The fierce competition for crazy

TPM points out the fierce competition for crazy in GOP primaries around the country, with Republican candidates desperate to prove there's no one loonier than they are. In the three-way struggle for governor of Tennessee, Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey suggests that Islam is not "actually" a religion, and therefore might not be entitled to First Amendment protections. Incredible, isn't it? Yeah, big deal, huh? It's just the Constitution.

Remember the effort after 9/11 to convince Muslims that we weren't a Christian nation waging a "crusade" against their religion. Well, that's too reasonable for the right-wing crazies who've taken over the Republican Party these days. The hot topic in Tennessee right now is the community center which Muslims in the state propose building. How dare they!

Well, Ramsey has to out-crazy his competition. You can't afford to appear lacking in the crazy department in the GOP this year. Just a few days ago, one of his opponents, Rep. Zach Wamp warned that states might have to secede from the Union if the health care reform bill isn't repealed. He's echoing Texas governor Rick Perry on that. Apparently, secession is how real patriots show their patriotism (kind of like how Sarah Palin demonstrated that she wasn't a quitter by... quitting). But clearly Ramsey was feeling the heat and needed to demonstrate real lunacy himself.

Earlier this month, Bradley Byrne lost the Republican gubernatorial runoff in Alabama. You see, in May, he was hit by accusations that he actually supported... teaching evolution in public schools! Yes, shocking, isn't it? He fought back, vehemently proclaiming his belief in creationism and the "infallible truth" of the Bible, but apparently just the hint that he wasn't loony enough sealed his doom.

Not all Republican politicians are dumb enough to actually believe what they're saying, but they'll say anything they have to say - and support whatever policy they have to support - to keep the real crazies happy. (Actually, they've been doing that since they adopted the "Southern Strategy" of appealing to white racists forty years ago.) Ken Buck, who's actually supposed to be the Tea Party candidate in Colorado's Republican senatorial primary, was just caught on tape saying, "Will you tell those dumbasses at the Tea Party to stop asking questions about birth certificates while I'm on the camera?" That's probably not going to do him a lot of good among his fans, is it?

Now, ordinarily, any political party that goes off the deep end like this loses in the general election. When the crazies select their favorites in the primary, or when politicians at least have to kowtow to the crazies, it usually spells doom for their party. But it doesn't seem to be working like that now. Mostly, that's because we're still in a terrible recession. Sure, it's the GOP that gave us this recession - and the record-breaking deficit and the never-ending war in Afghanistan - but voters just aren't that smart.

But I've got to think that racism is working here, too. Republicans from Fox "News" on down have been pushing racial fear and animosity like, er, crazy. There's a reason why that fake video pushed by Andrew Breibart targeted a black woman in the Obama administration. And sadly enough, with our first black president, it seems to be working. Apparently, it's easy to think the worst of people who aren't white like us, even when the accusations are laugh-out-loud ridiculous.

I fear for my country, I really do. I thought that, after the Bush administration, we might have learned something. But it sure doesn't look that way now. Republicans aren't even bothering to propose new policies. They're simply proposing the same policies that already failed - thoroughly and undeniably - in the Bush years. I don't know if the craziest stuff can get through Congress, but that might not matter. This country needs to change course. If we do nothing, that will destroy us just as effectively - if a bit more slowly - as the worst GOP policy.

In fact, despite Fox "News," the loonies aren't a majority in America. But younger progressives just don't VOTE like the elderly white folks - easily frightened and oh, so gullible - targeted by the right-wing. After all, you might not have voted for George W. Bush, but if you were too lazy to vote at all, you're just as much at fault. And if you don't vote going forward, no matter how discouraged or unhappy you might be, the results will be your fault, too. A democracy requires an intelligent, informed, and active citizenry, and two out of three ain't any good at all.