TEA Party "Ideology" is Just "Power."

Much digital "ink" has been spilled of late trying to sort out the ideological basis of TEA Party politics. It's a waste of time.

One thoughtful case in point is this essay by Sean Wilentz in Democracy Journal, which argues that the party is not "Jacksonian" in the strict sense. Wilentz is a smart guy, and he's a heckuva lot more famous than me, but I think he misses the point entirely. As he notes himself in this piece, Jackson was not entirely consistent in his own behavior -- that is, he was not always a "Jacksonian." He opposed the growth of federal power until he himself was at the pinnacle of federal power. He railed against undue influence from the rich, but he was among the wealthiest men in North America. In theory, though, Jackson ran for the White House as the champion of the little guy, as the uncorrupted, transparent remedy to the cabal of insiders who had been running the country until then. Jackson tapped into the same strain of paranoia that fed the Antimasons and the attacks on Mormons.

Andrew Jackson

In that sense -- the most important one -- Ted Cruz his ilk are exactly like Jackson. What they want is control. They want to protect their own personal interests, most of them racially and economically exclusive. It's no coincidence that Jackson made his wealth on slavery and expelled the Cherokee from Gerogia. It's no coincidence that Ted Cruz barely conceals his racism when he complains about immigration reform and Obamacare. Cruz just wants power.

Ted Cruz

Cruz is a dangerous man, just as Jackson was. Let's not confuse ourselves by pretending that he has an ideology beyond Himself.