Tipsy on Tea?

One-third of all Republicans believe President Obama is a Muslim and not even a U.S. citizen. How is that possible? One only has to look at who controls the airwaves in America. The three most popular talk shows with a total audience of 10 to 20 million listeners weekly are hosted by Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh. All three are masterminds of the “tea party,” that rebellious, fundamentalist Christian wing of the Republican Party.

Beck and Sarah Palin are the self-appointed leaders of the resistance movement, opposing America’s first black president and the alleged ballooning of governmental power. Last weekend, Beck accused Obama of being racist. On the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C., he assumed the mantle of Martin Luther King and put himself forth as America’s savior.

However, there is nothing to save, except perhaps Beck’s own audience rating figures at Fox News. Tea party ideology, which wavers between religiosity and bigotry, offers no policy ideas of its own. It wilts in the face of the horrendous effects of George W. Bush’s eight years in office and his deregulation of the financial sector.

Ultimately, Beck and Limbaugh will end up causing enormous harm to the Republican Party. because they are bent on tearing it apart. Some of their political allies will force experienced party veterans out of November’s race, and they will celebrate this as a great victory. More than likely, such actions will turn the party into a collection of disjointed groups incapable of governing. In 1980 and 1984, similar intra-party rebellions ended with conservative revolutionaries voted out of office after one term. And rightly so.