I think the point where I started feeling they've reached the point of no return was when I read someone at Balloon Juice talking about helping the campaigns of Democrat-friendly judges to ensure Walker's anti-union bill is thrown out of the courts. Wherever one stands on the idea of "activist" judges, the idea that courts can no longer be counted on to rule against their preferred political candidates is depressing beyond belief. I have no idea if Democratic judges can be just as bad in the opposite direction, but it's pretty clear this current situation is a direct corollary from the Supreme Court thoroughly disgracing itself a) in 2000 with Bush vs. Gore, and b) by allowing Clarence Thomas to continue to enter the building.
Of course, if Governor Snyder of Michigan gets his way, there's no point even in campaigning any more. All you need is to declare a state of emergency and: hey presto! You can replace elected officials with anyone you want!
It's all pretty miserable. But I'm not sure anything better demonstrates how thoroughly screwed America is right now than this quote from Republican Congressman Steve King:
"It's not the economy," he told the crowd, warning about gay marriage. "If we get the culture right, the economy will be right eventually..."On one level, that just sounds like standard Republican bullshit. On closer inspection, though, it strikes me as genuinely sinister. Gays are what are standing between us and a good economy. That's some pretty worrying (to say nothing of disgusting) scapegoating. I'm reasonably sure that King is just trying to excuse his party's total lack of action on the unemployment front, but the fact they expect this tactic to work at all is scary enough in itself.
