Veterans Memorial Closing Side-Show Embarrassment another example of Republican Desperation.

Bumper sticker supporters of veterans love to play the patriotism game when they can market it against Democrats. Like the temporary closing of the WWII memorial. This blatantly sad show of outrage proved Republicans were desperate to change the subject.

Here's Chris Hayes with an in-depth look at this carnival side-show:



The media failed to blame the tea party for the government shutdown. The anger over the memorial closings brought out the P.T. Barnum's of Congress:

Think Progress: The Republican National Committee plans to score political points by funding the World War II memorial in Washington, DC in order to keep it open during the government shutdown. The move is a reaction to WWII veterans forcing open the memorial on the first day of the shutdown.

The biggest clown to hit the big top, Rience Preibus, tried to save the day:

Wednesday afternoon, Preibus announced the RNC will fund the WWII memorial for the next 30 days. He blamed the Obama administration for making the shutdown as painful as possible. A protester reportedly interrupted Preibus, saying “Go do your job, idiot!”

By the time Preibus spoke, the National Park Service had already announced that the memorial will remain open to “conduct First Amendment activities.”

Preibus failed to mention this one glaring oversight:

Republican concern for veterans’ welfare extends only so far. The House Republican budget would in fact slash funding for veteran programs.

Cafeteria Republicans pulled out a list of preferred conservative programs to fund, thinking no one would notice what they left off:

There is no word yet from the RNC on whether sick children, low-income moms and infants, or other war veterans’ memorials deserve the same attention. The government shutdown has other across-the-board consequences, including limited airline safety inspection, toxic cleanup, FEMA aid, and food assistance.

Rachel Maddow dissected this complete fiasco too: