The Tea Party Isn’t Dead Yet

Unfortunately.

The Daily Beast

Crippled after the 2012 elections, the farthest reaches of the Republican Party have come roaring back. And they make the Akins and Bachmanns of the world seem reasonable.

As they surveyed the wreckage of the 2012 elections, Republican Party elders agreed: The Tea Party must die.

Ah, bipartisanship at last! Or maybe just the enemy of my enemy is my friend. At least until my enemy is dead.

But a funny thing has happened as the next election cycle approaches. The farthest-right reaches of the Republican Party have come roaring back. And they make the Todd Akins and Michele Bachmanns of the world seem reasonable by comparison.

Oh fucking swell. I'm gonna have a coronary from all the extra butter on the popcorn.

“They have a messianic quality about them, almost a kamikaze quality to them, and when John Boehner says, ‘Judge us by how many laws we repeal,’ he is catering to that element.”

I kinda like the "kamikaze" reference. Sorry 'bout the ships they manage to hit, but this IS war. The thought of most of them crashing full speed into the ocean is heartwarming.

“When a movement is on its last legs, it can be very motivated,” said Skocpol. “Conservatives who feel like they are losing their country are putting all they can into gaining a powerful foothold in the states and in Congress. So they don’t feel like they are about to lose at all.”

Well, they are. The Tea Party will go to its grave thinking everyone is out of step but them. Even in the grave, they'll just think it's dark because wind and solar power don't work.

For my part, I will make a point of watering the lawn above them to signify my respect for them and, like Patton "watering" into the Rhine in '45, I'll be sure to save up a good load for them.