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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThey Went Crazy in Stages
I think one of the less appreciated legacies of the Bush administration is that they made Republican ideology incoherent. One moment the GOP was calling for the liquidation of the Department of Education and planning to let Medicare "wither on the vine," and the next moment they were giving us No Child Left Behind and Medicare Part D. One moment they were closing down the government because they wanted spending cuts, and the next moment the vice-president was telling us that Ronald Reagan proved that deficits don't matter. One moment Bush was campaigning on a more humble foreign policy and the next moment, if you weren't with us, you were against us. The Bush administration was awful from every perspective you might wish to view it, and that includes the movement conservative's perspective.
But movement conservatives were nonetheless willing to go along with the Bush administration and defend it with the harshest, coarsest, most vituperative language and rhetoric. As they unlearned logical consistency, they also lost the ability to think clearly. Logic became a kind of threat.
So, that was the first real tectonic slip. The next came in late August and September of 2008 when, first, Sarah Palin was selected as John McCain's running mate, and then the economy completely collapsed. It became almost immediately clear that Sarah Palin was a colossal moron who had absolutely no business on a presidential ticket. It also became clear that John McCain had no idea how to deal with the financial crisis, as he suspended his campaign, unsuccessfully tried to skip a presidential debate, and called for an emergency meeting at the White House where he had nothing to say.
This forced the conservative movement to defend both McCain and Palin is ways that no sentient human being should ever defend other human beings. I believe the experience caused permanent collective brain damage to the entire Republican community. Arguing that Sarah Palin should be a stroke away from the nuclear football will do that to a brain, and a political party.
The final straw, however, was the decision to oppose every single thing the president tried to do. They turned him into a monster when he was never a monster. He became the Kenyan socialist usurper. That was a decision that Mitch McConnell made before the president was even sworn into office. And the result was that the Republican Party started rejecting their own ideas and labeling them communist plots to destroy the country. At that point, with all the bad habits already ingrained, the party just lost control of its base.
They hadn't governed according to their "principles," and they had ramped up the fear of the Democrats to such a height that the base decided that they were facing some existential crisis.
Basically, the big steps were ideological inconsistency followed by epic failure which both required people to defend the indefensible which broke people's logical brains and respect for the truth which then caused them to respond to manufactured fear with rebellion against their own puppet masters.
Or, you know, the tiger ate the Republican elite.
http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2013/10/18/232522/85
Laelth
(32,017 posts)-Laelth
Laelth
(32,017 posts)In the comments section following the article, there's a link to another, killer piece that American history buffs ought to read, here:
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2013/10/09/2730651/how-racism-caused-the-shutdown/
-Laelth
Faygo Kid
(21,478 posts)That was another tectonic slip. Also the creation of Fox News.
Cosmocat
(14,565 posts)This are all points I have made and they are spot on.
But, there is an entire chapter that includes the Clinton years.
The sweep to turn the house that brought in the founding fathers of balls out hypocritical bullshit - the lines of Gingrich and Santorum.
The selling out in the 90s to the 3Gs - god, gays and guns.
Babbling about states rights endlessly then the Terri Shivo fiasco.
Screaming about the wag the tail and how Clinton was only politicizing terrorism.
The relentless witch hunting that eventually turned up the dress and putting Clinton up on articles of impeachment for LYING UNDER OATH.
These jackasses were as bad as these clowns are, but the created the bubble. They were deluded and delirious, but set the groundwork for this new breed which grew up thinking their bullshit was actual reality.
jtuck004
(15,882 posts)they only see it as a battle, not the war. They will adjust their plan and come back smarter next time.
This posting, http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023793915 contains an article which ought to be read by people who wish to understand their enemy if one wants to win. Because as it stands today all they have to do is work the very effective plan they have to make sure you never get what you want in your lifetime. Keeping the sequester in place and denying even a public discussion about relief for those who need it most? That's a win in Tebagger think. Denying the expansion of Medicade to 6 million people who are too poor to buy into Obamacare? Another win.
They aren't crazy, and it's probably a strategic mistake to think of them that way, a strategic mistake that could cost you.
AlbertCat
(17,505 posts)I disagree. It wasn't Bush's nonsense. Even nominating Dubya shows logic has already been jettisoned.
I think it's the Reagan "Government is the problem" mixed with the lie of "Trickle down economics".... both fueled by the "greed is good" meme, which of course makes no sense.
Ace Acme
(1,464 posts)They had me convinced that they were rational and honorable people sincerely concerned about maintaining a system that maximized freedom.
When Bush started trashing the Constitution, I expected rich Republicans to be rioting in the streets. They let me down. They only pretended to have principles.
Chrom
(191 posts)How can they live with themselves.
The party that claims to be Christian cannot possibly really believe in God or an afterlife.