Despite tea baggers’ misuse of the term, “socialism” applies to any system in which citizens pool resources to provide a service for the community — in other words, any service that is not private and provided on a fee basis. Public education, as well as public police, fire and emergency services, public hospitals and, of course, government-run pensions, like Social Security, and health-care, like Medicare, are all bona fide socialist services.

So it is a surprise — although, on second thought, it shouldn’t be — to learn that tea bagger queen Sharron Angle, who rails against the evils of socialism on the campaign trail, is actually a dyed-in-the-wool socialist herself:

Angle’s campaign acknowledged to Nevada journalist Jon Ralston Monday that both the candidate and her husband receive health care from the federal government. Spokeswoman Ciara Matthews said in a statement: “Mr. Ted Angle receives his pension through the (federal) Civil Service Retirement System. While it is not supplemented by the federal government, current civil servants pay into the program to pay the schedule of those already retired — much like how the Social Security Program works today. Mr. Angle does not qualify [for] — nor does he receive Social Security benefits. His health insurance plan (the Federal Employee Health Program), which also covers Sharron, is a continuation of what he was receiving while he worked for the federal government.”

If government-provided health care is so abhorrent to Sharron Angle, then she and her husband should reject it and buy insurance on the open market. I’m sure they could find a plan with similar coverage that would cost them less than $1,500 a month somewhere. Otherwise, she reveals herself to be just another rage-aholic tea bagger railing about socialism while apparently unaware that she is, in fact, soaking in it.