THE WHOLE WORLD IS WATCHING – AT 7:33 P.M. ET:  The foreign press is now picking up the Massachusetts story.  Reader James Croak alerts us to this, from Australia's Sydney Morning Herald:

At 9.20pm today, in Massachusetts, or 1.20pm on the Australian east coast, the era of Obamamania abruptly ended. The euphoria surrounding the elevation of Barack Obama to the American presidency was brought to a crashing end.

It didn't even last a year.

Oh, the pain.  Not really.

The writer notes the anniversary of Obama's swearing in:

On the eve of that anniversary, the people of Massachusetts, the bluest of blue Democratic states, delivered a thunderous rejection of the Democratic Party and, by implication, the President.

In a special election to fill the seat vacated by the late Senator Ted Kennedy, the people of Massachusetts did something they had not done for more than 40 years: they elected a Republican to represent them in the Senate.

This was unimaginable one year ago, as Washington was gripped by euphoria over the charismatic Obama.

And...

Not only does it follow the double-digit swings against the Democrats in governors' races in New Jersey and Virginia two months ago, it confirms and cements the mood of anger in the electorate toward the Obama-led Congress.

On Sunday, the President rushed to campaign in Massachusetts after it emerged that his candidate was in serious trouble. His attempt to mobilise the party base failed.

What I like about the British and Australian writers, at least those not under the thumb of the politically correct, is that they're so direct.  Don't you hate subtlety at a time like this?

This was a protest vote heard around the nation, from the state famous for the Boston tea party in December 1773, an act of civil disobedience that foreshadowed the American revolt against British rule.

And the fact is, that, the term "tea party" is equated with "fascist" on the loony left.

A second Boston tea party is now resonating around America.

The liberals are now the British.

January 20, 2010