Whitecaps

A modest proposal: the politics we see are the wave peaks that form when a groundswell is hit by a cross-chop.

For example, in the recent Obama goof, the groundswell is support for gay rights, and the cross-chop is the homophobia of hard-shell Baptists

When these two run against each other, hey presto, wave peaks. Add in strong gusts of bloviating and whitecaps are formed.