Tea Anyone?

Last April 15th, I was downtown Cleveland for a meeting. I had heard a few days prior that there would be a "Tea Party" rally that day near the courthouse so I decided that since I was already in the area I would check it out. The weather that day was absolutely awful. It was about 45 degrees and overcast with a brisk wind coming right off the only recently melted lake. I thought to myself that it was not exactly a conducive recipe for a big turnout. I was also skeptical because never in my lifetime had I really seen conservative minded people protest in large numbers. I had watched countless numbers of liberals protest the war and other issues during the Bush years, but I had always been told that Republicans did not protest because they had jobs to go to. I guess desperate times call for desperate measure then because I was pleasantly surprised to see so many patriotic Americans brave the elements last tax day waving flags and signs to voice their opposition to a government they believed was becoming too big and spending way too much money.

We are now a year removed from the initial Tea Party experiment and we can now put into perspective how this little movement has exploded into a political juggernaut. Not since the rise of the New Left during the early 1960's has a true grassroots political movement risen to such prowess in such a small amount of time. While it is true that the organizers of the Tea Parties have done a magnificent job in creating this political force, the real credit must be given to the current administration and their accessories in the Congress. This government has become to large and grotesque while simultaneously spending our country into bankruptcy that we the people now know that it is up to us, not our inept representatives in Congress to do what our Constitution says and organize to voice our opposition. Regardless of what our complacent media says, the Tea Party is a movement made up of regular, hardworking Americans who realize the severity of our current situation. Most of the people who make up this movement have never been politically active before, but their love for this great yet diminished land has forced them to be silent no longer.

The aforementioned American media have done their best over the past year to ridicule and silence the Tea Party. The liberals who run the networks, newspapers and magazines have become so desperate that they have had to resort to their trusted and predictable nuclear option -- racism. The left has always used the race card against conservatives to try to marginalize our politics but this time it is different. A black man is now the president and according to the media, all we care about is the color of his skin...not his policies. MSNBC in particular is on a daily basis trying as hard as they can to make a connection between the Tea Parties and racism. Comedian Janine Garofalo said last year on that network that we are nothing but a bunch of "Teabagging rednecks". How nice. CNN, by the way, has also used the word "Teabaggers" to demean this movement. Op-ed's have run in prominent newspapers like the New York Times and Washington post equating the Tea Parties with the Ku Klux Klan and George Wallace supporters. The media ignores the broader movement when reporting and scourers the crowd to magnify the few nuts in order to paint us all with the same brush. It is funny because I do not remember this type of scrutiny of the anti-war protest that called for the murder of George W. Bush. In fact, I remember an instance when our local news rag of record, "The Plain Dealer" actually printed a map and directions to an anti-war rally so that the participants could find the easiest route. I am sure the five people that showed up were overcome with appreciation.

Despite their pathetic attempts, the American people thus far have had and still hold a positive view of the Tea Party. Level headed and free thinking Americans know that we have absolutely no issue with the president because of his ethnicity, we care about the fact that we have accumulated a $13 trillion dollar debt that is growing with every passing day. We care that a government that was created of the people, by the people and for the people is now perishing as a result of government growth and intervention. We care that only 50 years ago President John Kennedy told us to ask not what our country can do for us but what we can do for our country, but now it has become the exact opposite. We care that everything that has made this country so successful and powerful over the past 235 years is unraveling into an unsustainable and unamerican welfare state akin Western Europe and other socialized nations. We want to get back to a country that rewards success and ingenuity, but that will never hesitate to help the helpless, just not the clueless. We want to be a nation that again relies on the individual to be responsible for himself not one that provides a safety net for anyone who is simply unwilling to try.

The Tea Party stands for all of these things, as do I think most Americans. Regardless of what the media or the administration tell you, they are listening to us. They know the significance of this movement, if it was not such a threat to their power they would not waste the time in trying so hard to marginalize it. That is why we can not stop being boisterous. We mustn't stop until our country is once again on the right track and we can take the first step in that direction this November. Remember, the last revolution also started with a Tea Party.

BMN

The Fall of the Last Great Empire- It's a Big F*****' Deal

We spent a lot of time focused on health care, and deservedly so. Its a big deal. It continues to unfold over the coming weeks, but there are many, many other things in the world that need to be talked about. While we’re at home, worried about the effects health care will have, watching the rest of the pork be pulled out and explained and shoved down our throats as to why its good for us....things continue to get worse.

The horrible thing is, President Obama hasn’t done much to make things better. The President of the United States is supposed to be a man of honor who goes out of his way to ensure everyone has a voice....to uphold the First Amendment. What has he been doing since health care passed? Why, wouldn’t you know it, he’s out bandstanding throughout America, mocking conservatives for their stance against health care, telling them to ‘bring it’ and being overly derisive against a massive portion of America. Oh yeah, he’s also capitalizing by selling shirts that say “Health Reform is a BFD (Big F----- Deal) [you can view those and his other PR ideas at http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/fbtshirtpoll ]

I sit back and try to rationalize these actions, but I can’t. I really, really can’t. Wasn’t this the SAME constituency who, years ago, DEMANDED Governor Schwarzenegger’s head on a pike for calling them ‘girlie men’? These are the same people who become outraged and cry absolute bloody murder when something a little off color is said in public. These are the same people who cried foul when, at Strom Thurmond’s 100th birthday, Trent Lott spoke up and said things would be better if he had been elected president. Yeah, I get it. Thurmond ran on the Dixiecrat ticket, which was largely racist. Take into context what he said and where- he made a comment speaking well of this man, the longest tenured Senator in US history, on his birthday. Looking into beyond that is so absurd, but thats what they did. They shamed him out of his leadership position and eventually out of Congress altogether because they had their panties in such a bunch.

Grow some thicker skin. Obama is out trashing conservatives left and right these days. He’s making t-shirts about it. Throwing everything in our face. Yeah, change and bipartisanship. That’s exactly what he’s doing. Its sickening. This man speaks out of one side of his mouth then goes out and does something else. He makes cries that bipartisanship needs to happen, yet he impedes the process by mocking conservatives for their ideas.

You know what? I’m glad health care passed. Its going to ruin him. Its going to ruin Democrats. Its the death knell. You know why? “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”-George Santayana There’s an elephant in the room nobody has addressed yet. Why has nobody brought up what happened to countries who turn to socialized health care?

It’s because those countries lose power. They become less viable. They lose military strongholds. They cut funding across the board. The great thing about America has always been our ability to act alone- the pioneer spirit. We do things together as a people. We overcome amazing obstacles because of our individuality. We fight for everything we accomplish and recieve.

Health care ruins all of that. Gone will be that pioneer spirit. You get free health care. Why try and better it? Look at Canada. Canada had the 4th largest Navy in the world. What happened when socialized health care came into effect? Well.....Canada is laughable as a military power.

Same with Great Britain.

Same with most of Europe as a whole.

Well, you say, that doesn’t matter. We don’t need a big military anymore. We can cut costs and shrink the military to pay for this needed reform.

Can we? Can America afford it? Can the world afford it?

Like it or not, America is a world stabilizer. We keep things in check. Our military power protects those states, I’m looking at you Canada and Britain, that don’t have strong militaries to pay for their health care. What happens when we shrink our hard power to pay for health care?

I’ll tell you what happens- we lose. If you pay attention to the news at all, you’ll see Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin paid a visit to President Hugo Chavez and his country of Venezuela, to bolster support.

Now, if you know anything about politics, you know what a horrible person Chavez is, how poorly his country is run, and how much he hates America. With Obama in office, you see what is happening? Countries that wouldn’t have paid him the time of day out of fear are talking to him, seeing what he needs.

Russia has promised to help them develop nuclear power and a space program. China and Iran stand behind Venezuela.

Who are America’s three biggest threats with nuclear capabilities.

China.

Russia.

Iran.

If you remember, during the Bush Administration, Putin was a strong ally of the United States. This would have never happened.

Today? Russia scoffs at us and Obama’s insistence on ignoring Russia and what they bring to the table.

It’s a scary thing to look at. As we push toward this new health care program (I know I said I wouldn’t talk about it, but I guess it tied in. Oh well.....), the rest of the world prepares to step in when we, same as our allies, fall into the same military weakness that prevents us from having a strong presence in the world.

If things don’t change....if this isn’t repealed...if we don’t figure this out...we could very well be saying goodbye to the last Superpower.

If you’ve ever taken a history class, you have learned about the rise and fall of the great empires- Rome, Egypt, Mongols, British....

Welcome to the accelerated decline of the last great empire.