Brilliant, Amy.

However, that’s part of the power of doublespeak-ish catchphrases like the “Patriot” Act, Patriot Day, Homeland Security, Taxed “enough”, & “smaller” government.

It’s easy to get people to sign their names below those phrases but near impossible to find 2 people who agree on what they mean.

They make great picketsigns because everyone uses the same words.

If you have 2 entities talking calmly but disagreeing, the 100s of onlookers might take an interest but most likely will simply go about their lives.

The moment one of those 2 makes a huge gesture, insult, or scene, the 100s of onlookers will “pick sides”. Sure, before then, they didn’t care, but now, all-of-a-sudden, they pick who is the victim, who’s wrong, & such.

So all this ridiculous behavior has a point:
To polarize the situation.

Once it’s polarized then the consequences become steeper & even those who didn’t turn up the heat have to consider how they’ll be perceived.

I agree with your 2nd and 3rd paragraph, but your opening paragraph I don’t get. A desire to be in office doesn’t contradict wanting smaller gov’t. Smaller gov’t does not equal NO Govt. Not everyone on the right are anarchists, no more than everyone on the left are communists…

Did I misunderstand?

The obvious answer is that Republicans desire power and influence, but they are not willing to accept the responsibility to govern. I hope this is not the case, and that the lionshare of the party is grounded in reality and realizes that every won election comes with the responsibility to lead and watch over the people that elected you.

The Republicans claim that their time is coming and that their flag in on the rise, but an objective observer will note that they have squandered every opportunity while in the minority, and that political parties should be judged not by their deeds while in the majority, when their ideas often go unopposed, but by their deeds while in the minority, when their skills of governance and legislation are most tested. Football coaches must run practice in the snow, firemen still have to put out fires at night, and Republicans still are obligated to govern even as a minority party.

For me, they have shown me their ability to encourage hatred, to misinform a vulnerable population (not only the entire country, but most targeted to a impressionable political base), and to hinder the will of a nation. I’m still waiting to see how they accomplish the task that they were chosen to do.

They claim they’re going to turn the Democratic world upside down. The question is, who’s gonna help ‘em do it?

I think the biggest mistake the GOP has made has been aligning itself with evangelical christians. So asshats like Pat Robertson somehow become representatives of conservative thought. Other asshats in the media include (in order of severity, IMO) Michael Savage, Ann Coulter, Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh. And as you point out, the lunatic fringe you find protesting at some these events don’t help either.

Reasonable debate becomes nonsense in the hands of these folks. The left isn’t innocent either. Maddow, Olbermann and Matthews (all from the same network, interestingly) have gone over the top in their messages at times.

I really enjoy Jon Stewart’s satire of all these folks. Extremely funny and on point.