Catching up on what’s new here— I see we have some new people, yay!

I liked this comment from Renaissance Man:

(excerpt)

Frequent arguments here on LGF revolve around whether the obvious racist and atavistic bent of the Tea Parties should be taken as meaning that all Tea Partiers are racists. I think that argument, while it has merit, does not get at the real heart of the issue. Which is, I believe, that this Conservative movement may or may not one that naturally attracts racists, secessionists, and others of dark intent, but it is a cult that creates a certain dogma and immunity to facts in those that adhere to it. In other words, whether a given Tea Partier is a racist/secessionist/worse is not necessarily the point; the point is that his belief set is more or less what the strong personalities and leaders in the cult say they are.

It’s a frightening thing, I think. Because if it were merely a problem of differing political beliefs or outdated ideas, weight of evidence and the power of persuasion could be used. But when dealing with a cult mentality, weight of evidence and persuasion are of limited use, if not totally useless. And I think that’s very, very grim indeed for the future of political discourse in this country.

Whole comment strikes me as spot on, really. He says “It’s a cult, and one that has been carefully made over the past 15 years or so. Its tenets are based on articles of faith and beliefs that are increasingly at odds with objective reality, and these beliefs are not dependent on reason, factual argument, or contrary evidence”

I’d say that’s right, but that the cult has been crafted over 30 years, and it’s only the last ten or so that it’s taken over the GOP entirely. (in my opinion it was crafted under Reagan quite cynically as a means of lassoing the ‘religious right’, the ‘culture war’, but now the lunatic base (magician apprentices’ broomsticks) are running the show.