Hoist The Black Flag And Begin To Slit Throats

What to make of the results from Tuesday's primaries and the strong tea party showing? Toby Harnden nails it.

...To say that voters are angry is an understatement. They are furious, disgusted and resentful. They are fed up of being told by besuited party honchos and professional politicians whom they should vote for, and what they should think.

On Tuesday, Carl Paladino scored another big Tea Party victory in New York, winning the Republican nomination for governor. He quoted, as have many others, the anguished cry of Howard Beale in the 1976 film Network – "I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this any more!" If anything, it understates the strength of anti-establishment feeling. The mood is closer to H L Mencken's observation, prominent on the Ace of Spades conservative blog, that "every normal man must be tempted at times to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin to slit throats".

Amen, brother. Spit, hoist, and slit away!!!

So the reaction of (Republican) establishment figures ... was as predictable as it was misguided. ... But (their) response showed an arrogance that will fuel the outrage Republicans should be trying to harness.

Typical repubs. They've been dealt a winning hand and they have no idea how to play it.

Democrats are even more out of touch ... their tactic of portraying the Tea Party as racist loons is likely to be disastrous. Mocking populist sentiment in this atmosphere will see Democrats punished at the polls far more severely than Republicans.

There are certainly some eccentric characters at Tea Party events, but the vast majority are small-government conservatives who think Washington is corrupt, complacent and working for itself rather than the people. Those feelings have only been exacerbated by President Obama's policies: elected on a wave of anti-Bush feeling, he interpreted the desire for something different as a mandate for a vast expansion of government, piling trillions on to the already swollen national debt. In Florida the other day, I saw a home-made sign tied to the front gate of a modest home in a black neighbourhood. "No more big plans with my money," it declared. That's the essence of the Tea Party message – and it has huge resonance.

Ironically, a strong Tea Party presence in Congress is likely to lead to further legislative gridlock, especially if there is no rapprochement with the Republican establishment. In 2012, Obama could win re-election with no real mandate at all. That would only fuel the outrage of the Tea Partiers and reinforce their darkest suspicions. In such circumstances, a major realignment of American politics would be inevitable.

We can only hope...

(H/T to Barking Moonbat for the link to Harnden's story)