified than Obama. What a hoot. But my favorite is that about a quarter of them want to secede from the US. Do us a favor and move on that one.
Transcript via MSNBC below the fold.
OLBERMANN: Of course, math that would make a $1.2 trillion deficit inherited from his predecessor, President Bush, into President Obama‘s deficit, math that would make $30 billion in small business tax cuts in the Obama budget a massive tax increase for small businesses is the same kind of math by which House Republicans would now declare themselves the winners of Friday‘s question time session with President Obama, when with almost all of his answers, the president schooled his opposition while offering an olive branch of bipartisanship—not something his predecessor could have nor would have done.
Over the weekend, some how Republicans rewrote the history immediately
Congressman Mike Pence, who moderated the proceedings, and with whom the floor was mopped, mischaracterizing it as the first time President Obama has ever recognized that Republicans have ideas.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PENCE: Republicans have been out in the cold in this debate for the last year. Yesterday, I think, maybe the president said, all right, all right, you guys have ideas, you have solutions.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
OLBERMANN: Just roll the video.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: If you want to look at what‘s going on in the Recovery Act, you can look on Recovery.gov, a Web site—by the way, that was Eric Cantor‘s idea.
From the start, I sought out and supported ideas from Republicans. I even talked about an issue that has been a “holy grail” for a lot of you, which was tort reform, and said that I‘d be willing to work together as part of a comprehensive package to deal with it. I just didn‘t get a lot of nibbles.
Creating a high-risk pool for uninsured folks with pre-existing conditions, that wasn‘t my idea. It was Senator McCain‘s and I supported it and it got incorporated into our approach.
Allowing insurance companies to sell coverage across state lines, that‘s an idea that was incorporated into our package.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
OLBERMANN: On the topic: is bipartisanship meaning buy my partisanship, let‘s turn now to Markos Moulitsas, the founder and publisher of the Daily Kos as well as the author of “Taking on the System.”
Markos, good evening.
MARKOS MOULITSAS, DAILYKOS.COM: Good evening, Keith.
OLBERMANN: Well, we just heard Mike Pence claim Republicans have ideas. Is the problem not with the ideas, but with this—I mean, transparent intransigence, that none of these ideas can become law in an Obama administration, even if they were their ideas, like that perfect example of pay-as-you-go?
MOULITSAS: Well, they have ideas. I mean, we‘ve spent the last year hearing their ideas. You know, their claims that Obama‘s a socialist Nazi who wants to kill your grandmother and all sorts of nonsense. I mean, this is what they‘ve contributed to the debate. They‘ve had a vast media network to deliver those, quote, “ideas.” So, this notion that they were out in the cold and nobody paid attention to them is so patently ridiculous.
But, yes, when we talk about their role in the current political process, it‘s to say no to everything. I mean, they voted no against supplemental funding for our troops in Afghanistan. I mean, this is the kind of thing that they crucified Democrats for doing back in the Bush years, yet they have no compulsion about doing it now, because they know that they cannot vote for anything that Obama proposes that the Democrats do, because that would make them seen like they were part of governing, and they can‘t possibly do that.
OLBERMANN: Yes, disagreeing with Petraeus on where to have the terror trials, under what venues, suddenly it‘s OK to disagree with Petraeus. But pertinent to this, you have a Web site poll coming up in full release tomorrow, I guess, and the early dribs and drabs out of this are just remarkable about what, two out of three Republicans believe Obama is a socialist, the numbers about Palin‘s qualifications.
Give me what you can about this and what you think it means at first blush.
MOULITSAS: Well, what we found with this poll—and we‘re releasing it tomorrow at around noon Eastern Time, and this is a nonpartisan independent pollster—is that about 1/3 of Republicans are what to be characterized as sane, about 1/3 think Obama was born in the United States, about 1/3 don‘t think Obama should be impeached. We‘re talking impeachment here, without a hint of scandal.
About 1/3 believe that sex education should be taught in schools and so on. I mean, this is a fairly comprehensive poll.
And the other 2/3 either are completely insane or just aren‘t sure. I mean, 1/3 think that maybe we ought to debate whether Obama was born in the United States; 1/3 think that maybe ACORN stole the 2008 election. I mean, it‘s pretty, pretty crazy stuff. And I think a lot of this is driven by FOX News and Rush Limbaugh and this incredible, reality-bending, ultimate media machine that the right has.
OLBERMANN: Well, also consider this, that even though if you‘re a 10-year-old in 1980 and you‘re 40 years old now, every Democratic president you‘ve known before this one was impeached and for, you know, pretty flimsy reasons. So, unfortunately, the reality has been bent to go along with the bent message.
And to that point, Senator McCain told “The Hill” newspaper that Republicans are happy to sit down with Democrats and the White House, but he said, on things like—let me read the quote exactly, “on things like health care, they‘ve got to start over.”
Let‘s say that that scenario is played out. If the Democrats and the White House started over on health care, this would just give the Republicans another chance to derail it, wouldn‘t it, just extend the process that work fairly well for them in the past year?
MOULITSAS: Absolutely nothing would happen.
OLBERMANN: Yes.
MOULITSAS: I don‘t think there‘s any doubt about that. I mean, you have Olympia Snowe, who‘s a so-called moderate, bragging about how she helped kill health care by negotiating in bad faith. I mean, these are the supposedly good Republicans that sometimes vote with us and they‘re bragging about killing health care reform.
Nothing will happen. They are afraid of health care reform, just like they‘re afraid of Social Security, and they‘re still trying to kill it to this day, as you talked about earlier, with Hensarling, wanting to privatize. They do not like government-run programs that work, because they feel that if people actually learn to appreciate those programs, they think government can do good.
OLBERMANN: That‘s right.
MOULITSAS: . that means that they‘re going to support more Democrats.
OLBERMANN: Last point, James Fallows at “The Atlantic” said he got a note from somebody who‘s described as having many decades experience in national politics who said he witnessed last year two congressman who had this discussion about the stimulus bill and the GOP member said, “I‘d like this in the bill,” some part of the proposal, and the Democratic member said, “If we put it in, will you vote for the bill?” And the GOP member says, “You know I can‘t vote for the bill.” And the Democratic member says, “Then why should we put it in the bill?”
Have we just defined what‘s wrong with partisanship and with the nature of our system right now? And in 30 seconds, what can we do to fix it?
MOULITSAS: Well, our system is broken.
OLBERMANN: Yes.
MOULITSAS: Mostly the Senate—in 30 seconds, I can do it quicker—kill the filibuster. And that‘s I hope Democrats start looking into moving forward.
OLBERMANN: And you know, you thought that was going to be difficult to answer. Markos Moulitsas of Daily Kos, we look forward to the poll tomorrow. It should be fascinating and terrifying at the same time. Great thanks.
MOULITSAS: Thank you.
