"Mistakes have been made in the electoral process." So says Eric Odom, webmeister of TaxDayTeaParty.com. and reported in the 4/14/09 The Washington Independent. Obviously Odom is not referring to the controversial 2000 election, but to the clearly decided 2008 election.
What mistakes were made in the 2008 election, you might ask. Ballot box stuffing? Biased tallying? Dirty tricks? What is the problem that Mr. Odom refers to? The problem is you, assholes! You came out to the polls and expressed your opinion.
"There is no question that many, many Americans have voted irresponsibly." continues the sage Odom. Again, he is not referring to the landslide of lies amassed by Rove/Bush in the 2004 re-election. 2004 apparently has nothing to do with "mistakes," it's this troubling 2008 election we need to do something about. That's right. We dumbasses elected a President who seemed to be more in tune with the times and the needs of the majority of Americans, instead of remaining true to the Shining City on a Hill that had been treating our wealthiest people quite nicely,and instilling shock and awe in our enemies, thank you.
So, I have to ask, is Tea Bagging really about taxes and spending? I have a hard time believing that more than 5% of participants have incomes over $200,000 that will be affected by the "massive" 3.6% tax rape. And the difference between the last Bush budget ($3.1 Trillion not counting the "off budget" global war on terrorism) and the Obama budget (3.6 Trillion, including the wars) does not factually support any sudden outrage at government spending. I think it's safe to assume that these minor issues are only peripheral to the Tea Bagging movement as an organization. The inspiration for Tea Bagging, as expressed by one of its founders is: "The American voters are stupid and easily mislead." Just to prove their point, they have massively conflagrated their true message with the perrennial American distate for taxes. Some people think they are participating because they just don't like government. The truth is, they are gullibly allowing themselves to be used by the powers who want to nullify the last election.
Think about it. If your true issue (that America has elected a Black Democrat to lead the country) just really isn't that popular or justified, how do you organize around it. The answer is- you don't. What you need to do is layer it with all sorts of easy, red-button issues that appeal directly to angry,ignorant, or hateful people who will show-up, and you hold an action on the day most closely identified with paying taxes. You have your body count. You have your false issue (taxes). You have your anger and willingness to "do something."
Also quoted in The Washington Independent was the illustrious Mr. Steinhauser, of Freedom Works, another Tea Bagging sponsor. "We're applying Saul Alinsky's "Rules for Radicals" here," said Steinhauser. Good God Almighty! I could write twenty pages of critique on this lame attempt to misappropriate Alinsky, but unlike Freedom Workers, I need to earn a living today. Let me just say this one thing about Steinhauser's claim. Alinsky did not invent political theater, which is really what Steinhauser is trying to get at here. The tactic of political theater, according to Alinsky, is never an end in itself. For anyone to claim they're applying "Saul Alinsky's" philosophy to use against the democratic will of the American people is being inherently contradictory. But then, people always take what they want from great minds and ignore the rest.