The Frankenstein Fringe

A few months ago we warned Tea Partiers that they were running the risk of becoming the conservative equivalent of Code Pink -- and that was not a place they should aspire to go. Well, after the last two weeks worth of town hall meetings now being digested by the country, it's not just the Tea Partiers, but the entire conservative movement that is running the risk of becoming a marginalized fringe organization devoted to obnoxious public spectacles.

The problem conservatives may soon have to confront is whether they can stop this kind of behavior in the future or if they have created a monster that they will no longer be able to control. There's a direct evolutionary descent occurring to these crowds that began with the "He's a Muslim!" cries outside Palin rallies last fall and ends in a truly repellant place. Sadly, that place is looking more real every day.

There are people on the right who actually think all of the crazy town hall antics are signs that of an conservative revolution not unlike the one last seen in 1994. These crowds are not harbingers of great things to come, they're the last gasps of a dying movement that hasn't come to grips with it's impending demise. The only people who find the behavior at the town halls patriotic and noble are the like-minded folks on the fringe who are getting sucked into the feedback loop generated by all the YouTube videos.