"But something snapped last year. Conservatives had long believed that history was on their side, so the G.O.P. establishment could, in effect, urge hard-right activists to wait just a little longer: once the party consolidated its hold on power, they’d get what they wanted. After the Democratic sweep, however, extremists could no longer be fobbed off with promises of future glory. Furthermore, the loss of both Congress and the White House left a power vacuum in a party accustomed to top-down management. At this point Newt Gingrich is what passes for a sober, reasonable elder statesman of the G.O.P. And he has no authority: Republican voters ignored his call to support a relatively moderate, electable candidate in New York’s special Congressional election. Real power in the party rests, instead, with the likes of Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin (who at this point is more a media figure than a conventional politician). Because these people aren’t interested in actually governing, they feed the base’s frenzy instead of trying to curb or channel it. So all the old restraints are gone." - Steven Perez, FF Bunneh from Bookmarklet

"In fact, the party of Limbaugh and Beck could well make major gains in the midterm elections. The Obama administration’s job-creation efforts have fallen short, so that unemployment is likely to stay disastrously high through next year and beyond. The banker-friendly bailout of Wall Street has angered voters, and might even let Republicans claim the mantle of economic populism. Conservatives may not have better ideas, but voters might support them out of sheer frustration. And if Tea Party Republicans do win big next year, what has already happened in California could happen at the national level. In California, the G.O.P. has essentially shrunk down to a rump party with no interest in actually governing — but that rump remains big enough to prevent anyone else from dealing with the state’s fiscal crisis. If this happens to America as a whole, as it all too easily could, the country could become effectively ungovernable in the midst of an ongoing economic disaster." - Steven Perez, FF Bunneh

"The point is that the takeover of the Republican Party by the irrational right is no laughing matter. Something unprecedented is happening here — and it’s very bad for America." - Steven Perez, FF Bunneh

This is one of my greatest fears. It's been the same fear I had back when Clinton was president and the ATF rolled into Waco to deal with that prick Koresh: deep down, these people really want a war. They won't be happy unless everything is in flames. I could see that from the reactions after the Branch Davidian compound burned to the ground. And two years, the reaction finally hit in Oklahoma City. I'm not worried about some Wahabbist douchebag blowing up a jet; I worry more about some young idiot who's been fed one too many X-FILES-style conspiracy theories after he came home from watching his buddies get blown up in the Middle East. - Steven Perez, FF Bunneh

For the most part, we sit back and kinda laugh at the Teabaggers (and let's face it - they bring it on themselves), but I shudder to think of what it would take to make us all stop laughing. - Steven Perez, FF Bunneh

If history is any indication, it will take something fairly significant, spectacular and heinous. Unfortunately, who do you go after you find out that the enemy is us? - Alex Scoble

Money Quote: "In California, the G.O.P. has essentially shrunk down to a rump party with no interest in actually governing — but that rump remains big enough to prevent anyone else from dealing with the state’s fiscal crisis. If this happens to America as a whole, as it all too easily could, the country could become effectively ungovernable in the midst of an ongoing economic disaster." - WarLord