President Barack Obama and Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., left, talk Monday on the golf course at Andrews Air Force Base.Watch out for flying golf clubs: The tea partiers, who can't see beyond the crumbled, spent, bitter leaves in the bottoms of their cups, are teed off.
Mark West, Chattanooga president of the group that makes traditional conservative Republicans look good, is blasting U.S. Sen. Bob Corker for playing golf with President Barack Obama. The game this weekend was a move to take some national problems in hand as true leaders should and move the country beyond partisan gridlock.
In Georgia, Atlanta tea party "Patriots" co-founder Debbie Dooley was equally disgusted with Peach State Republican and U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss, who also played golf with Obama.
"I won't be surprised if he gets booed at the Georgia Republican Party state convention," she said.
That pretty much says it all, doesn't it? It's patriotic to be a roadblock. No wonder this country can't balance its budget without shutting the door in the faces of 50 children in the local Head Start program.
No wonder the country can't pass even the most common-sense legislation on gun checks -- which, by the way, 90 percent of Americans support.
Clearly, the holier-than-thou tea party folks don't expect our leaders to lead and reach solutions through mutual compromise. To the bitter leaf party, it's not enough just to have party division: Now, our leaders have to despise each other, too.
Apparently to West and Dooley and their ilk, Congress is just this year's newest reality show.
"Just because they have 'Senator' in front of their names doesn't mean they're entitled to a better understanding of this nation than folks in Tennessee," West told Times Free Press reporter Chris Carroll. "We know there's absolutely no common ground with Obama."
The really funny thing about the tea party temper tantrum is that West and Dooley seemed to view the round of golf as evidence that Obama will bully Corker and Chambliss into supporting immigration overhauls and new taxes.
Anyone who thinks Bob Corker can be bullied is clearly out of touch. Besides, it sounds as though the only bullies in this report are the booing tea partiers.
But more importantly, the American people understand that leadership includes finding ways to have mutual respect and real civil discussion that actually has a result. It's not talk that is just one more sound bite for a party blog or YouTube video.
This country faces serious challenges, and Congress -- especially Republicans -- must get beyond the question of who to boo and who to take to the prom.