Not My Fathers' Teabag

While I am amused to see that wingnuts are getting incensed about spending that was okay as long as it was abuse directed by one of their own, the tea party device of rousing bad feeling that's being hyped today by reps of the wingnut is too ironic.

Writing in the Louisville Courier-Journal, editorial writers today capture well the ludicrous aspect of the 'teabagger' proponents.

Protesting is as American as apple pie, and we support the right of all Americans to air their grievances.

But there's something a little too spleeny about the anti-tax set's tea party and teabag talk for today, which is, of course, Tax Day.

Yes, many Americans are uncomfortable with the high cost to taxpayers of the bailouts. Yes, many Americans feel the spending is out of control, and that they have little control over how national leaders are handling the economic crisis. We get that.

Question: Where was all this outrage when the nation's savings account was opened and the dollars were flying out, when the nation's credit card was being swiped again and again to pay for wars that weren't even showing up in the nation's budget? Suddenly, there's a new president and, boom, instant tea parties.

We also have a historical beef. At the heart of the Boston Tea Party, which has inspired today's tea motif, was the reality of taxation without representation; the colonists were being ripped off by the British government, not their own. We have representation. If enough of us feel they're ripping us off, we have the right to overturn them every couple of years, and we just did that.

There are 11 tea parties in Kentucky today, including one at Jefferson Square from 11 a.m.-1 p.m., and another 15 throughout Indiana. We'll pass. We're a little sour on this whole, stagy thing, which means we'll be taking lemon with our own tea today.

The wingnuts have been enraged by finding out they are disrespected by most of the public, and consequently are out to kill off any public interest. Much of the ranting indicates that a little killing would be a welcome diversion for many of their number.

Their efforts are worthy of scorn, not sympathy. It will be interesting to see media treatment of this day's events, and provide a standard for deciding which, like Faux, can be discarded from any future attention. The Courier-Journal has just shown it is worthy of a read.