Posted on 05/21/2014 6:12:30 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Extremes are called that for a reason. They are ideas that are on the far edges of reasonableness, and they are – rightly – destined to be tempered and reined in by more moderate ideas. That's what has just happened to the political party that holds sway in my home state.
Elections across the nation Tuesday showed that voters have rejected Tea Party extremism, with all of its concentration on hating President Obama and its suggestion that anyone who disagrees is less than patriotic.
These voters -- Republicans in states like Kentucky, Georgia and Idaho -- are definitely not tree-hugging, pot-smoking liberals. They're conservatives who want their party returned to them.
For them, it's not a matter of ideology; it's a matter of political survival. And as Alabama's own George Wallace noted so many times, political viability is the first and most necessary goal of every elected or would-be elected official.
Just as Wallace did more than 50 years ago, in recent years some Republicans in my state have run campaigns based on rhetoric that they had to know was downright silly. (Consider the current Public Service Commission candidate who's promising to "fight Obama," as though that's the job of a PSC member.)
In a race to the bottom, candidates have vied to hate Obama more, love guns best and pander most effectively to people who could be swayed by negative platitudes. That's a disservice and a distraction to the voters, not to mention an unworkable strategy for government and politics.
Last year's election of Baldwin County's own Bradley Byrne to Congress was a bellwether of how far some extremists are willing to go. When Byrne -- no wild-eyed liberal -- beat a conservative political consultant turned patriot/candidate, signs sprang up all over south Alabama.
Emblazoned with the "Don't Tread on Me" serpent and the words "Boycott Byrne," the signs were the height of the curious, self-destructive urges of some Tea Party Republicans. Byrne isn't a brand of soft drink to be boycotted; he's a U.S. representative from their own party.
Instead of indulging in unrealistic fantasies about what government ought to be, Tea Partiers would be better off not overplaying their hands and instead working in the political system that has gotten them all of this attention in the first place.
It's fitting that some branches of the Tea Party have adopted the serpent as their logo. Like the original rebellious founders of our nation, they mean to convey a message that says, "If you tread on what I see as my rights, you'll regret it." But the effective message in today's political climate is very different.
Everybody who's ever taken a walk in the woods knows snakes can bite. They also know that if you leave snakes alone, they'll usually slither away without harm.
Only a snake-chunking preacher with misplaced courage and a working refrigerator will try to handle a poisonous snake. He knows that when the serpent warms up and wakes up, it'll bite.
The Tea Party serpent has surely bitten the Republican Party.
Now the voters – and the Republican Party – have apparently learned that lesson. Political analysts say that nationwide, only 15 percent of voters favor the Tea Party today. That was reflected in Tuesday's primary results.
The flirtation with extremism has proven a big mistake for the Republican Party, just as Democrats' flirtation with extremism (remember their sojourn in the wilderness in the 1980s and the impact of the left-wing MoveOn.org in the late 1990s?) was a big mistake for them.
The voters' message – for those with ears to hear it -- is clear: Lead with reason, and with enough courage to turn away the false invective. The extremist elements of the Tea Party are a serpent the Republicans -- and the nation -- can do without.
^^^^^
Frances Coleman is a freelance writer living in Baldwin County. Email her at fcoleman1953@gmail.com and "like" her on Facebook at www.facebook.com/prfrances.
Oh? Why do Republicans have open primaries in so many states, then? Is it only honest and in good conscience when Democrats vote in Republican primaries, dragging the nominee leftward?
“These people slept through last week’s primaries, apparently.”
Evidently you haven’t noticed how the Democrats have been fixing many of the primary races to eliminate TEA Party candidates. On of the fixes they use is to organize a large fraction o fthe Democrats in each precinct and county to vote as Republicans for the Establishment Republican, or better yet they will vote for a weak primary candidate that is a former Democrat voter running as a Republican. They knock out the best and/or strongest Republican candidate with Democrats voting as REpublicans in the Primary and then vote for the Democrat in the General Election.
That woman sounds like a complete idiot. Bevins’ only error was one of clarification, while Mitch McConnell’s numerous errors are well documented on pretty much every pro-liberty website. Mitch McConnell is perfectly happy to let Democrats commit their ritualistic slaughter of America if they only run lukewarm has-beens against him.
There is also no good reason to ban cockfighting, another point in Bevins’ favor.
“It’s a bloody MOLE!”
“I’m gonna cut it off, chop it up, and make some guacaMOLE!!”
Bingo.
Destructive.
It destroys things.
Of course it does.
Something that destroys cancer would be wonderful.
Big government is a cancer.
Now if they’d only open their freakin’ eyes and see the commie ‘RAT party for what it is. A bunch of evil Nazi scorched earthers.
We may not be quite as visible on the streets as we were in 2010, but the TEA Party is a set of ideals that resides in a large silent majority of people that see the USA going commie with a bunch of aged hippies in charge.
It is to the big government anti-Constitution party and also to the other big government, anti-Constitution party. As to extremism, I agree with Goldwater: " I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice! And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue!"
Do you have any evidence of this?
That must explain their immigration "reform" ideas./s
Tea Party Conservatives are going to learn very soon that they are the new Jews in this fascist state that was once called America.
When leaders and political parties and the media work in concert to demonize them, criminalization’s and genocide always follow. Always in the name of state security for the ‘people’.
What Good Can a Handgun Do Against An Army?
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-backroom/2312894/posts
Recent in the last week Tea Party wins:
Ben Sasse, Nebraska
Alex Mooney, W. Virgina
Curt Clawson, Florida
Lee Terry, Nebraska
And Tillis was a soft win. Had N. Carolina taken it to a runoff, Brannon could have taken more than 50% to Tillis’ 46%.
There were 8 people in the race last week in N. Carolina and 7 of those people received 54% of the vote to Tillis’ 46%.
The Tea Party is still alive and strong, needing only more seasoning and organization. It will get there.
Has anyone here ever seen Frances Coleman drink a glass of water? Well? Have you?
I didn’t think so.
Vodka. That’s all your hard-core communists drink.
You’ll never see a commie drink a glass of water.
That left leaning rag hasn’t made a dime off me in almost 20 years. It still cost a dime ......... doesn’t it?
Yeah, no.
But thanks for playing.
Wasn’t it your GOPe insiders saying they wanted to “crush” the Tea Party for daring to question their absolute right to any and all conservative votes despite doing almost nothing to earn them?
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