Joan Walsh, one of the blathering heads on PMSNBC, has penned an interesting op-ed on Salon about the dead end choices facing the GOP establishment in 2016 in their quest to neuter the tea party. You would expect hyperbole from Walsh when opining about Republicans, but she accidentally raises valid points. With Christie and Scott Walker effectively no longer viable options for pro-plutocracy advocates, all that may be left includes a sure-fire losing short list with JEB! and Mitt's names on it.
Walsh even brings up the frantic effort, if the establishment blows the primaries, to pair JEB! as a VP on a ticket with an "acceptable" tea partyish nominee. This seems a bizarre fantasy.
Two analogies should be debunked. There is no parallel with 1980 when Reagan picked George HW Bush. Back then, the Bush name was not toxic, and HW was considered a sane, moderate choice for VP. If a tea partier wanted to replicate 1980, they would pick a moderate with no negative historical or familial baggage, and that certainly would not be JEB!.
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| JEB! is no Franz |
The "Weimar Republic" analogy is fraudulent also. In 1933, the Herrenklub establishment in Germany persuaded Hindenberg to appoint Adolf Hitler chancellor in a cabinet with minority Nazi members, and former reactionary establishment chancellor Franz von Papen as Hitler's vice chancellor. Papen was presumed to be the real power center in the government (since his allies had more cabinet positions) who would protect establishment interests and prevent Nazi extremism. History tells how well that worked out, but the US is not a parliamentary system, and if some tea partier were able to win the nomination in the primaries, why would they torpedo their already slim chances in November with the toxic and loathed Bush albatross around their neck when they wouldn't need it for anything?
Walsh, perhaps by design, does not include on on her pathetic short list Ohio Governor John Kaisch, who may yet emerge as the pluto's choice if he can say out of scandal and win reelection this year.
Salon - Republicans’ pathetic last resort: When Jeb and Mitt are your 2016 saviors
Kasich a Doer Who's Nobody's Guy
Herrenklub: Historical dictionary of Weimar Republik
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