A potent tea cocktail

Chauncey DeVega kicks over a rock to expose an inconvenient truth about Republican politics: "[T]he Tea Party is easily lampooned; however, their songs, folksy misspelled posters, embrace of ignorance as authenticity, and love of costumes are a type of political theater. Consequently―and this is a point that many in the pundit classes and other professional bloviators seem to miss―'the show is the thing.' Reasoned discussions of policy and good governance are made secondary to a sense of belonging. For folks who feel alienated, scared, and 'want to take their America back' (from 'the blacks, the gays, the atheists, the Socialists, the liberals' etc.) a sense of belonging is a powerful salve for alienation and anomie. ... Emotion trumps reason. Faith has been mated with ideology to create a worldview that is immune from critical interrogation and intervention. Heretics are burned at the proverbial stake of Right-wing talk radio and Fox News. And ideological orthodoxy is the prime directive, even if it means destroying the U.S. economy." Scary times.