'Joe the Plumber' and Other Republicrazies

I linked to this on my facebook page yesterday as well but I wanted to do a longer post here because I think it's a window into just how far off the rails the Republican party has gone.

Earlier this week former Clinton Labor Secretary Robert Reich tweeted:

"To describe the GOP crackup as extremists vs. moderates is inaccurate. It's really right-wing fanatics vs. mere extremists."

When you consider the fact that the Republican rank-and-file has largely coalesced around a budget proposal that would essentially eliminate the federal government in the long term except for defense spending and entitlements, while cutting taxes even further on the wealthy, I'd already say Reich has a point.

What this is really about, though, are the more radical elements of the GOP base, as represented this week by Samuel Wurzelbacher, aka Joe the Plumber, the erstwhile Ohioan who has gone from instant celebrity during the 2008 presidential campaign to conservative activist to candidate for Congress. In an appearance on CNN, Wurzelbacher was asked a question about a statement he made in 2010 that he would "not allow homosexuals anywhere near his children."


Wurzelbacher responded angrily, "So, this is TMZ. This isn't CNN is what you're saying," before adding "you're trying to do a gotcha moment, it's quite obvious!" and finishing the point after a bit of back and forth by seeming to defend his views on the grounds that “I’m allowed to have my opinions as an American, but it seems the left becomes very intolerant when you have an opinion other than what they state."

Putting aside the fact that it seems legitimate to ask a candidate for Congress if he still wouldn't allow his children near gay people, I was particularly astounded by the last part of the quote, which shows Wurzelbacher actually going a step further by decrying liberals' supposed "intolerance" for his bigoted views and turning the whole question into an us-against-them, culture warrior sort of moment. This is simply crazy - and has the hypocrisy even dawned on Wurzelbacher himself? The man boasts on his website that he "(wants) to represent the People, not special interests, lobbyists, or political parties." I'm guessing there at least some homosexuals in Ohio's 9th congressional district - I'm not sure how you can claim to be advocating for someone that you think is a threat to your children.

Wurzelbacher won his primary last week, but probably will not win in November. He is running against a well-financed incumbent who has been in Congress since the 1980s, in a district that is heavily Democratic. But the bigger issue is the sense of fear and loathing, rampant amongst the Republican grassroots, that his statements convey. Joe the Plumber is a tea party celebrity, and when he ironically decries a legitimate attempt to ask if he still holds bigoted views as liberal "intolerance," he is speaking to all the folks out there who truly believe they should be allowed public influence without being held accountable for their nutty views, and that liberals are a mortal threat to the right to bash gays.

Wurzelbacher is right. He is allowed to have his opinions. But the regulating factor behind freedom of speech is that you don't get a free pass when you say or believe something offensive. Wurzelbacher's response demonstrates the extent to which the Republican grassroots really is fueled by resentment - resentment that anyone would dare try to promote an America more tolerant or different in any way from the vision they hold so dear.

2012 isn't an important election year solely because of Barack Obama or Mitt Romney or any of the other individual people, including Wurzelbacher, running for elected office across the country. It's important because the GOP as a whole is driven right now by political extremism, and every vote for a Republican is a vote for the grassroots influence of people (like Joe the Plumber) whose views are far outside the mainstream. All politicians are forced to pander to the constituencies that helped get them to where they are. Regardless of who wins, who do Obama or any of his GOP challengers have to kowtow to once they're in office?

If it's people like Joe the Plumber, we're in trouble.