Party All the Time

When I say we have reached the point that the GOP must be destroyed rather than reasoned with, clearly what must be destroyed is actually the Movement Republicanism originating in the inchoate reactionary repudiation of FDR's New Deal coalition, defined in its ideology on the one hand by the market fundamentalism of Hayek, Friedman, and Ayn Rand and on the other by the white racist christianism of god guns and gays and the Southern Strategy (a toxic ideological brew if ever there was one), born to the world in the activist ferment of Goldwater and the Birchers, substantiated in the fraternal twin administrations of frowny-faced Nixon and smiley-faced Reagan, and then consummated in the serial catastrophes of Gingrich's Contract on America, George W. Bush's killer clown administration, and the present Tea Bag hostage crisis.

There have been other strains in the GOP that presumably could re-assert themselves to pick up the pieces in the aftermath of the destruction of this always-bonkers always-dangerous Movement Republicanism. Perhaps the GOP could fragment into a white racist neo-confederate rump, a Jesusfreak Taliban party, and a crusty Broder-esque Establishment fuddy-duddy party with whom timorous Democrats can deal, or perhaps the Greens and Rainbow Coalition Democrats could kick out the Conservadems and convince them to take over the GOP, and we could have something like a European style social democratic party versus an Eisenhower GOP. Who knows? Definitely we do know that radical movements do best when they manage to take control of one of the two major parties than they do as Third Parties on their own -- so one hopes sensible Greens, socialists, and punks aren't ready to lose yet another generation to quixotic narcissistic Third Party spoiler bids just because infiltrating major parties is too much work.

But that's all pie in the sky for now, though, because Movement Republicanism really is holding America hostage to its failed anti-governmental ideology, and looks well-poised to push America into utter wreckage. For the first time, I have come to think chances are better than even that it's too late for America, that ecologic and economic crises have a timetable that won't wait for our checks and balances to remediate the madness of our reactionaries and the decadent sloth of our anti-intellectual majorities.

Although there is no question that the intellectual and material resources at the disposal of Americans might provide the last best hope for an actually equitable, diverse, sustainable planet, should they be directed resolutely to the solution of planetary problems -- there is also no question that America is providing no leadership at all in this work, is incapable even of following the lead of others who are making the attempt, is actively standing in the way of this vital work in most respects, and shows absolutely no real sign of changing course or even being capable of overcoming the reactionary forces that render it incapable of changing course.

Given all that, it is no longer clear to me why it isn't finally a more reasonable expectation and probably also a better thing for the world to witness the definitive self-immolation of America so that we who know better and give a damn can try to put something equitable, diverse, consensual, sustainable, secular, democratic together in time apart from the deadly death-dealing hopelessly failed state the Republicans and their Conservadem allies have successfully done in at last.