I am fond of saying that every generation has its challenges and certainly this generation faces some daunting ones. I think what will make it even more difficult for those in the future are the rising number of groups who are quite frankly, bat shit crazy. I would include in this cabal the Tea Party, Survivalists (Gun Nuts and infowars.com), the New Republican Party, and the right wing media. In searching for common denominators between all of these groups I can only find one, an irrational fear.
First comes the Tea Party who likes to pretend they are a grassroots movement, but whose creation owes more to multi-national corporations especially the Koch brothers who appear to have only one political rule, if it’s good for us, it must be good for the United States. Koch Industries use their patchwork of philanthropic organizations to push their conservative and libertarian ideas onto an unsuspecting public. That’s because all of their activities are secret. The Koch brothers have also supported numerous initiatives that appear to many to be racist. So if you want to belong to a group of corporate industrialists, who deal in secrecy with racial overtones, it appears the Tea Party was meant for you.
Next comes the survivalists. They often live in packs and have a manipulative view of religion. If not living together they meet often to discuss their plans should the government take away their guns. They slobber over Alex Jones and infowars.com which is a group of people who have taken selected doomsday writings and applied them to current world issues. Alex Jones wants you to know there’s a war on for your mind. Except he doesn’t have one, the writers he promotes are hacks, and your second amendment rights are already protected by the constitution. However, they can be regulated. It is illegal to own a nuclear bomb, a drone, and anything that starts with stealth.
The third crazy group is the new Republican party who is made up of many of the members of these other groups. They are new because sometime in the last forty years they stopped being the party of lower taxes and less government and started being the party of moral certitude. An old Republican would have no position on abortion, they would think it was out of bounds for government intervention. They made the change by making themselves look more religious and joining with the religious right. Even though new Republican strategist Karl Rove called well respected evangelical leaders “nuts.” They are much like today’s Libertarians but less religious and much dumber.
Last is the right wing media and people like Rush Limbaugh. They are hired hands who are willing to sell their souls. Some are probably true believers, but most do it for the paycheck and don’t even believe the crap that comes out of their mouths. Why? It’s so easy to pick out the lies. Jon Stewart does it almost every night.
Members of these groups are people who say things like “Mission Accomplished,” it wasn’t. “Few rapes result in pregnancies,” not true. “I’m White and Proud,” no you’re not, you’re a poor excuse for a Supreme Court Justice and a troll.
Remember, all these groups operate under fear of losing a precious commodity. The Tea Party group is afraid of losing Mayberry, which never was and will never be. The Survivalists are scared the government is going to drive up to their front door with a tank and take away their guns. The New Republicans are worried that they won’t be able to satisfy the appetites of their corporate benefactors. And the right wing media is afraid of losing a paycheck.
These groups come off as being powerful, but they are really paralyzed by irrational thoughts and fears. That doesn’t mean they are not dangerous. Fear is a powerful motivator.