Big Dog Pees All Over The Oval Office Rug

You know, right now the Village has finally, finally noticed that the batshit insane wing of the GOP is now fully in command of the Republican party, and suddenly the Democrats don't look so bad by comparison, that the astroturfing efforts are led by fanatics like Sal Russo.

Mr. Russo’s group, based in California, is now the single biggest independent supporter of Tea Party candidates, raising more than $5.2 million in donations since January 2009, according to federal records. But at least $3 million of that total has since been paid to Mr. Russo’s political consulting firm or to one controlled by his wife, according to federal records.

While most of that money passed through the firms to cover advertising and other expenses, that kind of self-dealing raises red flags about possible lax oversight and excessive fees for the firms, campaign finance experts said.

“They are the classic top-down organization run by G.O.P. consultants, and it is the antithesis of what the Tea Party movement is about,” said Mark Meckler, a national spokesman for Tea Party Patriots, a coalition of grass-roots organizations that does not endorse or contribute to candidates.

Mr. Russo’s group is also under attack from Republican Party leaders in Delaware, who have accused the Tea Party Express of improperly collaborating with Ms. O’Donnell’s campaign. Federal laws allow political action committees to support candidates independently, but they are not permitted to coordinate their spending with campaigns.

Mr. Russo dismisses all the criticism, saying he and his group have done nothing wrong. The Delaware party leaders are simply poor losers, he says, and his Tea Party critics are envious of his success.

“We are totally dependent on our donors,” Mr. Russo said in an interview. “We can’t do anything unless they support what we do.” He refers to some Tea Party activists who fault him over his political résumé as “nuts and crackpots.” 

And going after the Tea Party right now is the smart thing to do.  So what does a super smart political operator like Bill Clinton do?

He goes after Obama, of course.

Former president Bill Clinton, a champion of healthcare reform, admitted on Sunday that he made the wrong prediction about the popularity of President Obama’s healthcare bill.

Initially, Clinton had predicted that the polls in favor of Democrats would be boosted as soon as the legislation was signed into law. Instead, Clinton said on NBC’s "Meet the Press," his prediction was wrong for two reasons.

"First of all, the benefits of the bill are spread out of three or four years. It takes a long time to implement. And secondly, there has been an enormous and highly effective attack on it,” he said. 

Insert knife, quarter turn clockwise.  But Clinton's totally not trying to sabotage Obama ahead of a possible 2012 Hillary run.  People keep telling me there's no way Bill Clinton would do that.

Nope.