Understand, I am fascinated by self-promoters. I begrudgingly respect a leg-spreading, husband-stealing, Dr. Laura Schlessinger who invented a persona of professional prude and retired in luxury. I am amazed that always flabby Richard Simmons could wear loose fitting clothes and ascend to the lofty status of fitness guru. I marvel at the nails-on-chalkboard delivery of Curtis Sliwa could somehow secure an annoyingly inarticulate man a cozy niche in the forgiving world of talk radio.
And as an avoidant personality, I am interested in professional narcissists in much the same way that an anorexic might find gluttons and gluttony intriguing. And yes, I respect Sheriff Joe Arpaio for the cheesy publicity stunts that have always garnered him the Sinclair treatment from the buffoons in both the mainstream and the conservative media. And yes, I am a hopeless opportunist wannabe who seethes with envy when I witness a carpetbagger extraordinaire work his magic. But there is nothing Tea Party about Joe Arpaio.
Joe Arpaio does not support, advocate for or advance the cause of fiscal conservatism. He is not a deregulator, a minarchist or a proponent of the "small is beautiful" school of governance. But in his unending quest for the spotlight, Sheriff Joe has crashed our party.
I was proud when a Wisconsin Tea Party group extended a "Not Welcome" mat to GOP hack Tommy Thompson. But you hammer one lump out of the carpet and it rises somewhere else. Some of us suspected that the Tea Party would eventually be co-opted by a smooth operator. But I did not think the hijacking would occur so soon and I did not think we would be so easily duped.
Frankly, I thought the Tea Party would meet its demise in the form of something other than a tired, tireless and tiresome publicity whore who will hog any spotlight at any cost and at any effort. Rest in peace Tea Party. You are in Sheriff Joe's custody now.
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