The Bloodlust of The Angry Mob

The GOPers were laughing back when their angry mob of deluded Tea Partiers were shouting down Democrats at health care town halls. They thought they were being very clever in riling up the easily deceived with phony sloganery and defended the raging outbursts as exercises in free speech. Not so amusing now that they're being booed too.

I'm reminded of a friend's dog. Huge cuddly bear of a pup of unknown pedigree. Total sweetheart. I was the one who named him Zachary. They lived in the country and all was well until one day Zach grew up and killed a lamb at a neighboring farm. Getting a taste of blood changed him entirely. He never attacked humans, but they couldn't stop him from going back to the sheep farm for more. Ultimately he had to be put down.

And thus does the GOP reap the bitter fruit of their poisoned tree. They convinced the Tea Party tantrumists they were a majority and empowered them as such, presumably to defeat Democrats. But they did too good a job in villifying the opposition. Now the slightest whiff of bi-partisan governance is grounds for banishment.

Tea Party activists in Utah have already said that they want to challenge Mr. Hatch in a Republican primary next year, declaring him to have worked too closely with moderates and Democrats. The same conservatives helped defeat Mr. Hatch’s Senate colleague, Robert F. Bennett, at the state’s Republican convention last year.

Poor old Orrin. He was so flummoxed by their rage, he apologized for doing the right thing. But really it doesn't matter what he says now. The mob has developed a taste for blood and it's not even really about policy for them. They don't have any clear policy positions beyond the sloganery. It's all about feeling powerful, no matter what the consequences.