Repudiate Teaparty: vote Democratic except Kirk, Tancredo, and Brewer

In the election on Tuesday, I strongly urge you to vote against candidates who are part of the Tea Parties movement and against that movement in general. The teaparties are one of the most malignant political movements in the past several decades and must be repudiated; more on that below and see my extensive coverage at that link.

I'm also making these specific recommendations:

* I very strongly urge everyone to vote for or encourage others to vote for Mark Kirk. The last thing we should want is his opponent in the U.S. Senate. Yet, the teaparty "patriots" are largely ignoring that race because they feel that Kirk is a RINO.

* I also urge everyone to vote for or support Tom Tancredo for Colorado governor. That's a three-fer: it would be a strike against illegal immigration supporters, the teaparties, and the GOP establishment. (Note that some leaders are part of two or all of those groups).

* UPDATE: I forgot to add another person I urge you to vote for: Jan Brewer.

* In every other race, vote for the Democrat. That includes Jerry Brown and Barbara Boxer.

If that sounds severe, consider the alternative: giving the teaparties big wins simply isn't good for the U.S. It might be good for the GOP and for those who are pulling the strings on the teaparties, but it's not in the national interest.

If teaparty candidates have major victories, that will reward everything that the teaparties have been doing - and not doing - since February 2009. Here are some of the things it will reward:

* Their habit of lying, misleading, and smearing...

* Their habit of red-baiting...

* Their anti-intellectualism that verges on an opposition to thinking in general...

* Their habit of shouting down their opponents rather than being willing and able to engage them in debate...

* Their habit of implying that they're the only patriots in the U.S...

* Their inability to accept election results. That's not because - as with some Al Gore supporters - they think Obama stole the election. Rather, that's based on the fact that many in the teaparty movement refuse to accept that those who voted for Obama or who otherwise oppose their movement are "real Americans".

* The fact that they almost completely ignored immigration for over a year and they didn't present any opposition whatsoever to the Sonia Sotomayor nomination. That's despite the fact that immigration is one of the most important domestic issues, is more fundamental than spending, and is the area where the Democrats and the establishment in general are most vulnerable. Smart, valid political movements don't ignore the area where their opposition is weakest.

* The fact that - whether they know it and admit it or not - they're useful idiots for the Koch family, Grover Norquist, and FreedomWorks. All those listed support forms of comprehensive immigration reform (amnesty) and guest workers, which helps explain the last point...

* The fact that they've been able to do very little to prevent the use of the toxic race card. If they were smarter they could have taken steps to minimize the use of the race card. Instead, they've just made things worse by enabling far-left concepts like bean-counting. And, they don't even know what they're doing...

* The fact that even as millions of their fellow citizens are unemployed their only solution is to promote policies that would help their leaders' benefactors rather than, for instance, promoting plans such as this.

* The fact that some members of the teaparties even add insult to injury, implying that the millions of unemployed are lazy welfare cheats (The "Don't spread my wealth, spread my work ethic" sign and t-shirt, popular at teaparty rallies, implies exactly that.)...

* The fact that some members of the teaparty movement such as Glenn Reynolds go *even further* than the last two. As the U.S. fights two wars and millions of Americans are unemployed, some teaparty "patriots" threaten to "go Galt" - turn their backs on the U.S. - if they don't get their way...

* The fact that they think their fringe, unworkable, libertarian-leaning ideology is one that a) we've ever had in the U.S., and b) is one that most Americans - or at least "real Americans" - support despite the opposite being the case...

* Their habit of degrading public discourse by playing dress-up games and shouting and throwing tantrums at public meetings instead of actually holding politicians accountable..

If teaparty candidates are victorious across the U.S., all of that and more will have been encouraged and we'll get even more of it at an even louder volume. That's not good for the U.S., and it's not good for those who want to oppose the far-left in a sane and smart manner.

However, if some or many teaparty candidates lose it will send a message that they aren't as powerful and popular as they thought and it will also discourage the GOP from pandering to the fringe.

Certainly, if teaparty candidates lose their races it will send many members of the teaparty movement even further over the edge, and some of the even crazier among them might even try to start a revolution. However, that will also reduce their ability to get support from the mainstream and further hasten the demise of their movement. On the other hand, there's a very small chance that a "Teaparty 2.0" might emerge that's smarter, saner, and broader in scope.

But, you might be asking, what about comprehensive immigration reform (amnesty)? Won't the Democrats winning make that more likely? Not really: the GOP is going to have big wins across the U.S. no matter what. I'm simply suggesting going against that trend in order to send a message. One of those messages is that doing things the teaparty way isn't effective; that might encourage a better, more pro-American opposition to Barack Obama and the far-left.

Further, expecting the teaparties to stage an effective opposition to amnesty is a fool's game. As indicated above, their real leaders support amnesty and they've never shown a competence at opposing the far-left. They might even stumble us into amnesty.

If you have any questions on the above, feel free to leave a comment and I'll respond with more information.