There are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power

Since the general civilization of mankind, I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power, than by violent and sudden usurpations.

James Madison
Elliot's Debates
Friday, June 6, 1788.

"I don't worry about the Constitution." Phil Hare, Democrat (IL-17)

And you think the Tea Party and other small government types are crazy?



"Are you serious? Are you serious?" Nancy Pelosi, Democrat (CA-8)



"We have to pass the health care bill so that you can find out what is in it." Nancy Pelosi, Democrat (CA-8)

You still think we're crazy?

Don't Party Like It's 1773, Yet!

Once again the Stupid TeaBaggers' hero Sarah Palin puts her foot in her mouth. As Markos Moulitsas puts it Sarah is "so smart." And, as Gwen Ifill so succinctly puts it "party like it 1773! ummm." How is it possible that this dolt, this Tea Party idiot, Sarah Palin, doesn't know that the Declaration of Independence took place in 1776!?

Maybe it's because the actual "Tea Party" took place on December 16th, 1773 and Sarah Palin was referring to that event and not the Declaration of Independence. Maybe, horror of horrors, Palin isn't as stupid as you portray her to be.

Weren't the left the ones that were mocking the Tea Party movement for not knowing their history and deprecating the very use of the phrase Tea Party? I've dealt with the appropriateness of the term, Tea Party, in an earlier post so I won't go over it again.

I'm not a Republican, but I am aligning myself with them in this election, and hope that come the night of November 2 we're partying as if it was 1894. (The election of November 6, 1894 saw a massive realignment in US politics. Interestingly enough, the Republicans of 1894 were for government intervention in the economy in ways that the somewhat free-market Democrats were not.)

You can see Sarah Palin's speech regarding "partying like it's 1773" at The Right Scoop

Tea Party, First they ignore you

First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win.

Levin says they want to exaggerate the group's least appealing qualities, further distance the tea party from mainstream America and damage the public's opinion of them.

"Do I think every member of the tea party is a homophobe, racist or a moron? No, absolutely not," Levin said. "Do I think most of them are homophobes, racists or morons? Absolutely."

I hope fair minded people out there see the difference between infiltrating a movement with the expressed purpose of acting in ways to make it look bad and counter-protesting.

These are sad people. If you truly believed in what you were saying and if you believed in free speach you would debate the issues.

Tea Party Movement, Cato and Publius

I’ve had discussions with several left-leaning historians who are appalled with the Tea Party Movement. A pet peeve is the very name “Tea-Party.”  The original Tea Party, they say, was opposed to “Taxation without Representation” and today’s Tea Party people, as we all know, are ignorant crazies led by demagogues. Today’s taxes were voted in by elected representatives: therefore how could these people (the modern Tea Party) possibly be compared to the 18th Century version?

My first response is why were there pen names in the 18th Century movement? After all how close to the Classical originals were the 18th Century Cato and Publius?

They weren’t. Nor was the point to be exactly the same. It was to identify with an agreed upon heroic past and emulate these heroic figures. Today’s Tea Party may not be arguing against Taxation without Representation but they are combating a political establishment that has deviated greatly from the original intent of the Constitution (as they see it). They also see today’s United States to have fallen into one of the great traps warned of by de Tocqueville and others. For instance:

“The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public's money.
Alexis de Tocqueville”

The Tea Party is an apt name as it brings discussion back to the US Constitution and what it means. Do we look at rights the way it was thought of during the 18th Enlightenment or the way it was perverted in the early 19th C by the anti-enlightenment Romantics or later by the Socialists?

If you’re unfamiliar with this look up Positive versus Negative Rights.

Crime and Civil War

One person takes up arms against the state, it's a crime. Thousands of people who take up arms against the state is a civil war. We don't want either.

Fight ObamaCare: Dissent is the Highest Form of Patriotism

Why does anybody think that opposition to ObamaCare is racist?

Do advocates of government run health care really think that individuals who promote free markets over top-down government run bureaucracies would be in favor of the current health care proposals if Obama was white? If I remember correctly there was more than a little vitriol surrounding HillaryCare in the mid-1990s. Let’s rephrase things, if Hillary Clinton was president and the same health care bills were coming through Congress do you think that it too would not be attacked by the opposition? Isn’t it strange that just a few short months ago you could find Dissent is the Highest form of Patriotism bumper stickers all over town? Where’s this love of dissent now?

Are you saying that protestors are going over the top comparing Obama to Hitler? Yes, they are. But did YOU say anything when people were comparing Bush to Hitler?