Confessions of a Tea Party Casualty

In an article in the January/February issue of Mother Jones, David Corn interviewed Rep. Bob Inglis (R-SC) about his interaction with the Tea Party base of the Republican Party. The article, Confessions of a Tea Party Casualty, appeared on Mother Jones blog in August of 2010.

Former Rep. Bob Inglis (R - SC)

Rep. Inglis is quoted as saying,

"They say, 'Bob, what don't you get? Barack Obama is a socialist, communist Marxist who wants to destroy the American economy so he can take over as dictator. Health care is part of that. And he wants to open up the Mexican border and turn [the US] into a Muslim nation.'"

Much of what they said to Rep. Inglis came from the rantings of Glen Beck whose spoutings have far less to do with reality than with some paranoid fantasy land of late night conspiracy theories and apocalyptic religious prophecies.

Rep. Inglis goes on to say that he believes that tea party "demagoguery" will ultimately undermine the credibility of the Republican Party. I think he is correct. Whenever a fringe group gets a hold of one of the parties in the US, the core of that party draws it back toward the center. I believe that most Americans are much closer to the center of the political spectrum than the edges.

Everyone can read the blog posting or better yet pick up a copy of Mother Jones magazine.

Here is my prediction for the short term future of the Republican party:

I wonder what animal the Tea Party will have.

• The Tea Party will continue to be a vocal subgroup in the party.
• The leaders of the party will get increasingly nervous about the extreme views of Tea Party members, particularly the conspiracy theory fringe. (More on that in a future posting.)
• The candidates that are put forth by the party in the next Presidential election will pander either right or centrist, attempting to capture which ever side seems more viable at the time.
• The Tea Party rightists will continue to smack talk the moderates in their own party.
• The party will split along political lines, with the leadership of the party trying to keep it all together to win the election.
• Barack Obama wins the election. (Witness the movement in 1992 then 1994 then 1996.  The right doesn't seem to remember that Americans don't like extremes.) So congratulations, Mr President, on the next four years. {Psst: And, Mr. President, don't forget what Napoleon Bonaparte [the last Frenchman to win a battle] said: Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.}

Joe the Plumber? Seriously? - Conservatives Need the Past to Survive the Future

I think that Conservatives have some valid points. There is something to be said for some ideas, like controlling the size and scope of government, protecting our borders and maintaining financial solvency. The ideas aren't bad; I part with them on execution.

Here's the problem that I see with the Neo-Con/Tea Party/Republican movement as it exists now: it has become an American Idol pageant of misfits and 15-minute media hounds.

So, who is the Tea Party getting its information from:

1. Glenn Beck - A recovering alcoholic, coke addict DJ who was pro-life until he found a new life at Fox. After converting to Mormonism, apparently Beck found out that God is running the show and he needs to be a decent person. No Osmond, he has not let that stop him from using profanity and mercilessly attacking people, including children. (Click here) He also peppers his shows with an apocalyptic prophecy ascribed to Joseph Smith. (reference)  The next time he says that the US Constitution is "hanging by a thread," look up the prophecy.
2. Sara Palin... former beauty queen, mayor of a large town in Alaska, former Governor of Alaska, reality TV star. OK, she's pretty. She was the mayor of Wasila, Alaska, the town with the Bridge to Nowhere. She declined the bridge, but not the money. As Governor of Alaska, she resigned. For all the accusations of nepotism, cronyism and other shenanigans, she resigned, despite having already being on the campaign trail with John McCain for a year or more. Her biography, Going Rogue , is named for a joke from SNL!
3. Joe the Plumber - Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher shot to fame after questioning then-candidate Obama about a small business tax for businesses making over $250,000 per year. Interestingly, he wasn't making $250,000! When asked by Diane Sawyer, he responded, "No, not even close." At the time, he was a plumber's assistant, not a business owner. Then he became a campaign issue. His political view suddenly becomes a touchstone for the New Right.
4. Mark Williams - Radio host and de facto Tea Party spokesman - Let him speak for himself. "Williams denounced those carrying blatantly racist signs against President Obama during the tea parties as "no more part of the mainstream of America than the hippies who wear nipple clips and feather boas in San Francisco streets during so-called peace demonstrations."* Really? What? Huh? 'Nuf said?
5. Rush Limbaugh- This one is harder. He is an entertainer, therefore not necessarily constrained by truth. That said, he has maintained his point of view for a very long time and his following is undeniable. A little more self-education of his listeners might help things, but at least he's not Mark Williams.

Conservatives who are needed to lend this new movement legitimacy:

1. Margaret Thatcher  - Although the PM of Britain, her philosophies had a huge influence here in the U.S.. Well thought out, articulate and applied with compromise and discretion, Maggie was a woman that no one messed with. She was respected around the world and left a lasting impression on those who grew up listening to her political views.
2. William F. Buckley, Jr. - Soft-spoken, polite and generally demure, his intellect was astounding. He was able to article Conservative philosophy while still sounding like a man off the set of Kathryn Hepburn film.
3. Ayn Rand - Not strictly a Conservative, she was a Capitalist who understood how wealthy and power could make the world a better place. Unfortunately, her ideas fall apart when humans touch them. Her novels in particular have influenced Conservatives since their publication.
4. Ronald Reagan - Father of the modern Conservative movement, the Tea Party doesn't actually listen to what he said and did. Instead, they listen to a myth of the man. Not without his foibles, he was a man of great compassion and vision. He was smart enough to hire the right people into the right places and leave them alone.
5. Barry Goldwater- Goldwater was a Constitutionalist. He wanted to the government to return to the original vision that had been laid out by the Founding Fathers in the Constitution. Again, the ideals never really met up with the ideal. Kennedy's assassination destroyed any possibility of Goldwater being elected.

There are many on both lists that could be added, but if the Conservative movement expects to survive, it needs to look back to its roots. The danger of the cult of personality, on both ends of the political spectrum is that all of these people can talk, few can lead and fewer still can understand what they are doing and why.