Han Solo: "Where did you dig up that old fossil?"If you listen to Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) it may be time to skip the country. I hear Guam is lovely this time of year. Why? The impending doom to be delivered by a nefarious villain -- a villain whose disastrous plans would indiscriminately destroy the American way of life as we know it. Fuck Osama. Fuck Al-Qaeda. This is the real deal. So, who is this nefarious villain? That's right, you got it -- healthcare reform.

Today, Rep. Virginia Foxx stood up in the chambers and had the following to say:

"Everywhere I go in my district, people tell me they are frightened. ... I share that fear, and I believe they should be fearful. And I believe the greatest fear that we all should have to our freedom comes from this room -- this very room -- and what may happen later this week in terms of a tax increase bill masquerading as a health care bill. I believe we have more to fear from the potential of that bill passing than we do from any terrorist right now in any country."

Here's the video:

When the press asked Republican Minority Leader Jon Boehner about Foxx's statements, replied by saying, "Members are entitled to their own opinions." When pressed about whether her discourse helps the debate he responded with, "This is the part where you guys get the old Boehner shrug."

I don't know where Virginia Foxx has been, but the tax increase inside several of the healthcare bills isn't anything new. Part of how it's being paid for is taxing the "cadillac" health insurance policies and/or taxing the rich. The healthcare bills aren't "masquerading" as anything. They're just trying like hell to pay for the costs in the least abrasive way possible.

But the bigger problem with Foxx's statement is this hyperbolic language emanating from the GOP. Sure, Democrats haven't been immune from this growing concern either. Rep. Alan Grayson has committed the same sin, first with the statement:

“If you get sick, America, the Republicans’ health care plan is this: Die quickly.”

Then when talking about Dick Cheney on MSNBC:

“I have trouble listening to what he says sometimes because of the blood that drips from his teeth while he’s talking.”

And more recently, by referring to a female advisor to the Federal Reserve chairman as a "K-street whore."

No matter how hilarious his statements may be, in the end, they only serve to feed the base. Moderates won't be swayed by such statements.

So, there's enough blame to go around but the GOP has trended toward hyperbole much more in recent times. But really, it's time to stop. Demonizing liberals and making outlandish claims about the various healthcare proposals isn't going to get the Republican party to where it wants to be in 2012. Besides, it just makes you look embarrassingly out of touch. Virginia Foxx may have been regarded as credible before. Who knows?Regardless, it still holds true that it's sometimes better to keep your mouth shut and let people think you're stupid than it is to open your mouth and confirm it.