P. T. Barnum aptly observed that there is a “sucker born every minute.” In the case of the Tea Party activist movement, the birth rate may be one every second. The prospects for the movement, and the country, are identically both abysmal and comedic. Perhaps tragedy is truly the flip side of comedy.
What is presently happening in 2011 in the Republican Presidential sweepstakes can be understood against the backdrop of the 1996 GOP wars. 15 years ago, the International Central Bankers, Neo-Conservatives, anti-Catholic bigots, and the ever present Christian Zionist nutcases were having collective heart failure over the prospect of a Pat Buchanan nomination. For the most part, Buchanan wasn’t rising above 30% of the vote in any given primary (save Michigan after the battle had already been decided), but in the early going those figures packed considerable clout in a multi-candidate field, resulting in a victory in the Louisiana caucus that finished Phil Grimm, and a first-round victory in the kickoff New Hampshire primary. It was clear that Tricky Dick’s ex-speechwriter was terrifying the power brokers.
It became necessary for these brokers to develop a playbook to destroy Pat Buchanan.
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