What the GOP and Pakistan Have In Common

Both sought to co-opt the religious zealots.

In the case of Pakistan, they (more specifically,the Army and the ISI) sought to nurture, support and use the religious militants as a strategic tool to keep India off balance. Pakistan's security apparatus was complicit in the rise of the Taliban.

In the case of the GOP, the traditionalists in the GOP sought to whip up the support of the religious right, the talivangelists, to work for and support the GOP. The traditionalists in the GOP clearly desired to milk the talivangelists for manpower, support and votes and then shove them aside whenever the GOP came to power.

It hasn't worked out well for both of them. For both of them, the consequences have been devastating.

In Pakistan, the Taliban began taking over territory. The government effectively ceded control of areas to the Taliban in the hopes that would satisfy them. It didn't, the Taliban sought to extend its reach until the patience of the Army and of the people evaporated. The battle is spreading across Pakistan, with bombings in Peshawar.

In this country, the crazies in the GOP are in the process of driving everyone who is not a true believer out of the party. The comments of the GOP's party activists in the current nomination process of Sonia Sotamayor to the Supreme Court is guaranteed to piss of Hispanics and women:

G. Gordon Liddy: Let’s hope that the key conferences aren’t when she’s menstruating or something, or just before she’s going to menstruate. That would really be bad. Lord knows what we would get then.

And this, also by Liddy:

I understand that they found out today that Miss Sotomayor is a member of La Raza, which means in illegal alien, “the race.” And that should not surprise anyone because she’s already on record with a number of racist comments.

Or Newt Gingrich:

White man racist nominee would be forced to withdraw. Latina woman racist should also withdraw.

Or Tom Tancredo:

If you belong to an organization called La Raza, in this case, which is, from my point of view anyway, nothing more than a Latino — it’s a counterpart — a Latino KKK without the hoods or the nooses.

The two best-known Hindenbergs on the Right are also calling Sotomayor a racist.

Of course it isn't going over well in Hispanic circles. Liddy's comments are not going to go over well with most women, either. (Of course, the racism of the Right isn't confined to Sotomayor.)
Republicans such as John Coryn are expressing qualms about the comments made by Limbaugh (which usually means an apology is in the offing) and others. Peggy Noonan went so far as to call the rabid base of the GOP "idiots".

The rabid fools of the GOP will, of course, hold sway. These are the same people who, during the Bush Administration, called people like me "traitors" and now that they are out of power, they throw "teabagging parties" and mutter about secession and a second civil war. (You might want to ask yourself who are the real traitors, but I digress.) They are out of the box that the GOP traditionalists had them in and they, like the Taliban and yes, like the spoiled rotten brats that they are, are willing to destroy everything if they don't get their way.

Unlike the Taliban, all the talivangelists are doing is destroying their own party. They will hold power in a few states, but if the GOP does not break the iron grip that the crazies have on the party, the GOP will be nothing more than an ineffectual regional party for a long time to come.