Tea Party Madness

Today so-called "Tea Parties" are being held around the country, with extensive coverage (some would say cheerleading) by Fox News. While I am totally in favor of lower taxes and smaller government, I have to say I am perplexed by the sudden urgency.

First, let us recall that the purpose of the original Boston Tea Party was to protest "Taxation Without Representation." Is that what is happening now? No. Today we have freely elected representatives. You may not like what they are doing, but it is not at all the same situation faced by the early colonists.

Second, why all the surprise and outrage now? Obama and the Democrats are doing exactly what they said they would do before the election. We had an election just a few months ago and our side was soundly trounced. Whining about it won't change anything. It is just as likely to annoy the very people whose minds need to be changed if we want the next election to turn out any differently.

Third, where was all this energy when Republicans were the ones spending like crazy and running up huge deficits? George W. Bush is the one who plunged us into what is now the second-most expensive war in American history without the slightest thought about how to pay for it. It was a GOP-controlled Congress that helped him do it. It was also the Bush Administration that launched the bailout rocket. Does anyone really think much would be different had McCain won in November?

Fourth, exactly what is it we want to accomplish? As noted above, electing more Republicans brings no assurance of fiscal discipline. In fact, I have yet to hear anyone present a coherent plan for actually cutting the size of government. Which departments will you disband? Whose benefit check do you want to take away? What oxes are you willing to gore? Without such specifics, it is hard to take these protests seriously.

Given all this, the only thing I can conclude is that the Tea Party people are simply folks who want to be angry. I say this as somebody who is sympathetic to the spirit of these events, but I think folks are going about it all wrong. All this anger isn't going to accomplish anything.

The Tea Party protests are also revealing in another way. How many of the folks who are now up in arms that millionaires might see their taxes raised have ever attended a pro-life event? Are lower taxes more important than stopping the slaughter of innocent children? To quite a few people, the answer appears to be "Yes." Sad but true.

Obamaphobia Takes Hold

I have several friends and relatives who send me a steady stream of e-mails containing the latest news about the grave threat Barack Obama presents to America. Every time I get one of these, I wonder: what do they think they are accomplishing? They know there is the proverbial snowball's chance I will vote for Obama, and I am glad to tell anyone who will listen why I feel this way.

In this regard I have plenty of ammunition. For instance, Obama thinks it is fine if the law allows and/or encourages women to burn, dismember, and crush the skulls of their children, either before birth or shortly after. Against that, the fact that he used to hang out with terrorists or took donations from Fannie Mae is mere frosting on the cake.

The people who send me these e-mails know, on some level, that the "facts" they are trying to spread are not likely to change anyone's mind. So why do they do it? I suspect it is out of frustration. Time is running out and the polls suggest an increasing likelihood Obama will win. (Check out Dr. Steven Taylor's electoral college maps for evidence.) People are starting to face this reality and they don't like it. The crisis in the financial markets created a heightened sense of fear in the last few weeks, making the frustration on all sides even worse.

Personally, I think Obama's past associations with William Ayers, Jeremiah Wright, and others are fair game. These kind of things come out in all campaigns. It is remarkable, however, that none of it is new. All these things were brought out in the Democratic primary, thanks to Hillary Clinton, and McCain himself refused to use them - until now. Why? Because he's losing and he really has not much else to say. On the overriding issue of the moment, the economy, he and Obama are largely in agreement. Both voted to approve the Hank Paulson bank bailout plan and appear to have no problem with nationalized large chunks of American industry.

It is worth noting, too, that many of the people who are so angry at Obama right now are the same ones who stood behind George W. Bush while he abandoned all pretense of budgetary discipline and smaller government, launched a war of choice, tortured prisoners and shredded the Constitution in order to concentrate near-unlimited power in the Oval Office. In this he was aided and abetted by a Republican-controlled Congress for six years. Some of us warned that those powers would someday fall into less trustworthy hands. Now it is about to happen. Having made their bed, the Bush loyalists are now upset that they might have to lay in it.

There is also the race factor. For most of the campaign it was bottled up, but now the dogs are getting loose. Some of it is thinly-disguised and some is quite overt. McCain can try to calm the crowds, but they are having none of it. This has moved beyond his control. Not everyone who dislikes Obama has racist motives, but some do. I suspect it is a bigger number than any of us want to admit.

We are on very dangerous ground here. If some nutcase takes a shot at Obama, it's not hard to imagine mass violence in large cities - and maybe beyond. Likewise, if we get into another 2000-type Florida recount fiasco, tempers will flare no matter who comes out on top. For this reason, I hope that whoever wins does so by an electoral and popular landslide. A close election is the last thing we need right now.

Conclusion: I highly suggest everyone turn down the heat, and quickly. The United States is closer to a breakdown in civil order right now than any time since 1968. For my friends on the right who think there is still a chance for McCain to win if only enough people can be told about Obama's sordid background: You Are Wrong. In fact, the more you talk about these things the better Obama does in the polls. You are accomplishing the opposite of what you want, and you may be opening a Pandora's Box that is best kept closed. The best thing you can do right now is shut up.

Yes, I realize that Obama supporters are saying some pretty vile things too. The personal attacks on Sarah Palin have been particularly shameless, but the fact that they are doing this kind of thing does not mean you can do the same. Ever heard of turning the other cheek? Now is an excellent time to practice.

Recipe for Deception

Here's something rich. In an apparent effort to humanize John McCain's wife Cindy, the campaign published some of her favorite recipes. Unfortunately, they seem not to have been her recipes. Rather, they were lifted almost word-for-word from the Food Network web site. The McCain campaign has now removed the recipes from their web site but here are some comparative screen captures.

The McCain people explain that this was an unfortunate error by a volunteer intern. Apparently, it would have been acceptable for the intern to invent some recipes out of thin air and tell us they were from Cindy McCain. But plagiarism? We can't have that!

These efforts by politicians to make us think they are "regular people" say a lot about both them and us. Them, because they think we are stupid enough to fall for it. Us, because we usually do fall for it. Yet it is how we will pick the next leader of the free world. Ay caramba. We will get what we deserve.

Click here for a snarky look at Cindy McCain's cooking skills.