Conservatives Target Their Own Fringe

[babylonsister]

Conservatives Target Their Own Fringe
Taking aim at the movement's extremist elements

by Kenneth P. Vogel


After months of struggling to harness the energy of newly engaged tea party activists, the conservative establishment - with critical midterm congressional elections on the horizon - is taking aim for the first time at the movement's extremist elements.

The move has been cast by some conservatives as a modern version of the marginalization of the far-right anti-communist John Birch Society during the reorganization of the conservative movement spearheaded in the 1960s and 1970s by William F. Buckley Jr.

"A similar effort will be required today of conservative political and intellectual leaders," former Bush speechwriter Michael Gerson wrote in his column in the Washington Post . "It will not be easy. Sometimes it takes courage to stand before a large crowd and proclaim that two plus two equals four."

But for Gerson and other conservatives, this is not just an intellectual exercise. They have a very specific political goal - to deprive Democrats and their allies a potentially potent weapon to use against the GOP in November.

more...

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2010/02/27-1

[bridgit]

1. Its their mess let them clean it up

[gratuitous]

2. They noticed the John Birch folks coming back?

Of course, in their quest for votes, I don't see why the nitwits from the John Birch Society should be any more or less objectionable than the votes the Republicans receive from their standard-issue, low-information, voting-against-their-own-interest constituency.

[DJ13]

3. In other words, the corporate sponsors no longer see a need for the tea party

Dismissed!

[lunasun]

4. Flashback!

My mother belonged to the John Birch Society.
They would hold meetings in the back of the IGA grocery store nearby in the 60's.:rofl: