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One of the things that I always keep in mind as I watch these Sunday shows and listen to the elite opine on the state of the world is that very real people are affected by this insular navel-gazing. People that I promise you never cross the mind of Dick Armey or Sarah Palin. Please take a few minutes to look at some of Mark's videos of homeless people--people who are not lazy or entitled or unwilling to work or better their situation--and remember that it is these invisible people who are being affected by our insane trust in Republican economic policies of free markets and deregulation. And we're adding to their rolls every day by not changing.

I can understand the confusion for some Americans who do not understand what Baby Paul's beliefs really stand for. The media does a terrible job when it comes to explaining the positions our politicians take. And they are even worse when someone like Poppa Paul takes the podium because they either don't spend the time researching a fringe type figure, are afraid to expose their views publicly, or feel it's not worth the effort to do so.

But for any liberal who does know the difference, especially a smart one like Robert Scheer really makes me shake my head.

He wrote a piece in The Nation called: Who's Afraid of Rand Paul?

I understand his frustration absolutely at what has happened since the 2008 election, but Scheer is either too angry to think straight or he's being played for a sucker. He writes:

How bad could it be to have another irascible Paul in the Congress?

How bad? Very, very, very f'n bad.

I imagine he's seen Baby Paul's appearance on Rachel Maddow already.

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(How quick is Baby Paul backtracking now?)

If Scheer cringed, was it because he actually thought Paul would make a good Senator and he just looked really bad on TV or was it awakening to the fact that he had let himself get conned? Paul worships at the alter of anti-government, free markets and big business (He hates that the ladies have rights too) and after watching the oil spill nightmare, I bet Rand is still against regulating Big Oil. I'm waiting for a reporter or pundit to ask him that question. I won't get into every problem Baby Paul represents to our country if he becomes a Senator, they are too numerous to write down here.

Just so you know, one of the reasons I call Rand 'Baby Paul' is because of the nepotism that has fueled his run at office.

Katie Couric interviewed a few teabaggers to get to the bottom of their beliefs, because generally the media hasn't bothered to check them out like we have.

Digby explains:

Katie Couric sits down with a couple of teabaggers to find out what they really believe. And it turns out that they believe in individual liberty, fiscal responsibility, free markets, limited government, low taxes, a strong national defense and protecting our borders against the immigrant invasion. They think the government has usurped the constitution and see themselves as uber-patriots fulfilling the founders' intent. They believe fervently in American exceptionalism and that the nation is under mortal threat from foreign enemies without and traitors within. They are divided on social issues but insist that they are irrelevant to their movement --- they repeat Republican talking points verbatim but insist they are not Republicans. In other words they are standard issue conservative movement wingnuts without the cross.

If you don't want to bother listening to them, you can just listen to Glenn Beck and you'll get the picture. These guys aren't as entertaining but he's obviously their leader.

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This is the right wing I grew up with --- before the God Squad was recruited and turned the movement into the panty sniffing morals police. I know them very well. They are racists and conspiracy mongers and they have absolutely no business being anywhere near real power. The Big Money boyz know they have nothing to fear from them --- indeed, they sponsor them. They are good Republicans even if they don't know it.

Either they are lying that they aren't conservatives or just plain ignorant about their beliefs. I believe it's a little of both. Some really just found politics and have been brainwashed to hate the government because they saw what happened under George Bush. President Obama's first year has been for the most part to try and save the country from conservatism and then try to pass health care. We might terribly dislike the approach he's taken towards these problems, but that's it in the nutshell.

The teabaggers are an extension of movement conservatism, and especially its long use of the politics of resentment. That started with Goldwater and morphed into the New Right and then Abramoff and Norquists' College Republicans. They've always found it useful to stor up right-wing populism. Their idea that left-wing libertarians can join with them is absurd in any meaningful way; the Tea Party exists for one reason, to attack the left. I will change my mind if and when the Tea Party movement does one thing that actually hurts conservatism and conservative politicians when it counts. I'm not holding my breath.

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CNN's Rick Sanchez played a portion of Arlen Specter's press conference to South Carolina's Jim DeMint and asked him if Republicans are weeding out the moderates from the party -- and isn't that a bad thing?

Sanchez: Republicans are making it very difficult for other Republicans because, and he said this on several times, you tell me what you think of it. You're shrinking the electorate to an extreme, to a point that a regular republican can't win. What do you make of that argument?

DeMint: Oh, that's quite the opposite. We're seeing across the country right now, the biggest tent of all is freedom and what we need to do as Republicans is convince Americans that freedom can work in all areas of their life, for all Americans, whether it's education or health care or creating jobs...

Sanchez: What the hell does that mean? The biggest tent is freedom. FREEDOM, I mean, you gotta do better than that.

DeMint: No, what it means is what has worked in America, free people, free markets for years.

Conservatives always say that there problems aren't really problems at all. It's Freedom baby, Freedom is our Big Tent party! That freaked out Sanchez -- understandably, because DeMint's answer made no sense. See, Specter leaving the Republicans is a good thing because he's free to do what he wants. His defection is just an application of their Freedom principle. I'm surprised DeMint didn't paint his face blue and don a kilt for this performance.

And DeMint actually says that Club For Growth's Pat Toomey is a mainstream American. Yeah, a Grover Norquist mainliner, he means. CFG is very upset that they are being attacked. He also blames Democrats for the auto companies falling apart.

Piece. Of. Work.

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