Even the 'sane' ones are freakin' nuts
I always considered Lamar Alexander to be among the more moderate Republicans. Turns out he's a paranoiac like the rest of them, mumbling about an 'enemies list.'
"In 1969 and during the first half of 1970, I was a wet-behind-the-ears, 29-year-old staff aide in the West Wing of the Nixon White House,'' Alexander said today. "Based upon that experience and my 40ty years since then in and out of public life, I want to make what I hope will be taken as a friendly suggestion to President Obama and his White House: don't create an enemies list.''
In 1971, Alexander recalled, Nixon adviser Chuck Colson compiled a list of "persons known to be active in their opposition to our Administration." He said he thought the administration should "maximize our incumbency . . . [or] to put it more bluntly, . . . use the available federal machinery to screw our political enemies."
Alexander presents a list of who he percieves as Obama's 'enemies' - health care giant Humana, Fox News, Wall Street, and John Kyl (because he made noises like he'd refuse federal stimulus money and the White House called him out on it).
But what Alexander fails to consider is that Obama's White House is taking on those who stake out extreme positions, and even make shit up, to try and undermine the president's agenda - Fox News and Kyl in particular. If Kyl decides to grandstand and tell his constituents that he's going to refuse the stimulus money, isn't it fair play to call him out and put him on the spot for it? If Glenn Beck goes on Fox' air and calls Obama a racist, does it not make sense to view Fox as an opponent?
Nixon, by contrast, laid out his enemies list out of paranoia and spite. Nixon's petty mindset is the stuff of legend, and he planned to actively use the workings of the government - the IRS in particular - as a club against his enemies. Big difference.
It says a lot that Republicans like Alexander reach for the worst villian they can find to demonize Obama - and name a Republican. I think there's a little projection going on here.
Update: Steve Benen has more.