Crazy Is On The Bus, part 1

Nov 8th, 2010
 
by F. Grey Parker
Please check out other stories here at The Hand. 

They are on their way. The new Republican congressional members, with all their naiveté and delusions of a "mandate," are about to arrive and they are bringing the crazy. Indeed, crazy is on the bus and The Crazy Bus is barreling down on Washington D.C. 
 


I don't remember another election where so many new representatives were expected to fix government by opposing the concept that we need government. Perhaps I just don't get some form of folksy wisdom. But they really seem sure of themselves, don't they? 

The big message of The Tea party, we are told, is to reduce spending and the deficit while lowering taxes. These are such obviously opposing goals given the realities of our economy that we are going to need some specifics fairly soon. How are they going to pull this off?

The highest profile newcomer backed by the Tea Party, Rand Paul (R-KY), appeared today on ABC's This Week.  When pressed on this, he seemed supremely confident of not much in particular.

"Give me one specific cut, Senator-elect," This Week anchor Christiane Amanpour asked Paul in an exclusive interview Sunday morning. 

"All across the board," Paul said. 

"But you just can't keep saying all across the board," Amanpour pressed.
  
"No, I can."

Okay then. The thing is, Senator-elect Paul may be one of the sanest and most grounded of the bunch. The really jaw-droppingly lunatic newcomers are mostly going to the House of Representatives.

Copyright FOX 2010

Meet Allen West of Boca Raton, Florida. Viewed widely overseas and by many here at home as a war criminal, Mr. West rode the Tea Party "tidal wave" to victory. 


You may recall, he was also the candidate who said he has a higher security clearance than The Commander in Chief. In the words of VoteVets, "He's a verified torturer, war criminal and liar."


Would this have been remotely acceptable only a few years ago? Why has it become acceptable now? I think, perhaps, there may be those in the Tea Party who not only admire a lack of knowledge, but also mistake a certain kind of lawlessness for American Exceptionalism. Which is a polite way of saying they are dangerous brutes.
 
The coming months are going to very strange indeed...