I’ve exercised restraint in not reminding an evangelical Republican acquaintance of mine that in 2005 he informed me that the Democrats would never win another election. He’s been gracious enough to congratulate me about Obama’s victory, so I’ve held my tongue. Jim is one of the people Paul Krugman described in “Paranoia Strikes Deep”:

When Hofstadter wrote [in 1964, about the paranoid tendencies of the far right], the right wing felt dispossessed because it was rejected by both major parties. That changed with the rise of Ronald Reagan: Republican politicians began to win elections in part by catering to the passions of the angry right.

Until recently, however, that catering mostly took the form of empty symbolism. Once elections were won, the issues that fired up the base almost always took a back seat to the economic concerns of the elite. Thus in 2004 George W. Bush ran on antiterrorism and “values,” only to announce, as soon as the election was behind him, that his first priority was changing Social Security.

But something snapped last year. Conservatives had long believed that history was on their side, so the G.O.P. establishment could, in effect, urge hard-right activists to wait just a little longer: once the party consolidated its hold on power, they’d get what they wanted. After the Democratic sweep, however, extremists could no longer be fobbed off with promises of future glory.

For example, the wingers in St. Charles County are pushing back against the Republican establishment and its failure to deliver. The party organization out there is so disgusted that it has changed its name from the Republican Club to the Conservative Club. Jim left the Democratic party some years back, mainly over the abortion and gay marriage issues, so maybe he should move out there. Hey, if you’re going to give up on social justice in favor of Old Testament castigation and damnation, you better move where the right wingers are actually concerned about that.

In an effort to better align our club with its members’ core beliefs, we

have changed the name of the St. Charles County Republican

Club to the Conservative Club of Missouri.

Reminiscent of Ronald Regan’s description of why he went from being a

Democrat to a being a Republican – “I didn’t leave the Democrat Party,

they left me.” We feel the same is true with the current Republican Party

and its inability to adhere to conservative convictions.

Call us right wing extremist [sic] if you like, but it has become

obvious to us that most of the current crop of Republicans in office at all

levels are not looking out for their constituents, [sic] as a matter of fact

it has become hard to tell the difference between the Parties. Talk

is cheap, and that is what we are getting from our Republican leaders.

What we need is action.

No longer does the Republican Party’s actions reflect their stated

values. Bigger government, ridiculous spending and removing

individual freedoms seems to be the norm. Putting forth the “next in

line” (Roy Blunt) is not in the best interest of the Party. Instead

we need new and fresh faces that have shown themselves willing to take a

stand.

Damn. Some of these wingnuts are getting as hard to herd as the cats in the Democratic party. They want firebrands, I tell you! And they’ve turned to the likes of Bill Hennessy and Dana Loesch for the heated rhetoric they crave. The problem with heated rhetoric, though, is that it may turn out to be hot air. And when it is, no local website is better at spotting it than St. Louis Pushes Back.

PushBack mocked Hennessy and Loesch for threatening Roy Blunt and Todd Akin. Before Dede Scozzafava dropped out of the NY 23 House race, Hennessy and Loesch held an event in front of City Hall.

Loesch said … that she was giving Missouri Representatives Roy Blunt and Todd Akin “until the end of the day” to release a statement against Scozzafava or else, “we are coming for you.”  She also said earlier … that if they didn’t have the brass to do “what’s right,” then, “we will vote you out!  We will come at you with so much heat, you won’t even know how to handle it!”

Roy Blunt ignored them. Todd Akin missed the deadline but later endorsed Hoffman. PushBack wonders whether they will, in their own words, “put up or shut up.” I’m sure he’ll be following up on whether they do “put up”.

We’ll see how much action Hennessy and Loesch put out to back up that particular threat, but in fact Hennessy does recommend specific action for his followers. It’s pointless and silly, but it creates the illusion that they’re busy. In reprisal against the House for its health care vote, local tea partiers plan to do their damndest to … ruin the economy? That’s right. A sample:

• Make no purchases on November 27, Black Friday, except for basic necessities like food and gasoline
• Put off major purchases if at all possible. This includes cars, appliances, and the like. Instead, hire local, independent mechanic or handyman to bring the ailing items up to serviceability

And, of course:

• Beginning [sic] making very large contributions to worthy opposition candidates, especially for the House of Representatives and U. S. Senate.

PushBack’s response is abso-freakin’-lutely brilliant. I’m just going to cite a couple of his suggestions to the Tea Partiers.

• Stop going to grocery stores. If you can’t find enough food via hunting and gathering, only buy your food from teabagger approved merchants. If there aren’t any in your area, you should order food to be delivered, but make sure you use FedEx so that the government run Post Office doesn’t insert microchips into your food.
• Stop driving cars. Funnel out all of the remaining gasoline from your cars and dump it on your lawn. What use is green grass in a world run by socialist pigs?

Go. Read the whole list. And don’t miss the last item.