By Any Means Necessary?
A couple of recent essays and editorials caught the Czar’s eye, and there is a strange theme to them: Gingrich is proof the Tea Party is dead.
Long live the Tea Party, suckas. Don’t you media types wish.
B-b-b-but Czar, they wheedle, the Tea Party is all about the elimination of insiders, and there is no better insider than Gingrich! For them to adopt him as their candidate du jour, would that not mean a total betrayal of what they stand for?
Ah, the irony of that coming from a liberal media. No, little idiots, it merely underscores that you have never understood the Tea Party. The Tea Party is after one thing, really: reduction in taxes.
All that other stuff? That all follows; it never leads.
And Newt Gingrich is the only candidate who can prove he or she helped reduce taxes, back in 1996. Romney? Uh, no: he has the potential to be a big spender himself. And the others? Uh, no.
The irony is that Gingrich may have been in DC politics a long time, but he does not consistently act like an insider. Newt Gingrich has never been popular enough to fit in perfectly; he is that grumpy old guy with the nice lawn on the corner who hollers at the kids. Mitt, on the other hand, will find transitioning to DC quite easy.
In this respect, the Tea Party is making a smart political gamble. And indeed, good medicine: first thing, do no harm. They did that with their peaceful rallies. Second, stop the bleeding: that’s where Newt comes in—get Obama out. Third, and this is the obvious future career path for the Tea Party, start working on the next election in 2014 to get the zombies out of office. One of the Tea Party traits least appreciated by the media is the long-term story arc of the Tea Party: they have a plan over time.
Changes to government, liberal readers, should never be fast and quick. That is a recipe for backlash and disaster; this alone can define the Obama administration. But careful reform takes 20 years, at least, and the Tea Party just started only as early as 2006.
So backing Gingrich is not a bad call for them; they can work on him over the next few years. And if he does not start serious efforts at tax reform, then they have shown a willingness to replace him. Simple as that.
Good luck high-fiving your new meme that Gingrich means the end of the Tea Party. Because it doesn’t; it merely conflicts with your template that the Tea Party must be destroyed.
Божію Поспѣшествующею Милостію Мы, Дима Грозный Императоръ и Самодержецъ Всероссiйскiй, цѣсарь Московскiй. The Czar was born in the steppes of Russia in 1267, and was cheated out of total control of all Russia upon the death of Boris Mikhailovich, who replaced Alexander Yaroslav Nevsky in 1263. However, in 1283, our Czar was passed over due to a clerical error and the rule of all Russia went to his second cousin Daniil (Даниил Александрович), whom Czar still resents. As a half-hearted apology, the Czar was awarded control over Muscovy, inconveniently located 5,000 miles away just outside Chicago. He now spends his time seething about this and writing about other stuff that bothers him.