Tea Party’s “stunning” nightmare: Why it thinks its homeland is disappearing
Tea Partys stunning nightmare: Why it thinks its homeland is disappearing
by Elias Isquith at Salon
http://www.salon.com/2015/02/24/tea_partys_stunning_nightmare_why_it_thinks_its_homeland_is_disappearing/
SNIP.................
To get a sense of just how massive a shift that is from the U.S. that existed within most of our lifetimes, keep in mind that the U.S. was 80 percent white as recently as 1980. Moreover, at that time, only 16 percent of the countrys eligible voting population was non-white in 198o. By 2060, that number is expected to balloon to a whopping 54 percent.
Tea Partyers arent demographers, of course. Its unlikely that the people who think the construction of a truly Berlin Wall-esque southern border fence is Americas most pressing concern have detailed analyses of population trends in mind. But even if Tea Partyers arent data-crunching actuarial geniuses, theyre not political illiterates, either. They may believe things that arent true especially if they only watch Fox News but theyre more politically engaged than most Americans. And if theyre like the folks I encountered last year at CPAC, the conservative movements big annual gala, then theyve heard more than once that Barack Obama wouldnt even be president if the minority share of the electorate had frozen at its 2004 level (and if the GOP maintained the same support from whites).
Without that larger context, its hard to understand why the GOP base is willing to threaten a DHS shutdown in the name of deporting children. And without that larger context, its downright impossible to understand why Republicans say they are preserving the Constitution itself by forcing the reversal of Obamas immigration-related executive actions. If, as many Tea Partyers believe, Americas changing demographics are really the consequence of a massive con game in which Democrats provide amnesty and citizenship in exchange for votes (which they use to redistribute from Tea Partyers makers to new-arrival takers) then the United States as we know it is indeed at stake.
Obviously, none of this is to say that Tea Partyers are right in their analysis or right to fear Americas multicultural future. But it is to say that the efficacy of the GOPs usual appeal to white identity politics is coming to an end; and that polling of the growing non-white population indicates it will take the Tea Partys anti-government extremism with it. In other words, if Republicans do end up shutting down the DHS, it wont be because they dont care about security. Itll be because they see the homeland as in the gravest of danger already.
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