"Republicans know well that a change of rhetorical pace is necessary. But efforts by their leaders to damp down the bellicosity of newly elected Tea Party types is running into the fact that the Tea Partiers have only the high volume setting on their amplifiers, just like Palin. They're like a couple having a fight at a funeral; politely sotto voce, then suddenly bursting out fortissimo with their plaints and accusations."
Alexander Cockburn was a British-Irish journalist, essayist, and political commentator. He wrote extensively on U.S. and international politics and co-founded CounterPunch. His work was known for investigative and polemical style.