Demonized Thought Crime
| The Consumer Financial Protection Board | “a Dodd-Frankenstein by-product of a fascist political economy” |
| Melissa Harris-Perry MSNBC spot | arguing that children do not “belong” to their parents but that child-raising is a collective act of civil society |
| Mitch McConnell | surrendering on ObamaCare by supporting a continuing resolution |
| Sheryl Standberg | championing women working outside the home—her “liberation” orthodoxy amounting to “an Age of Aquarius Society” |
| The AP Stylesheet | ending the use of the term “illegal immigrants” |
| Paul Krugman | calling Margaret Thatcher’s economic legacy into question |
| John Kasich | embraced extending Medicaid coverage to those making up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level; declared himself in favor of civil unions for gays, and then had his spokesman withdraw the statement; proposed a “frack tax” on oil and gas production and an extension of the sales tax to many services in order to pay for a 20 percent cut in the state’s income tax |
| Stockton, California | refusing to defund public employees’ pension plans |
| David Stockman | “The Republican Party is just a coalition of four gangs. The neocons are interested in pursuing an imperialistic, militaristic foreign policy that has served us poorly for many decades. The social-cons want the government involved in issues it has no business being remotely near — choice, gay marriage, all the rest. The tax-cons think they can make everything better by cutting taxes. Then there are the rank-and-file Republicans who talk about the virtues of free enterprise and the evils of big government but never vote that way. These gangs won’t solve any problems.” |
Lionized Heroic Word or Deed
| Bobby Jindal | call to abolish income and corporate taxes |
| Sarah Palin | mocking Mayor Bloomberg’s soda pop ban, calling Obama a “liar” |
| Brad Paisley | writing a C&W song defending his racial positions |
| Margaret Thatcher | single-handedly saving the British economy and defeating the Soviet Union |
| Paul Ryan | proposing a country where “abortion isn’t even considered” |
Politiscripts, by Richard Roth 