There appear to be 2 groups of Republicans who would like to dismantle government

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

First group:
Our typical Republicans/Neo Cons who would like to privatize all functions of the government for the simple purpose of making money for themselves. It would be really keen if they could just own ALL the aquifers, the prisons, the roads, the natural resources, lease or buy public lands for pennies, the schools, the utilities, private police forces, paramilitary forces, the Social Security system, etc. Soon they and their buddies could own just about every single damn thing that impacts your daily life and charge you through the nose for it. Whose gonna stop them? The government they dismantled and the regulators they defanged?

Second group:
The insanely incoherent "Tea Baggers" who hate government "just because", or if they can string a couple of sentences together, they will say: it's too big, it threatens the Constitution (you know, the Constitution that ESTABLISHED the government), and then babble something about "our grandchildren" and then something about abolishing taxes and taking back "our country".

It's kinda sad to watch group 2, who are collectively just dumber than paint, inadvertently help group 1, which will do more to make their lives a living horror of poverty and wretchedness than they can imagine and will leave to their grandchildren a world of no protection for the common man and no security as they scrabble for sustenance and shelter in the Ayn Rand anarchy of their grandparents wet dreams.

[Spryboy]

1. Well said

Scary and sad...

[RKP5637]

2. Excellent succinct description!!! n/t

[angryfirelord]

3. The scray thing is

these people vote. :o But yes, I agree with your premise that those are the two main conservative groups with one feeding ideas into another. I find it funny how the libertarian base (like the Ron Paul supporters) whine about how their views are never represented. Well, here you go! This is the movement!





I still don't know whether to think these guys are a serious threat to our government and economic safety (well, what's left of it) or whether the media is just trying to boost their ratings by giving these guys viewing time.

[FSogol]

4. Perfect: Cons and Tea-baggers. Today's GOP. n/t

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

5. delete - wrong place

[maxpower]

6. Well put

Excellent post.

Peace,
Max

[tridim]

7. Group 2 is winning

And group 1 is probably planning to exploit and usurp group 2.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

8. Even group 1 is scared of group 2

Because you can never be rational with the irrational.

No one should underestimate the power of group 2. Bullying and intimidation can take a small group farther than you think. History is rife with examples.

[Hidden Stillness]

9. Fractures Among the First Group

There appear also to be fractured parts-of-groups even among the "dismantle" group, (although I do not claim to be able to understand Republicans, and I dislike them too much to spend any real time on it): there are the real, (bizarre, scary) "hate Roosevelt, hate New Deal" hard-core cultists, who seem mainly among the corporate-rich, and their servants of various types, such as small-time white male business proprietors, who fancy themselves "capitalists," but who would be kicked in the teeth right out the door if they ever got anywhere near their big-tycoon heroes. Then there is a kind of superficial type that was allowed to grow way beyond their real numbers, because when Reagan and all that ilk were being so snide about "Government can't do anything right" and all that shit, it was never fought off and answered, so it grew unchallenged. Some of those might even drop that unthinking stupidity, if they even once had things explained to them, especially now, during the deregulated-capitalist-caused deep recession with no end.

As for "tea-baggers," etc., I actually--and I might not have much support on this but I think it is true--believe that they are an extremely small group with no popular support, but are only being propped up with endless, uncritical corporate media coverage. All the polls show that people are against the Wall St. broker bailouts, that they increasingly support a Medicare type system for all health care, that they think corporations have way too much power, that that hate the corporate media, etc. There are no polls showing a conservative opinion on these things. It is all a fake presentation.

The scary group, part of the extremist Republican core, is the "libertarian" type that only wants commercial corporations, and not even Government or law.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

10. Oh, there are definitely factions within factions

The NeoCon wing is sane but immoral and greed oriented and controlled by corporatism and cronyism. All the dollars for the "in crowd". Works until the greed becomes so excessive and the regulation so lax that the Ponzi scheme aspects cause the whole facade to collapse. Even some of the big boys have lost a lot of big money this go round. Fun to watch them be victims for once as their own game spins out of control. Also fun to watch them realize that there is literally no honor among thieves as they willingly fleece both friends and foes.

I don't know if the Teabaggers will remain a small fringe phenomenom. They are greatly impeded by the inability to articulate anything of substance except to blurt out little blobs of inexplicable hate and rage directed at government, liberals, immigrants, etc. The best weapon against them is ridicule like this great Bradblog video in this thread

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x6912215