The Tea Party Train Wreck That Never Happened

Three weeks ago, E.J. Dionne (or "Baghdad Bob," as James Taranto has called him) saw nothing but doom in the GOP's future, as "the Republican establishment ... is essentially powerless," having surrendered its soul to the evil Tea Party, which has driven the country to hell.

Events since have proved this judgment mistaken: The establishment lives, and is doing its duty; part of the Tea Party has been merging with it; and the "system" is working as planned.

What are the signs that the system is working? When the prospect of former House speaker Newt Gingrich as the presidential nominee of the Republican Party first appeared to be rising, first responders from all parts of the party rushed to their stations en masse.

Former House colleagues called him unstable. The National Review termed him "erratic." Ann Coulter called him all hat and no cattle. Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., weighed in with a similar judgment.

Tea Party stars rushed to shore up Mitt Romney, the most probable Gingrich alternative. Gov. Chris Christie, R-N.J., had already endorsed him. Gov. Nikki Haley, R-S.C., now endorsed him. Christine O'Donnell, who unseated Rep. Mike Castle in Delaware's GOP Senate primary, endorsed the ex-moderate.

This was bad news for Dionne and his friends, who have waiting been three years for a Tea Party blowup (which they ought to know now is not likely to happen), and for the suicide wing of the conservative movement, which blames all its woes on establishment cunning, and calls the Coulters and Coburns RINOs and worse.

For the rest of the world, it was an unrelieved blessing. In a matter of days the Newt boom subsided, and the former speaker fell gently to Earth.

The problem with the people that make up the “tea party” (which is just the current incarnation of the “Moral Majority” of the Reagan era). Is they tend to be like a huge, but lazy, bear. When they feel threatened or are riled up, nothing can stop them, they roll over everything in their path (see 1980, 1994, and 2010). However, as soon as they feel the threat has past, they are content to go back into hibernation. Unfortunately, because of the sheer magnitude of the muscle they flexed in 2010, many are content to declare victory and go back to sleep.

I truly believe that your post was the absolute best post I've seen in my 11 years here.

It's our (the Right) achilles heel. We don't go on offense until there's a real threat to our Republic, and by the time we do wake up, serious damage has already been done.

The Left is always at work. They never sleep.

The Right must wake up, and stay up!

Where there's a shell, there's a way.

25 years ago, we had Ronald Reagan, Johnny Cash, and Bob Hope.
Today we have Obama, no cash, and no hope!

If you can't appreciate the pure beauty of the violin after hearing this, something's wrong with your ears.

Or you can get raw with these strings.

How about this gamechanger from America's Got Talent (which they SHOULD have won).

Either way, the violin is sweet yet lethal.

Do it!

In my opinion there will soon be that final feather drop that will herald the beginning of the vigilante party. The party that will return this nation to being governed by law rather than by man. This task will require a lot of rope to clean out those judges, politicians, and bureaucrats who think they are our masters. This is not beyond the ability of “we the people”.

The political right has always been afflicted with an engineer’s mindset. We expect those things we have fixed to remain fixed for ever, never needing further attention. The left how ever are always digging at the foundations, weakening every thing and doing everything they can to break what we have fixed.

Schizophrenic behavior by the left. They desire big powerful government and at the same time trying to create chaotic anarchy.

The political right has always been afflicted with an engineer’s mindset. We expect those things we have fixed to remain fixed for ever, never needing further attention.

Indeed. However, we on the Right must go on offense.