Orwell Laughed

I guess the Orwellian slogan for this one would be, "Direct elections = Tyranny. It seems a faction of the Tea Party wants to abolish the 17th amendment and allow the states to appoint senators instead of having the people elect them. Oh, they have their reasons:

The "Repeal The 17th" movement is a vocal part of the overall tea party structure. Supporters of the plan say that ending the public vote for Senators would give the states more power to protect their own interests in Washington (and of course, give all of us "more liberty" in the process.)

What part of appoint don't they get, I wonder? So instead of the voters deciding who gets to serve in DC, their local Bubbas will pick one of their drinking buddies? What could go wrong with that?

But they're serious. The TPs are vetting candidates with questionaires asking for their stance on this one. Some initially voiced approval, but then claimed they checked the wrong box on the questionaires. This didn't make the TPs happy. At least one candidate in Idaho lost the TP endorsement over it.

However, not all GOPers are running away from the extremism. The guy who beat Bob Bennett in Utah maintains support for it and "Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) has actually put forward legislation that would repeal the amendment." This is so stupid I suppose I should have titled this one, "Darwin Laughed," but I thought that might be too mean. I want to believe that most of the TPs who support this insanity probably don't understand how it would work in real life.

[More posts daily at The Detroit News]