Category Archives: Tea Party

Recognizing Tea Party “Patriots” For What They Really Are: Liars And Lunatics.

Posted on by

Tea Party Patriots say they want the US to return to the principles of the Constitution. But the principles they cite tend to be more closely aligned to the Articles of Confederation which the Constitution replaced.

For example, unlike the Articles of Confederation which reserved power for the States, the Constitution gives expansive powers to the three branches of the federal government. Yet teabaggers continue to demand a “limited federal government,” and they support their flawed arguments with quotes attributed to our Founding Fathers.

Following claims that President Obama won re-election only as the result of the president promising free stuff to voters, teabaggers have been circulating a quote which they attribute to Benjamin Franklin: “When the people find that they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic.” However, this statement was never said or written by Benjamin Franklin. In fact, historians can only guess at the origin of the quote. It is somewhat similar to a statement by Alexis de Toqueville, a French historian, and by Alexander Fraser Tytler, a Scottish lawyer.

Of course, neither of these people had anything to do with the founding of our nation.

Another Tea Party favorite is Thomas Jefferson’s statement taken from a letter to John Adams, “The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure.” What the teabaggers fail to acknowledge is that, in the same letter, Jefferson admitted to being hyperbolic in reference to the Shays Rebellion, which resulted from a post Revolutionary War economic depression. “The want of facts worth communicating to you has occasioned me to give a little loose to dissertation. We must be contented to amuse, when we cannot inform.”

The Tea Party tends to think that the Constitution was the result of God’s will. However, it was the result of impassioned debate, argument and compromise. Jefferson, who was representing the US in France at the time of the Constitutional Convention was initially disappointed with the document. He did not like the omission of a declaration of rights that would guarantee “freedom of religion, freedom of the press, protection against standing armies, restriction against monopolies, the eternal and unremitting force of the habeas corpus laws, and trial by jury.”

Unlike the Tea Party, the Founders viewed the Constitution as a start; a document that would continue to evolve. Jefferson told James Madison, “If they [Congress] approve the proposed Convention in all its parts. I shall concur in it cheerfully, in hopes that they will amend it whenever they shall find it work wrong.”

Take that 2nd Amendment absolutists!

In fact, the Founding Fathers and the Tea Party couldn’t be more opposite. While the Founding Fathers relied upon reason and education, the Tea Party relies upon lies, ignorance and fear. While the Fathers demanded separation of church and state, the Tea Party wants to establish a Christian theocracy. While the Fathers believed in compromise, the Tea Party rejects it. 

However, I do believe The Tea Party may yet serve a purpose. Americans may yet see its extreme views as so repulsive that it causes our nation to return to the principles of reason and compromise.

Unrestrained Greed.

Posted on by

Our nation is just a few days away from across-the-board austerity cuts that will likely send our fragile economy back into recession…all because the GOP (Guardians Of Privilege) refuse to consider increasing or reforming taxes. The GOP would rather cut programs for the poor, the unemployed, the elderly and the very young than cut subsidies for Big Oil and corporate farming. The GOP refuses to consider increasing taxes that are at historic lows because raising them would “cost jobs.”

Yet thousands more jobs are likely to be lost as the result of austerity.

In reality, the GOP position has little to do with jobs and everything to do with greed. They want to repeal Obamacare so the healthcare industry can maintain its double-digit increases in profits. They want to protect oil and gas subsidies so that companies like Exxon-Mobil can continue to make record profits. They want to further cut regulation for the financial industry so it can steal trillions more from the rest of us.

There is simply no other explanation for the GOP’s “no more tax revenue” stance.

But the Guardians Of Privilege are just a symptom of our culture. The US celebrates greed over hard work in almost every aspect of our society. We treat billionaires as celebrities. We allow corporations to establish patents on genes. We allow pharmaceutical companies to charge us far more than they charge those in other countries. And we fail to prosecute corporate scam artists like the bankers who brought our economy to its knees in 2008.

Greed has even corrupted our sports world. The NBA created “Jordan Rules” for Michael Jordan in order to increase his star power and make the league more money. Long-standing college conferences and rivalries have been torn apart in order to chase more TV revenue. The NCAA plays favorites to make sure traditional basketball and football powers remain on top in order to increase TV ratings and earn more income. And, of course, the officials call games accordingly. 

Greed trumps hard work and fairness in virtually every aspect of our society. It has caused the beneficiaries to feel entitled. And it has generated anger among the rest. Ironically, it drives both sides of the political spectrum. The Tea Party believes government is taking away the things they hold dear. On the other side, the Occupy Movement believes that corporations and the very wealthy are preventing them from reaching their potential.

If you ignore the politics and simply look at the root cause, both sides are right.

What Does It Take To Make The NRA’s Enemies List?

Posted on by

Although I have been a gun owner since my parents gave me a single-shot .22 rifle for my 13th birthday, I have been writing about the insanity of this nation’s gun culture for many years.

Yet I recently learned that I was left off the enemies list published by the National Rifle Association! Naturally, I was horrified!

What have I done to deserve such indifference? Haven’t I made it clear enough that I think the NRA leadership is a group of thugs and dim-wits? Must I do more to point out the unnecessary slaughter of innocents in this country? Must I send even more letters and emails to my elected officials asking for bans on military-style weapons, high-capacity magazines, and all semi-automatic weapons? Must I again point out the fallacy that guns are useful for self-defense? Must I call attention to the fact that, if we had universal background checks to ferret out criminals and the mentally unstable, Ted Nugent and many of the Tea Party members would be denied weapons?

Many of the people I know and admire have made the enemies list…writers, celebrities, corporate leaders, pastors, educators, union members…even cartoonists. Why not me?

Obviously, I lack the fame, power, money, air-time and printing ink to attract the attention of the NRA. But I’ll keep trying. 

Teapublicans Can’t Have It Both Ways.

Posted on by

Upon reviewing a leaked document purporting to be the White House plan for immigration reform, Teapublican boy wonder Senator Marco Rubio issued a response stating, “It’s a mistake for the White House to draft immigration legislation without seeking input from Republican members of Congress.” He went on to call the plan “half-baked,” “seriously flawed” and “dead on arrival.”

This comes from the same party that has denounced President Obama for taking a hands off approach to legislation. They accuse him of a lack of leadership. They have said that he needs to provide Congress with clear direction…that he can’t just sit in the corner and wait for Congress to do its job.

So Teapublicans want the president to provide proposals. Then, when he does, they accuse him of overstepping his role? That seems about right.

After more than four years of obstruction and backstabbing; after the president was overwhelmingly re-elected; after polls showing Congress is less popular than cockroaches, Teapublicans show no signs of letting up. They show no signs of willingness to do anything that will benefit the nation and our economy for fear that it might make the president appear more successful.

They have shown they are going to continue to abuse the filibuster…even to filibuster one of their own. They are going to oppose tax reform and tax fairness. They are going to oppose attempts to rebuild our crumbling infrastructure. They are going to oppose any attempts to help the working poor out of poverty. They are going to continue to oppose women’s rights and gay rights. They are going to continue to suppress votes of minorities and the poor.

Teapublicans seem prepared to ride the same old horse into the sunset of oblivion.

The Nation’s Toughest Sheriff?

Posted on by

In my opinion, it would be more accurate to call Joe Arpaio the nation’s most corrupt sheriff.

I’m not saying Joe’s not tough. He’s plenty tough on Latinos, other minorities and anyone who dares to question his actions.

For example, Arpaio has repeatedly conducted “crime” sweeps in Latino neighborhoods, hoping to latch onto an undocumented immigrant. But don’t call this obvious harassment racial profiling. Joe simply won’t stand for that characterization of his law enforcement techniques! According to Joe, there are plenty of Latinos he hasn’t arrested…yet.

But Joe’s toughness extends beyond his surly demeanor and questionable arrests. He’s been particularly tough on the finances of Maricopa County taxpayers. His actions have cost taxpayers tens of millions of dollars in court settlements and legal fees. He has also misspent millions of county funds.

Arpaio even tried to arrest county officials on trumped-up charges when they refused to cooperate with him. I’m not yet certain what those actions are going to cost taxpayers.

Of course, Joe is most famous for Tent City, the prison in the desert with no heating or air conditioning. At this canvas hell hole, inmates are forced to eat the same helping of green baloney meal after meal, day after day. Arpaio is responsible for creating an atmosphere in which prisoners have been neglected, beaten and allowed to die while in custody. But the national media never report those stories. Instead, they play footage of the tough talkin’ sheriff with his infamous posse that includes washed-up action star, Steven Seagal.

Most recently, Arpaio’s department was accused of ignoring hundreds of sex crimes, prompting an internal investigation which eventually supported the allegations. Yet no one was disciplined. And although the investigation was completed in late 2011, the results were not released until 2013.

Why the delay?

Well, Joe was facing re-election in 2012. Even with millions in Tea Party contributions from across the country and his bat-crap crazy supporters, it would have been difficult for Arpaio to beat the truth, the accompanying bad publicity and a highly qualified opponent in a close election.

Is The Tea Party A Political Party? Or Not?

Posted on by

Following President Obama’s State of the Union address, there were two rebuttals: One from Republicans and one from the Tea Party. This begs the question: What is the Tea Party? Is it a real political party competing with Democrats and Republicans? Or is it just a more angry, more mean-spirited faction of political Neanderthals within the Republican Party?

If it’s the former, it should operate like the Democratic Party, the Republican Party, the Green Party, the Libertarian Party, the Socialist Party, etc. That means raising money and generating enough votes to be placed on the ballot.

If it’s the latter, it should drop the word “Party” from its name and continue to operate within the Republican Party as a caucus in the same way progressives and African-Americans operate within the Democratic Party. Moreover, the media should treat it as such. No more free air time on cable networks in order to promote its backward agenda as a rebuttal to the State of the Union address.

Or, if the Teabaggers continue to demand special treatment, the Progressives, Socialists and other factions should be afforded the same amount of time to push their agendas.  

The American people have a right to know the status of this caucus or faction or club or group or militia or party or whatever the hell it is. It’s time for an end to its Fox News-fueled free ride.

Guns And Bibles.

Posted on by

Or is it Bibles and guns? The two now seem so inexplicably linked it’s difficult to know.

For example, many of the nation’s leading Bible-thumping states also have the largest percentage of gun ownership. And although I know of no studies on the subject, these same states would seem to rank high on a paranoia index.

It all seems intertwined.

Many churches quote the Bible to justify their hatred of gays, abortion rights activists, minorities and other faiths. When the government defends the civil rights of minorities and the right of women to control their own bodies, the faithful are given to paranoid delusions of an “attack on Christianity,” of a loss of “family values” and of a tyrannical government. That, in turn, leads to more gun ownership in order to fight the “jack-booted” (whatever that means) thugs who, according to the faithful, are coming to destroy their churches and take away their right to hate whoever they want.

All of this leads to despicable demonstrations such as those by the Westboro Baptist Church. Even worse it leads to violence against gays and minorities, and murders of abortion providers.

Hallelujah and pass the ammunition!

Although the faithful will be furious at my characterization, it has become reality. Moreover, such actions of the faithful are nothing new. Early Christians turned on the Jews who initially supported them (especially surprising given that Christ was a Jew). Christians fought Crusades against the Muslims. Catholics spawned the Inquisition to torture and murder anyone who displayed the slightest independence from Church teachings. Catholics also slaughtered the Cathars, Huguenots and more. Hitler claimed spiritual guidance as he exterminated Jews, Russians, Poles and Hungarians. And the Japanese believed that they were Divinely protected against all outsiders.

In our own nation’s history, the KKK toted Bibles and quoted scripture as they tortured, hung and burned African-Americans. Neo-Nazis have aligned themselves with “Christian” churches. So have many other militias and hate groups.

Even our once secular military has embraced Christianity to such an extent that it has trampled on the rights of soldiers who practice another religion or no religion at all. According to the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, there have been numerous cases of religious discrimination at our military academies and at military bases around the world. The organization is understandably concerned about “a rapidly expanding and unconstitutional influence of religion over military operations and affairs that must (for both national security and service member civil and human rights) remain strictly and forever secular.”

I am not opposed to religion, but I am opposed to religious discrimination and Bible bullying. And I see absolutely no value in allowing religious zealots to push their beliefs at the end of a gun!

NRA Hypocrisy On Gun Laws.

Posted on by

Since the massacre of children at Sandy Hook Elementary School, National Rifle Association leaders have spoken out against any form of gun control. Instead, they call for “enforcing the more than 20,000 gun laws already on the books.”

That’s interesting because the NRA and its Teapublican pawns in Congress have placed an increasing number of roadblocks in the way of those charged with enforcing the laws. They have continually discouraged mayors and city police from enforcing gun laws, saying that enforcement should be left to the Department of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).

Yet Teapublican senators in the pockets of the NRA have refused to confirm the appointment of an ATF director since 2006. They have not confirmed appointments by either President Obama or former President Bush for fear that those appointments will be too aggressive in enforcing laws. As a result, the current Acting Director B. Todd Jones must commute to Washington from his post as US Attorney in Minnesota.

That’s right, Jones is splitting time between two full-time jobs!

Moreover, as the result of budget constraints, the ATF has not added to its staff of 2,500 agents…the number it had when it became a separate bureau in 1972. These 2,500 agents are charged with policing the more than 100,000 licensed gun dealers in the US in addition to enforcing alcohol and tobacco laws. If that isn’t daunting enough, thanks to Teapublicans, the ATF is forbidden by law to inspect a dealer more than once per year. Of course, that’s hardly an issue, since the bureau doesn’t have enough staff to inspect each dealer more than once every 17 years!

In addition, an NRA-written amendment sponsored by a Teapublican Congressman and inserted into a Congressional spending bill banned the ATF from requiring gun dealers to track their own inventory. The amendment also gave dealers the power to ignore police requests for assistance in tracking guns. It ended the oversight of used gun sales. It required the destruction of background check records within 24 hours of the purchase in order to protect the privacy of gun owners. It also banned the ATF from creating a national registry of gun transactions or even publishing statistics on crimes committed with guns!

Further, NRA bills passed by Teapublican-controlled state legislatures have so liberalized gun laws that it is virtually impossible for law enforcement to prosecute “straw buyers” who purchase guns on behalf of drug cartels, gangs and other criminals. That is what led to the frustration of ATF agents who resorted to the tactics at the heart of the Fast and Furious operation.

Police and the ATF know that one percent of the nation’s gun dealers sell the weapons involved in 57 percent of crimes. Yet they are powerless to do anything about it as the result of NRA-endorsed Teapublican obstruction. Remember that the next time there’s a mass shooting.

More important, remember that the next time you vote!

We Not Only Have A Gun Problem. We Have An Anger Problem.

Posted on by

Sometime in the mid-1980s, I heard a report on the radio of a road rage incident. I later found out that a friend had been involved. While my friend was stopped at a traffic light, another driver inexplicably attacked him. My friend got out of the car, picked him up, and deposited the attacker in the ditch.

Although it was the first road rage incident I heard reported on the news. It certainly wasn’t the last. Today road rage incidents are common events. And, unlike the one involving my friend, they often involve guns. (It seems there’s a road rage killing weekly in the Phoenix area.)

I believe such incidents are a glaring measure of the anger index in our nation. Likely caused by underlying anger and triggered by stress, it seems many of our citizens are one incident away from going “postal.” (For those of you who are too young to remember, the term originated following a number of workplace shootings in Post Offices around the country.)

Today, much of our anger is politically based. Following the housing crash, those affected were angry at the government for allowing it to happen. Worse yet, they were furious that the federal government bailed out the banks responsible. When a black president then bailed out the auto industry as I believe was necessary, old white men went ballistic. Egged on by Republican strategists who wanted to block any initiatives by President Obama, they created the Tea Party.

Their anger and the anger of those who oppose them has grown ever since.

As the Tea Party types have decried every step of the Obama administration, many have stockpiled food, guns and ammunition preparing for what they consider the inevitable battle against a tyrannical government.

Of course, much of the violence is the result of gang-on-gang turf disputes and the illegal drug industry. But since the Me Party, Fox News Channel, Rush Limbaugh and his equally venomous wannabes have ratcheted up their angry rhetoric, they must take responsibility for creating a rage that’s ready to explode at the slightest provocation.

Guns make that anger even more dangerous. And the most lethal kinds of military-style weapons allow the violence to create more victims.

The only real solution is for everyone to chill out. For the Mean Party to tone down its rhetoric. For the media to stop reporting manufactured controversies and to end the “if it bleeds, it leads” style of journalism. And for the government to treat us all like tantrum-throwing kids by taking away our most dangerous toys.

Another Chickensh*t Decision By A Democrat.

Posted on by

Last week, Sen. Harry Reid had an opportunity for real filibuster reform.

With the beginning of each new Congress, the Senate can determine its rules by a simple majority vote. Given the opportunity, many Democrats wanted to return to a voice filibuster like that of the past. In other words, the minority would still be able to filibuster. But they would no longer be able to do it anonymously, and they would have to continue debate on the Senate floor until they were exhausted or collected the 60 votes necessary to end debate on the measure.

Unfortunately, Reid chose to negotiate with Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, winning a few very minor concessions.

It was an opportunity lost.

During the last three Democrat-controlled sessions, Teapublicans set an all-time record with more than 400 filibusters. They filibustered everything from President Obama’s cabinet nominations and judicial appointments to the repeal of Big Oil subsidies and the Paycheck Fairness Act.

Now, as a result of Reid’s timidity, the obstructionist Teapublican minority can continue to block legislation by requiring a super-majority of 60 votes to allow debate on virtually any measure.

As Senator Tom Harkin warned prior to Reid’s failure, without filibuster reform it will be virtually impossible for President Obama to carry out his vision for his second term. He noted that the compromise will allow Senators to literally phone it in. “It still will provide a system where people can filibuster and they don’t even have to come here,” said Harkin. As a result, he said, President Obama “might as well take a 4-year vacation.”