What does the GOP have in common with Arthritis?

I keep looking for a metaphor to describe how rank and file Republicans keep attacking the people who are trying to save them.

It's Arthritis. Arthritis is an autoimmune disease, in which the body's defense mechanisms mistakenly attack the body's own joints instead of an invading organism. 

All the autoimmune diseases are like this--firing away at the invader it thinks it's found out there in the dark, only it was your own wife who'd gotten up for a glass of milk and was just trying to come back to bed with you.

And of course the Republican leadership does everything it its power to foster this. Hence the constant description of Obama as some kind of European Socialist. 

BTW what do you suppose our European allies think of the Republican presidential contenders constantly invoking Europe as the worst possible thing one could imagine?

As soon as Romney's elected, he'll have to go on an Apology Tour in Europe...