Reid is not alone in revitalizing this once-detested attack on the Americans over their political activities. On Wednesday, Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) indulged in an outburst during a congressional committee hearing into the allegations that the Internal Revenue Service intentionally limited the amount of political activity that tea party groups could engage in during the 2012 election cycle.

“I am a member of a Congress of the United States of America,” Cummings exclaimed, directing his outrage at his colleague, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA). “You cannot just have a one-sided investigation. There is absolutely something wrong with that, and it is absolutely un-American.”

Issa contended, before walking out of that hearing in protest, that he had provided Cummings with the opportunity to submit his questions to former IRS commissioner Lois Lerner, who had once again exerted her Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination.

“Chairman, what are you hiding?” Cummings replied.