Frum and McClellan Slam Tea Partiers.
The way the Tea Party protesters are dragging the Republican party towards the far right becomes especially obvious when one looks at the reaction of both Frum and McClellan to some of the things which the Tea Party protesters are demanding.
FRUM: When you bring on two people on to an important show like this, and they represent themselves as leading a conservative and libertarian uprising against the president, and you say what you would really like to do, and they say, we would like to abolish Social Security, if given half a chance, is that helpful to the Republican Party? There probably aren’t even two percent of the members of the Republican Party who think that way. But that — those are the people on television. That’s not helpful. [...]Traditional conservatives recognise the danger of the party pandering to these lunatics, but much of the present day Republican party seem terrified to stand up to this insane fringe.
MCCLELLAN: And then you also had the comments from the one Tea Party activist that was at the rally over the weekend in Searchlight, referring to President Obama as a terrorist. I mean, that’s just outrageous. You know, I think that there are probably many decent people in the Tea Party movement that have some legitimate concerns about their economic security. [...]
But this is a divisive protest movement that plays too much to people’s fears and hatred. And it’s got limited appeal. I think that after the 2010 elections, you’re going to see this party or the Tea Party movement dissipate to a great degree. … It has limited influence. It really hasn’t shown itself to be a strong, powerful force, even within the Republican Party. However, it is pushing Republicans too far to the right.
And here is the reactionary bullshit which outraged Frum so much.
King reminded them that Obama actually won the last election, but that point didn't seem to overly concern them.
KING: But, Wayne, as last time I checked, Obama won the election. He ran on campaign platform, and he won on it. That goes back to the founding fathers.The language Root employs, with it's imagery of rape and "taking our country back", is simply an inability for some in the US to accept the democratic decision of the majority and to try and put this rejection of the democratic wishes of the majority into a flattering light.
WAYNE ALLYN ROOT, LIBERTARIAN: You know, when I wrote my book, it was right after Obama had won the election and that title, you know, empowering the citizen revolution with god, guns, gambling and tax cuts, my book was about what I predicted. A citizen revolution from Obama's victory, I felt there'd be a coalition of conservatives, of disgruntled Republicans, of libertarians like me of blue dog Democrats, of taxpayers, small business people, of Christians, and most importantly of taxpayers and home schooled parents.
I think these are the groups that I found at the tea party rally. I speak at rallies all over the country. And those groups are angry. We want to take back our country, Larry. We believe there is an entitlement class.
KING: I know.
ROOT: And there's a taxpayer class, and we're standing up for the people that pay the taxes and the people that create the jobs. You can't keep raping us to give it to the entitlement class and think that the country will go on. It just can't go on, Larry.
Frum and McClellan are right to say that this hurts the Republican party. These people come across as deranged extremists. And their talk of "taking our country back" sounds an awful lot like they only accept democracy when it yields results that they agree with.
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2 comments:
The "entitlement" that I see is thinking that you can live with all the benefits of western civilization and not have to pay taxes in order to keep that civilization functioning. Send these idiots on a tour of nations that do nothing for their poor, and let them see how well those nations function for anyone who isnt cosy with the ruling elite.
Of course, that may not do any good, since they probably cannot see themselves as anything but at the top of the food chain, despite that simple fact that they arent there right now, and yet still have all the rights and privileges they had when they were.
The "entitlement" that I see is thinking that you can live with all the benefits of western civilization and not have to pay taxes in order to keep that civilization functioning.
That's what most distresses me about right wing thinking on taxation. They would not wish to do away with the police or the fire services or the army, navy or air force.
They don't want to have to supply their own street lighting or repair their own roads.
They appear to view taxation as simply a means to help those who are less well off. They take no consideration of how much their own daily lives are made better because a functioning society exists. And that society can't exist without taxation.
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