Rep. Maxine Waters (Getty Images)

Miami Herald columnist Leonard Pitts Jr. says that it's important for Democrats to up the ante during these arduous political times and points out that Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) left the Tea Party surprised when she let loose on its members.

I am pleased to report the sighting of an artifact so rarely seen among Democrats that it has become the stuff of legend and conjecture, like Bigfoot or the Loch Ness monster. It is called a spine.

Said spine was briefly glimpsed a little over a week ago at a "jobs summit" in Inglewood, Calif. in the person of Rep. Maxine Waters. "I'm not afraid of anybody," the California Democrat said. " … And as far as I'm concerned, the 'tea party' can go straight to Hell."

Her words left the Tea Party Patriots sputtering about the need to play nice. “The president and all leaders of the Democratic Party, who have called for civility in the past, are neglecting to censure their own,” the group said, according to The Washington Post. “Is civility only required from their opponents?” Which is funnier than a Bill Cosby monologue, coming from the folks who turned town hall meetings into verbal brawls and threw rocks through windows because they opposed healthcare reform.

Read Leonard Pitts' entire column at the Miami Herald.