T.E.A.'d Off!

On April 15th, in hundreds of cities and towns across America, people gathered to protest taxes. Ironically, many of these protests took place in federally-funded parks, at federally-funded museums and historical sites or at federally-funded places of business.

The right wing of our political system got behind these events and sent conservative radio talk show hosts and members of its chattering class to promote them. The left wing of our political system either ignored or called foul on these protests by claiming these were staged events by Republican political action committees in a move called astroturfing (a formal political campaign that seeks to create the impression that it is a grassroots campaign). Left wing commentators made dirty jokes about tea bagging (you'll have to look it up for yourself if you don't know what I mean) and could barely stifle their laughter.

Whether FreedomWorks,a Republican political action committee chaired by former House Majority Leader Dick Armey, pulled the strings behind these protests is really irrelevant (but their website sure is full of propaganda about these events). The truth is that there are several thousand people and maybe millions of people who think that are taxes are too high and that we should not have stepped in to help any failing businesses. And it is their right to get out there and scream at the top of their lungs about the perceived injustice of it all.

Just like it is my right to turn away in disbelief and slowly shake my head when I see people carrying posters that compare President Obama to Adolf Hitler. These signs are a direct indication that we aren't taxed enough. Our school system has failed miserably! These people actually believe that we are headed towards a socialist or fascist society. They truly have no idea what these ideas and politically theories are and how they work.

We were actually closer to socialism under President Bush because he took the first steps of repealing the Constitution of the United States of America by making it acceptable to listen in on all of our phone calls, read our mail (electronic and written) and rifle through our records and backgrounds. He also readily handed out government contracts to companies with no bid, creating a de facto nationalized military industry that was parlayed on favors and contacts. On the other hand, President Obama has used federal money to stave off nationalizing the banking industry by investing our money in these institutions.

And Fascism? How we ended up there, I don't know. Fascism is a political philosophy, movement, or regime that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition. These people were allowed to say their peace. In a fascist state, they would have been tortured and killed (once again, closer to the policies of our last president).

I am sure that a lot of these people protesting have great intentions and are worried dearly, but unfortunately, they were overshadowed by the racist and uninformed that only went because Hannity, Limbaugh, O'Reilly, Beck, Malkin and others told them to go. The Republicans see this as a jumping off point, but a new Gallup poll show that 48% of Americans feel they were taxed just about the right amount. And most people can look forward to a tax cut once the Bush taxes expire in 2010. Just another ironic twist; they were actually protesting a Republican tax policy.