Fulfilling all the worst expectations of the tea party, Republican Party leaders today came out of the woodwork to celebrate the false bipartisanship touted by President Obama – a faux bipartisanship that will soon be used as a club against Republicans who dissent from the Obama agenda.

Leading the charge was former Republican National Committee chair Michael Steele, who stopped by MSNBC for a ceremonial pat on the head for throwing conservatives under the bus. “Shame on those Republicans who had to ‘leave town’ and were not here to be part of this day,” said Steele, apparently between visits to lesbian bondage clubs. Steele continued, saying that Republican failure to work with President Obama was a “best laid plan … more of mice than men.” The talking heads at MSNBC grinned along. Joan Walsh of Salon.com tweeted, “Thank you Michael Steele.”

The Republican Party has a serious collective action problem: the first Republican to break conservative solidarity and run to the liberal media to whine about evil conservatives gets media plaudits. Unfortunately, too many Republican weakling-leaders have been seduced by that fools’ gold.