Wisconsin Recall Elections, Round 1

Well, the explicitly and proudly fake candidates that the Teabaggers threw into the Wisconsin recall elections were all defeated by the actual Democrats.

I suppose I should be cheered by that – there’s certainly a great deal of celebratory rhetoric floating about the blogosphere in the wake of the failure of this morally bankrupt, breathtakingly cynical and deeply un-American attempt to deny US citizens the right to free and fair elections. And there is something to be said for that.

But the sad fact is that the tactic didn’t fail. It succeeded. It did everything the Teabaggers wanted it to do.

It delayed the actual recall elections by another month, giving the Teabaggers time to ram their gerrymandering scheme through the rubber-stamp legislature in order to make voting more difficult and rig the elections in their favor. It muddied the waters regarding whether the Voter Suppression Act of 2011 will be employed to further that cause. It forced the Democratic challengers to the Teabaggers to spend money to defend themselves against these charlatans, money they won’t have for the actual recall elections. And it removed the recall elections another month from the outrages of the past spring, which only helps the Teabagger cause since most Americans have a political memory measured in minutes. They’re counting on that, and I have no doubt they are right to do so. If Americans had any historical memory at all, we wouldn’t have Teabaggers to begin with.

More to the point, the imposing of fake candidates in the recall elections demonstrated for all to see the callous indifference that Teabaggers have for the ideas of the rule of law, democracy, and the right of American citizens to have their voices heard. It was just one more way for the Teabaggers to say to the rest of us that they will do whatever it takes to keep their withered claws on the levers of power – morality and American values be damned. It’s just one more sign of a schoolyard bully willing to overlook basic principles so long as it gets them their way and intimidates everyone else.

They didn’t want those fake candidates to win. They didn’t care if they won. That wasn’t the point. The point was to impress upon us that they have the power to do whatever they want, whenever they want, however they want, and no quaint and antiquated notions of Constitutions, elections or laws will stand in their way.

I’m surprised that the Teabaggers didn’t just come right out with ads threatening the children and pets of Democrats if they didn’t fall into line. It would have been in character.

On to the next step. Expect more of the same.