The party’s over, America. And, unfortunately, it isn’t the Tea Party. Prepare to follow in the footsteps of the Romans, the Greeks, the Brits, the Grand Fenwicks. The empire has fallen into the grip of a powerful cadre of overseers who suffer delusions and celebrate ignorance.<\/p>\n
This morning we will be plagued by ceaseless and insufferable speeches about what message the American people are sending. But the all too obvious summation boils down to a populace that has resolutely turned toward Washington and shouted: We’re idiots!<\/p>\n
That’s right. We are a nation that can be easily manipulated by disingenuous flattery, horror stories of marauding, alien, socialists, and offers of extravagant and unpaid for gifts of tax cuts and magically disappearing deficits. We are a gullible lot and are anxious for anyone with a sword and a smile to rescue us from the certain doom that was manufactured by our reputed saviors. We are desperately grasping for the rays of light that emanate from our electronic herald of Armageddon, Fox News, as we pray for salvation and mercy. [Note: Two Fox News contributors were elected. John Kasich, governor of Ohio, and Pam Biondi, Attorney General of Florida]<\/em><\/p>\n It’s hard to put a positive spin on last night’s disappointing election results if you aren’t fully steeped in Tea Baggery. Turning the House over to an angry Republican mob is about as disturbing a development as can be imagined. The specter of a sobbing John Boehner pretending to grab the reins of power is ironic imagery, to say the least. And the inevitable gloating of repugnant characters like Sarah Palin, Karl Rove, Jim DeMint, and Glenn Beck is chilling indeed. But there are reasons to maintain hope.<\/p>\n First of all, Sarah Palin’s vaunted Mama Grizzlies were more like harmless Teddy Bears. Sharron Angle, Christine O’Donnell, Linda McMahon, and Carly Fiorina all lost. Each of those races were hijacked by Tea Partiers who arguably performed worse than the establishment Republicans they beat in the primaries. So Palin likely helped Democrats preserve their majority in the Senate. Thanks Sarah.<\/p>\n California was a particularly bright spot for Democrats. They won every statewide race and maintained a majority congressional caucus. And it looks like Colorado Democrats muscled through victories for both governor and senate over world-class wackos Tom Tancredo and Ken Buck respectively. Also, West Virginia’s John Raese and Alaska’s Joe Miller, both Papa Grizzlies, were rejected by voters. In Miller’s case the loss was a personal rebuke of Palin in her home state as her nemesis Lisa Murkowski trounced Palin’s Tea Party palooka with an unprecedented write in campaign. These, and other races that bucked the red tide, offer some solace and hope for future renewal.<\/p>\n So where does this leave America? As disheartening as it is that so many people would vote for so much stupidity, it probably doesn’t have as much of an impact on lawmaking as one might think. The Democratic House was repeatedly thwarted for the past two years by a Senate whose rules allowed a minority of right-wingers to impose gridlock. Now the Republican House will get to see what it’s like to pass bills that go to the Senate to languish and die.<\/p>\n Furthermore, Republicans have exceedingly over-promised their constituents. They campaigned on a platform of cutting taxes and reducing the deficit. But they offered no plans to achieve any of it. They are going to find that it is much easier to complain about spending than it is to actually cut programs that people support and depend upon.<\/p>\n The new Republican House majority is sitting on a precarious precipice. They have already announced that their top priority will be to insure that Barack Obama is a one-term president. The best way to do that is to prevent any progress on legislation that will benefit the country on economy and jobs. But if they do that they will be held accountable as well and will likely get shoved back into minority status. This congress has a heavy burden to produce tangible results. That is, unless the Tea Party is a pretentious facade of partisan Republicans that never had the courage of their convictions in the first place. Uh oh.<\/p>\n Washington is going to start making noises about working together for the good of the nation. They do this after every election, but it is even more important now. Their natural impulse will be to espouse the bipartisan rhetoric of compromise while ignoring the reality of it entirely. But due to the severity of the nation’s problems, Democrats and Republicans have something in common that may cause them to behave out of character. They both need to have trophies to display in 2012 in order to get reelected. They need to make progress on improving the economy and creating jobs, but that progress conflicts with what the GOP claims is their first priority, beating Obama.<\/p>\n It will be interesting to see what happens if the Republican House fails to move legislation that gets results. Will the Tea Party stay true to their professed ideals and throw the bums out? If not, then the dishonesty of their movement will be revealed. They will be exposed as nothing more than noisy Republicans. And the rest of the country will be justified in asking them politely to shut the fuck up.<\/p>\n Good luck, America. We’re going to need it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The party’s over, America. And, unfortunately, it isn’t the Tea Party. Prepare to follow in the footsteps of the Romans, the Greeks, the Brits, the Grand Fenwicks. The empire has fallen into the grip of a powerful cadre of overseers who suffer delusions and celebrate ignorance. This morning we will be plagued by ceaseless and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[152,1],"tags":[33,286,381,534],"class_list":["post-3115","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-election","category-general","tag-fox-news","tag-john-boehner","tag-sarah-palin","tag-tea-party"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4Ijg-Of","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":7011,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=7011","url_meta":{"origin":3115,"position":0},"title":"Mitt Romney’s Campaign Slogan: We’re Not Stupid","author":"Mark NC","date":"5\/2\/2012","format":false,"excerpt":"This week there has been a swirling mini-controversy surrounding the use of the word \"Forward\" in a new web video posted on Barack Obama's campaign site. The Right-Wing Noise Machine sprung into action to assert that there was some sort of connection between that word and its use by socialist\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Election"","block_context":{"text":"Election","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=152"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1559,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=1559","url_meta":{"origin":3115,"position":1},"title":"Glenn Beck: The Youth Of America Are Being Hijacked","author":"Mark NC","date":"2\/13\/2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Not that it's anything new, but Glenn Beck has identified yet another plot by Barack Obama and progressives to bring about the destruction of America. In this instance of mortification, Beck's unique insight reveals that our nation's children are the next targets of progressive evil. He declared with a flourish\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4331,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=4331","url_meta":{"origin":3115,"position":2},"title":"Let’s Keep Kicking Fox News While It’s Down","author":"Mark NC","date":"4\/27\/2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Fox News' ratings are beginning to reflect the general disenchantment that America is experiencing with the lunatic fringe as represented by Republicans and Tea Partyers (but I repeat myself). In the latest Nielsen reporting for April 2011, the most prominent Fox programs have precipitously declined: What is especially notable about\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10694,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=10694","url_meta":{"origin":3115,"position":3},"title":"Weak Tea: Fox News Sponsored Tea Party Protests Fizzle Out","author":"Mark NC","date":"10\/11\/2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Remember back in 2009 when Fox News was pulling out all the stops to promote the newborn Tea Party? They broadcast every town howl and invited an endless stream of tri-cornered hat wearing crackpots to rant about tyranny and Kenyan usurpers. Fox even branded the Tea Party movement as its\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1577,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=1577","url_meta":{"origin":3115,"position":4},"title":"New Tea Party Survey Affirms Overt Partisanship","author":"Mark NC","date":"3\/3\/2010","format":false,"excerpt":"In a story promoted by Fox Nation, they reference a \"survey\" that reveals conclusions that are diametrically opposed to what the Fox Nationalists assert. On the Fox Nation web site the story is headlined: New Tea Party Survey Destroys Media Myths. The story links to an article in the Washington\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9344,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=9344","url_meta":{"origin":3115,"position":5},"title":"Hey Tea Baggers: Did You Know That You Are Supposed To Be Boycotting Fox News NOW?","author":"Mark NC","date":"3\/23\/2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Attention all Tea Partiers. The massively humungous national boycott of the pinko liberal Fox News network is currently in progress. Join the movement that is demanding that Fox News cease to be a mouthpiece for the left. This crusade is being undertaken because Fox has betrayed the Tea Party and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/tea-party-fox-boycott-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/tea-party-fox-boycott-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/tea-party-fox-boycott-1.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3115","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3115"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3115\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3118,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3115\/revisions\/3118"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3115"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3115"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3115"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}