As the earmark death match between Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) continues to unfold, and with the vote on DeMint's proposal to ban earmarks scheduled for next Tuesday, the teahadist wing of the Republican Party has issued a warning:

“Our members will put immense pressure on every senator to vote against earmarks. This is a fundamental issue — it’s both substantive and symbolic. Will they vote against the politics of the past or are they still stuck in it? This is a vote that will never go away, like TARP. Tea Partiers have long memories. Politicians have always taken advantage of the fact that voters have short memories, but we’ll know, we’ll remember, and in 2012 when they have aggressive, well-funded primary challengers, they’ll know why.”

Cue the scary music.

But there's one tiny glitch in the plan to hold them accountable forevermore:

But how will the Tea Party groups know who to challenge when the vote is to be held in secret? The answer, according to Meckler, is that those who remain silent on the issue will be presumed guilty.

And why not? After all, the concept of being innocent until proven guilty isn't in the Constitution.