Or, How the "useful idiots" took over the asylum.
Not gonna be a terribly cerebral post, no linkythings, just a muse.
Karl Rove, wretched soul that he is, was absolutely BRILLIANT at bringing together disparate groups, and unifying then under the GOP banner. He didn't respect most of these people, but he empowered them as a voting bloc. His mistake, in my opinion, was thinking that he could keep that genie bottled, only to be used when needed. The problem Rove and Co. have is (imho), as follows:
For years, folks like Rove told their "useful idiots" that they, the people, the party faithful, they were the ones who were really in charge. They pandered to the neo-confederates, the talibangelicals, the Bircher-libertarian, young earth, anti-science MORONS. They told these damned fools that THEY were the real America, and they couldn't bring this country back to its glory without their help. Those like Rove didn't really mean it, but nobody bothered to tell the Teabaggers.
And so, the party faithful did as asked. They ran for local and national office, they contacted their reps, they helped with GOTV. But they didn't stop there. You see, they believed when they were told that they were in charge. They didn't realize they were only supposed to show up and vote how and when they were told. They took that phony message, (and, let's face it, a LOT of money), and they ran with it.
Now, this has led to some positive outcomes for the unholy Republican/Teabagger alliance, particularly on a regional level, but is only viable in the short term, and on a national level, out has truly devastating consequences. The demographic they must court, and count on, to win within the party, well, on a national level, it's shrinking. The elderly white male racists, the Christian fundamentalists, the homophobes, misogynists, bigots of all kinds, they're dying out and falling by the wayside.
This leads to a future filled with ever shrinking options. The folks like Rove can simply level with the base, explain that they have been used (for their own benefit, of course), and then hope like hell that the party faithful will see the looming cliff, choose to alter course, and pray some semblance of sanity breaks out. Not bloody likely, but hey, it's an option.
If they choose not to come clean, or their pleas are simply rejected, they face the very destruction of the GOP as a national party, for at least a generation. The Rovians are necessarily at odds with their own base, because the love of power, and its trappings, is not nearly as important to the base as idealogical purity.
Rove and company understand that the demographic shift in this country is KILLING them. The only way to recover is a purge. The more obnoxious, reactionary idiots must go. Or, conversely, the less pure of heart must face the headman's axe.
In any case, I no longer see a way forward for the GOP that does not include a political bloodbath, and the probable schism of the party. The Promethean fire that Rove bestowed on his "useful idiots" may well be used to light the very pyre he (figuratively) burns on.
The irony, I'm sure, is not lost on Friend Turdblossom.
I take no small amount of pleasure in watching this play out, but I need to take a moment, amidst my glee, to point out the damage this nasty little civil war will cause. On a regional level, we can expect minority rights to suffer GREATLY. On a national level, the splintering factions of the GOP are going to carouse massive economic trauma. The list of things they will fuck up on the way out is nearly endless.
Now, I believe that if we, all of us, as a nation, can survive the oncoming storm, we have the potential to change our national political discourse in a way that's, well it's breathtaking. It could change the world as we know it. I can almost see it...
...but I don't know that we can, or will, survive this. We may very well stand watch at the deathbed of the American Republic, instead of watching the rebirth of its greatest promise. I just don't know.
Nothing else to say, really. I hope you've enjoyed my late night muse/rant. Carry on in the comments.