Elephant Dung #19: The Tea Party prefers Charlie Sheen to John Boehner

Tracking the GOP Civil War

By Michael J.W. Stickings

(For an explanation of this ongoing series, see here. For previous entries, see here.)

Poor Johnny B.

Try as he might, he just can't win -- that is, win over the Tea Party that is now so much an integral part of the GOP. And the radical rightists are placing him squarely in Palin's crosshairs:

A national tea party group is in revolt against House Speaker John Boehner and wants to see him defeated in a 2012 primary, arguing that he looks "like a fool" in the debate over spending cuts and makes less sense than actor Charlie Sheen.

"You look like a fool," Tea Party Nation founder Judson Phillips wrote in a post on the group's website, directing his message at the Ohio Republican. "Charlie Sheen is now making more sense than John Boehner."

Ouch. That's like saying you have less musical talent than J-Lo. (Yes, American Idol reference. I went there. I'm not watching this year -- why, without Simon? -- but I did catch her new video on last night's show. "This is the worst song ever," said The Reactionette. Hyperbole, to be sure, but only slight. "That was terrible. Just awful." Agreed.)

Boehner "did not get the message" from the tea party movement demanding big cuts to federal spending, Phillips said, and "the honeymoon is over." The movement should respond, he said, by finding "a candidate to run against John Boehner in 2012 and should set as a goal, to defeat in a primary, the sitting Speaker of the House of Representatives."

Right, because Boehner is all-powerful and can therefore make it all happen, even with a Democratic Senate and president. Not that I wish to defend him, but he's reasonable and sane compared to the Tea Party, which largely sits on the sidelines spouting ideological extremism, and attacking sinners while seeking to cleanse the Republican Party of the ideologically inadequate, while legislators like Boehner are forced to work within the parameters of a democratically-elected legislature, that is, to seek compromise to get anything done.

The Tea Party completely misunderstood last year's midterm election results, just as it misunderstands politics generally, and expected right-wing revolution right away. But revolution was never to be, and not just because of Boehner. It's not just extremism but delusional ignorance that drives the Tea Party.

The Republican right, the party's new mainstream, has taken over. It's pulling the party further and further to the right, away from its former establishment, and it's purging the party ranks of those who aren't sufficiently right-wing, who aren't ideologically acceptable to the new Bolsheviks. Among its many targets are some of the most reputable members of the party, including those with long careers advancing conservative causes, like Orrin Hatch and Richard Lugar. We can now add Boehner to the list, a long-time loyal partisan who's been speaker for just two months.

And Democrats, of course, are salivating.

For a minute, I thought Peggy Noonan was coming out against Gitmo

By J. Thomas Duffy

Jesus, I thought, Peggy Noonan is slamming The Commander Guy, the Shadow President, and all the other dwarfs, finks, phonies and frauds of The Bush Grindhouse.

The Gipper's Groupie is against torture!

" ...uncorked an act in which he, in the words of various news reports the next day, performed "faux oral sex" featuring "S&M play," "bondage gear," "same-sex makeouts" and "walking a man and woman around the stage on a leash."

Oh, wait a minute ...

No, she isn't.

The single biggest problem this country is facing today is Adam Lambert!

Somebody that knows her, make an intervention.

Get over there and take the wine and pills out of the house.


Bonus Riffs

Steve Benen: NOONAN LAMENTS 'THE ADAM LAMBERT PROBLEM'

Sady: Red-Blooded Americans “Assaulted” by Dancing Gay Dude on TV

Steve M: SURELY THERE ARE SOME GENITALS WE CAN BLAME FOR ALL THIS




(Cross Posted at The Garlic)

I hate American Idol

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Kris Allen? Seriously? I watched pretty much the entire season, a terribly mediocre season even by AI's lowly standards, for this?

I grew to like Adam Lambert more and more, or at least to respect him more and more, but, regardless, it was clear all along that he was far and away the most talented of the bunch, and certainly much more than Kris.

There have been embarrassingly unworthy winners before -- Taylor Hicks, anyone? -- and, while I don't have anything against Kris (he seems like a genuinely nice guy, and he does have some talent, and I much prefer him to Taylor), this was a pretty pathetic ending to a pretty pathetic season.

Headline of the Day

By Michael J.W. Stickings

How 'bout another irregular feature here at The Reaction? Sure, why not? Let's do our Headline of the Day!

In honour of AI's final week -- I'm for Blake, by the way, though Melinda was the best by far -- here's our HOD for today:

Paula Abdul breaks nose in dog mishap

Yeah, okay. And I'm sure we can believe everything her publicist says. But at least Tulip wasn't hurt.

(Please e-mail us whenever you come across anything HOD-worthy.)

Sign of the Apocalypse #46: The end of Melinda Doolittle

By Michael J.W. Stickings

I'll admit it. I've watched pretty much all of American Idol this season. And it has been clear for a long time that the best of them all, by a lot, was Melinda Doolittle. Sure, she had her neuroses. Sure, she seemed a bit old, or old-fashioned. Sure, she didn't always seem to reach the high standard she had set for herself with some exceptional early performances. But compare her to the rest of the mediocre top ten. Or compare her to Blake Lewis and Jordin Sparks, the other two of the final three. Jordin is young and raw, and has a great voice, if one that she has not always been able to control and that lacks precision. Blake is genuinely likeable, and did quite well with the beatboxing routine, but he has little to no range, seems cold and detached, and has been inconsistent. And Melinda? She was the consummate professional, an artist, the one who got it, the one who wasn't just acting, the one who truly seemed to belong on that stage. And now, yes, now she's done, voted out by the American people, leaving us with two amateurs, whatever their respective talents, to compete for the title.

It's all a big joke, was my response upon hearing Ryan Seacrest announce last night that it was the end of the line for Melinda. And I stand by that. It's one thing for someone like Sanjaya to make it far. He was a joke, and viewers were laughing at him even if they were voting for him. And of course it's hardly to be expected that there would be much talent even in the top ten. It must be remembered, after all, that American Idol is a singing, beauty, and showmanship competition for amateurs. Most of it, even in the final weeks, is nothing but glorified karaoke. But this is what set Melinda apart. And, probably, why she didn't win. She was too good for American Idol. One week the judges even lamented that they had nothing bad to say about her. In the end, that's not the sort of idol Americans -- or at least those who vote, vote, and vote again -- want. She was too much of a sure thing.

Still, Melinda has proven herself. What does it matter that she didn't win it all? She was too good for American Idol anyway.