Tail Wags Dog

I'm sometimes tempted to think of the Republicans as the stupid party, but that is not the case. In general the Republican party of the past existed to help the 1%, where the money is. Getting rich by catering to the rich is not stupid (unless you are a male Christian, in which case you should keep in mind that Jesus said that sooner will a rope pass through the eye of a needle than a rich man enter Heaven).

Today's Republican Party, about to ignore Wall Street and shut down the government, is behaving stupidly but not from lack of intelligence. The GOP is paralyzed with fear.

I believe some analysts have traced how we got to this place.  (1) Nixon's "Southern strategy" stripped most of the racists out of the Democratic Party. They became Republicans and the party began its lurch to the Right and to Reagan. (2) Karl Rove helped to develop a strategy that emphasized stirring up the blood-lust of many separate groups, including the NRA, the nativists, the Confederate flag trash, the warriors against women, etc. In doing this, the Republicans mounted the back of a tiger, and now, if they dismount, they fear getting eaten. (3) About 35 Republican members of the House are so ignorant, angry and radical that they hope to shut down and crush the federal government, reducing it to almost nothing.  They come from super-safe Gerrymandered districts. They have the financial backing of balmy billionaires, so they do not need Wall Street. They do not like Wall Street. Most of the remaining Republican House members fear--with good reason--the wrath of the small nutter caucus, which will challenge in a primary election and defeat any Republican congress member who defies them. This might seem odd, but the rational thing for a centrist Republican member of the House today is to behave as stupidly as possible. (4) The House is now at a point where a shutdown seems almost inevitable. We may need a shutdown to shake up the voters and the House. Then the Republicans might feel safe enough to defy the minority teabaggers and do what is best for the nation.