Some Republicans are so excited at the thought of multiple controversies dogging the White House over the next few months (or longer) that they are already foaming at the mouth.

For example, on his syndicated radio show late last week, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee compared reports of the IRS targeting conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status to what happened in Nazi Germany.

And, of course, you knew that some conservatives and Republicans (such as Glenn Beck, Oklahoma Sen. James M. Inhofe and Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann) couldn’t resist mentioning the “I” word — impeachment — almost immediately as they struggled to show their anger and contempt for President Barack Obama and his administration.

But Republicans ought to remember that they have seen this movie before, and the ending was not what they hoped for or expected.

There’s no doubt that the three controversies — Benghazi, the IRS and the Associated Press — play into the GOP’s hand by raising questions about “big government.” They give Republicans an opportunity to challenge the administration’s truthfulness and to argue for a check on the president during his final two years in office.

While the president hasn’t been implicated directly, that certainly doesn’t eliminate the political risk for the White House or for Democrats over the next few month or possibly all the way to next year’s midterm elections.

But let’s not forget: Republicans failed to capitalize on President Bill Clinton’s inappropriate conduct by over-playing their hand and pushing impeachment. Not only did they fail to drive him from office, the GOP ended up losing a handful of House seats in the 1998 midterms instead of adding seats as initially expected.

Republicans allowed themselves to look as if they were primarily interested in scoring political points and overturning the results of the 1996 election, even if it meant paralyzing the government.

That same danger exists once again for the GOP.

via Will Republicans Screw Up Again? Some Are Already Overreaching | Rothenblog.

As the sequester fight intensifies, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) has been reduced to an increasingly hysterical message:

“We have moved a bill in the House twice,” Boehner said. “We should not have to move a third bill before the Senate gets off their ass and begins to do something.”

I think it’s probably fair to say that Boehner, his other strengths notwithstanding, is not always as sharp when it comes to legislative details and public policy. The Speaker is relatively adept at reading talking points others write for him, and he can schmooze with the best of them, but he’s often confused about the substantive angles to ongoing debates.

So, as Boehner starts to lose his cool in public, let’s pause and help him understand the one detail the Speaker seems to have forgotten: in this Congress, House Republicans have done no work on the sequester. Literally, none. Boehner and his caucus haven’t voted on an alternative; they haven’t unveiled a substitute plan; they haven’t shown up for bipartisan negotiations. Since this Congress has gotten underway, Speaker and his team have known this threat is coming, and they’ve done absolutely nothing about it except whine in public.

Senate Democrats, meanwhile, have put together a compromise plan that requires concessions from both sides

via Boehner starts to lose his cool – The Maddow Blog.

Author Bob Woodward on Sunday blasted Republican strategist Karl Rove for creating a super PAC that acts as a Soviet-style “Politburo” with the de facto power to decide Republican primaries.

During a panel segment on Fox News Sunday, Rove insisted that he had founded the Conservative Victory Project super PAC to “avoid having stupid candidates who can’t win general elections… because this money is too difficult to raise to be spending it on behalf of candidates who have little chance of winning in general elections.”

Also appearing on the panel, Woodward seemed shocked that Rove was still successful in courting Republican donors after his American Crossroads super PAC got only only a 1 percent return on $103 million in spending during 2012 election.

via Woodward scolds Rove for fixing elections with Soviet-style ‘Politburo’ | The Raw Story.

One of the enduring mysteries of the contemporary Republican Party is whether they really believe all this gibberish that oozes out of their mouths. I suppose it will vary from issue to issue. On guns, I’d guess that many do genuinely believe that liberals basically want a gun-free America, so at least they’re more or less sincere on that one. On climate change, I think Jim Inhofe fervently believes it’s all bunk, and most of the rest of them don’t care but just figure they’ll follow his lead. But what about the broad economic questions? Here, I’ve come to conclude that somewhere way down there, they mostly know their theories haven’t worked, but they’re not anywhere near being able to acknowledge this to the rest of us. And tragically, this fact, combined with the fact of their unfortunate political power on Capitol Hill, means—in general, and with respect to this sequester battle in particular—that we’re going to have to live through more economic anguish waiting for these puerile people to join the real world.

via Sequestration: What Would Romney Do? – The Daily Beast.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) announced Thursday on the floor that the chamber will hold a vote Friday on the confirmation of Chuck Hagel.

He fiercly attacked Republicans for holding up the nomination.

“In less than two hours, our country will be without a secretary of defense,” he said. “The filibuster of Senator Hagel’s confirmation is unprecedented. I repeat, not a single nominee for secretary of defense, ever in the history of our country, has been filibustered. Never, ever.”

“There are serious consequences to this delay,” Reid said. “It sends a terrible signal not only to our military personnel but to the world. … For the sake of our national security it’s time to put aside this political theater.”

“This isn’t a high school getting ready for a football game. We’re trying to confirm somebody to run the defenses of our country — the military of our country.”

via Reid To GOP: 'Serious Consequences' To Delaying Hagel Nomination | TPM LiveWire.

Shameless liars and thieves.

Bob Shrum, Professor of Public Policy at NYU and Daily Beast contributor, was on the Ed Show discussing how Republicans are trying to gerrymander the Presidency when he announced that Republicans want to “Institutionalize a system where the loser wins… Soviet style election.”

via Rig the Vote: Republicans Push for Soviet Style Elections Where the Loser Wins.

This tweet, which arrived midafternoon yesterday from the redoubtable @LOLGOP, really does say it all: “The GOP is rebranding itself from a party that accidentally blows up the world economy to one that purposely blows up the world economy.” How quaint today seem George W. Bush and his economic minions, with their endearing good intentions! We learn now from Politico that the current crop is ready to take the country, and the world, down to the gates of hell. Many of them have now passed the point of wanting to get their way. On some twisted level, they want not to get their way—to blow up the building just to see what happens.

via Government Shutdown Insanity – The Daily Beast.