Sam Seder speaks with Katherine Harris about scandals.

The IRS/Tea Party Scandal:

• O’Donnell: The Republican ‘ignorance-fueled war’ on the IRS and Pres. Obama.
• Stephen: Boehner and the IRS/Tea Party scandal.
• Mark Fiore: Money for Nothin’.
• Jon asks, “What the hell happened?!?”
• Lawrence O’Donnell: The Real I.R.S. scandal. Part 1.
• Lawrence O’Donnell: The Real I.R.S. scandal. Part 2.

Lawrence O’Donnell: Conceited Sen Ted Cruz vs. the Republican Party he ‘does Not trust’.

White House: West Wing Week.

Susie Sampson’s Tea Party Report: Happy Memorial Day.

Thom with some more Good, Bad, and Very, Very Ugly.

The Daily Show catches up with Dylan Ratigan (via TalkingPointsMemo).

Obama’s War on War:

• ONN: Obama aims to limit civilian casualties with switch to Taser drones.
• Stephen: Obama’s Flying Deathbot Program.
• Maddow: End of war. Part 1
• Maddow: End of war. Part 2
• Sam Seder: Obama calls for repeal of AUMF

Jon does Bill-O the Clown.:

Young Turks: Jon pwns O’Reilly

Thom: The G.O.P. punks ABC News.

John Fugelsang: Barack Obama — Worst. Socialist. Ever.

Obama honors Carol King.

Young Turks: AZ Athiest lawmaker addresses House with his own prayer.

I5 Bridge Collapse:

• A bridge collapsed in Washington
• One Minute News: Collapse.
• Officials weigh-in
• A guy who ended up in the drink speaks.
• Maddow: Bridges and infrastructure
• Young Turks: Bridge collapse.

Young Turks: Historic ban overturned.

Alyona: Saluteghazi!!!

Sam Seder: Glenn Beck sees “false flag” atheist conspiracy in Blitzer question.

Thom with The Good, The Bad, and The Very, Very Ugly.

Transparent President:

• Jon: Priorties USA
• Ann Telnaes: The once transparent President.

Sharpton: The G.O.P.’s rebranding FAIL, as outreach extended to white supremacists!.

Mental Floss: 50 Common Misquotations.

Thom: The Good, The Bad, and The Very, Very Ugly.

Jon on Peggy Noonan (via Political Wire).

The Republican War on Women™:

• Ann Telnaes: Anti-Women Trash.
• Thom: Why some G.O.P. men should experience labor.

Thom: How electric cars save human lives.

John Fugelsang: Anthony Weiner is running for Mayor. Gentlemen, start your puns!

Maddow: Foolhardy budget cuts cripple government.

The Onion Week in Review.

Ann Telnaes: What the G.O.P. and the White House are NOT focused on.

Virginia is for Haters:

• Maddow: Social conservative extremists fill Virginia G.O.P. slate.
• The Virginia “Dream Team”

Bashir agrees with Ted Cruz on one thing.

Maddow: The GOP’s ‘Guantanamo closure’ road-block: .

Last week’s Friday Night Multimedia Extravaganza can be found here.

Please join us tonight for an evening of politics over a pint at the Seattle Chapter of Drinking Liberally.

This week we will, of course, talk about scandals and conspiracies. You know…like Alex Jones’ theory that a government “weather weapon” caused the Oklahoma Tornado. (No doubt, ordered by Obama himself, with targeting by the IRS, as a way to distract from BENGHAAAAZZZZZZZZZZZZIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!11!!!1!!!)



And, NIXON….

We meet every Tuesday evening at the Montlake Ale House, 2307 24th Avenue E. Starting time is 8:00pm. Some people show up earlier than that for Dinner.

Can’t make it to Seattle tonight? Check out another nearby DL meeting over the next week. The Tri-Cities chapter also meets tonight. On Wednesday, the Burien and Bellingham chapters meet. And on Thursday the Woodinville chapter meets.

With 204 chapters of Living Liberally, including sixteen in Washington state, four in Oregon, and two more in Idaho, chances are excellent there’s a chapter meeting near you.

Stephen takes on Heritage Foundation’s racist immigration study (via Crooks and Liars).

Viewpoint: Creationism in schools and the G.O.P. War on Science.

Chris Hayes: Dysfunctional House Republicans ignore remarkable shrinking deficit.

DOJ Scandal:

• Mark Fiore: DOJ spying on the AP.
• Ann Telnaes: DOJ seizes AP phone records.
• Viewpoint: DOJ’s LEGALLY Accessing AP Journalists’ Phones?

Robert Reich: The hollowing out of government.

Jon on 2016, 2016, 2016.

Ricin-laced letters: sent to Spokane Judge and Post Office.

Sam Seder: GOP Hispanic outreach director resigns, registers democrat.

Liberal Viewer: Can minorities be racist?

BENGHAZZZZZZZZZZZIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!1!11!!!:

• CBS News: Republicans lied about White House Benghazi E-mails (via Crooks and Liars).
• Sharpton: Vicious Republicans must apologize to Amb. Susan Rice after email dump.
• Sam Seder: Dumb-as-a-car-thief Darrell Issa unsure where Benghazi is!
• Jon considers Cheney and Rummy:
• Young Turks: Republicans doctored leaked emails
• Sam Seder: “Biggest scandal EVAR!” “Where is it?”.
• Ann Telnaes: What’s behind the Benghazi investigation?
• Stephen: How dare you cast aspersions on a man’s asparagus (via Crooks and Liars).
• Holder to Issa: “You are shameful!”
• Sam Seder: “Lies!” “Cover-up”, says Dick Cheney.
• Red State Update: Obama Bonanza Benghazi Bandwagon
• Thom’s memo to Bush Administration leftovers on FAUX News: Shut Up!

Stephen does Rep. Gwen Moore.

Bashir: Is Darrell Issa qualified for “oversight” role?!?

Maddow: Republicans fall dead silent in face of historic Obama 2013 deficit success.

Thom: The real, G.O.P., scandal.

Sam Seder: Do these “scandals” weaken Obama?

Greenman: Weather Channel covers Dark Snow Project.

Stephen on 3-D gun makers.

New rules for pot distribution.

The Great IRS (non)Scandal:

• Sam Seder: Michele Bachmann freaks out, says 2012 election a sham!?!
• Young Turks: Should someone go to jail?
• Stephen: Hams and the IRS.
• Ann TelnaesBoehner wants ACCOUNTABILITY!
• Maddow: Will Republicans permanently damage the authority of the IRS?
• Lawrence O’Donnell: G.O.P. acting stupid over I.R.S. “scandal”.
• Sam Seder: Glenn Beck feels so persecuted!
• Young Turks: “Inappropriate, but not illegal”.
• Susie Sampson’s Teaparty Report: IRS…we were right!
• Sam Seder: The REAL IRS scandal.
• Maher reads “outrageous” questions asked by IRS (via Crooks and Liars).

Lawrence O’Donnell: Conservative editors warn Republicans.

Maddow: Investigators narrow cause for West, TX plant explosion.

White House: West Wing Week.

Roy Zimmerman: Oh frack, “The Faucet’s on Fire:

Sam Seder: Umbrellagate!!!!!11!!1!

Thom: The Good, The Bad, and The Very Very Ugly.

Elizabeth Warren and the student debt crusade.

Sharpton: Insane House G.O.P. tries to repeal Obamacare for the 38th time.

Same Sex Marriage in MN:

• Sam Seder: Marriage equality for Minnesota!
• Young Turks: Minnesota becomes 12th state to legalize gay marriage.

David Schuster: Meghan McCain calls out G.O.P. hypocrisy.

Maddow: Media not unscathed by scandals.

Last week’s Friday Night Multimedia Extravaganza can be found here.

It’s Tuesday. And that means the Seattle Chapter of Drinking Liberally meets for an evening of politics over a pint.

We meet every Tuesday evening at the Montlake Ale House, 2307 24th Avenue E. Starting time is 8:00pm. Some people show up earlier than that for Dinner.

Can’t make it to Seattle tonight? Check out one of the other DL meetings over the next week. Tonight the Tri-Cities chapter also meets. The Longview, Lakewood, and South Seattle chapters meet this Wednesday. And for Thursday, the Spokane and Tacoma chapters meet. Next Monday, the Aberdeen, Yakima and Olympia chapters meet.

With 204 chapters of Living Liberally, including sixteen in Washington state, four in Oregon, and two more in Idaho, chances are excellent there’s a chapter meeting near you.

From Think Progress:

Issa: Obama Covered Up Benghazi Terrorism By Calling It An ‘Act Of Terror’

That’s even stupid for a car thief!

Geoff Tate: Fixing the economy.

Ann Telnaes: Life begins at conception.

Thom: More Good, Bad, and Very, Very Ugly.

Maddow: Heritage Foundation, “Low IQ immigrants are parasites & their ‘unborn’ children will be too!”.

White House: West Wing Week.

Heavyweight Governor:

• Ann Telnaes: Gov. Chris Christie tries to lose weight.
• Sam SederChris Christie has some surgery.
• Alex Wagner: Weighing in for 2016.
• Young Turks: Is a thin Christie on the way?
• Lawrence O’Donnell: Christie in 2016?

Maddow: Obama’s IRS scandal in context.

Sam Seder: Judge slams Obama administration over their right wing Plan B stance.

ONN: The week in review.

Susie Sampson’s Tea Party Report: Another state falls to gay marriage.

Lush Rimbaugh:

• Sam Seder: Random Rush.
• Sharpton: Limbaugh is costing his employer big bucks.
• SlateTV: Limbaugh can’t get past Susan Fluke.
• John Fugelsang: Rush Limbaugh has chased away more sponsors than Lindsay Lohan at Betty Ford:
• Young Turks: Advertisers bail!
• Sam Seder: Has the Flush Rush movement finished Mr. Limbaugh?

The Point: Justice Sandra Day O’Connor regrets Bush v. Gore in 2000.

Thom: The Good, The Bad, and the Very, Very Ugly.

Maddow: Alarming ineptitude revealed in care of U.S. nuclear arsenal.

Jon on the Jodi Arias coverage.

Sam Seder: Republican warmongers beating the war drums.

South Carolina is Still Crazy:

• Stephen mourns his sister’s loss.
• Sam Seder: Family values candidate Mark Sanford wins special election.
• Lawrence O’Donnell: Why sex scandals no longer matter in U.S. politics.
• Alex Wagner: “Serial adulterer” S. Carolina’s Mark Sanford’s political comeback.
• Joy Behar on Rep. Elect Sanford.

Young Turks: Elizabeth Warren wants students to get bank rates on their loans.

Ann Telnaes: America the armed.

Maddow: G.O.P. war on student voters violates the law.

Mark Fiore: iEvade.

Thom: Should Obama send troops to Texas?

Benghazi Brouhaha:

• Jon on the FAUX News, GOP Benghazi theories: “You have no fucking idea!”
• Young Turks: Republicans try to take down Hillary before 2016.
• Maddow: GOP hopes on their lucky stars that Benghazi will be the scandal that sticks.
• Young Turks: Impeach Obama over Benghazi? Republicans hope so.
• Chris Hayes: Political hot air.
• John Fugelsang: Oliver North talks about a Benghazi(!!!!!) cover-up — and irony hangs itself:
• Sam: G.O.P. off the rails with Benghazzzzzzzzzzzzzzziiiiiiiiiii.
• Maddow: fringe conspiracy theories part 1 and part 2

Young Turks: Enron CEO to get reduced prison term.

Last week’s Friday Night Multimedia Extravaganza can be found here.

Today is the 9th anniversary of HA. So I thought I would celebrate by remembering the top nine most memorable trolls who have lurked in the comment threads.

Any such list is necessarily subjective—trolls are memorable for may different reasons, sometimes rather personal ones. Some have invoked anger, some have provided “entertainment,” some were just very, very…VERY different. Okay…so here goes:

1. Mr. Cynical was Goldy’s first real troll. He showed up during the Great Election Contest of 2005, and loudly and boldly tried telling us how things would come out. Cynical was largely a propagandist for Republicans, so his many, many prognostications almost always came out dead wrong. Cynical was so wrong over the Great Election Contest of 2005, that the took on the moniker, “Mr. Irrelevant after his side lost. At least he had a sense of humor. An example of a Cynical long term political prediction, from the summer of 2005:
   

   Santorum and Rice will win in 2008 and 2012….
   Then Rice will become the first African-America and first woman President of the United States in 2016 and 2020.

   Mr. Cynical occasionally returns to the comment thread to offer his opinions on important events, like presidential elections. During the 2012 election, Cynical came back as Ryanistheman, Jody, and likely other commenters. A little know fact is that Cynical was the first troll to really get under Goldy’s skin…until Goldy got toughened and jaded into the troll-aloof person we know and love day.

2. Another of HA’s early trolls, JCH, was hell-bent on simply being disruptive. And he left lots of comments in attempts to disrupt. He was also a racist, spewing anti-Semitic slurs ad nauseum. It’s hard to know what drove him. He admitted that he lived in Hawaii, and I was able to deduce that he had previously lived in California, where he actively wrote letters to the editor of his local newspaper, pushing wingnut causes, of course.

   JCH has the distinction of being the first troll to be banned from HA. It was largely for his unwillingness to stop the barrage of anti-Semitic insults. And even his banning came after a long spell of having his comments moderated.

3. Chardonnay was HA’s first “concern troll,” but really stood out for being an (apparent) female in a largely male-dominated field. Something else that stood out about Chardonnay: she was excessively stupid. Now, whether this was an act or real is hard to tell. But she specialized in taking Republican talking points and re-framing them as “concerns” that were promptly demolished by other commenters. Here is a fun Chardonnay comment that came during the Ron Sims, David Irons, Jr. King County Executive election:
   

   oh ya Ivan, King Ronny is toast he’s as wacked as algore if not more. ronny f’d up with his trumped up enviro BS. and his election dept debacle. stick a fork in him.

   I’ll tell ya what ivan, if ron wins I’ll donate money to Goldy’s beer fund. You ‘buddy’ get zip unless Goldy wants to share his beer with you. If David Irons wins you buy Goldy a beer.

   I cannot say whether she ever donated beer money to Goldy. Chardonnay disappeared (under that name, anyway) after that election in late 2005. She made one more appearance in 2007.

4. Christmas Ghost is notable as another female commenter. She was much brighter than Chardonnay but, perhaps, crazier. A notable characteristic of her comments was an absence of upper case characters. Eventually, she moved to the Bay area and quit commenting on HA, but not before EFFin’ Unsound had some fun with her.

   Interesting, odd facts: She was a raging asshole to Goldy in the comment threads, but he reports that she was a nice and reasonable person in her emails to him. Goldy once posted a missing person piece on behalf of Christmasghost. The niece was eventually found, though I don’t know any of the details.

5. Piper Scott makes this list, because no commenter was more full of himself than was Piper. He was seriously insufferable and really did take himself seriously. Everyone else…not so much. In fact, Lee started a series of posts about him called The Crackpiper Chronicles (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4).

   Part one highlighted one of my favorite protracted exchanges with any troll. It’s still a fun read that shows, in the end, underneath all the pretense, Piper was reacting emotionally like a very typical reality-challenged wingnut.

6. Puddybud. Ahhhh, yes. What can we say about our beloved Puddybud. First, he gets kudos for longevity, having first posted back in 2005. Puddybud is a smorgasbord of illogical thoughts, nonsense, child-like arguments, illiteracy, hatred, bigotry, and right wing tripe, oddly mixed, on occasion, with pious religious fervor. And to add to it all, Puddybud has some deep insecurities as evidenced by his need for silly bragging. (Anyone remember the conversation about Puddybud serving in the military?)

   An interesting thing about Puddy is the he has actually engaged with some of us in person by coming to Drinking Liberally. In person, he is a friendly, articulate, and intelligent person—really, the antithesis of his online persona. How could this be? The answer is that Puddybud is a character. The person producing the character is engaging in performance art. This explains everything about Puddybud. Think about it…if your objective is to maximize disruption and “make liberal heads explode,” then debate using emotional arguments, use bad logic, be inflammatory while saying stuff that is barely comprehensible, misuse data. Hell…just blatantly lie—it’s the character Puddy, not the God-fearing person playing Puddy lying to you.

7. Mark the Redneck is a typical, if once prolific, propagandist/troll. What puts Mark the Redneck on this list is an infamous bet he made with Goldy…and reneged on.
8. Marvin Stamn was a prolific, nearly robotic troll. He had commenting down to an art:
   1. Open up Drudge and find an “outrage”
   2. Excerpt a quote from the piece
   3. Write just enough commentary so that it constitutes “fair use”.
   4. Go to 1

   Marvin eventually did himself in when he admitted to getting paid for his propaganda. It is hard to know if he was serious or joking, but since he lived in Southern California, commented for many hours a day, and had nothing to say about local politics, it seems more plausible than not. I don’t miss him.

9. I had a hard time picking just one last troll to memorialize. I considered pbj, chuck, manoftruth, howcanyoubePROUDtobeanASS, Max, YO, josef, and so on. But I choose Klake. What I remember about Klake was his long, rambly, semi-coherent comments, with random parts of the text in bold. Like here and here. Classic stuff.

So those are my “top” nine. How about you? Who are the trolls you would memorialize and why?

Huh. I spotted this truck on the streets of Redmond late last week.

Please join us tonight for an evening of politics over a pint at the Seattle Chapter of Drinking Liberally.

We meet every Tuesday evening at the Montlake Ale House, 2307 24th Avenue E. Starting time is 8:00pm. Some people show up earlier than that for Dinner.

Can’t make it to Seattle tonight? Check out one of the other DL meetings over the next week.

Tonight the Tri-Cities chapter also meets. On Wednesday, the Bellingham chapter meets. On Thursday Drinking Liberally Bremerton meets.

With 204 chapters of Living Liberally, including sixteen in Washington state, four in Oregon, and two more in Idaho, chances are excellent there’s a chapter meeting near you.

Note: I was travelling today. Time and bandwidth limitations kept this week’s collection of media clips a little thinner. Enjoy, and feel free to link to your favorite video (or audio) of the week in the comment thread.

Young Turks: FAUX News says “no” to reason and science.

Sam Seder: How to own your Congresscritter.

Ann Telnaes: The morning after the White House Correspondent’s Dinner.

Maddow Show: The lies about Hurricane Katrina in the Bush Library.

Liberal Viewer: Right wing “austerity economics” based on spreadsheet error?.

Young Turks: Why May Day should outrage the bottom 90%.

Memphis Soul at the White House:

Kimmel: Unnecessary censorship.

Thom: “Mission Accomplished”, ten years later.

Pap: Why deficits don’t matter.

Sharpton: From prisoner to President.

Stephen: Bomber roommates.

SlateTV: Happy Birthday Open Web.

Ann Telnaes: More than one way to support a free press.

White House: West Wing Week.

Mark Fiore: Sequesterless Airlines.

Young Turks: Woman prosecuted for filming slaughter house from public street.

Stephen with some background check truthiness.

Pap: The G.O.P.’s New America.

Lawrence O’Donnell: Elizabeth Colbert Busch headed to Congress.

Sam Seder: PA Gov, “There’s no jobs because you’re all on drugs”.

Maddow show: Truth decay and the NRA.

John Fugelsang asks God to explain John Boehner.

Gitmo:

• Jon: Gitmo failure.
• Adam Serwer: Transferring prisoners out of Guantanamo.
• Ann Telnaes: “We have to close Gitmo”.
• Thom: Gitmo by the numbers.

The caterpillar that becomes the pussy moth looks like Donald Trump.

Susie Sampson’s Tea Party Report: gay and Bush.

Matt Binder: No guns left behind in AZ.

Young Turks: Stephen Colbert’s sister puts a beatdown on Mark Sanford:

Jon on freedom magic.

Last week’s Friday Night Multimedia Extravaganza can be found here.

The Seattle Chapter of Drinking Liberally meets tonight. Please join us for an evening of politics over a pint.

We meet every Tuesday evening at the Montlake Ale House, 2307 24th Avenue E. Starting time is 8:00pm. Some people show up earlier than that for Dinner.

With 205 chapters of Living Liberally, including sixteen in Washington state, four in Oregon, and two more in Idaho, chances are excellent there’s a chapter meeting near you.

President Obama does the 2013 White House Correspondence dinner:

And so does Conan:

Jonathan Mann: A comment to the TSA.

Ann Telnaes: Barbara Bush, “We’ve had enough Bushes.

Young Turks: The pathetic twisted case of the Romney & Gingrich intern.

SlateTV: Nevada Senator comes out during same sex marriage debate.

Ignorance and Denial:

• Republicans in denial
• Mark Fiore: Head bangers.

Young Turks: Voters turn again Republican politicians over voting down background check vote.

Mark Sanford debates a cardboard image of Nancy Pelosi (…and, um, loses) (via Political Wire):

Sam Seder: Mark Sanford’s really, really lousy week.

The “Rent is too damn high” guy is back, rapping about it, and running for NYC Mayor (via Political Wire).

Library Accomplished:

• Jon: Disasterpiece Theatre (via Political Wire)!
• Sam Seder: The right wing’s Bush whitewash begins!
• ONN: All the former presidents gathers to lie about the Bush presidency and other news of the week.
• Maddow: Presidential LIE-brary
• Alex Wagner: A “good” man who made murderous decisions.
• Roy Zimmerman: Dick Cheney:
• Frank Conniff: “Freedom” must be his safe word
• Sam Seder: George W. Bush Library in George W Bush’s own fake words.
• Sharpton: Bush library is a triumph of democracy.
• Maddow: Revision accomplished.
• John Fugelsang: The bad and the good side of George W. Bush:
• Kimmel: Obama and Barbara Bush
• Sam Seder: George Bush’s legacy of terrorism

White House: West Wing Week.

Kimmel: The week in unnecessary censorship.

Stephen: Better know PA-17 (via Political Wire).

Young Turks: Infowars Boston bombing conspiracy theories.

Aqua Buddha Bomber:

• Slate TV: Rand Paul’s drone problems.
• Sam Seder: No problem killing Americans with drones.
• Young Turks: Don’t stand with Rand.

Young Turks: “Ex-Gay” leader apologizes for horrible ‘gay conversion therapy’.

Susie Sampson’s Tea Party Report: Congressional Report Card.

Young Turks: CISPA goes down in the Senate.

Townsquare: The end of the American Dream?

Chris Hayes: The untold story of deregulating chemical plants under Bush.

Miranda Warning:

• Ann Telnaes: Exploding liberty.
• Stephen on FAUX and Friends Miranda rights controversy.
• Young Turks: Are Miranda rights necessary?
• Ed and Pap: Analysis of the confession.
• Thom: We should not balance our Constitutional rights with security.
• Liberal Viewer: Should the Boston bomber get his Miranda rights?

Sam Seder: Culture of conspiracy.

Young Turks: FAUX News basks in its own ignorance.

Maddow: The dangerously sloppy reporting of Rupert Murdoch’s New York Post.

Pap: The Anti-intellectual epidemic in America.

Thom: The Good, The Band and The Very, Very Ugly.

Stephen gives Bill Clinton a Twitter lesson.

The Downside of Rush:

• Secretly recorded, Frank Luntz blames Rush Limbaugh (via Political Wire).
• Thom: The far right cult machine exposed.
• Sharpton: What Frank Luntz REALLY thinks about Rush
• Sam Seder: Rubio and Rush.
• Bashir: Luntz reveals.

Lawrence O’Donnell: Grad student debunks famous Harvard Study that pushes austerity.

Shuster: Stephen Colbert’s sister gets a boost.

Maddow: Black and white-out.

Young Turks: Bill-O pushes for more hatred and fear.

Ann Telnaes: Wall Street and your fragile nest egg.

Last week’s Friday Night Multimedia Extravaganza can be found here.

The Seattle Chapter of Drinking Liberally meets tonight. Please join us for an evening of politics over a pint.

We meet every Tuesday evening at the Montlake Ale House, 2307 24th Avenue E. Starting time is 8:00pm. Some people show up earlier than that for Dinner.

Can’t make it to Seattle tonight? Check out one of the other DL meetings over the next week. The Tri-Cities chapter also meets tonight. On Wednesday, the Burien and Bellingham chapters meet. On Thursday the Woodinville chapter meets.

With 205 chapters of Living Liberally, including sixteen in Washington state, four in Oregon, and two more in Idaho, chances are excellent there’s a chapter meeting near you.

There are many reasons why Latinos tend to shy away from supporting Republicans. First, it’s because Republican politicians are constantly telegraphing to Latinos that they are second class citizens. Never mind the blatantly racist crap we get from politicians like Sheriff Joe Arpaio. There is enough subtle stuff to last a political lifetime. You know, like nutjburger Sharron Angle defending before an auditorium of Latino student, her “illegal immigrant” ads portraying Mexican individuals as sinister:

I don’t know that all of you are Latino…Some of you look a little more Asian to me. I don’t know that.

“Mexican? Were they really Mexican?!?” Uh huh. Right.

Or Rep. Don Young (R-AK) casually throwing out the term “wetbacks” in referring to immigrant workers on his father’s farm.

Latinos also have plenty of good policy reasons to shy away from Republicans. Republicans aren’t particularly good about supporting policies that serve or protect relatively disadvantaged populations of any sort. They have become the party of preserving privilege for the privileged. Sadly, they aren’t going to be able to change their policies overnight. And, even then, the image problem will lag for years behind the policy change.

It will take Republicans years to decades to repair all of this self-inflicted damage. Immigration reform is one of those policies that offer Republicans…well, not exactly opportunity. But maybe something….

Politico’s Emily Schultheis points out the catch-22 that Republicans find themselves in over immigration reform. Essentially, blocking immigration reform will further alienate them, and hinder their image reform goals (see The Autopsy). For years to come.

Alternatively, by enacting immigration reform:

The immigration proposal pending in Congress would transform the nation’s political landscape for a generation or more — pumping as many as 11 million new Hispanic voters into the electorate a decade from now in ways that, if current trends hold, would produce an electoral bonanza for Democrats and cripple Republican prospects in many states they now win easily.

Theoretically, the Republicans could get some political advantage among current Latino voters by supporting immigration reform. That’s good for them in the short run. The real problem comes 13 years down the road:

Extrapolating 2012 voting trends to the 2028 presidential election — the first in which previously undocumented Hispanics could exercise their voting rights after a 13-year path to citizenship — is an inherently speculative exercise. But it is one that highlights the political sword hanging over Republicans as they consider immigration reform with a path to citizenship, an idea that is already deeply unpopular with many red-state constituencies.

To support the measure virtually guarantees millions of new Democratic voters.

What to do? I think the only reasonable thing for Republicans is the Hail Mary Pass. Passing immigration reform now at least gives them a fighting chance to win the “hearts and minds” of Latino voters. It’s a gamble, because they would have make huge progress in “image reform” by the time year 13 arrives. And, even then, it will most likely only allow them to minimize the damage.

The alternative—further pissing off the community—comes with an immediate hit that will only be compounded by the time the 13-year Gauntlet is run.

But it will also hurt like hell in 2020, when Republicans stand to lose their lopsided advantage from the 2010 gerrymandered congressional districts. That will set Republicans back, possibly for decades.

I hope Republicans do strongly back immigration reform. Not because I want them to have a shot at redemption with Latinos. Rather, because it is the proper policy that will improve the lives of millions of people, including a great many U.S. citizens—like U.S.-born children whose parents are undocumented.

What I see as the biggest threat to the future of the Republican party is the heightened xenophobia in the wake of the Boston bombing that may end up dominating their party. It threatens to foreclose on their Hail Mary option.