Self-parody

The other day I wrote:

It's a Washington truism that each new generation of Republicans, be it the Reaganites in the 1980s, the Gingrich-led House of the 1990s or today's Tea Party members are the most extreme ever. Despite this the government somehow manages to keep growing at a healthy clip.

For those who think I exaggerate, I present to you Maureen Dowd in today's New York Times:

The Gingrich revolution pulled Republicans to the right of the Reagan revolution and the Tea Party revolution pulled Republicans to the right of the Gingrich revolution. The difference, though, is existentially striking: The Reagan and Gingrich forces wanted a leaner government, but they still believed in government.

I take this to mean that Dowd believes the Tea Party to literally be anarchists. And while she didn't go on to liken the Tea Party to a barbarian horde as I (sarcastically) did, she did refer to them as "maniacal" and "adamantine nihilists." Former Congressman Martin Frost, meanwhile, writing in Politico opined that Tea Party members "seem to have much in common with the Taliban."

I also wrote:

This new generation of Republicans is so extreme that they manage to make John Boehner, the day-glo congressman from Ohio, appear almost moderate.

Doubters, I give you Democratic strategist and former DNC communications director Maria Cardona, ranting at CNN.com:

The tyranny is coming from the 87 members of Congress from the tea party caucus, whose selfish and irresponsible demands during the debt ceiling negotiations may very well mean either outright default or what could be even worse and too late to avoid -- the downgrade of the country's gold standard AAA credit rating. What is worse, these 87 little tyrants have no clear understanding of the fallout of either scenario.

We have witnessed House Speaker John Boehner, who many believe is at heart a reasonable, responsible and truly bipartisan leader, lose control of his caucus, giving the 87 even more power to rule with their ultra-right-wing mantra masquerading as the "will of the people." He has allowed himself to be ruled by their iron-fisted ways and demands to the point that he has kowtowed into including a balanced budget amendment to his already DOA plan.

The commentariat is literally beyond parody.