TEABAGGERS FIND SOMETHING TO LIKE ABOUT BIG GOVERNMENT

Carl Paladino's huge tea-driven win in New York's Republican gubernatorial primary makes this September 4 Wall Street Journal story look rather ridiculous:

Tea Partiers Questioning Paladino's Bona Fides

... Interviews with several tea-party organizers indicate that Mr. Paladino's bid for the Republican nomination, while drawing more favorable reviews than his gubernatorial rivals', has been received with skepticism.

... Mr. Paladino's pledge to unleash the state power of eminent domain to prevent the construction of a 13-story mosque and Muslim community center two blocks from Ground Zero was "an automatic disqualifier for a lot of people," said Stephen Flanagan, founder of the Conservative Society for Action, a Suffolk County group. For many tea party activists, the protection of property rights is a bedrock principle.

Mr. Flanagan, who owns a small marketing company in Brightwaters, said he's spoken to activists who view Mr. Paladino's ambitions with suspicion. "They're not trusting of him," he said.

... On the mosque issue, [Frank] Santarpia [a tea-party organizer from Staten Island] said: "I would prefer that eminent domain not come into the conversation. We have to be very careful about property rights." ...

Wow -- nobody could have predicted that the tea-swilling masses would choose Muslim-bashing over their bedrock anti-government principles! Nobody! Certainly not The Wall Street Journal....