Crazy cons by any name are just as insane

Once they were called the Silent Majority. Then they were called the Moral Majority. Now they're called the Tea Party. None of them have actually been a majority and they're all the same loudmouth, self-entitled minority who believe the government doesn't work unless it caters to their whims.

The latest target of their self-righteous entitlement is Dana Roraback who drew their ire when he told the media he wasn't one of them.

MacGuffie said if Roraback won't fight for the principles of limited government, fiscal responsibility and free markets, then "just what are you doing in the Republican Party?"

"The truth of the matter is, I've always had the courage to be independent and I don't think compromise is a dirty word if that's what it takes to get results," [Roraback] said.

While MacGuffie said "anyone who holds those views belongs with the Democrats," another tea party advocate in the state, Tanya Bachand, of Wallingford, said many members of the movement have different views on social issues.

But Bachand, a founder of the New Haven Tea Party, said Roraback angered many people in the movement shortly after winning the primary when he said, according to her, "I am not a tea party Republican, I am a reasonable Republican."

"It was really a slap in the face to us," Bachand said. "He doesn't want to be associated with us, but he doesn't know any of us."

Hell, you know one of these groupthink cons, you know them all. But in that mob, one stray step away from their proscribed orthodoxy is a career ending death sentence. And that's the difference between the Tea Party and its previous incarnations. They're still not a majority, but this time around they focused on influencing elections and there are just enough of them to oust incumbents who don't toe their line during the primary process. As we saw in 2010, in heavily Republican districts, they can even win in the general race.

Whether they can sustain that momentum much longer remains to be seen. I don't think they can now that the damaging effect of their extremism on governance has been demonstrated in office. But it may last through the 2012 cycle. Certainly the GOP establishment believes it will, which explains Romney's desperation to keep them in the fold.

Of course, predicting political outcomes is a fool's game but at the moment it appears catering to their vicious whims will destroy Romney's campaign and perhaps even the entire Republican party. While I'm not one to wish ill even on my enemies, in this case I'm not so sure that would be a bad thing. The ultimate demise of these amoral monsters could only benefit the greater good of society.

[More posts daily at the Detroit News.]