Jeb’s Talk Radio Problem - Michael Kruse - POLITICO Magazine

Jeb’s Talk Radio Problem - Michael Kruse - POLITICO Magazine:



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How Conservative Media Responded To Jeb Bush's 2016 Presidential Bid Announcement | Research | Media Matters for America

How Conservative Media Responded To Jeb Bush's 2016 Presidential Bid Announcement | Research | Media Matters for America:

"LIMBAUGH: Do you want to know why Jeb Bush is thinking of running? I'll give you a poss -- including the fact that he may actually want to be president, he may actually want to do this -- but he's also being looked at as a savior by the big money donor class and the consultant class, the establishment of the party, to head-off the Tea Party. They're going to pull out all the stops to make sure that a Tea Party-type conservative doesn't get the nomination. And if that means -- somebody like Jeb -- it could be a sacrificial run just to make sure that a conservative doesn't get the nomination in 2016. [Premiere Radio Networks, The Rush Limbaugh Show, 12/16/14]"

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The Governing Party - NYTimes.com

The Governing Party - NYTimes.com:



David Brooks believes the "Palin spasm" of the GOP is finally over - that a return to sanity is imminent judging from those elected during midterms.

 "During the Palin spasm, Republicans seemed to detest the craft of governing. Hothouse flowers like Senator Ted Cruz preferred telegenic confrontation to compromise and legislation.

But current party leaders are talking about incremental progress, finding areas where they can get bipartisan support: on trade, corporate taxes, the XL oil pipeline, the medical devices tax, patent reform, maybe even tax reform generally."

Has the tea party finally run its course? One can hope.  But inevitably there had to be an end, because without Barack Obama to identify against, there is no Tea Party ala Palin and Cruz.



When we started this project in 2009, one big question I had was where does the GOP end and the Tea Party begin?  For a long time, Republicans themselves didn't understand the difference - or even the question.  It has puzzled me time and time again why the GOP didn't jettison their crazies and take back their party - and while that answer isn't a simple one, and there were multiple advantages to letting the Tea Party run rampant, the GOP does now seems poised to let them go - to push them out if necessary.



Now they're talking Jeb Bush for President (ahem - see my analysis of his speech to CPAC two years ago - I called that one) and Jeb is most definitely NOT a tea party yahoo.  In that speech then he called for GOP values of exactly the type of thing Brooks wrote about today - they aren't the crazy policies of the Tea Party - and it doesn't involve Sarah Palin - at all.



But for those of you who miss Sarah, I saw on my Roku the other day an ad for the Sarah Palin channel.  Don't know anything else about it, but I'm willing to bet it isn't a free channel.







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The Liberal Media’s Guide To Covering A Tea Party | Southern Beale

The Liberal Media’s Guide To Covering A Tea Party | Southern Beale:



Hilarious. From Nashville political blogger, Southern Beale.



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bennydiego on Twitter: "Tea Party Rally. #UniteBlue #teaparty #tcot http://t.co/2tbLVevcr4"

Classic.  Picture is of marquee for Tea Party rally to vote Obama out in 2016.



bennydiego on Twitter: "Tea Party Rally. #UniteBlue #teaparty #tcot http://t.co/2tbLVevcr4":



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Bill Maher: Why Do ‘Tea Party People’ Vote Against Their Own Interests? | Americans Against the Tea Party

Bill Maher: Why Do ‘Tea Party People’ Vote Against Their Own Interests? | Americans Against the Tea Party:



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Identity, not ideology, is moving the world - The Washington Post

Identity, not ideology, is moving the world - The Washington Post:

It is a strange mixture of insecurity and assertiveness. People worry that their society is changing beyond recognition and that they are being ruled by vast, distant forces — the European Union in Brussels, the International Monetary Fund or the federal government in Washington — that are beyond their control. And by people who do not share their values.
In the United States, we do see one parallel: the rise of the tea party. Scholars Vanessa Williamson and Theda Skocpol concluded thatimmigration is a central issue — perhaps the central issue — for tea party members, something that has been reinforced by House Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s loss in his primary election in Virginia. I don’t recognize my country anymore, say Mike Huckabee, Glenn Beck and many others on the right. The same line could be repeated by every one of those European nationalists who won in the polls in May.
In an age of globalization, elites have discussions about political ideology — more government, less government — but, as Samuel Huntington noted many years ago, the bottom-up force that seems to be moving the world these days is political identity. The questions that fill people with emotion are “Who are we?” and, more ominously, “Who are we not?”

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