Here’s the thing, E.J.…even if roughly a quarter of the people in this country are instinctively anti-government and opposed categorically to anything Washington does or proposes to do…they still tend to stay home and vent quietly as long as a Republican is in the White House. The second a Democrat enters the White House, the black helicopter-talk ramps up and the charges of socialism go out. Suddenly, congresspeople are inundated by nuts phoning them, writing them, showing up at their town hall meetings with guns and shouting batty nonsense they’ve learned from right-wing radio hosts. And it can be argued somewhat convincingly, I think, that even Poppy Bush aroused this kind of reaction when he raised taxes. He was no longer a Republican after he did that, so it was okay for Buchanan and Perot to gather up the nuts and run for the crown.
Obama’s getting a couple extra doses of crazy because he’s black and he inherited a terrible economy. But there’s a reason that lunatics come out of the woodwork any time the rich get taxed. The rich people pay for it.
