You would think the Tea Party was a movement that came to the scene with principles no one ever heard of. In the latest scuffle over the debt ceiling they are calling the shots and forcing Washington’s hand towards real spending cuts. Who ever heard of such a thing as spending cuts anyway?
The Republican party, we’ve been told ad nauseum has been taken over by the “right-wing” “extremist”, or whatever the tag was for the last 30 years. But NOW they’ve been taken over by the “far-right” according to a July 29th Hartford Courant editorial:
...Republicans — afflicted by far-right Tea Party conservatives who have convinced themselves that default won't happen — have spent the past two days passing an inadequate debt-limit extension bill without Tea Party votes.
How is it that the GOP passes an extension without “far-right” Tea Party support while at the same time they are “afflicted” by their influence? It’s either one or the other, not both.
The editorial calls for bipartisanship which really means the GOP ought to accept the terms of Democrats call for raising taxes. Anything else is far-right, maybe even racist somehow.
During the debate it has become apparent that going along with normal Washington business is the correct way forward. The problem is the Tea Party caucus was not elected to go along to get along. People voted these representatives in to shake things up specifically on how politicians spend our money. Well, things are being shook up.
Another Hartford Courant writer, Izzy Kornblatt echo’s the papers aghast at this new “extreme” philosophy and to accentuate the point attempts to re-write history.
There is an assumption in the minds of countless Americans and many journalists that fair political thinking means acknowledging the legitimacy of the viewpoints of both of America's major political parties. For decades, each of these parties sought to improve our nation by following its principles and ideals, and so such an assumption made sense.
Was there ever a time when Republicans were not labeled as extreme or right-wing? Aren’t they called those things during every election cycle and anytime in between when things get testy? Perhaps Mr Kornblatt could explain the difference between the extreme views of conservatism that was a-ok in the past and pin point what the Tea Party believes that puts those principles over the top. When was conservatism ever called anything else much less something that "made sense"?
Naturally he doesn’t do that. Just merely stating that the Tea Party is extreme even to traditional extremist standards is enough. What he does do is to explain that the phenomenon is attributed to some emotional instability. It’s not a movement of every day citizens mobilizing to change the size and scope of government:
The radicalization of the Republican Party has largely been precipitated by a frustration with the nation's poor economy and the general direction in which the nation has been heading. Radically right-wing candidates, with their pro-America rhetoric, promise to put the nation "back on track"; and easy denial of the serious issues of the 21st century, such as global warming, give a sense of empowerment to frustrated, powerless-feeling voters.
No one in there right mind could possibly deny global warming (summer name for climate change) or be pro-American--a laughable criticism no elite liberal would ever be caught being-the level headed amongst us think America is no different than Uganda or Laos or France, you name it. And everyone in their right mind knows the earth is coming to a dirty end thanks to Google searches and Styrofoam cups.
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