Paul Kane tells the history of the movement that unseated McCarthy and brings anarchy to the House. #politics
McCarthy thought he could harness forces of disruption. Instead they devoured him.
(Unlocked gift article)
https://wapo.st/48zKhzj
I saw a Tea Party rally first in 2009 at the post office as people dropped off their tax returns. What energy! They were in costumes of Uncle Sam and Revolutionary War soldiers. I loved their message, not their timing.
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Finally someone addressed the structural deficit by which demographics would eventually undermine Social Security and Medicare. We must live within our means. On top of that the Iraq war was funded on borrowed money, much from China, exploding the national debt.
We were there largely because we ran our economy on cheap oil, heedless of long term environmental effects which would eventually result in years like 2022/23 for natural disasters. ...
Yet the government didn't raise taxes to pay for the war nor to pay for the inevitable wounded veterans who were our responsibility.
Shout on, Tea Party! But ... you guys are a little late. Where were you the last 6 years while we were racking up these trillions in debt and untold unfunded obligations to our soldiers? Why now? A new president just took office who had no part in the disastrous policies which led us to this sorry state. Indeed he seems intent on righting these problems.
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Looking across the sea of angry white faces shouting I realized two things about the new president. He was a Democrat, and Black. They fully intended to punish him for Bush's sins. And to obstruct anything he tried to accomplish, even if those would address the very issues they claimed to motivate them.
Now 14 years later even those crazies appear somewhat moderate compared to the wave that came behind them and swept certified nut job McCarthy out of power because he was insufficiently crazy.