How Drama Queens Sabotage the Tea Party

[Valin]

PJ Media:

The only sense of purpose in their lives arises from perceived persecution and perpetual emergency.

Walter Hudson

3/16/12

 

Drama queens come in all shapes, sizes, and genders. We have all known our share. Some folks revel in crisis. In a sick way, they need it. The only sense of purpose in their lives arises from perceived persecution and perpetual emergency. Such people actually avoid solutions and resent those who provide them because a solution removes any excuse for mania.

 

In politics, we may call such people anti-activists, as their efforts tend to work counter to that of activists with whom they should align. Unfortunately, they are legion among libertarians, conservatives, and Tea Party groups. Collectively, they present a greater threat to the restoration of our republic than any active Marxist.

 

(Snip)

 

I share these stories to highlight a principle which is as true of the Tea Party as it is of our nation at large. We will be destroyed, not by outside forces, but from within. We will be crippled, not by external attack, but by circular firing squad. Anti-activism takes many forms, all equally destructive. There is the supporter of a particular candidate who refuses to vote for or support another nominee. There is the couch-bound critic of outcomes who refuses to participate in the process which affects those outcomes. There is disproportionate emotional investment in the present cycle or a single issue which eclipses any long-term political strategy. Worst of all, there is rejection of the possible in favor of the unachievable, which becomes a perpetual excuse for doing nothing.

 

Then again, maybe that’s the point for anti-activists. Nothing riles a drama queen like pointing out a rational solution to their problem, particularly one which requires them to take responsibility for their situation. Acknowledging a solution presents a duty to execute it, and that’s not as cathartic as wallowing in an imagined muck of futility. For example, maintaining that the two-party system is “broken” excuses you from participating in it. Worse, it becomes cyclical. As would-be conservative activists withdraw from party politics in protest, the parties naturally drift toward the less principled positions of those who remain. Disgruntled anti-activists disengage in order to “punish the party,” imagining that their absence is deeply felt. But the truth is that no politician sheds a tear over people disengaging from the process. They simply adjust their political calculation to the altered variable.

 

It’s easy to sit back and wag a finger at the process. It’s easy to fantasize about some future armed revolution or viable third party rather than dealing rationally with what is. It’s hard to accept responsibility for a major party and commit to changing its course. It’s hard to be the leader you’ve been waiting for. But the hard choices have the virtue of plausible victory, whereas the easy ones have been tried to negative effect.

 

(Snip)

 

 

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It should be noted this is only one side of the story.