I’m late getting to it, but the Wall Street Journal /John McCain comparison of the most strident Tea Party affiliated politicians to hobbits just doesn’t work. The worst that can reasonably be said about the most recalcitrant of the Tea Party-affiliated congressmen, is that they are willing to use all the weapons at hand (control of one branch of Congress), even to ultimate destruction (failing to pass any debt ceiling increase and who-knows-what) in a desperate attempt to avoid a doom they see as otherwise unavoidable and counting on their own courage to help them ride out the consequences that their actions would unleash. Can anyone picture a Sam, Frodo or Pippin bragging about having a “titanium spine” - even had they known what titanium is? If you had to to make invidious comparisons between one’s least favorite Tea Party-affiliated politicians and nonvillainous characters in the Lord of the Rings (though I don’t know why you would have to), wouldn’t it be to Boromir?
