First, it was George "Quill" Will's op/ed on the never- to- be- President Sarah Palin and her brand of faux populism. Today it's Mushroom Cloud Gerson on the tea baggers who are not only misinformed (all of them), but deranged (many of them). When Will, Gerson and some of the other opinion leaders of the flea circus that constitutes current right-wing politics start noticing they're beginning to itch, it's worth noting. The media/ punditocracy conventional wisdom that the Rethugs are absolutely, positively going to blow away the Dems in November (more than 8 months away mind you) ignores what is obvious to many others: that what we're witnessing on the right is a festering, fragmented extremism (see CPAC, here, here, and here, for example), encouraged by "leaders" who ultimately may not be able to control the pitchfork crowd. Unless, of course, the Dems snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory by not passing health care reform and more, successful economic stimulus measures.
