I worry not about the views of Chuck Grassley.

What I worry about is the views of the hundreds of thousands of people that voted for, and approve of, the views of this blithering idiot.

OCJIM: In re your post about Grassley.

Grassley reverts on occasion to what perhaps many of us perceive as his Mortimer Snerd image.

(You may not be old enough to remember Snerd, a prop dummy used in his act by the late ventriloquist Edgar Bergen. Snerd, in bibs and straw hat, was a quite dense, rural type with all the typical mannerisms of speech and behavior). As an aside, Bergen’s beautiful daughter, Candace, played the role of a lawfirm senior partner Shirley Schmidt in the popular Boston Legal tv show.

Senator Grassley highlights a common problem politicians, particularly Republican politicians have.

See, it isn’t about being a good public servant to the people, it’s about going with the flow.

In the case of a republican, it’s about going with the flush.

Here’s how it works:
Leadership developes talking points. 
Talking points are handed out.
Politician follows talking points.
Dim-bulbs blink.
Politician moves on to next talking point.

At no point in time is the media supposed to follow up with an intelligent question. And at no point in time is the republican base supposed to remember any previous talking point that contradicts current talking point. In the past politicians didn’t have to remember anything they said before. Or even pay attention to what they might say now, because the media, and most of their constituents have never paid attention anyway, or cared.

Most politicians would rather sell momma than embarrass a fellow politician. So being called out, especially by the president, has rarely happened in the past.

[Which might explain the frustration of those politicians who actually are honest and actually do pay attention to the folks they represent and actually do think before they speak, but that’s another story. Certainly not a story about Grassley, or today’s batch of R’s.]

Anyway, for politicians like Grassley, that’s the way it works. That’s the way it has always worked. Nothing in their Leadership’s playbook prepares a Republican politician for being confronted with the truth. So Grassley’s reaction is very predictable.

He is genuinely offended and he genuinely doesn’t know why!

And those of his constituents in Iowa who DO pay attention and DO care, are once again embarrassed.

Grassley aside. I think the biggest mistake Congressaurs on both sides of the aisle have made, is believing all those angry folks they see and hear from are from THEIR district. That kinda highlights the concept stupid, doesn’t it?

Grassley is little different from many politicians on both sides of the aisle, including, sad to say, Obama.

Shakespeare had this worldview in “Macbeth” and “King Lear.”  Humans are villains or fools. Fools are no better than villains, merely less ambitious and more stupid. Villains devour fools. Life is vile.  Substitute ‘Republicans’ for ‘villains’ and ‘Democrats’ for ‘fools.’

That a Republican would lie about his own words doesn’t surprise. Republicans lie about everything, including their own lies, just to keep in practice.

A politician, a REPUBLICAN politician is caught in his lies and….we’re supposed to be surprised?

“How DARE you quote me verbatim, Mr. President!  How DARE you attack me on the basis of what I say!”

The Republicans these days are insane traitors, with very few exceptions.  The Democrats are spineless, gutless, wimps—but they are STILL better for America than the W.C.O.P.—Wealthy Caucasian Only Party.

It would appear Mr. Grassley (I refuse to call him Senator as that implies at least some intelligence) is a second-rate hack who, until this summer, survived in the shadows of Congress as a relative unknown.  He has no experience with this type of exposure and it shows.  He is incapable of tracking all the conflicting things he says.  He wants to appear the tough guy to his base but doesn’t really have the emotional makeup to pull it off.  So he flounders around and looks like a deer in the headlights most of the time.  Most people see through his thin veneer but his supporters are, for the most part, oblivious to his shallowness.  Just another of the multitude of the willing who are selling this country down the river.

Grassley is mentally and morally challenged. He does have the principles to provide favors to the drug companies and the private health care industry in return for their favor.

Not knowing what else to say that made sense, he said he was against the public option because thought we should have a choice.

Not much cloak over that neocon logic.