I’m amazed. Not that a Democrat would say it — this is straight out of the Harry Reid songbook — but that it would come from someone like Hoyer who’s not normally given to bomb-throwing. In fact, you can tell that this sort of thing isn’t his forte: As thumbnail psychoanalyses of political opponents go, it’s one of the lamest examples I’ve ever heard.

In fairness, the man’s hurting right now after being unceremoniously dumped back into the House minority. And look on the bright side: A year ago, their catch-all explanation for tea party motivations was racism. (For Howard Dean, it still is.) Now, per Hoyer, it’s upgraded to family dysfunction, a condition that’s downright sympathetic. You’re not evil anymore! You’re just … sad. Aw:

There are a whole lot of people in the Tea Party that I see in these polls who don’t want any compromise. My presumption is they have unhappy families. All of you have been in families: single-parent, two-parents, whatever. Multiple parent and a stepfather. The fact is life is about trying to reach accommodation with one another so we can move forward. That is certainly what democracy is about. So if we are going to move forward compromise is necessary.

And that’s why wanting to reform entitlements necessarily means tension around the dinner table. Exit question via Newsbusters: Could the real problem with tea partiers be, in the eloquent words of Joy Behar, that “this Constitution-loving is getting out of hand”? Watch the clip and I think you’ll agree that it sounds scary. And not just because “smart liberal” Bill Press seems to believe there’s a right of privacy somewhere in the constitutional text.