17 September 2010 The Charge of the Right Brigade

“The Charge of the Light Brigade was a disastrous charge of British cavalry led by Lord Cardigan against Russian forces during the Battle of Balaclava on 25 October 1854 in the Crimean War.”

156 years later the memory of their action is recalled as an example of the foolish expenditure of troops in futile battles.

In 2010 it may come to be associated with the charge of the Palin clones. Are unelectable candidates being pushed from primary elections, challenging party numbers with Palin’s chosen for glory prayer warriors? We can hope that the Tea Party mobs will become enmeshed with the religious right’s fanatics, shifting the balance of power within the GOP into supporting candidates that are too reactionary and unsuitable to the voters who were once the more moderate GOP electorate.

Like Stalin, following the death of Lenin, Palin and the Tea Party mobs are implementing purges to assure the “purity” of the GOP. In their zeal, they are hopefully creating a class of candidates that will alienate most of the voters.

“

'Forward, the Light Brigade!'

Was there a man dismay'd ?

Not tho' the soldier knew

Some one had blunder'd:

Theirs not to make reply,

Theirs not to reason why,

Theirs but to do & die,

Into the valley of Death

Rode the six hundred.”

Here we have the Palin troop.

Theirs not to make reply, theirs but to do and die.

Palin speaks only via ghost-written posts in social networking sites so that there can be no chance of questions that were not pre-approved and that can’t dealt with in Palin-speak to defeat real questions. Like all insects they are expected only to attract drones, produce the next generation, and vanish.

Palin clones seem bound to follow the Palin party line as certainly as did Molotov and Beria. Underlings all, ready to challenge the evil pointed out by Sarah and Newt, by Huckabee and others who wave a bible and a flag but utter only programmed phrases. Shall we return to those thrilling Cold War days when we pretended that school desks would save the next generation?

Some one has blundered! Yes, they have. The GOP has proven that its central platform has not changed since the days of the Crimean War, futile cavalry charges, and divine right rulers. That information is not supposed to be released to the voting public or the media. We can only hope that someone will pen a memorable and accurate accounting of the Tea Party mobs’ efforts to return the nation to pre-Civil War status.