Back in the early goings of 2009, corporate media loved themselves some TEA Party. The hanging teabags. The Mel Gibson Patriot rent-a-costumes. The "don't tread on me" flags. The "taxed enough already" signs.

Teevee media was all-the-hell-over the TEA Party. Sister Sarah and the odd Glenn Beck embraced the TEAs early, Fox News became the TEA Party's promoter. Even "liberal" MSNBC's Chrissy Matthews, and others, were twitterpated by the enthusiasm of this allegedly grassroots conservative movement, championed by, according to Fox's Roger Ailes, the "hot" Sarah Palin.

The Taxed Enough Already motto should have been the tip-off that the TEAs shouldn't be taken seriously. Federal tax rates were, and still are, at 60 year lows and President Obama had, early in 2009, rolled back 2% of an employee's side of the payroll tax. The TEA's Taxed Enough Already motto seemed strangely disconnected from reality. Early on, The Reverend called the TEA's message, incoherent, a denial of reality.

But the teevee media nurtured their own love affair with the TEA protest movement. Would Sarah ride the TEA wave to the presidency, many Serious, Professionals in media asked repeatedly and breathlessly. And even if taxes are at 60 year low rates….they COULD go up…so there.

For 2 straight years, teevee media carried water for the incoherent, astroturf, TEA group. Media "stars" rarely asked what "taking their country back" meant. Few pointed out that Obama had not raised taxes, but lowered them.

The TEAs were never about taxes, or smaller government or "taking their country back." The TEA movement was all about electing more, and more extreme, Republicans into halls of power. That's what the TEAs meant when they said they were "taking their country back"…..they simply forgot to include the "from the Democrats", part.

However, with all of the manufactured, ahistorical nonsense of the anti-Democratic Party TEAs, the one crucial issue that the TEAs and their corporate media sponsors never brought up was the banking crisis.
Not once did I here a TEA representative speak negatively or even excitedly about holding the banksters responsible for the terrible financial situation they had put the country in.

In fact, while the nation was shedding hundreds of thousands of jobs per month in the first half of 2009, and a record number of houses were being foreclosed upon, the TEAs helped spread yet another phony meme that the new recession had all been the fault of Barney Frank, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and, of course, Fanny and Freddy. The housing foreclosure nightmare, as far as the TEAs were concerned, came about because Democrats had forced Wall Street banksters to sell mortgages to millions of Americans who could not afford them. It was the government's fault, we were told, not those greedy banksters.

Alan Greenspan and numerous other government and former government officials from the world of finance testified under oath that the fault for the recession fell on bankers and various paper shuffling entities who had been left alone to police themselves. Greenspan said that he had been proven wrong….a belief he had held all of his life….that bankers could be trusted to act ethically and morally without oversight. Greenspan said under oath that he had been proven wrong.

No matter to the TEA Republicans. It was the Democrats fault…..liberalism, to be precise….and no facts, testimony or evidence would ever change their opinion.

Today, the TEAs are disapproved of by 46% of Americans while only approved of by 28% of Americans. It took awhile for Americans to decipher teevee media's code-of-bullsh*t about the TEAs….just as it did after the Iraq crime was launched…..but after the debt ceiling hostage situation, Americans have finally caught on, and the apparent love-affair with the incoherent, Democratic Party protest…is over.

So, the teevee media, ever the pimps of the rich and powerful….have simply refocused their attentions on another protest movement. This time it's the Occupy Wall Street protest. I'll be reviewing later the culpability of Wall Street in much of what is wrong with our national economy….but for now….take a look at this clip of teevee media personalities commenting on the OWS protesters. This three minute clip goes a long way in explaining why American voters are so often confused.

Warning: the arrogant and smug condescension exhibited by teevee personalities towards peaceful protesters on Wall Street may cause uncontrollable swearing by viewer…

I saw the results of Florida's GOP straw poll and I thought…..what? Herman Cain?

Herman Cain received about 35% of the vote in the Sunshine State's GOP straw poll. That was twice as much as the nearest competitor.

Herman Cain? I thought Governor Rick Perry, only jumping in the race a few weeks ago, was going to be the adored new saviour of the totally broken Republican Party. Guess not, huh? But Herman Cain? Mr. 999?

By choosing Cain down in Florida, were Republicans protesting the motley cast of characters the Republican Party is offering voters this time around? Could be. I mean, how many potential GOP saviors have stood up to announce their candidacy….excited the excitable GOP base for a couple of weeks….and then, be kicked to the curb of irrelevance for one reason or another?

For two years the savior of the lost and befuddled GOP was going to be Sister Sarah of Wasilla. Despite the sound of rocks rolling around inside Sarah's head every time she stood before a microphone, Sarah would be a formidable political force that Democrats would have such an oh-so-difficult time defeating in 2012, you know, when she ran for the presidency. That's what I was told every night by Serious people on the teevee.

So sad. Sarah is busy collecting baskets with millions of dollars in them for her and her family instead of "you betcha-ing" our asses into thinking she could run anything other than her mouth.

Then it was Trump-time. The Donald. The Village creatures were especially high when Donald Trump pretended for 6-8 weeks to be running for the GOP candidacy for president. Any one who takes Trump seriously, ever, is offering themselves up to charges of being a sucker, or a fool….but that didn't stop all the Very Serious media members in Wired-For-Republican Media. The Donald's polling numbers rose and the slobber-fest by Republicans and their media pets over the Humble One was sickening.

Alas, it was but a one-month stand. Michele "Crazy Eyes" Bachmann entered the GOP race…..and right on cue….the Tea Partied-up crowd went bonkers. One of their own would run for president….and a woman to boot. Michelle would surely replace the hopes and dreams of wingers which were lost after Sister Sarah disappointed them so. But Bachmann wanted to cure gays and install a dead man, Jesus, as Leader of America….and so it wasn't long before flitting TeaBaggers were off looking for yet another heartthrob.

The Gunslinger and Secessionist, Texas Governor Rick Perry would teach that Dark Knight of Socialism a thing or two, by god. Now we're talking. Perry, we were told, was quite the politician, quite the campaigner….he would be the real GOP deal. Immediately, he surpassed the chameleon Willard Mitt Romney, the odds-on favorite, and sent the Village Know Nothings into an authoritarian swoon.

But it was only another one-night stand for confused conservatives. Perry declared the United States unconstitutional and wanted to end the Ponzi scheme he knew as Social Security….which foamed up the mouths of the neo-confederates with glee. But, it was not meant to be…..the Expert politician from Texas couldn't hold his own in a couple of debates with the author of RomneyCare……and so….we find Herman Cain, in the latest Reality GOP Straw-Polling from Florida, far outdistancing all the former GOP heart throbs.

Now what?

Yesterday….right on schedule….cries of desperation were heard rising up from the Usual Suspects…..billionaires who think they own the nation….and the warmongers and kingmakers, Bill Kristol and Roger Ailes.

Please, please, please….Baby Huey, the cry went up…..please Governor Chris Christie….save us from the Dark Knight, run for the presidency. Fox's Roger Ailes, the billionaire butt-brothers Koch, and several other ultra-rich controllers of the Republican Party had already pleaded with the obese Christie to run against the Kenyan Socialist….but Huey repeatedly replied that he was not ready to run for president quite yet.

Herman Cain's surprising win in the Florida straw poll was the…um…last straw….for warmongers, thieves and Fox. Time to panic….again. Now, Christie just had to get into the race. Word is that Baby Huey is re-considering. We'll see.

Christie is rude, intolerant, and loves hurting the little people in his state for the sake of rich business owners…..so he's everything the Republican Party could ever hope for. So will Baby Huey get in? Will he, can he, save the Know Nothing Party? Can Huey drag his extremely overweight ass around the country and inspire enough malcontents to light up with enthusiasm over the prospects of another Dick-Cheney authoritarian in the White House?

Time will tell. I'm betting that Christie, though undisciplined about his own appearance, will be disciplined enough, and smart enough, to know that he is only the current Know Nothing flavor of the month.

And nothing more.

One of John McCain's most embarrassing moments during his 2008 presidential run was when he stood in front of a microphone while commenting on the conflict between Russia and the former Soviet state of Georgia….

McCain said….. "that I know I speak for every American when I say….today, we are all Georgians."

Pure political silliness rivaled only by McCain's later decision to suspend his presidential campaign in order to rush back to Washington to solve the Wall Street blowup crisis. Remember those good times?

Well, the presidential campaign season is descending on us again….and the silliness is back….

“Corporations!” a protester shouted, apparently urging (Mitt) Romney to raise taxes on corporations that have benefited from loopholes in the tax code. “Corporations!”

“Corporations are people, my friend,” Romney said.

Some people in the front of the audience shouted, “No, they’re not!”

“Of course they are,” Romney said. “Everything corporations earn ultimately goes to people. Where do you think it goes?”

"Corporations are people."?? Really?

If, as Mitt Romney, the GOP presidential frontrunner for 2012, says…."corporations are people"….then why wouldn't those same corporations be allowed to vote in our elections? Correct me if I'm wrong, but no one shows up on election day claiming to be, like, Coke, or IBM, or Exxon-Mobil…demanding that they be allowed to cast a ballot. How, then, can corporations be people? American citizens have the right to cast ballots in an election…..corporations do not. If corporations are people, as Romney declares….why can't corporations vote?

If corporations are people and not just a business-organizational tool that people use for a variety of reasons….why is it that corporations never stand trial? American citizens who violate the law and are caught….are tried, convicted and sentenced. Far as you recall, did Enron, or WorldCom, or Pfizer or any other corporation whose business dealings were found to be illegal….ever stand trial? I'm talking about the corporation, itself. Has Mr. or Ms. Corporation ever sat in the witness chair and answered questions?

I'm not talking about the people who work for the corporation….I'm talking about the corporation, itself. The corporation which Mitt Romney claims is a person. If corporations are actually people, then why would it be that those "people" can't sit in the docket and answer questions? To ask the question, of course, is to answer it. Corporations are not people……corporations are an invention by people, a business organizational tool for people to exploit. A legal framework around which real people organize their business activities.

Notice Mitt Romney's difficulty in explaining what has become a John Roberts and Wingnuts faith-based doctrine….

"Everything corporations earn ultimately goes to people."

Talk about your basic disconnect. I used to own a crane arm machine…you know the ones, stuffed animals, claw comes down, cost a quarter. I placed it in a roller skating rink. That crane arm machine earned money. At all night skate nights, kids would put over $200 in that quarter crane arm machine. All the money that the crane arm machine took in….earned….went to me and the skating rink owner, you know, the people.

But the crane arm machine was not a person. When I emptied the money box of the crane arm machine, I didn't say stuff like, "crane arm machines are people"…..because, obviously….that would be crazy. Just because a construct or tool of business makes money which "ultimately goes to people"…does not make that construct or tool a "person."

Like McCain in 2008, this was not the Mittster's finest moment.

But then the Republican mascot, cheerleader-opportunist Sarah Palin, an employee of Fox News, was asked about Mr. Romney's strange definition of corporations, whether she agreed that "corporations are people". Her response? "The people pay the taxes."

The people who work for a corporation pay the taxes for the corporation…so, therefore, the corporation and people are indistinguishable? If that is true then maybe the biggest TeaNut in the Tea-Nut-Bag…Kentucky GOP Senator, Rand Paul…is correct here…

KEYES: What did you make of Mitt Romney’s statement today that “corporations are people”?

PAUL: Corporations are collections of people. I think we’re all corporations. To say we’re going to punish corporations like they’re someone else. All of us are corporations.

Naturally, this brings us full circle back to John McCain's embarrassing claim from 2008…"we're all Georgians." The 2012 twist from GOP candidates for president? "We're all corporations now."

KEYES: I think people might argue that corporations can’t be sent to jail.

PAUL: I think those arguments can be made, but I think the fact that a lot of times people want to vilify corporations, saying they’re someone else, that they’re these other rich people. They’re us. They’re the middle class. We all own parts of corporations.

Set aside for a moment the fact that only 50% of Americans own stock in corporations. Republican presidential candidates, like Romney…..and TeaNuts, like Palin and Paul….are making their loyalties known. Rand Paul doesn't like the idea of real people "vilifying corporations." And that's the point. Republicans and the Radical John Roberts Court have made it their lot in life to defend the powerful and the wealthy. Average Americans? Not so much.

In order to defend corporations, and the billionaires who own them, from sharing in any sacrifice needed to right our national economic ship…..we are being told by Republican leaders that corporations are not really tools which people use to bypass taxes and accountability…oh no….corporations are people, just like you and I.

Now excuse me while I go and register my crane arm machine to vote.

According to TPM reports last night, President Obama is getting sick and tired of the Republican intransigence over raising the debt ceiling. Obama walked out of tense talks Wednesday evening particularly perturbed with Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA).

"I have reached the point where I say enough," Obama told the leaders, according to the account. "Would Ronald Reagan be sitting here? I've reached my limit. This may bring my presidency down, but I will not yield on this."

Now that Republicans have wound the economic doomsday clock down to about 2 weeks….with more and nuttier suggestions each day that if the U.S. defaults it won't be THAT bad….I think it's time to place the blame for this crisis-to-come where it belongs.

The very reason why GOP Speaker Boehner cannot reach a compromise with the President is the Tea Party. Boehner has told Obama repeatedly that a compromise,….virtually any compromise,…..can't get enough GOP votes in the House to pass. The 80-something Tea Party Caucus members will not accept any compromise.

Without compromise, I think it follows that there is no true democratic process…..but Tea Partiers don't want a democratic process anyway. They want what they want….even if it's senseless, ahistorical, unilateral,…even if it throws 308 million Americans, needlessly, into a full blown 21st century depression.

These uncompromisers, in my not-so-humble opinion, have become the number one enemy to the United States today. Emboldened and radicalized in 2008 by the know-nothing jihadist from Alaska who insisted that America is made up of "real Americans" who live in "real America" and, I guess, the rest of us….the SnowBilly converts went on to join the astroturf "tea party" movement whose opening protest act was to march around aimlessly carrying Taxed Enough Already signs. This, after President Obama had just reduced payroll taxes on 95% of American workers. The incoherent nuttiness had begun. Nuttiness which maniacal opportunists like Glenn Beck and Chatty Cathy pull string dolls like Sister Sarah simply couldn't resist.

Corrupt corporate media, reduced to doing little more than pimping for a handful of very rich and powerful Americans, enthusiastically encouraged the nuttiness, the total craziness of the incoherent Tea Party. I firmly believe that it was the corrupt corporate media's almost non-stop coverage of this know-nothing, conservative-whacko, "movement"….which gave the uncompromising "real Americans" the edge they needed to win the 2010 midterm elections.

If corporate media would have been doing their job instead of playing up the contrived "controversy" created from whole cloth by the know-nothings…..the Tea Party nonsense would have long ago been relegated to the historical dumpster of American fanaticism, American kookiness. But no….corrupt media saw the Tea Party, with it's hateful, yet contrived, accusations directed daily at Obama, as the return of the media-glory years of the Clinton administration when advertiser rates increased in tandem with every new report of a blowjob inside the White House.

Now the nuttiness that began with the "palling around with terrorists" feistiness of a know-nothing, ex beauty queen, 1/2 term governor of the socialized oil state of Alaska…..has morphed into a full IED-setting, anarchist, congressional mafia of mass destruction….hellbent on punishing every American for the sin of electing a black Democratic president.

Remember….those who are refusing to compromise, choosing instead a worldwide economic calamity rather than compromise….are the same people who sang "cut it or shut it" and "shut it down"…just a couple of months ago. These people are nuts. Extremists. And they are now on the threshold of, perhaps, destroying any hopes we might have had that America could rebound from it's recent severe recession.

But then….hasn't that been the plan all along? If Tea Party anarchists can help to further deteriorate our national economy….then chances improve for Obama becoming a one term president. And that would bring us full circle back to where it all began…..with the bitterness by the Palinistas over Barack Obama being elected to the presidency.

What we are witnessing in the debt ceiling standoff today is a direct result of what began when John McCain decided to choose a powder-puff, know nothing opportunist with a smartassed mouth to be his vice-president.

It's been all downhill since then.

In Florida you can pay $400 and in eight days receive a high school diploma.

No word on whether Ohio Governor John Kasich has recommended the Florida program for all of Ohio's public high school students….but just think of the savings. I think Florida is on to something….don't you? Not only would the state be rid of those communist infiltrators teaching our kids evil truths like…evolution, but just imagine all the money our local communities could raise selling off those costly high school buildings.

Besides, kids today know too much for their own good anyway. And with public high schools off the budget entirely, we can rid ourselves of all those anti-American union teachers and make it possible for St. LittleJohn of The Perpetually Rich to eliminate the socialistic "death tax" on Ohio's most worthy citizens.

it's called common sense conservatism for a reason.

Like the extremely common sensical idea to permit patrons of liquor establishments to legally carry concealed weapons. As I understand the brilliance…..concealed carry patrons of bars won't be permitted to drink alcohol should they enter with their weapons. Guns and alcohol don't mix, some non-common sensers warn. Ohio gun nuts enthusiasts say they don't want to mix the two, they just want to get them as close to each other as possible…..just in case.

The freedom-loving, gun nuts enthusiasts tell me that their original legislation "specifically stated that an establishment had to have a food service license" in order to qualify as an establishment where concealed carry laws could be extended. I'm guessing….but I suppose it's because there is so much reported thuggery and holdups of patrons in restaurants that also serve alcohol. Who knew? But then these same bastions of uncommon common sense "soon found out most bars likely have (a food service license) because they serve some kind of food." Imagine that. These guys really are genuises.

Yet another sanctimonious common sense conservative entered the Freakshow we refer to as the presidential process yesterday. Pennsylvania's Rick Santorum. The Rickster. He trotted all his common sense up to a mic yesterday and told a few listeners that D-Day, 67 years ago, was all about U.S. soldiers fighting for Paul Ryan's right today to scrap Medicare for seniors.

The stuff you learn from common sense conservatives……really opens one's eyes, doesn't it?

While we're on the subject of common sense conservatives who will never be president…consider the Midnight Ride of the Wasilla SnowBilly Paul Revere,…Sarah Palin. Not sure whether it's the prescription drugs, or whether Levi Johnson scored some high-potency pot for the Grifter 1/2 Termer…..but her common sense rendition of Paul Revere's ride sent my head spinning.

Revere was warning the British that they (the British) were coming? Revere warned the British that THEY were coming by ringing bells? Revere was warning the British that THEY were coming by ringing bells and taunting the British that the militiamen had the right to carry concealed weapons in bars that served food? Somehow, the story seems to have changed a bit. It's probably just me.

Crazier still….or, a richer display of common sense…..is found in the concerted effort by Sarah's "real America" fans to quickly revise Wikipedia's apparently incomplete record of Paul Revere's ride.

The earth was created in six 24 hour days, America is a Christian nation, compassion is cutting taxes on the wealthiest and making the elderly sick pay for it, guns should be carried into bars, public schools should be dismantled, WW2 was fought in order for Paul Ryan to take guaranteed health care away from 21st century seniors…..and Paul Revere warned the British.

I can't take much more from these common sense freaks.

Is it possible that the United States population is moving ever-so-closer to actually rejecting America?

I realize that sounds like an odd question. I mean, how could America be anti-America? Right?

Let's consider two situations/events which I believe illustrate how America could be rejecting America.

The first is the ongoing saga of Guantanomo.

The illegal, offshore gulag which became home to organized American torturing of Muslim "detainees" was the product of a few very bad people inside the Bush administration….and, of course, Bush, himself, for approving such savagery. America…the population….was kept in the dark for a good long time about Guantanomo. We don't know very much about what went on there during Bush (national security and all), or what's going on there now.

Yes, torture is anti-American…….and a crime worthy of incarceration……but it's really not the torture that went on down in Guantanomo which gives me pause about America, the population, turning against America. It's what has happened since the torturing was exposed….which worries me.

America claims it is a nation of laws, not men. Our governing Constitution clearly outlines the basic principle of due process….if one is accused of wrongdoing, one has the right to face his acccusers, present all pertinent evidence, and have a judge and jury decide guilt or innocence. This up until now understood, American principle is as American as the Corvette.

And yet….a majority of Americans have rejected due process for remaining detainees in Guantanomo. Americans, including President Obama, aren't willing to risk the outcome of a trial by judge and jury. If trying Gitmo detainees means there is the possibility that a detainee would be acquitted…..that's too big of a risk.

Apparently, many Americans no longer trust their own American system. It's just too risky.

The same can be seen in Egypt's recent turmoil. While it is absolutely true that the majority of Americans….80%….are currently on the side of the Egytian protesters in the gripping standoff we've been watching on teevee…..there is an ever-louder, and different sounding drumbeat being heard coming from the same folks who no longer trust in due process.

The entertainers working on talk radio and on Fox have been trying to scare their audiences over the new-and-improved bogeyman….The Muslim Brotherhood.

Fox contributor, Sarah Palin….

Who’s going to fill the void… in the government [of Egypt after Mubarek]. Is it going to be the Muslim Brotherhood? We should not stand for that, or with that or by that.

Neo-con, John Bolton…

"We are not on the verge of the Dawning of the Age of Aquarius in Egypt if only the demonstrators get their way".

"If the Muslim Brotherhood can bring down the government and install a radical Islam regime there, in control of the Suez Canal, one can only wonder what will happen in the oil rich kingdoms of the Arabian peninsula.

Charlatan, Newt Gingrich….

“For us to encourage in any way the inclusion of the Muslim Brotherhood is fundamentally wrong, and I think that what we want to do is walk a narrow line,” Gingrich continued. “We don’t want to betray somebody [Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak] who has been with us 30 years as an ally – we do recognize his time may well have gone – [but] we want to treat him with dignity, because he stood by us in very tough times.

“We want to help the Egyptian people achieve self government, but we want to isolate and minimize the risk of the Muslim Brotherhood,” he said.

Just a sampling of what has been spoon fed to talk radio and Fox audiences for the last couple of weeks.

Here again, I believe the message from these conservative entertainers and charlatans, is one of American-style democracy being too risky. If the outcome of any democratic electoral process inside a new post-Mubarak Egypt includes representation from the Muslim Brotherhood….that's a risk that shouldn't be taken, we're being told by celebrity GOP entertainers.

So, the question is…..do these Americans (who have a big following) who say it's too risky to trust our American system of due process when it comes to trying Muslim detainees…and who are now questioning one-person, one-vote for Egytians if Muslim Brotherhood representation in a new Egytian parliament is the result…….. the question is….do these radio and Fox entertainers really believe or trust in the American system of governance…..at all?

Immediately after the Tucson Tragedy, Arizona Republican District 20 Chairman Anthony Miller resigned his post. Why did he resign?

….he stepped down in the face of "constant verbal attacks" and other forms of intimidation. "I wasn't going to resign but decided to quit after what happened Saturday," he said. "I love the Republican Party but I don't want to take a bullet for anyone."

Why did Anthony Miller think he might "take a bullet?"

Miller, 43, told HuffPost he decided to resign after his wife expressed concern for their safety. Miller had been the target of heavy criticism from Arizona tea partiers, in part because he worked on Sen. John McCain's campaign last fall.(The tea partiers favored McCain's opponent, J.D. Hayworth.) Miller added that he is generally more trustful of government officials than tea partiers in his district, who favor more anti-establishment candidates.

Yesterday, yet another state Republican Party leader, Dick Wadhams, Colorado Republican Party Chairman, announced he won't seek reelection to another term of leading the Colorado GOP….even though he has enough votes to get reelected.

"I have tired of those who are obsessed with seeing conspiracies around every corner and who have terribly misguided notions of what the role of the state party is while saying 'uniting conservatives' is all that is needed to win competitive races across the state," Wadhams wrote in a memo to the Colorado Republican State Central Committee obtained by The Denver Post.

Then the money quote….

"I have loved being chairman, but I'm tired of the nuts who have no grasp of what the state party's role is," Wadhams told the Post.

The "nuts" who see "conspiracies around every corner" are, of course, the new Republicans, the new conservatives…..the Tea Partiers. Seems like the Colorado TP'ers wanted to focus on "uniting conservatives" for the 2012 election cycle. Wadhams knew from experience that his GOP had to attract centrist and moderate voters in order to win some races. Tea Partiers, now common knowledge, don't do compromise.

Remember…..Anthony Miller and Dick Wadhams are Republicans. And not simply Republicans, but Republicans who led their party in their respective states.

Intimidation, thuggishness and fear were the motivators in Anthony Miller's resignation. Weariness over the ignorant, conspiratorial "nuts" was the motivator in Wadhams resignation.

Thuggishness and ignorance. The characteristic qualities of the GOP's new reactionary movement…..The Tea Party.

To be sure, many advocates for the Tea Party have been, rightfully, warning about debt, deficits and bloated government. Even though I disagree strongly with many of the solutions that these more-informed Tea Party participants set forward…….their lower taxes, fewer regulations, smaller government message is not out there on the fringe of conservative thought.

In fact, since 1980, those solutions have made up the primary platform of the Republican Party. Because that is true, The Reverend has been repetitively pointing out over the last 2 years that the Tea Party is simply the Republican Party camoflauging itself in the wake of Republican President Bush's abject failure. The Tea Party was Dick Armey's and the Koch Bros. new gimmick to take conservative voters' minds off the dismal performance of the Grand Old Party. Dick will always be a Dick, but he's no dummy.

But the anger and nuttiness seen often at 2008 Palin campaign events quickly became the identifying marks of new Tea Party rallies which began in Feb-March, 2009. As only one example, the ignorance was seen in hundreds of signs declaring that "we're taxed enough already" and "Obama is a socialist"……even though those same angry TP'ers were enjoying the lowest federal taxation rates since 1950, and Obama had lowered taxes on virtually every American worker. The thuggishness was seen in the gun-toting at political events and in the strategically orchestrated busting up of townhall meetings, the numerous threats on the lives of elected officials.

Now, because powerful conservatives have failed over the last two years to denounce the ignorance and thuggishness of many within the Tea movement…..the movement is threatening the entire Republican Party…..as seen in the resignation of reasonable GOP leaders in Arizona and Colorado.

The GOP is in between that proverbial rock and hard place. Traditional GOP leaders know that thuggishness and ignorance will never attract enough independent and moderate voters to maintain a congressional majority, let alone win the presidency. Even the neo-conservative devil, Bill Kristol, recognizes that reality. Yet, without the thug and ignorant conservative votes, the GOP can't compete at all on the national level.

With the continued resignations of key state GOP leaders, with the Kabuki dancing by Boehner's Bunglers in the House attempting to appease the thugs and the ignorant through meaningless exercises to rescind ObamaCare and re-litigate abortion, to the targeting of more moderate Republican senators like Hatch, Lugar and Snowe in 2012…..

…it looks like the ignorant, thuggish conservative voter mob is taking over the once Grand…..old party.

Why are House Republicans pressing the issue of repealing health care reform legislation when they surely know their efforts will fail?

The answer is found in two words….Tea Party.

The House Republicans are going through the motions to repeal health care reform purely for the Tea Party Puppet Theater value, as it were.

Tea Partiers are still very, very upset with how our democratic process works. Well….not upset so much over how the process works, but, rather, upset over the results produced as the democratic process worked itself out over the last couple of years.

Because the Tea Party is so very upset,…angry even,….House Republicans are afraid that if they don't do what the Tea Party commands, they'll be primaried out of a job come 2012. House Republicans are correct to be scared of the power of the angry, angry Tea Party, knowing full well the Tea Party's role in last November's midterm.

So, House Republicans are wasting everybody's time this week repeating the usual-suspect lies about the health care reform bill for the sake of Tea Party members. Like I said….Tea Party Puppet Theater.

But all that is transparently obvious. Tell me something I don't know, Reverend.

Okay.

Opposition to the health care reform bill has been the excuse for the revolutionary and violent rhetoric seen and heard from the right since the summer of 2009. Sure, for a couple of months after the stimulus bill passed, all we heard was socialism, socialism, socialism. Rag-tag Tea Party groups milled aimlessly around looking for a cause to attach their anger to in those glorious salad days of Reawakened Patriotism.

As soon as President Obama announced he was moving forward with healthcare reform in the early summer of 2009…..the Tea Party found what they had been looking for, a justification for their anger…..ObamaCare. Given detailed step-by-step instructions by corporate masters in the arts of deception, step-by-step instructions on how to disrupt representative's townhall meetings, how to behave in an uncivil manner, Tea Party members spread out over American townhall meetings….and raised holy hell. Corporate media rushed with their cameras to capture the contrived demonstrations of anger. Clueless "reporters" kept asking, "why is everyone so angry?"

I was actually embarassed FOR some of those angry, angry Tea Party Townhall Buster-Uppers. Normal, neighborly conservative folks had been instructed on how to quickly disrupt a House representative's meeting with his/her constituents. Partiers were told to shout out early in the meeting by loudly disagreeing, thus unsettling the elected official, setting a chaotic tone.

If you watched those disruptive scenes, you could tell that acting badly, acting rudely, didn't come naturally to these usually civil voters. However, they had been told that ObamaCare was, in fact, the return of Nazi Germany….so they awkwardly followed the instructions, and it's been all downhill from that point.

Again, after Republicans drug their legislative feet as long as they possibly could during all of 2009 while the embarassing Townhall BustUps continued, longsuffering Democrats finally approved the health care reform bill in the Senate at the end of that year. Reconciliation with the House, and final passage with Obama's signature didn't come until March, 2010.

It was then that the militia group ordered the smashing of Democratic representatives offices. It was then that the death threats towards Democratic representatives increased exponentially. It was then that Democratic representatives were spit upon and abused verbally. It was then that Ms. Palin placed crosshairs on a map. It was then that Gabrielle Giffords office was vandalized. It was then that Ms. Giffords warned of consequences.

Summarizing what I have witnessed…..the violent revolutionary rhetoric, the heated hateful rhetoric, the gun-toting, show-and-tell fun, the eliminationist language, the "death panels", the ever-louder drumbeat that America was being "destroyed", the vandalism, the crosshair map…….all of it….coalesced around the mighty, mighty End-of-Days threat according to Tea Partiers: universal health care reform legislation.

House Republicans are putting on a theatrical performance today by Kabuki-dancing for the sake of Tea Partiers….in a most pitiful, impotent (and limp) public demonstration of weakness, in my opinion.

Sadly, today's House Republican dance of defiance is only being performed out of fear. Initially, the Tea Partiers struck existential fear in the hearts of Democratic representatives, directing violent, hateful and threatening language and actions towards officials who voted for ObamaCare. Now, Republicans, themselves, are afraid of the "anger" of the Tea Party. Afraid that they will be targeted next.

So they dance.

Last night, Tucson mourners came together to memorialize those killed by Jared Loughner on Saturday morning. Emotions in the 14,000+ crowd were all over the emotional map. Joy and tension-relieving applause broke out when President Obama announced that Gabrielle Giffords had "opened her eyes for the first time" yesterday. There were respectful and appreciative rounds of applause for those at the scene Saturday who demonstrated bravery, unusual composure and selflessness. There were tears flowing as the nation's highest political leader called citizens to a higher place for the sake of our children, children like the angelic, 9 year old, Christina Green, taken from her family in such a horrific and senseless way.

The loss of these wonderful people should make every one of us strive to be better in our private lives – to be better friends and neighbors, co-workers and parents.

I recognize words like these. They are the words of a pastor. Appropriate words. Redemptive words. Light-out-of-darkness words. President Obama sincerely appealed to "our better angels" last evening and I, for one, appreciate the fact that he is the president at this moment in our history.

As close as Obama came to a rebuke of anyone came, rather, as a challenge to everyone….

And if, as has been discussed in recent days, their deaths help usher in more civility in our public discourse, let’s remember that it is not because a simple lack of civility caused this tragedy, but rather because only a more civil and honest public discourse can help us face up to our challenges as a nation, in a way that would make them proud.

These are the prepared remarks of a true American leader…one who fully appreciates and respects the responsibilities of his office representing all Americans. Just as Reagan, Bush 1, Clinton, and yes, even Bush 2, at times, rose to the level required of their office, calling for us to unite as one proud country after tragedies….so too, now Obama.

Sadly, and I sincerely mean that,….the same cannot be said about Alaska's former Governor, Sarah Palin, and how she chose to address her followers and the nation yesterday morning.

It is possible that some may feel it is inappropriate for me to include commentary on Sarah Palin alongside of reflections about last night's memorial service. I understand that sentiment. If it were not for the stark contrast teaching moment Palin, herself, provided yesterday morning (transcript here)…..I would not do so. But she did…..provide a stark contrast teaching moment. And we can learn from it.

Here is the paragraph which The Reverend believes has ended Sarah Palin's political career…..

Vigorous and spirited public debates during elections are among our most cherished traditions. And after the election, we shake hands and get back to work, and often both sides find common ground back in D.C. and elsewhere. If you don’t like a person’s vision for the country, you’re free to debate that vision. If you don’t like their ideas, you’re free to propose better ideas. But, especially within hours of a tragedy unfolding, journalists and pundits should not manufacture a blood libel that serves only to incite the very hatred and violence they purport to condemn. That is reprehensible.

From the early going in 2008, my impression of Sarah Palin had been negative. The reason was simple. I did not think she fully comprehended the serious responsibility that a call to even higher office demanded. Her feisty, flippant, cockiness seemed out of place for such a new entrant at the highest level. And it is those same attributes which have brought her to this low point.

Ms. Palin's obsession with her own narcissism-fueled, victimization by others, specificly media, was entirely misplaced in comments beginning with words like "healing process." Though facing criticism from media about her use of imagery and phrasing leading up to the midterms……criticism which Gabrielle Giffords, herself, had voiced last March…..Palin, I think shockingly, decided that she would claim that she was the victim, too. It was neither the time, nor the opportunity. The phrase, tone deafness, applies.

If that were not sad enough….Palin, or someone Palin approved, included the words "blood libel" to describe her own victimization. I have no idea whether Palin understood the meaning of those words or not. It really doesn't matter.

The words "blood libel" find there earliest roots in the middle of the 12th century when Christians falsely accused Jews of kidnapping and killing a Christian child, draining the child's blood, and then mixing the blood with other ingredients to make matzos for Passover. Throughout history, Jewish people have suffered unspeakable misery at the hands of Christians over this "blood libel", false accusations horror.

Gabrielle Giffords is the only Jewish female in the House of Representatives. Gabrielle Giffords was a victim of Saturday's massacre. Sarah Palin was not. Yet, Ms. Palin claimed not only that she was a victim, but that the words that led to so much Jewish blood spilling over history, the very words which conjure up horrific images of unjust and bloody cruelty towards Jews…in fact, actually applied to her.

If Ms. Palin knew the meaning of those words…..she has revealed herself as not only a narcissist, but also as heartless and cruel. If she didn't…..after waiting three or four days to comment on the Tucson tragedy…..the question remains, why didn't she?

Either way, I think Ms. Palin's 8 minute video release yesterday morning will mark the end of her political aspirations.

Back in 1919, Oliver Wendell Holmes, associate Supreme Court Justice, made this saying popular…..

The most stringent protection of free speech would not protect a man falsely shouting fire in a theater and causing a panic. [...] The question in every case is whether the words used are used in such circumstances and are of such a nature as to create a clear and present danger that they will bring about the substantive evils that Congress has a right to prevent.

I bring this up in light of the not unexpected blowback from American conservatives fearful that progressives and others are using the Arizona slaughter to silence conservative voices in America.

Justice Holmes stated that when it came to protected speech in America, such expressions of speech as a man falsely shouting "fire" in a theater, thus causing a panic……should not be protected. Holmes was suggesting that there is a limit to what speech we will protect under the first amendment guarantee.

The key word….and the word which is rarely included in the repetitive use of…'shouting fire in a theater is not protected speech'…..is the word, falsely.

Consider.

The specific speech which Holmes said shouldn't be protected was speech uttered by someone who was cognizant that the words he spoke were untrue. The word "falsely" is vital to the idea.

A theater is full of people relaxing, being entertained. A person shouts "fire", knowing full well there is no fire, just to create chaos, panic, injury and death. Speech like that, speech which places innocent people in a chaotic panic of immediate danger, speech which the speaker knows is false….according to Holmes…..was not protected speech.

The flip side here is "responsible" speech. Obviously, it would be irresponsible to shout "fire" in a crowded theater when you knew there really was no fire. In fact, the very purpose of shouting "fire" in a crowded theater when the shouter knew there was not a fire…..at least it seems to me…..would be to create chaos, destruction, injury and death, the very definition of irresponsibility.

In the crowded theater example, the crowd doesn't know any better. They don't know whether the theater is on fire, or not. Far as they know, everything is fine. The shouter, however, does know better. In fact, he has calculated in his mind what will ensue if he shouts "fire"…..chaos, injury, death…..and THAT is why he shouts "fire". He wants what he anticipates will happen…confusion, panic, fear….to happen.

Note that this is entirely different from a theater goer who shouts out "such-and-such actor is a putz", or similar crankery. Rude? Obnoxious? Yes. But not purposely shouted to induce panic and destruction.

I realize that I'm going to catch hell by going where I'm going next…..but I catch hell regardless, and I have no fear of hell anyway, so here goes….

Much of the political speech and imagery we've heard and seen over the last 2 years has been like shouting "fire" in a crowded theater when the shouters knew the theater was not on fire. Irresponsible speech….knowingly spoken in anticipation of the chaos, fear and panic which would ensue as a result of saying the words enough times.

Two examples….

During the 2008 campaign, John McCain was confronted with a confused and fearful woman who said…..

"I can't trust Obama. I have read about him and he's not, he's not uh — he's an Arab. He's not — "

Here was a woman who had heard or read the false speech of shouters in the political theater. She didn't know any better…..but she had heard and read irresponsible speech while actively engaged in the process of political theater….and she was obviously panicked and fearful as a result.

McCain, to his great credit, spoke responsibly in his answer….

"No, ma'am. He's a decent family man [and] citizen that I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues and that's what this campaign's all about. He's not [an Arab]."

And McCain didn't leave it at that…..

"We want to fight, and I will fight," McCain said. "But I will be respectful. I admire Sen. Obama and his accomplishments, and I will respect him."

At which point he was booed again.

"I don't mean that has to reduce your ferocity," he added over the jeers. "I just mean to say you have to be respectful."

On the other hand, we have an opposite example from McCain's former running mate, Sarah Palin. When Palin shouted out during political theater performances that Obama "palled around with terrorists"…..she knew that what she was shouting was untrue. Obama has never "palled around with terrorists", but that wasn't the objective of Palin when she said it, and kept saying it. Her objective, unlike McCain's in his exchange with the woman, was to create chaos, panic and fear about Obama.

As the health care reform discussions began in earnest, once again, Sarah Palin shouted out on her Facebook and Twitter pages that Obama was setting up "death panels." Palin knew that what she was saying was untrue, false….before she shouted it….but she shouted it anyway to provoke a response of fear, panic, and chaos in those who don't know any better.

I could offer many, many more examples.

Without doubt, there will be those who attribute what I've said here to some desire I have to silence the free speech of conservatives. That, of course, is ridiculous. Scan any of my comment threads and you will find a healthy, no holds barred, exchange with all comers…..far rightists, leftists and everything in between.

The point I'm feebly attempting to make is the distinction between responsible speech and irresponsible speech…..the same point, I think, Justice Holmes was making when he made the "no shouting fire falsely in a crowded theater" famous.