Tea Bag Hat Thrown into Ring

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN), a staunch conservative and the founder of the House Tea Party Caucus, will form a presidential exploratory committee in June. Maybe even sooner.

The 2012 GOP scorecard is beginning to fill up.

Bachmann was born in Iowa, where the first presidential caucuses will take place.

Fake Tea Party Really Charged

Remember when it was really funny when some folks in Michigan made a fake Tea Party? Yeah, I guess they just stopped laughing about it.

Two former high-ranking members of the Oakland County Democratic Party are facing various election corruption charges in a bogus tea party scheme, Oakland County Prosecutor Jessica Cooper and County Sheriff Michael Bouchard announced Wednesday.

Former Democratic Party Chairman Michael McGuinness and ex-operations director Jason Bauer, both of Waterford Township, were arraigned Wednesday before Oakland Circuit Judge James Alexander.

They face charges related to Independent Tea Party filings, false affidavits and forged documents that occurred between July 23 and July 26 last year.

Both stood mute to the charges and were released on $25,000 personal bond each, pending an April 13 hearing before Alexander.

Hilarious.

Oil and Water

For those of you who want to see some sparks fly this weekend....

Members and fellow travelers of George Soros' MoveOn.org will march on all 50 state capitols on Saturday to support the public-sector unions in the Wisconsin dispute.

In response the Patriot Action Network is calling for "boots on the ground" to counter their protest. That's a fabulous idea!

Meantime, 50 Tea Party leaders support Gov. Scott Walker. They write:

…like the federal government, [Wisconsin] has become too big, too expensive, too in debt, and it is not going to embrace change easily. However, we believe the results of the 2010 elections provided you with a mandate to implement change, so that Wisconsinites can have more jobs, more freedom, and more opportunity to pursue happiness now and for generations to come.

…When politicians bestow unsustainable benefits and pension plans on government employee unions (often overwhelming subsidized by taxpayers), and in exchange these unions use their financial power often collected through mandatory dues to systematically reelect these same politicians, there is a clear conflict of interest. This vicious cycle has led to a projected $3 trillion pension deficit nationwide, with taxpayers expected to foot the bill.

…We applaud the serious approach you have taken to tackle the challenges facing your state. We call on Wisconsin/s Senate Democrats to match your seriousness by returning to the jobs that Wisconsin voters elected them to do. It is time that Wisconsin Senate Democrats stop shirking their responsibilities and show up for work.

Click here for the entire letter.

Me? All I see is a bunch of children fighting over the sprinkles after the cupcakes are all gone. It's already over folks.

The Week In Review - Sunday Comics

The week that was...
Big wins for the Tea Party people. No one seems to think that their primary wins will carry over to wins in the general - and in certain races, like Delaware, I agree. However, lashing out with uber conservative ideas on how to run the country against the most liberal ideas on how to run the country seems to be the order of the pendulum. No one suspected it would swing so hard, so fast. The Democrats are banking on the idea that the far right fringe is distasteful to the larger audience in November.
BUT, the Democrats, continue to fail to understand that raising taxes when people are unemployed somehow raises anger and decreases their chances of coming back next cycle. I also think their class warfare tactic is limp, and no one is buying it anymore.
That said...
But what's going to happen when the Tea Party people figure out there's nothing left to do, and are just as corrupt and ineffectual as the morons that they're replacing? That's when it'll get really entertaining. We'll have about a week left to prepare for the Zombie Apocalypse once that happens. There's enough warning signs out there...
But like I said, it'll be entertaining to watch. Palin and Romney were out beating the Iowa bushels of corn this week.
And the Bush Tax cuts were the debate-du jour - keep them, lose them, how about just half? I have an idea, starve the beast - make the cuts, and then you'll see riots like in Greece.
Either way, these guys aren't going anywhere... Just ask Chicago after Daley leaves.
See you next week

Tea Time!

The Tea Party Movement has some legs.... but before you get excited, let's see how that carries to the general.

Conservative Christine O'Donnell upset nine-term Rep. Mike Castle in the Republican Senate primary in Delaware. She'll be facing Democrat Chris Coons in the general in November. Again - that's NINE term Rep.

In the fight for New Hampshire's Republican Senate nomination, a second insurgent trailed in vote counting that was still going on Wednesday. After lagging in early returns, former Attorney General Kelly Ayotte moved ahead of Ovide Lamontagne with a lead of roughly 1,000 votes, with results tallied from 85 percent of precincts. Ayotte was backed by establishment Republicans and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin; Lamontagne, a former chairman of the state Board of Education, campaigned with the support of tea party activists. Let's see how that one ends. My guess a lawsuit will be filed?

In New York, tea party ally Carl Paladino knocked out former Rep. Rick Lazio in the race for the party's nomination for governor. Paladino will face state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, the son of the favorite son.

Again, to undermine how these extreme Conservative candidates will fare in the general, even Karl Rove told Fox News Channel, "This [Delaware] is not a race we're going to be able to win."

So - either they're too extreme, or the GOP is quaking in their boots that they're losing control to their fringe? It'll be fun to see how this plays out. Me? I'm always happy when an incumbent ruling oligarchy politico gets knocked out of their primary - and they lie there stunned having no clue why.

Real Libertarian Perspective

Wondering what others are thinking about that non-sense that Beck and Palin committed over the weekend?

Here was Ron Paul’s message to the Tea Party via The New York Times just the other day:

“As many frustrated Americans who have joined the Tea Party realize, we cannot stand against big government at home while supporting it abroad. We cannot talk about fiscal responsibility while spending trillions on occupying and bullying the rest of the world. We cannot talk about the budget deficit and spiraling domestic spending without looking at the costs of maintaining an American empire of more than 700 military bases in more than 120 foreign countries. We cannot pat ourselves on the back for cutting a few thousand dollars from a nature preserve or an inner-city swimming pool at home while turning a blind eye to a Pentagon budget that nearly equals those of the rest of the world combined.”

Note, this is what a REAL libertarian believes in. So, please, read the rest at: Digital Meeting Center

Stay Classy, Liberals

When things aren't going your way - play the race card. If that isn't working, apparently you call in a death threat? Well, that's classy. And to think that it's the left that's preaching tolerance and peace -- but that's only if you agree with them, apparently.

Now what doesn't make sense is that Dick Armey and FreedomWorks has to give up all their campaign money to hire a security guard? And FreedomWorks is the only source on this story... so are they calling in their own death threats to get some press? I wouldn't put it past them, but either way this is a pathetic, stupid place we've gotten to in political discourse.

Texas Congressional nominee wants to impeach Obama, opposes UN... with a twist

Republicans have had a good laugh at the expense of South Carolina Democrats, who nominated Alvin Greene to challenge for Jim DeMint’s Senate seat despite the fact that Greene didn’t campaign, has a pending felony obscenity investigation, and is barely coherent in his media interviews. (Wow, sounds like an Illinois race to me... Scott Lee Cohen, anyone?) But the tables are turned and now it may be time for Democrats to laugh at Republicans. The nominee for the Texas’ CD-22 has publicly called for Barack Obama’s impeachment and wants to abolish the UN. Democrats would have a field day making Kesha Rogers the face of the Republican Party across the entire nation … if it weren’t for the fact that Rogers is a Democrat:

South Carolina’s unexpected Democratic nominee for the US Senate, mystery man Alvin Greene, says he wants to play golf with Barack Obama. But in Texas, another surprise Democratic primary winner, congressional nominee Kesha Rogers, wants to impeach the President. So while South Carolina party officials are still unsure of what to do about Greene’s success at the ballot box, Texas Democrats have no such reservations — they wasted little time in casting Rogers into exile and offering no support or recognition of her campaign to win what once was Republican Majority Leader Tom DeLay’s old seat.

Rogers, 33, told TIME she is a “full time political activist” in the Lyndon LaRouche Youth Movement, a recruiting arm of the LaRouche political organization that is active on many college campuses. The LYM espouses LaRouche opposition to free trade and “globalism” (the UN, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund) and it also calls for a return to a humanist classical education, emphasizing the works of Plato and Leibnitz. On her professional looking campaign website, kesharogers.com, she touts the LaRouche political philosophy — a mix of support for the economic policies of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the impeachment of President Obama — and calls Obama a “London and Wall Street backed puppet” whose policies will destroy the Democratic Party.

Well, maybe Texas Democrats in the 22nd district just got fooled from another Greene-like stealth candidacy. I’m sure they didn’t hear about Rogers’ nutty, LaRouchian politics before casting their ballots. Rogers probably got listed first on the ballot, right? Actually she was, but that’s not why she won:

Unlike South Carolina’s Greene, Rogers ran a high profile campaign, staking out a corner on a major intersection in the district to appear almost daily with a large sign: “Save NASA. Impeach Obama.” She garnered 7,467 votes, 53% of the vote, in a three way race that included a local information systems analyst Doug Blatt, who gained endorsements from local Democratic clubs and labor groups, and Freddie John Weider Jr., a preacher and onetime Libertarian candidate; Blatt came in second with 28% of the vote and Weider won 20%.

Now Democrats have refused to provide her any support, Time reports, accusing her of racism because of her connection to the LaRouche movement — which is an interesting allegation, considering that Rogers is African-American. Maybe someone should have looked at her picture before leaping immediately to the race-baiting smear. They would have been better off questioning her sanity.

Texas-22 will likely be a footnote in the midterm elections, with incumbent Republican Pete Olsen handily beating Rogers in the general election. It should draw attention to one widely misreported aspect of the Tea Party movement, however:

During the campaign, she was photographed carrying an oversized portrait of the President with a Hitler-style mustache penciled on his lip.

As those of us who have attended the Tea Party rallies and followed the movement know, it’s been the LaRouchies all along who have brought the Obama-as-Nazi posters along. The media, however, insisted on tarring the entire movement with those posters rather than report on their actual origin. I wonder whether they’ll be inclined to treat the Democratic Party the same — and in this case, Rogers won an election among Democrats based in part on that campaign imagery.

by Ed Morrissey

Rand Paul Takes Kentucky

Rand Paul Wins Republican Senate Nomination in Kentucky

Rand Paul, one of the early leaders of the Tea Party movement, won the Republican nomination for Senate in Kentucky on Tuesday night, delivering a powerful blow to the party's establishment and offering the clearest evidence yet of the strength of the anti-government sentiment simmering at the grass-roots level.

Mr. Paul, the son of Representative Ron Paul of Texas, easily defeated Trey Grayson, the secretary of state from Kentucky. Voters turned against Mr. Grayson even though he had the support of the state's best-known political leader - Mitch McConnell, the Senate Republican leader.

Take note, Washington.

And I'm happy to see the evil racist violent teabag movement found their voice at the ballot box. It's also pleasant to see the G.O.P. got their man handed back to him in that ballot box.

The grassroots raised money for Rand in small donations.

Trey Grayson had fundraisers thrown for him by the establishment. 21 Senators at one fundraiser, AIG lobbyists throwing another, endorsements from McConnell, Dick Cheney, Giuliani. And with all that weight and cash -- their horse got it's head chopped off.

That's awesome.

Saturday Morning Cartoons: Tea With Tyson

Tea With Tyson needs to be a full-fledged TV series right about now. The cannoli episode

Journalists are Shocked, Shocked to See Tea Bag Poll

Poll Finds Tea Party Backers Wealthier and More Educated

Tea Party supporters are wealthier and more well-educated ... than the general public, and tend to be Republican, white, male and married, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll.

Oh my god.

The New York Times finally left their office and you know - polled some of the Tea Baggers?

Their responses are like the general public’s in many ways. Most describe the amount they paid in taxes this year as “fair.” Most send their children to public schools. A plurality do not think Sarah Palin is qualified to be president, and, despite their push for smaller government, they think that Social Security and Medicare are worth the cost to taxpayers. They actually are just as likely as Americans as a whole to have returned their census forms, though some conservative leaders have urged a boycott.

But they are, "Angry," according to the poll.

And what are they angry about? They feel that Obama and the Congress are re-distributing wealth from the rich and middle class to the poor. Which is, they are being taxed, and then taxed more, and their services haven't gotten any better - and their State and local governments are cutting services, while raising fees and taxes - and have nothing to show for it.

Oh, and they're racist. You betcha'. They think too much attention is being made on African American problems. 25 percent of the tea baggers polled this belief, over 11 of the general public. Push poll? Nah! Also proves the 1 in 4 rule posed by South Park: 1 in 4 people is a complete moron.

So what else are they angry about? According to the poll, that is?

"Tea Party supporters offered three main concerns: the recent health care overhaul, government spending and a feeling that their opinions are not represented in Washington."

While most folks blame Bush or Wall Street, or I'm sure some combination of those two, for the current state of the economy, most polled Tea Baggers blame Congress.

They do not want a third party and say they usually or almost always vote Republican.

Pictured is Vince Schuck at a rally in Montpelier, Vt. Photo by Toby Talbot / AP.

VAT: You Don't Want That!

One of President Obama's top economic advisers, former Fed chief Paul Volcker, suggested this week that it's time for America to adopt a VAT, or value-added tax. The White House yesterday downplayed the idea -- but it's sure to pop up again. They're going to have to pay for this free spending binge.

The VAT -- on top of all the other taxes Washington imposes -- is a terrible idea. Imposing it would pretty well finish the transformation of our country into a Europe2. The right way to close Uncle Sam's gaping deficits is to reverse the continued explosion of federal spending.

The VAT is a type of national sales tax, levied on the value-added at each stage of production. Consider a piece of furniture: The VAT would be imposed when the raw timber is sold, when the sawmill produces lumber, when the manufacturer builds a chair, a tax at the wholesaler level and then when a retailer sells the chair to a consumer.

To avoid double taxation, each seller along the way gets a credit for taxes paid at earlier stages of the production process. So the final tax to the consumer, at least in theory, is the same as a retail sales tax of the same amount.

The VAT has its virtues: As a single-rate, consumption-based system, much like the flat tax or national sales tax, it would introduce far fewer economic distortions than today's income tax -- and a less paperwork.

That would be a persuasive argument -- if proponents wanted a VAT to replace the Internal Revenue code. But that's not what's intended by Volcker -- or Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who've also been chatting up the VAT.

The politicians want a VAT, and they want to keep the income tax. (To be more accurate, they want a VAT and to raise other taxes as well.)

They want the cash, of course, so they can continue buying votes by spending other people's money.

This decade already has seen a huge expansion of government. In the Bush years, federal spending rose from $1.8 trillion in 2001 to $3.5 trillion in the last Bush budget. Now President Obama is well on the way to doubling outlays yet again.

He has already saddled the economy with $800 billion of "stimulus" and a giant new health-care entitlement, and his proposals for next year will push the federal budget even higher.

Meanwhile, our aging population and the built-in growth in federal programs like Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security has a dramatic expansion in the size of government set to occur automatically in coming decades.

Simply stated, there's no way to finance all this new spending without an added broad-based tax. But this is exactly why we should vigorously resist a VAT.

Blocking a VAT may not be sufficient to control the size of government, but it's necessary. Handing Washington a whole new source of revenue would be akin to giving keys to a liquor store to a bunch of alcoholics.

The real-world evidence shows that VATs are strongly linked with both higher overall tax burdens and more government spending. In 1965, before the VAT swept across Europe, the average tax burden for advanced European economies (the EU-15) was 27.7 percent of economic output, versus 24.7 percent of GDP in the United States.

But the Europeans began imposing VATs in the late 1960s, and now the European Union requires all members to have a VAT of at least 15 percent. Good news has not followed. By 2006, the average tax burden for EU-15 nations had climbed to 39.8 percent, versus 28 percent in the United States.

The spending side? In 1965, pre-VAT, government spending in EU-15 nations averaged 30.1 percent of GDP, against 28.3 percent in the United States. By 2007, government spending consumed 47.1 percent of GDP in EU-15, significantly higher than the US burden of 35.3 percent.

Nor has the VAT stopped Europe from raising other taxes.

Taxes on income and profits consumed 8.8 percent of GDP in Europe in 1965 -- below the US level of 11.9 percent. By 2006, the European burden had climbed to 13.8 percent of GDP, slightly higher than the 13.5 percent US figure. (The same trend holds for corporate-tax data.)

Today's income-tax system is a nightmarish combination of class warfare and corrupt loopholes. But adding a VAT solves none of those problems, it merely gives politicians more money to spend and a chance to auction off a new set of tax breaks to interest groups. That's good for Washington, but bad for America.

Daniel J. Mitchell

Careful Now, 'Tea Baggers' Going Mainstream

Amid harsh criticisms, 'tea party' slips into the mainstream - so says The Christian Science Monitor.

Tea party supporters Linda Lester (L) and Deanna Lamoureux at a recent rally in Searchlight, Nevada. A poll by Quinnipiac University suggests that women make up a majority of the tea party movement.

Criticisms of the 'baggers' being racist or complete idiots are near-sighted, if not outright inappropriate – and ultimately may miss the point. As I have offered and warned more than once right here on Blasphemes. The poll suggests that tea party activists are not only more mainstream than many critics suggest, but that a majority of them are women (primarily mothers), not angry white men.

Ugly... old... white women.

"The tea party is the middle 50 percent of America that wants good governance and lean more to the right of Barack Obama on economic issues," says Mr. Hecker, the tea party activist. "By calling them bloodthirsty extremists you're kind of alienating a lot of independents that voted for Obama."

Take note. They're busy comparing Obama to Hitler, while I'm comparing them to the Black Shirts. Maybe I should call them the Black Blouses?

Tea Party Might Save Harry Reid?

Marc Thiessen of the Washington Post seems to think that the Tea Party people in Harry Reid's backyard last weekend might actually save that dirty somofabich's job.

It probably didn't help that lead cheerleader was Sarah Palin, who shouted, "You're fired!" over and over.

Reid is one of the most vulnerable Democrats this fall. He's the Senator Harrison Roberts played by Dick Smothers in Scorsese's Casino. No, really!

And a Rasmussen poll found that 56 percent of Nevadans oppose Obamacare (51 percent strongly), while just 41 percent support it (and just 24 percent strongly). Just 20 percent of Nevada voters view the Senate majority leader favorably, while 48 percent view him unfavorably. And both of the leading Republican candidates -- former Nevada state senator and GOP chairwoman Sue Lowden, and Las Vegas businessman and Danny Tarkanian, a former UNLV basketball star -- have crossed the 50 percent threshold and have opened up double-digit leads over Reid.

Obama has even flown in a couple two, three times to support his lap dog running the Senate... which means certain doom for Harry.

Great news, except that asphalt contractor, Jon Scott Ashjian, has joined the race under the banner of the Tea Party of Nevada -- and a recent Las Vegas Review-Journal poll found that in a three-way showdown with a Tea Party candidate in the mix, Reid could pull off a narrow victory.

Thanks, but no thanks should be the reply... especially since Jon has 99 problems, and a woman ain't one. First off, the Tea Party doesn't recognize him as a real candidate, and even label him as a 'false flag,' or an imposter created by Reid as a ringer. (I wouldn't put it past Reid, except I don't know if he's that clever.)

Ashjian was not invited to appear at Saturday's Tea Party rally in Searchlight. But he was invited to appear last Friday in federal district court to defend himself against a lawsuit challenging his candidacy and claiming that he was not a member of the Tea Party of Nevada when he filed for the election on March 1. Ashjian failed to appear in court. Judge Todd Russell said he would give Ashjian "one more chance to show up," but if he refused the judge said he would be inclined to grant the motion to remove him from the ballot. And to add to Ashjian's troubles, the Clark County district attorney's office announced Friday that it would seek an arrest warrant for him Monday on felony theft and bad check charges. Ooooopppss.

Harry Reid had better contribute to Ashjian's legal fund. The Tea Party has targeted Reid, and having Ashjian on the ballot may be Reid's only hope of survival this November.

The Week In Review/Sunday Comics

This isn't news. Stop looking at it, maybe it'll go away. Everyone is sorry that they got caught.

Dirty Cheater Olympics.
Mrs. Obama is tackling the obesity problem. Part of that 'freedom' take-away they're instituting. Free to be a fat ass. The best part is, the cost of food has fallen, but the price of medical care is skyrocketing? Correlating evidence? You bet.



Epic Beard Man took on some dude on a bus. Seth MacFarlane Responds to Sarah Palin's Attacks after having a down syndrome character on Family Guy.

Meanwhile, the Marines are taking Afghanistan, one mile at a time - (no one seems to have noticed) and the CIA is striking the Taliban senior leadership one #2 at a time. (no one seems to have noticed this either).

There's a Blaspheme's Convention, and I've disappointed the host by not attending. I can give excuses and real reasons why I was unable to attend, but no matter what I say - it's nothing more than a lousy excuse.

So instead I'll complain that humanity isn't reaching for the stars anymore.

Sunday Comics: Week in Review

Ah the week that was. Snow in all 50 States - yes, even in the higher mountains of Hawaii. The bonus of it all is that the Federal Government was more paralyzed than normal: Federal offices were shut down for 4 full days. Snow obviously votes Republican
Meanwhile the rest of the country is freaking out about snow. And frankly, I used to laugh about the South closing schools on the anticipation of snow. But when you break it down, the folks down there don't own shovels - they don't even really know what to do with the stuff. There are zero snow plows and no salt or even a salt truck to salt one road, let alone a fleet. So if you're going to make fun of the Southerners in snow, make fun of their survivalist runs on the 7-11 bottled water and grape Pop-Tarts. That's funny.

Meanwhile, the owners of Toyota vehicles and stock didn't have a good week. That's two in a row. And the media and government seem to be extra probing into this story - mainly because the media are all Toyota owners, and the government needs to sell more GM products. If I'm not kidding, prove me wrong. It does seem that Toyota might have held off such a recall until they had to... but I always think about Fight Club. The narrator (Edward Norton) was an automobile company employee who travels to accident sites to perform product recall cost appraisals. There was a magic number of deaths before they'd issue a recall. I'm thinking the number wasn't high enough.
Iran. I ran so far away. They're giving Mr. Obama's open hand of friendship the middle finger. The Iranian government executed some protesters, tear gassed the rest, and told the world they've enriched uranium. Mr. Obama's open hand has failed to end Iran's human rights abuses and also their nuclear ambitions. The response from the US? Go right back to George Bush styled sanctions. No hope. Zero change.
Speaking of zero hope. How about that NASA program. Looks like the 60's are finally over. Unless there's a great profit motive to get there for a US corporation, it looks like the next man on the moon will be a Chinese citizen. Which is fine, except I fear it'll be a Chinese soldier - and he'll be aiming missiles back at the blue planet where he came from.
Sarah Palin wrote some crib notes on her hand. Obama supporters were quick to make fun of her. I'd like to point out that her other hand was stretched out with a purse full of cash. Her profit motive to leave her office and hijack the tea-bag movement, and ultimately the GOP - should be much more troubling then her short term memory of talking points. Both ideologies should be concerned.Speaking of the Tea Baggers [and again, guys, you HAVE to pick a new name!] they've been called the Know-Nothings. This is extremely dangerous and has connotations that are even more dangerous. I prefer the cartoon's description that these folks are Libertarian in heart - and they feel that the Federal, State and Local governments were the right size before. Gigantic, and with all kinds of programs that they like - but they don't want to see it get any bigger. And as their States and Local governments are crying poor, raising taxes to support programs and pensions that they cannot possibly fund - the government is getting larger and spending even more - with money it doesn't have. This is where their anger stems. It's not because Mrs. Pelosi is a woman or Mr. Obama has tan skin - it's because Mrs. Pelosi, Mr. Reed and Mr. Obama aren't listening, and don't care. To dismiss the Tea Baggers as racist is dangerous because to ignore their concerns leads the movement toward radical elements and radical solutions. It would be much more beneficial to recognize their fear and anger. The alternative is President Palin... and if that's not scary, then we can discuss how Napoleon and Mussolini came to power.

My Suggestions for Teabaggers

Okay guys, I understand your outrage. The economy is bust, you're frustrated, no one's getting any sleep, ...all while your government is overreaching and trying to take more of your money and give it to their cousins and cronies. But, like any group, you've got a couple folks in your ranks that are making the rest of you look like fringe weirdos. Not you, but the guy standing next to you. Yeah, that guy.

So here's some ideas I have that I'd like to share with you to help you on your way.

1. Change your name. It's early in the movement. You can get away with a brand shift now. But the name you've chosen or have been given means something that I don't think you realize what it means. That's why there are a lot of media types making fun of you - to your face - and you don't really 'get' the joke. Think Boston Tea Party or Revolution 2.0 or just the Tea Party rather than 'teabaggers.' Really. Ask a teenager or google it. You really have to change the name.

2. Learn your history. Figure out that Reagan and Bush ran huge massive Federal deficits too. And not that Bush, the other Bush. Also...

3. Learn your quotes. I'm guilty of this too - but you can't cherry pick Jefferson and Hamilton quotes - and put them on the same banner. Jefferson and Hamilton hated each other. And Jefferson was much more of a Democrat than a Republican - while Hamilton seems very Libertarian would have loved the Fed. So, if you follow step two you'll be more conscious of what exactly you're having your daughter march with.

4. Medicare and Medicaid are government socialized medicine. If you read a sign that says 'keep your hands off of my Medicare' - send the person home to read a book. You don't need this person in your group, they only slow down your movement and attract wolves.

5. Kick out the Klan. If there really are any racists in your group, ditch 'em. No one wants to listen to that crap - and if they really don't like the President because they can't get past his skin color, then they're in the wrong group. You're against the President's policies and his actions as the representative of you and your country... those who can only look at color already has a group. They wear white sheets and pointy hats. Send them back. Don't let anyone use the race card.

6. Leave the weapon at home. We're all big supporters of the 2nd Amendment (well, a couple of us anyway) at Blasphemes. Search our archives and you might find a couple gun related stories. I understand that you want to remind your employees that you are the boss, not them and that is a very nice reminder. But brining weapons to protests scares folks who don't get it, puts the police and Secret Service at edge, and makes for good cable news talking points - at your expense.

7. How about a dress code? You should all dress nicely, in your Sunday best. Or better, suits and ties for the men. You're the management of the politician pond scum that you elected, so show 'em who's boss. A well dressed crowd would scare the piss out of a politician - and it did at some of the Town Halls. So much that the pundits thought that you were all plants by the insurance industry. The LL Bean's. Keep going with that. Have a dress code... but avoid uniforms. Especially black or brown shirts. You really don't want to give the wrong impression. If you don't get the reference, please repeat step 2.

8. Protests and street marching? Really? Back to the '60's, huh? Is that the best you can do? You know what I see? Hippies with signs. Fine, if you're going to go all Mahatma Gandi then get creative with it. Consider sit ins at the DMV. Ah, but who would notice? How about sit ins at your Representative or Senator's office? That'd be interesting. Tell them that you want to talk to your employee. Not there? How about his house? You paid for it. Think of other interesting, and new ways to get your point across. May I suggest something along the lines of "What would John Galt do?" Again, if someone in the group is scratching their heads - point them to the library (yikes, public institution, er) - how about Borders?

9. Political Take-Over. The Republican party is weak and disorganized. If you can accomplish 1-6 and maybe 7, you'll be a political force. You can effectively create a hostile takeover of the Republicans and replace that old deck with new platforms. Hang a banner that says "Under New Management." Why grow grassroots when you can take over a tree? Sure it's rotten to the core, but there's an infrastructure for local elections and fundraising that can be used. And find a leader who isn't Sarah Palin. Or Glen Beck. And for the love of god - please leave out 'the love of god' when you rebuild the thing. If you really believe in the Constitution, you'll remember the separation of church and state is clearly stated in there.

10. Don't get drunk with power. It took the Democrats about 3 months before they were even worse than the Republicans they replaced with spending and arrogance and hypocrisy. IF you are able to keep your ideals and actually work toward implementing your Tea Party tenants... you'll be the only group in history to follow through with their promises. Even the Democrats, with all their posturing, are so busy bumping into each other they can't get anything done.

Good luck. Don't forget to vote.

2 More Times

Okay, the Kayne memes are getting nuts... but THESE TWO are perfect for Blasphemes.

Great Jerb

I am proud to see that government edumicashon is doin' a great jerb.

Tea Baggers

Do you pay taxes?

Did you pay them today?

I mean, do you physically write a check every month to the IRS, or your bank with a 941 Quarterly payment?

Or do you just get yours withdrawn from your paycheck.

I'm going to assume that the good readers and followers of Blasphemes actually have jobs. Or at least jobs that require some amount of paperwork above the table.

I do pay my taxes. I write a lot of checks. In fact, the only reason I have a check book anymore is to write over money to the Feds. And I spend a lot of time in Chicago, so every time I buy something 10.25% of that receipt goes to Todd Stroger's family. Why do I always pick on Todd? I know it's not going to better schools or improved roads. Even the sidewalks are crumbling to dust.

So what's all this nonsense about the Tea Bag parties? Well, I was going to say "not much" - but then the MSM all the sudden went grape-nuts and couldn't stop making fun of it. Really? I really expected the media to completely ignore the events staged all over the country today - as if it didn't happen. But in fact, they're going out of their way to make fun of it. Or compare it to the Thai Protests, or the women in Afghanistan... again, to make fun of it. But the best joke is the name of the event.

Now making a "tea bag" joke really doesn't get much play outside of San Francisco or Halsted Street in Chicago. But why keep bringing it up? Are they scared that the Tea Bag movement might gain some traction?

Besides - the Democrats only rase taxes for the rich, right? And would Obama's constituents even notice? The rich ones don't pay taxes, they engage in "tax-reduction" strategies. They work for the government, or they're too rich to care. I'm sure many of them have offshore tax shelters, like George Soros.

The other constituents are engaged in a whipped up class warfare.

Look at California. In June 2002, the liberal American Prospect magazine called California a "laboratory" for Democratic policies, noting that "California is the only one of the nation's 10 largest states that is uniformly under Democratic control."

They said this, mind you, as if it were a good thing. In California, the article proclaimed, "the next new deal is in tryouts."

In just a few years, Democrats had turned California into a "job-free zone" – with a $41 billion deficit, a credit rating that was slashed to junk-bond status and a middle class now located in Arizona.

The Democrats governed California the way Democrats govern Chicago, St. Louis, Detroit, and New Orleans. They had an entire state. They bought the votes of government workers with taxpayer-funded jobs, salaries and benefits – and then turned around and accused the productive class of "greed" for wanting not to have their taxes raised through the roof.

Having run out of things to tax, now the California Legislature is considering a tax on taxes. Seriously.

California was, in fact, a laboratory of Democratic policies. Now Obama and the Democrats are trying it at the National level.

That's what the tea parties are about.