TP'ed

Believe it or not, I recently found myself at a Tea Party meeting. I generally avoid political events. I don't even watch speeches on TV--I can always read about them later if anyone says anything of interest. But I was intrigued to know what Tea Partiers are like.

They were very unhappy with the state of the union, no doubt, but in person, not full of anger. Some of the signs they had were pretty strong, but nowhere near as harsh or ugly as the signs I saw at antiwar protests (that I suddenly found myself in--it was practically an occupational hazard in LA).

I get the feeling I don't agree with many of the social attitudes of Tea Partiers, but their basic message, which they all put forward--government is spending too much--I'm certainly down with.

I saw hundreds of signs. Were any racist? Not unless you equate criticism of Obama with racism (which apparently many on the Left, from Frank Rich on down, do). Were any nuts? That's a matter of opinion, but generally they were within the bounds of normal political discussion.

Though there was one guy who was handing out this seven-page essay. He'd calmly explain to everyone it was a bit different from what you were hearing, but was an important message. I took a copy and it turned out he was a conspiracy nut who blamed international bankers and the Rockefellers and the Illuminati and many others for our problems. They'll soon be taking over completely--apparently these evil groups have been plotting our destruction (in secret, except this guy knows all about it) for centuries. Centuries where we had more wealth and freedom than ever, which must mean they're lulling us into a false sense of security.

Oh yeah, I also met Jerry Doyle, who I had no idea was a conservative radio commentator. I'm not sure how the Tea Partiers think of him, but I know him best as Chief of Security Michael Garibladi on Babylon 5.

PS In case you forgot, here's a small sampling of the anti-Bush protests that used to be common, and, as we were reminded regularly, patriotic. Hey, they never used the N-word, so it must have been okay.