Vivent longtemps la partie de thé!

Fascinating piece in the New York Times today about the original Tea Party movement, which took place -- sacre bleu! -- in France in the 1950s, complete with angry small business owners, a chief executive who was accused by some of not being "a real Frenchman," and other interesting conspiracy theories. What's most relevant for our present condition is the question: How did it end?

The election, though, proved to be Poujade's swan song. He had demanded the nation's ear, but once he and his fellow deputies had it, they had nothing substantive to say. Slogans and placards were poor preparation for governance, and the group's rank and file soon either retreated from the political arena or joined the traditional right.

By 1958, most Poujadists were ready to throw their support behind a far more impressive opponent of the Fourth Republic, Charles de Gaulle. When de Gaulle assumed power and held a referendum that replaced the parliamentary system with an authoritarian executive, Poujade's former adherents overwhelmingly voted yes. As for Poujade himself, he had already become a footnote to French history.

Today in America, we're seeing this already play out to some degree even before the fall 2010 elections, thanks in part to the fulcrum shift between the 60 and now (technically, as of Feb. 11) 59 Democratic votes in the Senate. People wondered if and how Obama would "pivot" in the State of the Union and related events, and I think the pivot was trying to place more responsibility on the GOP to...do something, anything. The "Party of No" may be offering a tiny ray of hope to the Democrats by giving them a chance now to run in November against the "do-nothing 41." (Although voters can and should also ask the Dems why they did absolutely nothing during those months that they had a supermajority.)

The other interesting parallel: Who is the Tea Party/GOP deGaulle?...no doubt this mass movement would rather rally behind an authoritative leader than all the hard work of holding rallies, carrying signs, etc. But who is that person? Sarah Palin? I think she'd only run for the job if they raised the presidential salary to at least $5 mil, right?

Footnote: "Automation: More pay, more leisure"? Really?