The lead story in the Times today...

...is about the Tea Party (it's April 15, remember?). I was surprised by some of the findings in the article (all emphasis mine):

Tea Party supporters are wealthier and more well-educated than the general public.

Most describe the amount they paid in taxes this year as “fair.” A plurality do not think Sarah Palin is qualified to be president, and, despite their push for smaller government, they think thatSocial Security and Medicare are worth the cost to taxpayers.

Tea Party supporters over all are more likely than the general public to say their personal financial situation is fairly good or very good.

Some of the article's other findings were not so surprising:

Tea Party supporters tend to be Republican, white, male, married and older than 45. (Who would have guessed?)

And while most Republicans say they are “dissatisfied” with Washington, Tea Party supporters are more likely to classify themselves as “angry.”

They are more likely than the general public, and Republicans, to say that too much has been made of the problems facing black people.

They are far more pessimistic than Americans in general about the economy. More than 90 percent of Tea Party supporters think the country is headed in the wrong direction, compared with about 60 percent of the general public. About 6 in 10 say “America’s best years are behind us” when it comes to the availability of good jobs for American workers.

Nearly 9 in 10 disapprove of the job Mr. Obama is doing over all, and about the same percentage fault his handling of major issues: health care, the economy and the federal budget deficit. Ninety-two percent believe Mr. Obama is moving the country toward socialism, an opinion shared by more than half of the general public.

But in follow-up interviews, Tea Party supporters said they did not want to cut Medicare or Social Security — the biggest domestic programs, suggesting instead a focus on “waste.”

But the most telling piece of information for me was:

The percentage holding a favorable opinion of former President George W. Bush, at 57 percent, almost exactly matches the percentage in the general public that holds an unfavorable view of him.

57%? When during his presidency did George W. Bush ever have a 57% approval rating? And what exactly do these people approve of? The tax cuts for the rich that squandered the Clinton surplus? Maybe it was that unfunded Medicare drug benefit. Both were budget busting. How about the worst terrorist attack in American history? Was it those two (again unfunded) wars we're still fighting (with no end in sight)? Torture? His handling of Katrina? The Great Recession?

I'd really like one of these Tea Partiers to point out just one thing that President Bush did to deserve a 57% approval rating.