There are lots of ways to look at the Republicans/Tea Party. They are an extreme party. They are idealogues. They are self-centered and corrupt. They are bigots. They are stupid. They are political animals with no interest in governing. All this may be true for at least some of them. However...
The unifying factors of the GOP now - the GOP that controls the House and now has power - this GOP is a cult. And it is a cult built around the tactics of modern marketing that allow it to thrive like it's a legitimate political party, while continuously brainwashing each other. Really, it's amazing.
Here's how marketing and cult behavior intersect: They watch their own media. They go to their own schools. They disseminate their own communications inside their own churches (in the case of the religious right) or associations.
This is a political party that now speaks the language of rationality and reasonableness on one hand, and then speaks internally with the ferocity and lack of respect for the opposition that one sees in a dictator's military or secret police. There is no bipartisanship, just talk of it. There is no compromise or moderation. But there is showmanship, and great marketing for the Republican brand. Move over, Reverand Moon!
The new GOP marketing cult is banking on one central premise: That everybody will continue to buy into the propoganda and the lip service, and that nobody will care that it's all not true.
Thank goodness we still have President Obama and a Democratic Senate. As bad as 2001 - 2008 were with those Republicans, imagine what it would be like if this Republican-Tea Party cult were in charge of everything...