The gun nuts are doing victory laps in Houston, and Sarah Palin drew a standing ovation by souting the political irrationalism one would expect to find at one fringe gatherings where she learned the rhetoric of rage. She warned about evil elites conspiring against gun owners, and the first vice president of the NRA rightly said that theirs was a cultural movement, though he then defined culture as the constitutional theory the Secessionists fought for in the War Between the States.
As stress levels increase, people rely less on former mental frameworks to deal with dysfunction. There is a tendency to adopt what seems a construction of reality that is legitimized by tradition that gives the appearance of the common wisdom. Because there is a need to change the existing order, many adopted outlooks that included traditional conservative wisdom but went beyond that to offer the prospect of resistance and change. They were offered by people formerly thought to be on the extremist fringe-- the survivalists, militias, Constitutionalists, and the like.
They seem to accept many of the values held out by corporate America and the Republican Party but they offer also offer conspiracy theories that are rooted in hostility to government and certain “Other” groups. There emerged a right-wing movement of of resistance, defiance and change that ranged from people who confined their beliefs to extreme versions of conservative political thought to those who mixed blended that with the violent, anti-state rhetoric of the militias and other parts of what was once considered the lunatic fringe.
Just as one finds very little in a right-wing megachurch church to suggest that Christianity has a 2000 year history, so too, the political fundamentalists are cut off from most American political thought. There is contempt for tradition and thought; they believe they can access truth easily and directly. While many think it is difficult to grasp what the Constitution, written long ago, really means, the fundamentalists are sure they can access it without the assistance of tradition, developing constitutional law, or factual knowledge. There is even a strong rejection of science, which baffles foreigners. Perhaps earlier excursions into right-wing populism led people to reject biological evolution and global warming as false ideas of an over-educated elite. Now the rejection of expertise has led almost an entire political party to write off macro-economics, except those notions that justify benefits for the wealthy.
The Christian Dominionists are also essentially political fundamentalists. It represents the spirituality of today's lunatic fringe. They rely upon the Bible as their revered scripture, and the the members of The Family or Fellowship seem to use an interpretation of the Bible that worships power and condones American empire and the untrammeled capitalism. Theirs is a very strange approach to religion but it really is not all that far away from the versions of political evangelical Christianity offered by the numerous Christian churches that have become Republican political club houses.
Since 2008, the nation has been in the throes of a massive crisis; people sense there is something very wrong and are persuaded it is to fixed by retreating to a mythical, golden past and remedies offered by the Republican Party. Political fundamentalism is an emotional embrace of what seems to be received truth by people who are angry and frightened. The only so-called received ideas that are available are found in the political narrative Ronald Reagan espoused and was refined by Republican politicians and propagandists over the decades.
The period beginning in 2008 could be characterized by what Joseph Gusfield called a “crisis of havoc” in which all meanings seemed to dissolve and most people also felt great economic insecurity. People who are adverse to ambiguity react by resorting to political fundamentalism, embracing what they think are the verities of being true Americans. In this case, there was Social Darwinism–no more assistance for the unemployed, etc), intense nationalism, xenophobia, which included racism and anti-gay and anti-Hispanic sentiments. Fear and paranoia led many to become devoted to what they mistakenly thought are long established American values. Frequently, they talk about their fear of losing their country, which usually means they are concerned that the United States is becoming a pluralistic nation.
The beauty of political fundamentalism is that those who embrace it surrender critical judgment and believe something with their whole heart and soul. It does not matter what foolish things its prophets like Bachmann and Perry say; the believer compensates for these slips. They believe with intensity and some will even accept cuts in Social Security and Medicare to accomplish a rightist nirvana.
Right-wing revitalization movements can also be labeled political fundamentalism because those within it have the attitude of survivors, reverting to unquestionable truths and withdrawing into a protective mental cocoon that usually cannot be penetrated by reason. There also can be left-wing revitalization movements, but at this time, they are more likely to occur in Europe than in the United States.
The Tea Party is remarkable due to the speed with which it surfaced and the impact it has had. Forty percent of the people who voted in November, 2010 said they were sympathetic to the Tea Party Movement. It elected 63 new Republican members of the House of Representatives.
The Tea Party---misnamed because it is a wing of one major party and because the original Tea Party was partly against monopoly-- originated with anger at Wall Street and the TARP bail-out. Little time passed before the Tea Baggers became fierce defenders of the banks. This transformation would be amusing if it were not such a tragedy. Yet the transformation was predictable. They moved naturally from brief complaints about banks, speculators, or Big Pharm to dogmatic adherence to what they think are American “givens”—opposing meddling government and regulations that could harm banks and business.
The Tea Party is so worrisome because it is a manifestation of a larger phenomenon. A very large part of the Republican Party has drifted far to the right into political fundamentalism, and they have been joined my many so-called independents who want quick, easy explanations. Technically, most of the new political fundamentalists are not members of the Tea Party and they do not use violent language or approve of secession. Nevertheless, they have drifted into modes of thought that often require suspension of critical judgment . They have also accepted very simplistic economic theories that are doing real harm now. Had Romney won in 2012, they would have been able to enact an economic program that could have wrecked the economy. i As it is, they have the whip hand in the House of Representatives and are able to block recovery legislation and slow growth. Given the confusion of today's voters, they cannot be blamed for betting that their strategy of slowing recovery will spur voters to punish Obama in 2014 by giving the GOP complete control of Congress.
In a crisis atmosphere, there is a strong urge for very frightened people to shut down their critical thinking processes and revert to “default” positions laid out in the conventional wisdom established by corporate America. The need for emotional comfort is satisfied by adhering to what are mistakenly seen as orthodox policies, even though those very policies may have resulted in the loss of your savings, house, or job. Whatever dissonance there might be between experience and orthodoxy or conventional wisdom will be resolved in favor of the conventional wisdom and orthodoxy.
The givens of the conventional wisdom for these people are American exceptionalism, unregulated capitalism, Social Darwinism, and belief in a smaller government. For the smaller core of true believers, political fundamentalism in built on the notion that the Tenth Amendment is the core of the constitution and establishes the sovereignty of the states.
Rightist conventional wisdom narrative exorcises fear and the feelings of uncertainty that emerge when one entertains the possibility that there are other explanations to consider. It resolves any conflicts that might exist in one’s inner world, and adherents often work hard to convince others perhaps because they want to be convinced themselves. This all-or-nothing approach is a threat to peace and stability.
A few have correctly hypothesized that if Barack Obama managed to win re-election in 2012, it is likely that the right-wing extremists will opt to shut down the government. The Republican leadership passed up this option a few months ago, but it now seems they will not be able to avoid it by August. The Tea Party has shut down the budget process, which could guarantee default and a government shut-down. They are encouraged in this course, because the voters, uneasy over a weak economy, now seem to blame Obama more than the GOP for the pains that come with sequester. Obama is also blamed for the on-going budget gridlock, even though the Right has offered nothing in the way of compromise.
Tea Baggers endorse the old idea that so-called free markets solve all problems. It was this outlook that nearly brought on a depression and the destruction of the financial system and economy. The Tea Baggers rail against big government and they want to keep government out of the medical care arena. Yet, most of them do not see their Medicare as a government program, and almost none of them would see a problem with Governor Bobby Jindal’s saying one day that the federal government should stay out of our lives, but later demanding it must build sand barriers and compensate fishermen. Sarah Palin sang the same song about less government and later was all over President Barack Obama because he has not figured out how to shut down the well in the Gulf or discovered a way to scoop up millions of gallons heading toward marshes and shore. Rick Perry, who had the most to say about keeping federal power out of state matters, wasted no time asking for federal aid to help the stricken folks of West, exas.
The Tea Baggers are in the process of assuming the identity of American history’s victims—good, patriotic, productive folks who are victimized by big government that spends too much and does not respect their rights. To be sure, this collective memory will include versions of historical events and processes that are far from the truth. Yet, they will be fervently believed and will become nearly impossible for outsiders to challenge with facts, logic, and analysis.
Their people in Congress are now planning a government default, one which can occur only after they pass legislation guaranteeing certain private investors continued payment on government bonds. Few seem to see the wickedness and inconsistency in this. Their allies in the GOP will again help them out with the services of expert spin-masters, and their current efforts to bring about default and extend gridlock will produce narratives making them look like history's victims. Of course, the African American in the Oval Office will be made to look like the mastermind behind all our problems, and few mainstram pundits will linkl this paranoic political fundamentalism with racism and fundamentally un-American ideas.