Bachmann et al; resolved to ruin or to rule the state. Why we lose even if we win.

[Kalidurga]

To borrow a phrase from John Dryden, to captures the Tea Party view point. Even if we win the battle and we most likely will, Bachmann and Perry are unelectable. However, the mere fact that so many extremists on the right are running points to some disturbing trends.

The most disturbing trend is the attack on working class Americans. Everyone from the fast food workers, first responders, teachers, union workers and anyone making less than a quarter of a million dollars a year. Republicans are bashing them as social leeches and the problem with this country and pointing to them as the reason the economy is bad. By them I mean us, we the working class, the 90% that are wage slaves. What is even more maddening is there is a faction of the working class that is joining in and shouting that entitlements are ruining the nation. That the safety net that many people will need at some point in their life is the sole reason for all of societies woes.

We are now in a position that we have to fight for programs that most of us have paid into our entire adult lives. The opposition paints anyone that is willing to fight for entitlements as being selfish and not willing to share the sacrifice, never mind that many people are living off of these entitlements as their sole income. Many families will chip in to help their elderly relatives, even ones that are barely making it themselves. So, instead of being able to move forward and tackling other issues that need to be addressed, such as developing alternative energies. We are stuck defending programs that have already been developed and have been proven to work.

Just a few years ago bigots were fringe elements that feared to voice their bigotry. It was still their but the ugliness was below the surface and those that had it knew that it was not socially acceptable. Today, they are out and about and proud of it. They have no shame in holding up signs that bash our President based not on policy, but on his race. Here is one of them holding her sign proudly Yes, I realize African is not a race, not sure she does though. The bigots are emboldened now, they will draw pictures of Obama with a bone in his nose and ask "What racism?". I doubt that this is confined to the one black man in office, most assuredly this hate spills over to African Americans in general.

A two party system needs to have two healthy parties. So while it is somewhat gratifying to see a hated party self destruct, it is not healthy. There are still enough hate mongers in DC to give their base the idea that it is perfectly normal, mainstream, and fine, no admirable to hate their neighbors and anyone that has not lived up to their idea of success. The message of tolerance is being trampled on in ways that I have not seen in my lifetime. I was hoping that we as a nation had learned our lessons and were moving forward leaving the stains of racism, sexism, and poor bashing, behind one day perhaps within my lifetime, but now I have given up on the idea this will happen within decades, perhaps it will yet happen within a century and my grand children will read about today's events like I read about the civil rights movement as a child and wondered why people had to fight so hard for basic rights. I was happy to have been born in a time that most people's rights were recognized even if some discrimination was still in existence. At least we as a people in most cases had a recourse if our rights were violated. We simply can't afford to allow a party to have power when they don't recognize basic rights.

It seems that the Tea Party has put us on the road to ruin, it is yet to be seen if they will cease the power they crave to rule. If they do, Gaia help us all.