Let’s hear it for the Tea Party and the Conservative Movement. Led by political geniuses like Mark Levin, Laura Ingraham, and Micky Kaus, we just succeeded in tossing out of office for sins of ideological impurity almost certainly the most competent and conservative political leader in the House of Representatives.
Old John McCain betrayed the GOP on more crucial occasions and vital Senate votes than I can count, and we ran him for president against the most glamorous and most radical democrat party nominee in a generation. The Third Senator from New York, Lindsey Graham coasted easily to victory yesterday, having “more fun than any time I’ve been in politics,” kicking the crap out of the Tea Party.
But GOP great minds are today patting themselves on the back for successfully joining with liberal democrats in Virginia’s 7th District to eject from James Madison’s former seat the single congressman representing the greatest institutional threat to the Left.
Cantor’s crimes consisted, of course, merely of being an effective majority leader and operating as part of a system. Cantor wound up a target for a unfocused animosity against the system, while being additionally singled out for special blame for trying to negotiate with our adversaries to resolve the immigration mess.
Cantor’s loss is a particularly bitter one because it was, in significant part, produced by passionate enthusiasm over the only issue on which many conservatives and Republicans are dead wrong.
I was reflecting about all this unhappily today, and I found myself wondering how it is possible for Republicans to traffic commonly so openly in false and obviously bigoted stereotypes of Hispanic immigrants, to indulge so frequently and so loudly in xenophobia and nativism in a society in which the heavy hand of political correctness so typically enforces strict censorship of un-PC speech and condign punishment for conspicuous violations. I think that Republicans actually get to be bigots and racists about the Beaners because the liberals indulgently stand back and avoid criticizing that kind of Republican argumentation, knowing perfectly well just how electorally suicidal it is.
I know personally a lot of people, I actually have cousins, of fairly recent immigrant background, whose grandparents came to this country roughly a century ago, who talk like they think they came over on the Mayflower, and who self-indulgently like to believe that the Mexican illegal working as a laborer on construction, doing agricultural work, or making peanuts washing dishes is taking something away from them and spoiling their view of the landscape. These people seem to have no idea what earlier arrived Americans thought of their own exotic and uncouth ancestors back in the day when those ancestors arrived here –just like today’s Mexicans– to take jobs Americans wouldn’t do.
Cantor was right to want to do something to straighten out the unenforceable immigration legal mess, and the loudmouth, low IQ conservative leadership which took hold of an cheap and easily exploited emotional issue to attack him actually merely organized the proverbial circular firing squad. They knocked off one of our absolutely best political leaders, and they did it using an issue on which they were wrong and an issue whose exploitation is certain to harm Republican prospects. We used to win elections in California. We elected Ronald Reagan governor of that state, and then gained the presidency. Then, the same kind of bright thinkers devoted their political energies to bitching about the presence of the Hispanic immigrants who mow their lawns and do all the other manual labor in California, and they gave the state away to the insanely radical California democrats. Keep it up, and we can count on the same process working nationally.
Funktacular
The butt-hurt is strong in this one.
I know that as a Yalie, your love of the powers-that-be is deeply ingrained, but their time is past. This country is toast. The only question now is whether we can avoid armed civil conflict.
Cantor lost because he was a self-serving asshole who viewed the Washington political class, and not his district, as his true constituency. Crony capitalism was his game, and pushing amnesty in this economy was the act of a man wholly-owned by the US Chamber of Commerce. The latest issue of American Banker also weeps for their stooge.
The crap about Democrats crossing over is dubious, at best. Brat had a superb get-out-the-vote effort. Populist movements are spreading like wildfire here and in Europe. The hour is very late.
Dan Kurt
Cantor was a leader who talked out of both sides of his mouth. He was in the pocket of the RINOs and the undermench in his district understood that they could not trust him. He is no loss and his defeat might help to put a spine transplant to other republican office holders.
Dan Kurt
GoneWithTheWind
I would love to see McCain and Graham booted but it is difficult to kick out an encumbant senator. A Representative can be beaten with just a few thousand votes more or less. As far as I’m concerned Cantor could have been the best guy in the world but the fact that he was pushing amnesty makes him a pariah to me.
The whole “purity” arguement seems odd to me. Kind of an attempt to blame the victim. as in “you don’t like Cantor even though he stabbed you in the back on amnesty but he is a really nice guy”. Sounds too much like “I know this guy raped you but other then that he is a really nice guy”. It just seems like an odd arguement. Cantor knows that amnesty was the third rail that’s why he wanted to sneak it through and do it before the election. That seem pretty damned impure to me. Let’s see if Cantor is such a nice guy. I’m betting that a lame duck congress is going to screw over the citizens when they get the chance. Let’s see if Cantor takes the high road or continues to stab Americans in the back.
sound awake
spoken like a true rino…
on the other side of the destruction of our country from within and without all us loudmouth low iq conservatives will be standing there telling people like the author of this trash “i told you so”
we ignore the principles of our founding fathers in the spirit of getting along politically at our own peril
we just celebrated another d day anniversary-lets not dishonor them again another year by calling them “the greatest generation” and then not do anything the way they would fucking do it
Phil McKann
I like your site quite a bit, but Libertarians and Statists alike have blind spots in regards to human nature.
Millions of immigrants, the sheer volume of it, is the risk vs. the immigrants themselves, to be sure.
But Millions flooding in, deliberately not given time, a generation or two, has made America something else. California was lost because of Hispanics, used to political corruption and easily led, not because bigotry. The nation has been lost in the same way.
Sorry you’re upset about this, I’ve been in your shoes many times. But Cantor was an oily, glad-handing, self-serving politician in the pocket of the labor board and actively working against his base. He got what he deserved.
Chris
You’re wrong. If you don’t fight for what’s right, it’s not worth fighting for. I could write more but what would be the point? You don’t get it. And if you haven’t “gotten” it by now, you aren’t going to.
Blue Dog State
” I think that Republicans actually get to be bigots and racists about the Beaners because the liberals indulgently stand back and avoid criticizing that kind of Republican argumentation, knowing perfectly well just how electorally suicidal it is.”
I agree. This is war is a media war, and liberals have been able to play the electorate for fools simply by controlling the message.
“Fighting for what is right” ? If a tree falls in the forest. . .
ThomasS
Sorry, but this is all just background music as the ship sinks. The Left is getting a permanent majority of rent-seeking voters. Game over on responsible self-government. Now either bankruptcy (the better resolution really) or stagnation is baked in. It’s so logically foreseeable, so predictable, that I’ve resolved not to bother voting anymore. The quicker this beast dies the better.
This is what you get for sending me over to Unqualified Reservations! :)
ThomasS
http://reason.com/blog/2014/06/12/hey-republicans-if-you-reduce-cantors-lo?fb_action_ids=10152111734396491&fb_action_types=og.likes
SDD
Your observation about “ideological impurity” may be right, but here’s the problem. Time after time after time Republican leadership has weaseled on what they said they would do. It’s hard to blame voters for being cynical as a result. Of course, Dave Brat could turn out to be just as weasel-prone once he confronts the realities of holding office in Washington, DC.
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