Sooner or later, Republicans will have to confront their Tea Party extremists

The Secular Jurist

By Robert A. Vella

Late last night, the Republican leadership in the House of Representatives once again cowered before the radical extremists in their party.  After the firebrand Tea Party senator from Texas – Ted Cruz – had brazenly scuttled House Speaker John Boehner’s border remediation plan the day before, Republican leaders acquiesced to the rabid right-wing pressure and passed an even more draconian pair of bills in the media shadow of a Friday evening (see:  House passes $694 million border bill).

Sooner or later, Republicans will have no other choice but to directly confront this insurgency within their political party.  Otherwise, the Tea Party will inevitably win this escalating GOP civil war.  Why?  Because what drives the Tea Party is unrelenting zealotry for an irrational ideology based on hostility:  hatred of democratic governance, hatred of ethnic, racial, religious, and sexual equality, and a profound resentment over losing the…

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Politicians & The Public

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Senator Ted Cruz has been called many things during his time in Congress. To many of his own colleagues who feel he’s too extreme, he’s a “thorn in the side” of the Republican Party. He’s also been called a “firebrand” for his ability to energize and increase supporters of the fringe Tea Party movement. In fact, MotherJones.com calls him the “Tea Party wonder boy.”