Good Lord, Marc Maron is a seer

A few years ago, our own patron saint of comedy did a bit in which he talked about a "Visa Army", in which your debts would be forgiven if you were willing to do a stint in the military. Are we really that far off from such a scenario now? Even further back, in the Morning Sedition days, there was a radio theater bit called "The Shadow Government," which you can listen to here.

These days, the Bush family isn't even waiting for the rotted corpse of George W. Bush's tattered presidency to get cold before sending Jeb out to advocate for -- you guessed it -- a Republican "shadow government":

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush tells Newsmax that the GOP must broaden its appeal to avoid becoming "the old white-guy party," and recommends that Republicans create a "shadow government" to engage Democrats on important issues as the incoming Obama administration seeks to enact its agenda.


In a wide-ranging interview with Newsmax, the popular former governor and younger brother of President George W. Bush said the 2008 election was neither "transformational" nor a landslide. For example, he noted that Barack Obama's significant fundraising advantage over John McCain played a key role in Democratic success this year.

Bush urged Republicans not to abandon their core conservative principles in favor of a "Democratic-lite" agenda. Still, the GOP does need to do some real soul-searching, he said.

"If you take the [last] two election cycles, there's real cause for concern, no question about it," he said.

There is good news for Republicans, Bush said: The United States remains "basically a center-right country." He cited President-elect Barack Obama's stance on taxes as an example.

...

The party should establish a loyal opposition and "organize ourselves in the form of a shadow government" that would address key issues, providing the public with "a loftier debate about policy" rather than mere partisanship.

Somehow I don't think Jeb Bush's agenda has anything to do with "a loftier debate about policy." The old man was, after all, head of the CIA, and Jebbie is the son he always wanted to have in the White House. Do you really think that he's going to let the Designated Family Shithead stand in the way of that plan? Besides, the Bush family has too many financial interests at stake to allow outsiders to run things for one minute longer than they have to.