'Bizarro' Budget Politics

Well, yeah.

It's pretty bizarro when politics turns to J.R.R. Tolkien, but perhaps it fits. It's been a while since I read "The Hobbit." See Ed Morrissey, "WSJ: Tea Party “hobbits” need to go back to Middle Earth, or something."

More at New York Times, "McCain vs. the Tea Party" (via Memeorandum).

Is the old John McCain back?

The fiery, independent version of the Republican senator from Arizona took to the floor of the Senate Wednesday morning. Demanding “straight talk,” Mr. McCain accused conservatives of abandoning reason by opposing the House Republican leader’s plan to resolve the debt crisis.

Mr. McCain mocked Tea Party-allied Republicans in the House for believing — wrongly, he said — that President Obama and Democrats will get the blame for a default if Republicans refuse to increase the nation’s debt ceiling.

By that flawed logic, “Democrats would have no choice but to pass a balanced budget amendment and reform entitlements and the Tea Party Hobbits could return to Middle Earth,” he said, quoting a Wall Street Journal editorial.

“This is the kind of crack political thinking that turned Sharron Angle and Christine O’Donnell into G.O.P. nominees,” he jeered, referring to two losing Tea Party candidates for the Senate in 2010.

And Senator McCain's "bizarro" moment today on the Senate floor:

And check Los Angeles Times, "Stubborn debt-deal problems plague Boehner and Reid."

Also, at National Journal, "Six Similarities Between the Boehner and Reid Debt Plans."