The Urge To Merge

Sarah Palin talks about merging:

Former vice presidential candidate and current Fox News contributor Sarah Palin said last night that the Republican Party should merge with tea partiers.

Fox's Greta Van Susteren asked if tea party candidates would end up siphoning votes from GOP nominees, or if the movement will "merge with the Republican Party."

"They need to merge," Palin said. "Definitely, they need to merge. I think those who are wanting the divisions and the divisiveness and the controversy -- those are the ones who don't believe in the message. And they're the ones, I think, stirring it up."

My California perspective is that merging two entities that were never separated in the first place (since the California Tea Parties are a GOP lobbyist creation) should prove no problem. In other parts of the country, however, the Tea Parties seem to be less-obedient to Central Control.

No matter. Pink Floyd understands this dynamic better than most:

Welcome my son, welcome to the machine
Where have you been? It’s alright we know where you’ve been
You’ve been in the pipeline, filling in time
Provided with toys and Scouting for Boys
You bought a guitar to punish your ma,
And you didn’t like school, and you know you’re nobody’s fool
So welcome to the machine
Welcome my son, welcome to the machine
What did you dream? It’s alright we told you what to dream
You dreamed of a big star, he played a mean guitar
He always ate in the steak bar
He loved to drive in his Jaguar
So welcome to the machine