* They're mostly middle-age, mostly middle-class, mostly white, mostly male. But that describes several conservative uprisings. It also describes the GOP they rail against.
* There is a strong anarchist streak -- antagonism towards authority, belligerent self-expression, and no alternatives to what they condemn.
* They're not looking forward, but back. They want to "take back" America. How far back can be debated, though what they have nostalgia for never existed.
* They resent and blame those above and below them in the social hierarchy (though this makes me think of the attitude of some people I know: "It's not my fault.").
* They choose their own reality -- the Obama birther movement is still going, in spite of media insistence (but then again, they don't trust the media).
All these are symptoms of one basic idea, says Weisberg. The Tea Party folks see themselves losing their place in American society to someone else -- they have "status anxiety."
Can the GOP incorporate this energy? It would be difficult because they are about venting anger against change they don't like, not about fixing what's broken.
To me, this sounds very much like what the GOP as a whole seems to be saying -- "We're supposed to be Top Dog!" If the GOP is able to make its move to overturn democracy in this country, it is these Tea Party people who will be the party's willing foot soldiers. The Tea Party people may not know what the GOP has in store for them, but the GOP knows what role the Tea Party is to play, has been coaching them in that role, and providing behind-the-scenes coordination and support for more than a year. And if the scenario plays out as some predict, when the crunch comes the Tea Party member will wonder what hit them.
In related crazyness…
The Liberty Institute has filed a brief with the 9th Circuit Court to make sure the court knows their views on the Calif. gay marriage case now before that court. They are only one of several anti-gay groups to file such briefs, but theirs is the one with either the most comedy or the most fear. First they rant about activist judges -- not a wise thing to do in a brief to be read by judges who you want on your side but if they don't rule your way you will accuse of them of being activist. Then they make that threat more explicit by invoking the Declaration of Independence and its words about the right and duty of the colonists to overthrow a tyrannical government. Thus proving the point that the whole exercise is because they hate gay people. What a way to influence friends.
Fundies are ranting that the new Pledge to America put out by the GOP isn't sufficiently anti-gay (well, they say "pro-family" but we've been there before).
Michael Tomasky of The Guardian reports on some poking around with the numbers the GOP provided with their Pledge to America. We're going to balance the budget by 2020, they say (maybe my musings yesterday were wrong). But don't fret, we won't touch the military, Social Security, Medicare, and debt service.
Which means they have pledged not to touch 70% of the budget. So what must be cut to make it all balance? Everything else -- national parks, small business loans, export subsidies, highway construction, unemployment benefits, recession stimulus, Medicaid (not protected because it's for poor people), National Institute for Health, federal courts, Departments of Commerce, Education, Homeland Security, State, Justice, Treasury, Agriculture, Labor, Housing and Urban Development, Energy, and Veterans Affairs. And no money to pay for Congress.
I think a few people will be miffed at some of those disappearances.
If I did my math right, the numbers above mean that taxes pay for only 70% of the federal budget. And 30% is financed by more debt. Yes, that is scary and reason for concern.
Hmm. If the GOP did away with democracy they probably could do without all those federal departments. Except for Homeland Security, which would expand to include citizen compliance.
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