The Snarling Underside

clipped from pajamasmedia.com Andrew Breitbart calls it the “George Bush by proxy syndrome.” Now that Mr. Bush is quietly going about his retirement, this strain of rage — the GWB43 virus — has spread like wildfire, finding unsuspecting targets, each granting us greater perspective into what not long ago seemed like a mysterious phenomenon isolated only on our 43rd president. The first person to catch the virus was Sarah Palin, whose family also was infected, including, unforgivably, her children. Then it was Joe the Plumber, for asking a question. Next were the Mormons. Then it was Rush Limbaugh — who hit back. Next, tax-day “tea party” attendees were “tea bagged.” Then there was a beauty contestant. And a Cambridge cop, too. And now we have town-hall “mobs.” Smile … you’ve been “community organized.” What has perhaps been less widely appreciated is the snarling underside of that vision, a compact of paranoia and scapegoating that is as dangerous as it is unattractive.