“[C]onservative thinkers such as David Frum and Bruce Bartlett have begun warning that Republicans are foolish to make themselves captive to the ‘hysterical accusations and pseudo-information’ of the party’s entertainment and tea party wing. ‘Talk radio,’ the former Bush speechwriter argues on his FrumForum blog, ‘thrives on confrontation and recrimination’ rather than governing.
“Bartlett cites a survey of tea partiers at a recent Washington demonstration that shows most know nothing about the policies they so noisily abhor. Almost none realize, for example, that Obama’s jobs stimulus plan gave ’90 percent of all taxpayers … a tax cut last year and almost 100 percent of those in the $50,000 income range.’ When people resort to racial epithets and sexual insults, it’s normally a sign they’ve got nothing else to say.”
— Gene Lyons, “GOP Whine: Drink Deeply,” Salon.com, March 24, 2010.