TPing the Nation

To “TP” someone’s house has long meant decorating the trees and bushes in their yard with rolls and rolls of toilet paper. When I hear of the “Tea Party” policies, this image immediately comes to mind. I suspect that a number of otherwise thoughtful people are attracted to this movement out of frustration – if not desperation – spawned by the Republocratic parties. As I watched as much of Sarah Palin’s babbling as my sensibilities could stand, I could not help but wonder – as I did during the 2008 presidential campaign – whether the political establishment had paired the McCain/Palin nitwits as added insurance for the election of Obama.

As I listen to any of these Tea Party people express their dreams for a Tea Party presidency, I am drawn to H.L. Mencken’s classic assessment of what seems to drive them: “As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart’s desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.”

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3:20 pm on February 7, 2010