And while way too many otherwise sane Republicans are actively pandering to the tea-bag battalions, some old-fashioned conservatives are calling out the Teabaggers for their silliness. Writing in Fortune magazine, conservative policy analyst Bruce Bartlett, who has a long anti-tax history, says: “The irony of these protests is that federal revenues as a share of the gross domestic product will be lower this year than any year since 1950. … The truth is that the U.S. is a relatively low-tax country no matter how you slice the data.”

The Tea Party movement, more than anything else, is a rather garish display of a Republican right that seems to have lost not only the national elections but also any semblance of political bearings. Staying on this course, the GOP risks — in the words of one pundit — becoming “the Talk Radio Republican Party.”

Better put that kettle on, Marge. It’s going to be a long and bizarre four years.