
The hopelessness of the Iowa caucus almost makes boring radio blather about New Year's resolutions welcome, although pious mouthings of resolved virtues are no more to be believed than the resolution of Mitt Romney to quit if he hasn't fixed the U.S. economy in three years, of Ron Paul to return us to the 19th Century, of Newt Gingrich to impersonate a genial professor, of Michele Bachmann to execute homosexuals (although that, I can believe).
New Years resolutions, all broken in a week, are at least well-intended. Can one believe good intentions underlie the venom and hate spewed out by this batch of Tea Party panderers? After weeks, it still shocks, like lifting a dead tree branch in a forest to see hundreds of tiny white darkness-loving termite grubs shrink from the light.
Yet carrion creatures and eaters of dead wood have an important role in nature. Perhaps the role of the Iowa caucus is to expose the hate-warped lunacy that lies in the depths of some parts the American soul. Yet it is a disfiguring scar on a Republican party that once included clear-headed Americans like Dwight D. Eisenhower and John V. Lindsay. Even bullies like Governor Chris Christie and ex-Mayor Rudy Giulianni, had the sense to steer clear of this gang. Iowa Caucus, Hail and Farewell!