Maddow on GOP’s latest hypocritical Obama-bashing

Republicans have never shown any particular concern for consistency or honesty when it comes to gnashing their pointy little teeth at President Obama, especially over things that either aren’t even his fault, or things he’s done that are marked improvements over Bush Jr.’s record (yet which the same GOP curiously has nothing but good words to say about). Here’s a great takedown by Rachel Maddow over the right-wing’s latest round of Obama-bashing, this time over his decision to vacation (when his total vacation time is barely a third of what Bush had accumulated at the same point in his presidency) in the mid-West (because fuck Massachusetts, apparently) in his swanky, million-dollar campaign bus (which was chosen by the Secret Service, not Obama himself, and which will be used for any future Presidential contender, Democrat or Republican):

My transcript (click the [+/-] to expand/collapse →)

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Maddow explains that many Presidents have vacation homes, but the Obamas instead rent a place whenever they go on vacation. This time, they’re at Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts. The state GOP has released a heavily sarcastic “welcome message” to the “Prez-O” and signed it “The People of Massachusetts”, even though the state GOP comprises less than 25% of the legislature.

The sarcastic letter also ends with a P.S.: “Aerosmith wants their tour bus back.” Maddow points out that, actually, it was the Bush administration who used the Aerosmith tour bus (“complete with black leather sofas and a mirrored ceiling”) in July 2003, never the Obamas. Maddow then explains that the big, black, million-dollar bus used by the Obama on his recent Midwest vacation trip was actually chosen and bought by the Secret Service, who actually bought two, one for Obama and one for the future Republican nominee’s campaign trail next year.

Nonetheless, Karl Rove’s SuperPAC, American Crossroads, declares its intent to make Obama’s (Secret-Service-chosen) bus a key talking point. Maddow questions what they plan to do when the Republican nominee uses the very same bus in the near future.

Maddow then shows Mitt Romney repeatedly criticizing Obama for vacationing at Martha’s Vineyard, when Romney himself will be at Martha’s Vineyard during that exact same time.

Maddow points out that at this point in their presidency, Ronald Reagan had taken 112 vacation days and Bush Jr. had taken 180, where as Obama has taken 61, only a fraction of his predecessors.

Maddow says that it’s normal and expected for GOP entities to launch these sorts of hypocritical attacks against Obama and not feel any embarrassment afterwards, but that the Beltway press should be doing more than merely spreading the Republicans’ attacks without any comment regarding their context and dishonesty.

It’s no secret that the Right’s hypocrisy and charlatanism is only growing ranker and more brazen with time. I wonder, when is it all going to boil over? And what happens when that time comes? Is the American people finally going to realize the sorts of indescribable phonies they’ve been putting up with? Or will the current reign of apathy towards being bullshitted left, right and center continue onwards well into the future?

Time will tell.

(via Dispatches from the Culture Wars)

Tags: Rachel Maddow • Barack Obama • Republicans • GOP • Massachusetts • Karl Rove • American Crossroads • Mitt Romney