The passive construction "was discovered" doesn't let on about the blog where this connection was first posted, but whatever.
Agitated? Irritable? Hostile? Aggressive? Impulsive? Restless?, Dana Milbank's piece about the House's reaction to the connection between NRCC's "Change You Deserve" and Wyeth's Effexor, is pretty doggone funny.
A hoot, as we say on the prairies. The slideshow is highly entertaining, too.
Milbank writes about episodes triggered by the news:
House Republicans may be heading off a cliff in November, but give them credit for perseverance. Even after the new slogan they floated -- "The Change You Deserve" -- was discovered to be trademarked ad copy for the antidepressant drug Effexor, GOP leaders decided to go with the rollout anyway.
"The Republican agenda, 'The Change You Deserve,' is directed at America's families," Rep. Kay Granger (R-Tex.) announced at a televised news conference with House Republican leaders yesterday morning. "And you may be a little surprised at this agenda."
Why, yes, we are. And Democrats are manic over the medicinal mantra.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) called reporters into his office. "Democrats, not drugs, is what the American people need," he said. He flashed the Effexor side effects on a large flat-screen television. "Nausea, up to 58 percent," Hoyer said. "Actually it's higher than that for Republicans."
"Are depression symptoms keeping you from where you want to be?" Effexor's maker, Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, asks in its promotions. "Not feeling as good as you used to?"
For House Republicans, the diagnosis is obvious: They are suffering from Election Anxiety Disorder. Tuesday night, they lost the third special election in a row to Democrats in heavily Republican congressional districts. Eighty-two percent of Americans say the country is on the wrong track, and they're largely holding President Bush and his party responsible. This week, panicked House Republicans defied Bush and voted with Democrats to pass a farm bill and to divert oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
Reports are also coming in about other public outbursts in Minnesota, though the primary cause of that behavior is most likely found here. The DFL offered a second opinion more in line with Milbank's diagnosis. The Post's columnist concludes:
But Election Anxiety Disorder is a serious ailment, and only about two dozen Republican members had the courage to show up for the rollout. Fortunately for the rest of the GOP caucus, the change they deserve is within reach: The recommended starting dosage of Effexor is 75 milligrams a day.
As we noted earlier, Democrats aren't the only ones to notice Election Anxiety Disorder in the NRCC. America's leading authority on stupid Michelle Malkin felt embarrassment, while Rush Limbaugh finally met a drug he'd never heard of. Now that's breaking news.
Update: Eric Pfeiffer's Ground Game at CQPolitics experienced no anxiety about using active verbs.
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