Nobody Asked Me, But...

By Carl

(Note to The Reaction readers: Nobody Asked Me, But...is a weekly feature at my own blog, Simply Left Behind, where I discuss news stories that you might have missed during the week. Sometimes, I'll suspend the usual format for a rant or an in-depth observation. This is one such time.)

 

I wish to make the following announcement:

At 11:15 PM, EST on November 6, 2012, the United States experienced Peak Wingnut.

 

Now, many scholars will disagree with that assessment, and to be honest, after I crunched the numbers, I came up with a precision factor of about 87%. We haven't had an assassination of a Federal official since Gabby Giffords was crippled. However, after extrapolating a method based on Nate Silver's polling analyses, I believe with some large measure of confidence that the Wingnut movement is now on a downslope.

 

My evidence --

 

1) The animosity displayed towards Governor Chris Christie for trying to work with the President at a time of major crisis. If we look back to 2005 and Katrina, Gov. Piyush Jindal accepted the same amount of assistance (give or take) for an even needier and more Democratic district, but was not given any of the grief that Christie has received, which has extended beyond just saying something nice about a guy who gives a damn about his citizens in distress.

 

2) Richard Mourdock, Todd Akin -- both of whom ran for Senate in states that Romney carried, which is a really telling sign -- Congressmen Allen West and Joe Walsh, all Teabaggers, lost their races for office. Michele Bachmann, the head of the Teabagger caucus (head Teabagger?) barely held on to her seat (Minnesota...WTF?!?!?!?!).

 

3) Legislation loosening the criminalization of marijuana passed in Colorado, Washington, and Massachussetts. Same-sex marriage won in every single state it was on the ballot in (2).

 

4) The bubble that Republicans, particularly conservatives, have been living in ever since the mid-90s and the Contract On America popped. When Karl Rove can be challenged, on-air, by FOX News' Megyn Kelly? Ballgame over.

 

5) Florida will gradually become a blue state as Orange County turns from a bright red to a light blue, and then deeper. The Panhandle, that area that's basically South Alabama, will of course, never turn anywhere near blue but fuck 'em. The penis from Orlando on down is turning Democratic now and will only spread northward.

 

6) The same dynamic that has Florida becoming more Democratic, Latino immigration, is a failure of the GOP to address the bubble. This will hurt them in Texas, Arizona, and Georgia (which I believe proportionately had the largest influx of Latino immigrants in the nation in the 2010 Census). Latinos are generally socially conservative church-going folk. This was a huge whiff for the Republicans.

 

7) Speaking of Rush and the bubble, the authority of the punditry on the right has been devastated. The rightwing operates as a top-down pyramid, as opposed to liberals who operate...well, it's still pretty much top-down but it starts a little closer to the troops. At the top are Republican party officials and financial supporters who pass along notes to the first tier media and government types, like John Boehner and Rush Limbaugh. In turn, they disseminate these talking points among their troops to reinforce -- some would say "echo" -- the message. Eventually, the poor shlub who turns on his radio or TV and logs into his email has a meal of junk food waiting for his digestion.

 

Based on the reactions of the mid-level blogoshere like John Hinderaker and Erick Erickson, that's been ripped wide open. Given the challenge to Karl Rove mentioned before, even those at the very top of the GOP food chain are being toppled.

 

And the false threats of finally Going Galt expressed by so many at the grassroots only serves to mark the frustration, anger and fear these troops face. It's like being asleep under a warm blanket and then having a gust of wind blow it off.

 

8) Finally, there's just the damned exhaustion factor: for how long can you say "no"? I don't care how childish and immature you are, holding your breath until you turn blue works great until your body says "ENOUGH!"

 

Don't forget to breathe, my conservatives readers. That's the fresh air of freedom you smell.

 

(crossposted to Simply Left Behind)