NY-23: The Circus Called, They Want Their Big Tent Back

Sarah Palin: The gift that keeps on giving. That’s the long and short of Democrat Bill Ownens’ victory yesterday in NY’s 23rd Congressional district–a place that’s been electing Republicans nonstop since the days of Lincoln.

I (like so many others) sense a trend developing and I certainly like what I see. The hard-right, batshit, wingnut faction of America’s conservative movement has undertaken a Stalinesque ideological purging of moderate viewpoints the GOP—a party they believe should completely reflect their own interests without an inch of wiggle room for more moderate ideas. The national party apparatus is effectively allowing the loony wing to shrink the once-grand ol’ party down to a reactionary, nativist regional party.

Guess what? The circus called—they want their big tent back. The Theocon faction is doing so well at trying to force all GOP candidates to tow the reactionary line of opportunist, demogaugic schmucks like Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Michele Malkin and Sarah Plain. Dudes, keep it up—because of people like you, the Democratic party may soon swell to an unprecedented girth.

These “purist” carpetbagging interlopers apparently have no problem shitting upon an important, old-timey tenet of conservatism—respecting local values. In a nation this vast, two generic national parties can in no way account for myriad regional political flavors. Republicans in the Northeast have classically been liberal or moderate on social issues. Democrats down South once had no shame in promoting Jim Crow and fighting the Civil Rights Movement. Once upon a time in NYC, Republicans were often cross-endorsed on the now-defunct Liberal party ballot line with nary a muss or fuss. I have a newsflash for the Theocons : Here up North, conservative-minded folks are more concerned with things like excessive taxation and government largesse rather than how many gays can be burned at the stake or how to use government to tell women what they can and can’t do with their own bodies. Your brainless tactics will do nothing but help fissure your fragile–souless party into two outflanked factions.

Perhaps this trend will finally reveal to the majority that the Republican party is an emperor wearing no clothes. Since the 1960s Southern Strategy, the GOP became a two-headed monster of two completely contradictory ideologies—secular laissez faire capitalism and Southern bigot religious populism. Boiled down to their deep ideological foundations, these two idea systems just don’t work together but with the aid of political consultants and demogouge pundits, people can be brainwashed into believing just about anything. The Christian “love thy neighbor,” and Ayn Randian “Greed is good” sure make strange bedfellows. In theory, of course.

Alls’ I know (as we Upstaters like to say), is that things are starting to get real interesting. Who could have predicted this particular brand of change?