. . .and France's wise Cheshire Cats?
Ok, bad analogy. But I just read an article from Newsweek online titled What a Tea Party Looks Like in Europe. And, while I wouldn't be caught dead at one of the Teabagger's rally's here, I might just accept an invite if I were French.
Though the article was short, what I could glean about Marine Le Pen is that she is nothing like the bible bashing, BS spewing (i.e. Sarah Palin) host typical of the American Tea Party movement. She seems to understand the need for a moderate conservatism. One that takes into account the need for reforms, while preserving the state's ability to assist it's citizens in times of need. Though I probably would not agree with Ms. Le Pen on a majority of her views (I imagine she is pro-life, and anti gay marriage), I would at least lend her my ear over tea to try and persuade me to vote for her. I cannot say the same about any Tea Party candidate I have heard, or read about in the US.
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4/8/2011
As a government shutdown looms, most folks blame one segment of Republican idiots: The Tea Party. I heard an interview with a top democratic senator on CNN about thirty minutes ago. He stated that the tea party would not budge unless every penny of their ludicrous budget demands are met. They say they are doing this out of principal; because it is what they were elected to do. But what they failed to realize while they were campaigning, and fail to realize now, is that campaign rhetoric and actual action are rarely identical. And if they continue down this ridiculous, "the American people want this," course, they will realize just how wrong they are next election cycle.
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4/9
The following quote, taken from an interview with Fareed Zakaria I found on CNN.com, made me formulate a new theory. Please read the following:
"It used to be that in Congress you became famous by creating big, bipartisan deals and passing big, bipartisan legislation. There was an understanding that you were solving problems. You were never going to get exactly what you wanted but it’s a country of 300 million people and not everyone agrees with you and it was important to get some progress. Right now the way you become famous in Congress seems to be to actually not do a deal - to show that you have stood up to the evil forces on the other side.
You can see that most vividly on the Tea Party. The Tea Party’s constituency, or its base, clearly seems to be more interested in them not actually doing a deal than in them doing a deal"
This demonstrates what I will call a "martyr mentality." It has it's roots in the evangelical Christian heritage of a majority of the Tea Party members. To them, sticking to their principles, regardless of how much suffering it causes, is ultimately what will determine how successful they are deemed.
As I have experienced too many times, the really religious folks will not budge regarding their literal interpretation of the bible. They will not compromise, even when the facts of science stare them in the face. The Tea Party movement, and its representatives in Congress, display this same unmoving determination when it comes to things like the budget.
This martyr mentality makes the Tea Party extremely dangerous, in my opinion. Though its principles are shared by only a minority of Americans, they are by far the vocal majority when it comes to important social issues. America could face a terrible reversal in so much of the progress we have made over the past six decades if they were to gain too much power.
*Fareed on America's broken politics and bloated budget
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5/9
The GOP's Liability on the Fringe (The Daily Beast via Yahoo News, by Howard Kurtz, 5/8/2011)
"The Kamikazes" - That is the nickname Republican legislators have given to the freshmen tea party members. The "Birthers," Graders," and hopefully not, but possibly "Economy Crashers" if they let the debt ceiling stay are the latest batch of political wackos to enter the Washington scene. Only this time, they actually have the numbers, and voter backing, to be like kamikaze pilots of World War II...hell bent on winning for their cause, no matter the cost to their political future, or their parties. It is true that both parties have had their own mad hatters throughout the years, but, as Kurtz poignantly notes, "Democrats have never enabled the Bush-caused-9/11 nuts this way."
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6/30
Bachman's husband got $137,000 in Medicaid funds (MSNBC, by Michael Isikoff, 6/28/2011)
Not only did she deny that the money helped her husband's business, but she also seemed unaware that his mental health clinic has been receiving funds from the governments program for the past six years. Yet, every chance she gets, Michelle Bachman rallies around the tea parties cry for less spending on public programs such as Medicaid. Oh, the hypocrisy!
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9/19/2011
I love James Carville. And I especially love this quote taken from a CNN article titled "What should the White House do? Panic!"
"As I watch the Republican debates, I realize that we are on the brink of a crazy person running our nation. I sit in front of the television and shudder at the thought of one of these creationism-loving, global-warming-denying, immigration-bashing, Social-Security-cutting, clean-air-hating, mortality-fascinated, Wall-Street-protecting Republicans running my country."
Wow. poignant, and funny.
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