Defcon 1 Alert: Debt Ceiling Crisis Reveals GOP’s Suicide Bomber Wing
In retrospect, the emergence of a suicide-bomber wing of the Republican Party should’ve seemed obvious.
Why use such an inflammatory term? What I mean by it is this: They would blow up the economy to fulfill a mission of otherworldly righteousness.
Their first attempt to blow up the economy arrived with the defeat TARP. It was a reckless subversion of the leadership of both parties and, at least for a day, brought equity markets to their knees.
With ideological bravado to match their breathtaking economic illiteracy, they positively relished the impact they could have on our national life.
Since then, they’ve become still more emboldened, knocking off an incumbent senator in Utah and propping up a bad joke of a senate candidate in Delaware.
Last year’s wave election infested the party with additional scores of suicide bombers.
In a repeat of the TARP fiasco, the bomber boys and (and, lest we forget bomber-in-chief Michele Bachmann, girls) have, once again, made it impossible for congressional leaders to do the right thing. A grand bargain was in sight—but the itch for destruction overmatched the desire for reasonable compromise.
We may yet stumble toward some cobbled-together agreement that staves off a catastrophe. But the bombers will be emboldened again.
And why wouldn’t they be? They’ve got a cheering section among Washington pundits.
The normally thoughtful Yuval Levin calls this suboptimal state of affairs, in which Republicans will secure far less in deficit reduction than they could have, a “stunning victory.” New York Post columnist Michael Walsh compares the debt ceiling showdown to the Union’s victory at Gettysburg. Most depressing of all is my former hero George Will, who calls the Tea Party “the most welcome political development since the Goldwater insurgency.”
Will is dead wrong: Ronald Reagan’s election—or rather his administration—did not simply bring the “Goldwater impulse” to “fruition.” It signaled that the Goldwater impulse had matured into a governing philosophy—a governing philosophy that could accept compromise, could acknowledge reality.
The Tea Party’s triumph has reversed that process of maturation; a governing philosophy has degraded back into mere impulse.
Enjoy your ascendancy while it lasts, Tea Partyers.
But know this: You are not legislators. You are vandals.
By: Scott Galupo, U. S. News and World Report, July 26, 2011
Related
July 27, 2011 - Posted by raemd95 | Congress, Conservatives, Debt Ceiling, Debt Crisis, Deficits, Democracy, Democrats, Disasters, Economic Recovery, Economy, Elections, GOP, Government, Government Shut Down, Ideologues, Ideology, Journalists, Lawmakers, Politics, Press, Public, Pundits, Republicans, Right Wing, Teaparty, Voters | Barry Goldwater, Compromise, George Will, Governing, Legislators, Markets, Michael Walsh, Rep Michele Bachmann, Suicide Bombers, TARP, Yuval Levin
No comments yet.
Pages
Share This Blog
mykeystrokes.com
- “The Unrelenting Hostility Of Washington’s Courtier Press”: The Media’s Crusade Of Scandals Against Hillary Clinton July 28, 2016
- “Endorsing This Philistine”: The Christian Right Has Surrendered To Trump July 24, 2016
- “Cop Killers Serve No Cause”: It’s Getting To The Point Where No Lives Matter July 24, 2016
Top Posts
- Affordable Care Act African Americans Bain Capital Citizens United Congress Conservatives Contraception Corporations Debt Ceiling Democracy Democrats Donald Trump Economic inequality Economy Foreign Policy Fox News George W. Bush GOP GOP Presidential Candidates Government Shutdown Gun Control Gun Violence Health Exchanges Health Insurance Hillary Clinton House Republicans Immigration Immigration Reform Iraq War ISIS Jeb Bush Jobs John Boehner John McCain Koch Brothers Lindsey Graham Marco Rubio media Medicaid Medicare Middle Class Middle East Minorities Mitch McConnell Mitt Romney National Security Newt Gingrich NRA ObamaCare Paul Ryan Politics Poor and Low Income Poverty Progressives Racism Rand Paul Republicans Rick Santorum Right Wing Ronald Reagan Rush Limbaugh Scott Walker SCOTUS Senate Spending Cuts Tax cuts Taxes Tea-party Teaparty Ted Cruz Terrorism uninsured Voter Suppression Wall Street Wealthy
Categories
Archives
Blogroll
Twitter Timeline
- RT @LakotaMan1: If Republicans in Texas want to replace slavery with “involuntary relocation” then I want to replace Independence Day with…----------- 2 days ago
- RT @StevenBeschloss: If Donald Trump is so displeased and disagreeing with Cassidy Hutchinson’s testimony, I’m sure the Jan 6 committee wou…----------- 6 days ago
- You have to be the sickest asshole in the entire state of Texas. twitter.com/GregAbbott_TX/…----------- 1 week ago
- RT @tribelaw: To the five Justices who act as though they were beyond accountability: Your appalling hubris is the reason more of us are…----------- 1 week ago
- With his prologue of precedent #SCOTUS decisions that the court should reconsider, @JusticeThomas has forgotten who… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…----------- 1 week ago
Blog Stats
- 269,831 hits
Share your comment