The Revolution Eats Its Own

As usual, Stirling gets it. Worth a read.

The Revolution Eats Its Own | TPMCafe

The fundamental dynamic going on here is between a royal court system, which relies upon debauchery as part of its attraction, and the peasant supporters of that system, who agree on the royalist, top down and militaristically nationalist structure of society – that is of a society which is rigidly hierarchical and controlled by an elite which is given privileges that the lower section of society can only envy. The reactionary hinterland allow themselves doses of debauchery, but see it as a threat to their economic well being. They would be less moral if they could be, which is why they support their elites in success.

There are two ways that the Foley-Hastert dance plays into this dynamic.

The first is the obvious – many of the elites of that court system are gay. Many of them engage in the very behavior the allegations of which were used to justify what Joe Conason called The Hunting of the President. Namely the perpetual search for sex partners.

This is causing an explosive fear among Gay Republican Washington. If the reactionary base demands a purge – the Rumpification of the Republican Revolution – then that purge will and must happen. One reason that Republicans are not falling on their swords as they have in so many past scandals –starting with the donors piloting a nuclear submarine – is that the fate of those who are cast out is not a cushy K-Street job, but ostracism. Compare this to the quiet resignation of a White House aid over Ambramoff recently, or the ending of the careers of DeLay, Ney or Cunningham. They literally could not get far away from the ballot box fast enough. Corruption is not a bar to continued employment, but homosexuality makes the bearer of infection radioactive.