I had a very discomfiting epiphany the other day: The Tea Party is as Obama hoped to be.
Seriously, Obama campaigned on "Change you can believe in" - the idea that he would go into Washington and change the business as usual, radically overhaul our rotten system by bringing in universal health care, ending our two disastrous wars, stopping all of our repugnant extra-legal activities--including secret rendition and torture, correcting the grossly imbalanced economic structure that favors the rich and uber-rich over the poor and middle class, etc. etc. etc.
Fast forward to the recently-concluded, appallingly dysfunctional "debate" over our debt limit and economic policies. Once again, Obama "bargained away" any attempt at the true, radical change he campaigned on. Not only were NO new revenue streams included in this latest "compromise," but even grossly egregious things like fat cat corporate tax breaks weren't even touched. And don't get me started on the Bush tax cuts that he so EASILY could have let expire back when they were scheduled to, back when he had both houses of Congress. And even if he hadn't had them, again, the cuts would have expired on their own.
It's one thing to HAVE convictions and make pretty speeches and promise a new day, but when the rubber hits the road, when push comes to shove, words don't mean squat if they're not followed up with actions.
Now let's look at the Tea Party. Make no mistake, they are still a classic example of everything that's wrong with America: their greed, hypocrisy, and selfishness are only over-ridden by their supremely arrogant ignorance. Their xenophobia, racism, and violence only confirm the worst stereotypes many already have of Americans. And yet...
And yet, they have managed to completely control the debate. They have outlined an admittedly simplistic and woefully ignorant-of-modern-life "platform" that they have harped and hounded and hysterically shrilled about to no end. They have hijacked the normal functioning of the government, distracted the media and populace with inane, misspelled rants and raves, and--most amazingly and spectacularly--have managed to devolve "political discourse" in this country to an astonishing new low. No mean feat!
In sum, within a VERY short time, it's the Tea Party that has truly achieved what Obama campaigned on - a radical re-shifting of the American political debate and ushered in a new paradigm where the surreal is accepted as normal, where selfishness, stridency, and stupidity are the norms of the day, and where no deviation from their childishly stubborn and selfish demands are even considered or allowed. Sigh.
BTW, for a compelling piece on the true origins/nature of the Tea Party click
HERE. Just an example from the piece:
Contradicting the mainstream media narrative that the Tea Party is a new populist movement that formed spontaneously in reaction to government bailouts or the Obama administration, the facts show that the Tea Party in Congress is merely the familiar old neo-Confederate Southern right under a new label. The threat of Southern Tea Party representatives and their sidekicks from the Midwest and elsewhere to destroy America's credit rating unless the federal government agrees to enact Dixie's economic agenda of preserving defense spending while slashing entitlements is simply the latest act of aggression by the Solid South.Talk about your Mission Accomplished!
