The Tea Party could be the lone group standing against this wave of oppression – it certainly isn’t the Republicans or the Democrats! But while the Tea Party people may prefer to think of themselves as Constitutionalists and freedom-loving citizens, the truth is far sadder and more predictable.

The tea party people have, as I see it, at least two problems.

The first problem is one that they share with the Libertarians: The idea that government is evil and corporations are good. Like Libertarians, most Tea Party people seem to want a government that doesn’t do anything for the people.

Defense and police. That’s it. Which of course leaves a power vacuum into which steps the giant corporations – who will have no problem telling you how to live your life in minute detail. Don’t think so?

Paying attention to news, you regularly see stories about someone being evicted from a mall for wearing the wrong kind of t-shirt or saying the wrong thing. That’s because you have no civil rights when on someone else’s private property. But in the Libertarian/Tea Party ideal world EVERY INCH of ground is someone else’s private property. Ergo, no rights for anyone.

Libertarians (and now by extension Tea Partiers) seem to live in a fantasy world where corporations are so concerned with good public relations that they would never impose anything grievous on the people – only evil government would do that. No corporation would ever cut corners and destroy the environment – or force you, in their relentless pursuit of profits, to take services you didn’t want in order to get something you really need.

Except, have you dealt with a corporation lately? Have you ever called Comcast (now Xfinity) customer service? Giant corporations don’t give a shit what you think of them; they are only interested in profits. And they don’t need your good will for that, they just need an effective monopoly.

The second problem with the Tea Party people is that they have been co-opted by astroturf “grass roots” front groups that are funded by big corporations such as Wellpoint (healthcare) and GE (war profiteers). The local Tea Party rally was organized by outsiders from The Lewin Group, a fake grassroots organization that is actually owned and operated by a giant healthcare company. They’re the ones who brainwash granny into going out there and screaming “Keep government out of my Medicare” (literally).

If there is any reader who doesn’t know this, Medicare is “government run” healthcare (as the insurance companies define it).

Unfortunately the healthcare bill that finally passed was more of a Tea Party bill than anything else: It mandates the purchase of private health insurance whether you can afford it or not. The only “give back” is that the health insurance companies won’t be able to exclude pre-existing conditions anymore and they won’t be able to cut you off in the middle of lifesaving treatment (a very common practice). It’s not a very good deal but you can thank the Tea Partiers for that.

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We should not leave this subject without mentioning their biggest problem: Hypocrisy.

Tea Partiers proudly call themselves “PATRIOTS” who want to “take back their government.” This is a message shouted at every meeting to loud applause. They yell and demand (and sometimes threaten). Really? Take back “our” government from whom? Well, they would be “taking it back” from the majority of American citizens that elected the government we have.
It would be hard to argue that the Tea Party movement represents anything close to a majority in America. Instead, they are the farthest right-wing fringe of the American political landscape. Yet they feel entitled to control the government anyway, democracy be damned.
It is hard to imagine a philosophy less patriotic.. well, for an American. This would be a patriotic ideal in the old Soviet Union, but in this country with its tradition of democracy it is …well, anti-American.

Tea Partiers say government is too big. I mostly agree. The majority of federal spending, however, is on the military – something a Tea Party person would never want to cut. They also want government “hands off” their Medicare, which is another big chunk. If they mean other kinds of social spending (and that’s the “big government” they keep mentioning), that is something like three percent of the federal budget.

Tea Partiers say the national debt is too great. I agree. The vast majority of that debt was run up FIRST by Ronald Reagan and then by George W. Bush. These two men are heroes to the Tea Party movement. So naturally the Tea Party people were silent during the reign of these reckless spenders. Also, once again, almost all of that debt was run up with military spending. Something most Tea Party people are for.

What they really mean by all of this anti-government rhetoric is that they don’t want services that benefit anyone else – but they DO want lots and lots of military spending (because they are afraid of everything) and they want their Medicare because that helps them. Everyone else can go fuck themselves.

I guess this brings me to my final point, which is that the tea party movement is a magnet for low information people who are easily swayed by emotional arguments AND who lack compassion for their fellow human beings. They’ve got theirs and the hell with everyone else. It is a movement based entirely on the twin pillars of fear and selfishness.

With that knowledge in mind, I’m very glad that the Tea Party people are a small minority but sad that they get attention so out of proportion to their numbers – and that politicians listen to them.

He’s going about this the hard way.  Why doesn’t he just buy a pair of sunglasses with a digital camera built into them, like I got as a present for Christmas?  It works just fine.  I’ve been able to take pictures of people on line in front of me at the supermarket and fast food places without them ever knowing about it.  My fantasy is that I’ll be in a store when it gets robbed so I can take some sneaky pictures of the thieves, which I can then hand over to the police and become the darling of the media, for about fifteen minutes.

Hey, it could happen.

A camera eye

Giant Breast Woman

sheylahershey.net

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Where were you when you heard that Tim Russert died? That will be the defining question in years to come. Is there a man or woman alive in America today who doesn’t have the answer to that question indelibly burned into their brain?

I for one will never forget how the streets fell silent as news of the death of the host of the little-watched Sunday morning show Meet The Press reached the masses. Men spontaneously burst into flames as pregnant women went into labor from the shock of hearing that a millionaire public affairs program host passed away.

Russert gave so much in presiding over the show that Dick Cheney referred to as the best venue for Republicans to go on to promote their agenda, receiving only a paltry several million dollars a year in compensation. He was reluctant to talk about it, but his touch could cure leprosy. He regularly ordered his driver to take his limo through ghetto streets so he could throw hundred-dollar bills out the window to the less fortunate. During commercial breaks on Meet The Press, he suckled orphans with his ample man-breasts. Tim Russert was, in short, the finest human being who ever lived.

By presidential decree, starting in 2009, all work will cease at the exact minute when he died for one hour. Television stations will go dark and no commercial flights will be allowed over America’s skies on the anniversary of his death. In his honor, the month of June will be renamed Russert. Parents who name their children, male or female, “Tim” will receive a tax-free gift of five thousand dollars and government jobs from which they cannot be fired.

Well, I’ve always said that the modern incarnation of fascism wouldn’t come with a shouting dictator but with a smiley face and a corporate logo – and here we are: Terror toys: Scan-It X-Ray Machine the Ugly Face of 21st-Century Toys. Yep, for todays young-uns, nothing is more fun than violating the privacy of their fellow citizens. I understand that the brown shirts and armbands are sold separately, but it does come with pair of rubber gloves for the mandatory body cavity search.

What’s next, a home waterboarding kit?

Oh, why do I even try?  They’re just going to keep making this shit, no matter what I (or anyone else) says.  I should just put a bullet into my skull and hope that I get buried in a Swarovsky crystal-covered casket.  Hey, maybe I can find Swarovsky crystal-encrusted bullets!  Very ironic way to go, wouldn’t you say?

Crystal-Encrusted Toaster -  Neiman Marcus

Wake me when someone actually buys one of these things so I can stalk them and kill them when no one’s looking.  Even if I got caught, I can’t imagine any jury convicting me.  Certainly not a jury composed of people who work for a fucking living, anyway.

With each passing day, that whole French Revolution thing looks better and better.

iPod nano 3gen
NEC Hello Kitty laptop LaVie G decorated with Swarovski Crystals – Fareastgizmos.com

Divination: Criss Angel Mindfreaks Oprah Like She’s Never Been Mindfreaked Before

The Hardware Aisle: Ice Toilet: Flush with cash (or just flushing it)

Disputed Book Pulled From Oprah Web Site

How did this guy get to run Disney?  Did they have a “millionth customer through the turnstiles at Disneyland this season gets to be CEO” contest?

Hey Eisner, I have a great idea for the NEXT “new Mickey Mouse” after this one stiffs.  It’s a character called Man from Nantucket.  He has this amazing, uh, super power.  And he really enjoys it!  It makes him grin.  The kids are gonna LOVE this one, Mike!

Eisner has his new Mickey: It’s Bazooka Joe