Rand Paul & Transparency

Jim DeMint's Tea Party Caucus lets activists drive the GOP further to the right. - By David Weigel - Slate Magazine: "What made this caucus different from all other caucuses?
'No cigars and no closed doors,' said Paul. 'Open venues. I'm not going to be the leader of the caucus. We're going to rotate around. It's going to be a continued conversation between the grass roots and the people who come from the grass roots.'"

So says Rand Paul when asked about his Tea Party caucus. But when it comes to secret holds, that arcane Senate rule that allowed one Senator to secretly block passage of a bill, well, suddenly the transparency becomes opaque.

Tea Party Caucus votes to keep secret holds

By Jordan Fabian - 01/27/11 05:43 PM ET

The three founding members of the Senate Tea Party Caucus voted against a rule change Thursday that would end senators' ability to use secret holds.

Sens. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) were three out of the four senators to vote against a resolution outlawing the practice. The other was GOP Sen. John Ensign (Nev.). The rule change, which passed 92-4, was part of a packaged rules proposal brought before the Senate.

GOP Healthcare Repeal Bill Passes in House | Christianpost.com

GOP Healthcare Repeal Bill Passes in House | Christianpost.com: "The Republican-controlled House voted overwhelming to pass a repeal health care legislation proposed by President Barack Obama."

You have to love the Christian Post: they support home schooled writers. Who knew Obama supported the legislation to repeal the Affordable Care Act?

Supreme Court Denies Pastor's Appeal in DC Gay Marriage Case | Christianpost.com

Supreme Court Denies Pastor's Appeal in DC Gay Marriage Case | Christianpost.com: "The question is whether marriage is merely a committed relationship for the private interests of adults, the definition implicit in same-sex 'marriage,' or whether it unites a man and a woman with each other and any children that come from their union.”"

It can't be both?

Well, at any rate, if it's the man-woman-children aspect these Christian busybodies are concerned over maybe cutting the rate of divorce in the Bible Belt would be a good place to start.

Wild Wild West: Guns Still a Part of Arizona's History - US - CBN News - Christian News 24-7 - CBN.com

Wild Wild West: Guns Still a Part of Arizona's History - US - CBN News - Christian News 24-7 - CBN.com: "Guns are ingrained in America's history, especially in Arizona, which was once home to the Wild Wild West.

Saloons, stagecoaches and shoot-outs all played an important part in Arizona's long history, and that's why even today you'll find the ethos of the Wild West permeates their culture."

Yeah, and Christians have a long history of burning witches and owning slaves - your point is?

Why Tea Party Activists Are Childish Dickwads

Tea Party Activists Angry at Actions of G.O.P. Leaders - NYTimes.com:

"“Do I think that they’ve recognized what happened on Election Day? I would say decisively no,” said Mark Meckler, a co-founder of Tea Party Patriots, which sent its members an alert last month urging them to call their representatives to urge them to “stop now and go home!!”

“We sent them a message that we expect them to go home and come back newly constituted and do something different,” Mr. Meckler said. “For them to legislate when they’ve collectively lost their mandate just shows the arrogance of the ruling elite."

Let me get this straight: Tea Partier Mark Meckler, an unelected leader of a "movement" that has yet to field a candidate or run a campaign, accuses a legally elected Congress of acting in "arrogance" when it continues to legislate through the end of its legally-appointed session.

See, here's the thing, Mr. Meckler. When you have the votes you get to do a lot of things the people without the votes don't like. Standing on the sidelines whining won't change that.

Head Reform rabbi: Israeli society is falling into a deep pit of racism - Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News

Head Reform rabbi: Israeli society is falling into a deep pit of racism - Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News: "The head of Israel's Reform Judaism movement on Tuesday harshly criticized a letter by 30 rabbis' wives calling on Jewish girls not to date Arabs, work with them or perform national service in the same places where they work.

'Israeli society is falling into a deep, dark pit of racism and xenophobia,' said Rabbi Gilad Kariv, who two weeks ago also vocally condemned a move by a number of leading rabbis who signed on a ruling to forbid renting homes to Arabs."

Remember my earlier screed about Anglicans? Here's one possible future for them, too.

The Fix - Judge dismisses Miller lawsuit in Alaska Senate race

The Fix - Judge dismisses Miller lawsuit in Alaska Senate race

Further evidence of the Tea Party's irrelevance. I think the TPers reached their expiration date November 3, 2010. A new batch won't be needed for a year or so, in time for 2012.

Joe Miller was Tea Party and Sarah Palin endorsed, yet lost to the first successful write in candidate for Senate in a half century in Palin's home turf. Other TP Purity Over Practicality "wins", like Christine O'Donnell in the east and Ken Buck in the west, assured Democratic control of the Senate.

A ramp-up of Tea Party frothing in selection of a GOP Presidential candidate seems, at this point, to be a boon for Obama. With a new election to energize the Beckian fringe it's possible a resurgent Tea Party might give the House back to the Dems, too.

For this admittedly speculative scenario to unfold, the Tea Party will need to rise once more to the GOP siren call. I don't think that's unlikely. The TP is really not much more than the old Religious Right resurrected for one more sodomy session. The weirdest thing about old white Christians is their complete willingness to be taken advantage of over and over again.

Joe Miller and his patroness Palin have made a specialty of exploiting the Tea Party for mostly personal gain. And the Tea Party has mostly been a willing accomplice to its own seduction. It looks like the winter of 2020-2011 might be a rest period before the franticism of 2012.