TEA PARTY'S WAR ON AMERICA

From Joe Nocera in the NYTimes ~ "You know what they say: never negotiate with terrorists. It only encourages them.

"These last few months, much of the country has watched in horror as the Tea Party Republicans have waged jihad on the American people. Their intransigent demands for deep spending cuts, coupled with their almost gleeful willingness to destroy one of America's most invaluable assets, its full faith and credit, were incredibly irresponsible. But they didn't care. Their goal, they believed, was worth blowing up the country for, if that's what it took.

"Like ideologues everywhere, they scorned compromise. When John Boehner, the House speaker, tried to cut a deal with President Obama that included some modest revenue increases, they humiliated him. After this latest agreement was finally struck on Sunday night ~ amounting to almost a complete capitulation by Obama ~ Tea Party members went on Fox News to complain that it only called for $2.4 trillion in cuts, instead of $4 trillion. It was head-spinning."

The above summary is not news to those cynics among us who don't accept empty rhetoric at face value. What does astonish me is how completely the establishment Republican leadership in Congress has rolled over and played dead for the Tea Party minority insurgency. Normally within bureaucracies, freshmen members have to spend time earning seniority and credibility. In the surreal world of Republican politics, Tea Party radicals marched in and pretty much took over the conversation, and the old guard stood by and quivered. None of which bodes well for the future of the GOP as a viable political entity.

But wait. Another scribe's assessment is headlined Empty Rallies and Unpaid Bills: the Tea Party's Death Spiral. Here's my thought ~ the Tea Party is the party of anarchy. No Democrat, no Republican, no administration spokesperson, no news observer, is able to identify any men or women within the Tea Party who are leaders. No leaders means no cohesive policy or decision-making structure. Anarchy.

In my opinion, the demise of the Tea Party would be the best thing that has happened to our democratic republic since FDR's New Deal. But I'm not holding my breath. Watching the Tea Party is like reading Lord of the Flies ~ except a much larger society is at risk of destruction.