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Forty-four years ago, the Rolling Stones headlined a free concert at the Altamont Speedway in northern California. The concert drew nearly 300,000 people and featured popular acts Santana, The Flying Burrito Brothers, Jefferson Airplane and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. (The Grateful Dead decided at the last minute not to perform because of the violent behavior of the crowd.) Arrangements for the Free Festival had been chaotic: Originally planned for San Jose, then for Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, lack of cooperation from city officials forced the organizers to find another venue. Altamont Speedway was the fourth choice and was decided upon just two days before the concert. Coming months after the peaceful Woodstock concert, Altamont, in contrast, was marred by violence. The culminating incident was the killing of a audience member by a member of the Hell’s Angels.

Scrambling to make arrangements on short notice, the organizers engaged the Hell’s Angels to provide security for the stage and for the performers. The bikers were paid with free beer, and spent the day freely imbibing. As the day passed, the crowd became more aggressive and the Angels reacted in kind. Using sawed-off pool cues and motorcycle chains, the Angels kept members of the crowd from climbing on the stage. The very people charged to maintain order in front of the stage became active participants in the chaos themselves.

This latter point comes to mind whenever I reflect upon the Republican Party’s quandary in dealing with its extreme conservative wing. In 2010, the GOP was glad to piggyback its electoral ambitions onto the populist energy of the Tea Party. The House of Representatives was the major prize, but the Republicans also gained controlled of a majority of state legislatures and governorships. What the establishment Republicans (perhaps best personified by Speaker John Boehner) did not factor into their calculations was, once victorious, they had no ability to maintain party discipline when dealing with the determined cadre within their own ranks. This minority disdains compromise of any sort, is extremely ideological and, indeed, seems to despise the very idea of governance. The shutdown of the Federal government in October was the ultimate manifestation of their views.

 I think of the extreme right-wingers (“wankers” as Bruce Bartlett refers to them) such as Steve King, Louie Gohmert or Michelle Bachmann as occupying the same position as those Hell’s Angels in front of the stage at Altamont. Brought in to help those in charge avoid problems, they became part of the problem themselves.