The Tea Partiers and the Russian Bolsheviks have more in common than they would be comfortable with, namely working to hurl their country towards disaster.
Revolution can be healthy for a society, but all too often those around the leadership usurp it and catastrophe is the result. Once victory is won, the tone changes and the people doing work organizing and sometimes fighting are forgotten.
History provides ample examples of this. In recent memory, George W. Bush's promise of "Compassionate Conservatism" lasted only until his selection of Vice President. The result of this "Revolution" (yes there were people using that word to describe his 2000 Primary campaign) was dead Iraqi civilians dead heroic soldiers, an avoidable terrorist incident on 9/11 which was then exploited by the most corrupt parts of our system, and the Treasury looted by white collar crooks. A similar monster,Vladimir Ulyanov stoked the fires of Revolution against the Tsarist regime of Nicolas II only to do an about face after the Bolshevik's won and insist that what he called "Left Wing Communism" was an infantile disorder in 1920 when he was secure in his power. http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1920/lwc/index.htm
Indeed, few of the peasants victimized by King Louis XVI could have seen how the people they supported would go on to victimize them once they had secured power.Monsters like Marat and Robespierre don't tell people in advance that they are going to be worse rulers than the current King. And they also don't tell people that their incompetence sets the stage for a brutal military dictator to take over.
I've already devoted an entire column to what became of the Hope, Unity, Change mantra of 2008 and precisely where it went wrong.
The Who had it exactly right-"And the men who stirred us on, sit in judgement of our wrongs. They decide that the shotgun sings the song." That song, Won't Get Fooled Again" made #1 in a 2006 National Review article regarding the most conservative Rock songs. http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/217737/rockin-right/john-j-miller.
I think the other songs are a stretch to call conservative, but agree with the conservative sentiment in this song. But what's going on with Tea Partys today is not conservatism. Most conservatives are genuinely good honest people. The proper label for the Tea Party is Reactionary.
A good measurement of broad general concepts is defining the opposites. Words and their definitions are important. As proof, look at how the term "Fascist" has become an insult as opposed to a description of the marriage between state and industry in a Totalitarian society. Most people recently use the term "Socialist" to describe what they don't like about the current administration while ignoring his substantial Corporate backers. Orwell was right in his criticism of the denigration of language.
The opposite of liberal is not conservative, contrary to popular opinion. Liberal has its root word as liberty. As a matter of fact, the Liberal party of Australia is the name for the conservative party. The American demonization of the word has always been ludicrous! The opposite of Liberal is Totalitarian. Likewise the opposite of Conservative is not Liberal. Conservatives generally believe that what's in place should be used (If it ain't broke don't fix it) and revolutions are not desirable. The opposite of Conservative is Radical.
The opposite of a Reactionary is a Progressive. Glen Beck has described Progressives as a "cancer" and that pretty much proves the point. Not that it's true. As a matter of fact, the resort to an Ad Hominem or Straw Man argument is an admition of the weakness of one's position.
And what happened the last time Reactionaries seized power in this country? I mentioned just a few incidents at the start of this column " dead Iraqi civilians dead heroic soldiers, an avoidable terrorist incident on 9/11 which was then exploited by the most corrupt parts of our system, and the Treasury looted by white collar crooks." We can expect more of the same if Reactionaries get their way. The last time I remember Reactionaries being this active, workers in a Federal Building in Oklahoma City paid with their lives. And a few months ago, didn't we just see some loser fly his plane into as IRS building?
I see this playing out one of four ways. Either the next Tim McVeigh is somewhere out there listening to Rush Limbaugh and going to Tea Party rallies or the next Marat/Robespirre/Lenin is somewhere out there listening to Rush Limbaugh and going to Tea Party rallies. This could lead to another Oklahoma City massacre or the beginnings of a full scale armed revolt. Or both. Or it could just run its course and end with a whimper not a bang.
I don't see Palin or Bachman as leaders capable of any of that. I don't think either one of them is the Tea Party Robespierre. Nor is Limbaugh, Beck, Coulter, or Malkin. They might apologize for a betrayal of principles once victory is achieved, but they aren't actually smart enough to do the organizing. But their involvement is not the genuinely scary part.
The scary part is the way social conservatives often embrace End Times mythology. Add nukes into the mix of a potential revolution in this country and potentially put them into the hands of people who believe nonsense and are easily manipulated and you have a prescription for disaster. Add a second prescription with Global Warming/Evolution deniers and if this Reactionary Revolution is set to lead all of us to catastrophe if it actually can get any real traction.
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