By Mr. Curmudgeon
Oh where, oh where can my squishy little Republicans be? That seems to be the question President Obama is asking. “We can't afford grandstanding at the expense of actually getting something done,” the president told reporters. He, of course, was grousing about the Republican Party’s sudden aversion to support his toxic agenda. Obama’s plea sounds perfectly reasonable if you believe the purpose of government is to become an all-consuming Godzilla monster turning its burning hot breath on trillions of dollars while trampling on our freedoms. Otherwise, you have no choice but to use every tool at your disposal to bring the colossal beast down. Even the New York Times’ favorite bipartisan, Sen. John McCain, is disappointing his ivory tower media pals.
McCain faces a stiff challenge from conservative – and Tea Party supporter – J. D. Hayworth. And, as much as it kills him to do so, McCain must move to the right of Obama. “Mr. McCain now finds himself jammed, moving starkly — and often awkwardly — to the right, apparently in an effort to gain favor among the same voters whom Mr. Hayworth, a consistent voice for the far right, could pull toward him like taffy come summer,” said the Times.
Obama’s criticism of the Supreme Court in his State of the Union address for striking down the Arizonan’s draconian campaign law, which trampled on the First Amendment protection of free speech, can’t be a help to McCain. Preserving the Constitutional protections of the citizen against the encroachments of a power-hungry state is a red meat issue for Tea Partiers throughout the land. If the doddering McCain wins against his conservative Republican challenger, he has Gov. Sarah Palin to thank – again. It was Palin who gave the lethargic “maverick” what little chance he had last election, and she recently endorsed the embattled incumbent in his quest to win a fifth term in the U.S. Senate.
“…A vote for a Republican, no matter what you think of him as a person,” warns New York Times columnist Paul Krugman, is a vote for paralysis.” From your lips to God’s ears, Paul. The current “paralysis” is not so much a byproduct of principled opposition by Republicans as it is the throbbing heart terror generated at the thought of electoral retribution looming for politicians of both parties who cross the Tea Party. According to Krugman, Republicans “inveigh against the deficit — and last month their senators voted in lockstep against any increase in the federal debt limit, a move that would have precipitated another government shutdown if Democrats hadn’t had 60 votes.” The obvious goal, then, is to strip Obama’s personality cult of its dangerous 60 votes.
For months, the media and Democratic strategists (is there a difference?) believed the Tea Party would initiate a bloody civil war within the Part of Lincoln. Instead, it scared timid bipartisan Republicans, if only for this election cycle, into the waiting arms of conservative principles – even maverick John McCain.
“This party that we call the Tea Party,” said Palin before its Nashville convention, “this movement, as I say, is the future of politics in America.” J. D. Hayworth hopes the meteoric Tea Part will force McCain to realize that the Jurassic age of bipartisanship is coming to a fiery end. “We all admire and respect John for his service,” said Hayworth. “But he’s been there too long, and it’s time to welcome him back home.” That’s good advice for McCain and the many Republican mavericks that, until the Tea Party arrived, were more than eager to help Obama with “getting something done.”
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