There’s More to Worry About Than the Obama Tax Plan
by Burt PrelutskyIn all of history, so far as I’m aware, there had only been two famous tea parties. At the first one, Samuel Adams and a few of his freedom-loving friends pitched several crates of tea into Boston Harbor. The second was the one Lewis Carroll wrote about, a madcap affair with the March Hare, the mad Hatter and the narcoleptic Dormouse, ganging up to give Alice a hard time.
All of that changed on the 15th of April, when a series of tea parties took place all across America. Even I, who try to avoid crowds, attended a gathering here in the San Fernando Valley.
If you believe the creeps in the MSM — and why would you? — we were all dues-paying members of political fringe groups, and none of us would think about leaving the house without first donning our little aluminum hats. If you believe Janet Napolitano — and how could you? — we were not merely man-created disasters like Somali pirates and Islamic butchers, but full-fledged terrorists. Some among us even confessed to being military veterans.
Well, either she is very wrong or I am. To me, the 3,000 people who showed up at the Van Nuys Civic Center looked like pretty decent, average Americans. But, not being the head of Homeland Security, I can’t claim to be an expert when it comes to spotting terrorists. Heck, all I know is that when I look at the likes of Charles Schumer, Barney Frank, Chris Dodd, Barbara Boxer, Harry Reid, Patrick Leahy, Henry Waxman, Nancy Pelosi and Barbara Lee, my blood runs cold, and when I hear Barack Obama pushing his socialist agenda and reaching out to the likes of Castro, Chavez and Ahmadinejad, the little hairs stand up on the back of my neck. It’s like watching one of those really creepy movies, but instead of all the scary stuff taking place on Elm Street, it occurs on Pennsylvania Avenue.
At the get-together I attended, we were rallied, aroused and amused, by such speakers as comedian Evan Sayet, actress Morgan Brittany and talk show host Kevin James. In fact, my only problem with the event, aside from my decision to wear tennis shorts on a night the temperature dipped into the low 50s, was that the entire focus was on Obama’s insane fiscal policy. I in no way wish to suggest that the bail-outs, the budget and the so-called stimulus package, don’t remind me of something Dr. Frankenstein would have cobbled together in the castle’s basement if his master plan, like Obama’s, had been to destroy capitalism.
However, there are so many other things about the man and his mission that I find terrifying, I hate to have us so busy concentrating on his left hand while, with his right, he muzzles the conservative media; destroys our missile defense capability; funnels funds to ACORN, AmeriCorps and Hamas; nationalizes the banks and takes control of the automotive industry; and, for good measure, discusses nuclear disarmament with Russia while trusting the U.N. to deal with Iran and North Korea.
So, while I regard Obama’s plan to use the tax code to impoverish productive Americans while using tax rebates to bribe those who don’t even pay income taxes as a vile left-wing plot, I’d hate to have my fellow conservatives so completely focused on this one area that they fail to see all the other tricks this con artist has up his sleeve.
Something that has bothered me over the years is the way the lamebrains in the left-stream media invariably turn into unlicensed shrinks whenever a Republican is in the White House, but toss a dust cover over the couch as soon as he’s replaced by a Democrat.
For instance, how many times did we hear liberals babbling about the psychological demons George W. Bush had to contend with because of his allegedly troubled relationship with Dad? But the fact that Bill Clinton’s father was a drunken bully apparently left no emotional scars on Bill’s impenetrable psyche. Furthermore, I have yet to hear such eminent Freudians as Bill Maher, Chris Matthews, Rachel Maddow, Frank Rich or Keith Olbermann, even suggest that being deserted by both his father and his step-father, spending his formative years in the alien culture of Indonesia, only to be dumped, at the age of 10, on his white relatives in Hawaii, may have turned Obama into a smooth-talking, narcissistic psychopath incapable of telling the truth even if it’s about something as relatively inconsequential as sending his kids to a public school and getting them a mutt from a shelter.
Now, of course, I’m not saying he is any of those things. But don’t you think if he had wound up after experiencing all that early trauma as somebody who believed in a free market economy; in supporting Israel against the barbarians; in opposing late-term abortions; in calling terrorism by its rightful name; in attending a church that had more in common with Rick Warren’s than with Jeremiah Wright’s; and in sharing the Constitutional interpretations of Justices Roberts, Alito, Thomas and Scalia, the media would have long ago concluded that even if he wasn’t exactly the Manchurian Candidate, he was definitely a booby who needed to be hatched?
BurtPrelutsky@aol.com
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59 Comments
I pretty much agree with you about the President…except that he's a product of the Chicago Machine/Illinois Combine, and thus is on a short leash where the…you guessed it…MONEY is concerned, so the best way to short circuit his agenda is to cut off the money. Hence the Tea Party emphasis on chopping spending. In all of the hoopla in the past few days about an alleged comedienne whose name I won't mention, and a beauty contest, you may have missed the announcement that Illinois has received the biggest chunk of stimulus funds disgorged to date. This should not surprise anyone, and it's just the down payment.
Taxes are a symptom. Control is the disease. Obama and his bureaucrat/socialists want control of every aspect of our existence, and they don't care how they get it. TheTea Party tax movement indicates a groundswell of public opinion, but it only attacks one of the symptoms. We have to treat the entire disease aggressively.
Hannah Arendt taught us that evil doesn't have to come in the form of horned demons with pitchforks jabbing the righteous in the arse. Far greater evil has been committed on the world by seemingly mild people. She called it the "banality of evil." She honed her thesis several times over the years, but her basic theme from "Origins of Totalitarianism" changed little. No matter how good the intentions or evil the leader, when the bureaucracy and machinery of government become so large and controlling that the human condition is removed from the formula, then human life ceases to have value and human diginity becomes an impediment to good public order. Obama may or may not be evil, but the apparatus he intends to set up will become evil, with or without his goodness or lack thereof. The banal evil becomes self-perpetuating.
I agree with you BUT as a practicle matter, I think that the Tea Parties represent a much broader disassatisfaction that just the recent tax increases. I think they represent the beginnings of groundswell (seen in some polls) of people who believe that the government has gone too far and who want the intrusive hand of government removed from the economy and our lives (the disease). It is the left who are trying to narrow this message to being just about taxes or just about opposition to Obama (the symptom).
That said, as you know, most protest rallies are generally aimed at one target at a time, or else they lose focus and their message becomes blurred.
Excellent article as usual- but I just thought I'd draw one "typo" to your attention:
When you wrote: "…man-created disasters like Somali pirates and Islamic butchers", you forgot to add the word "other" before "Islamic butchers", because the Somali "pirates" (a.k.a. "terrorists") are ALSO Islamic.
I thought they were Baptists?
Well, perhaps I'm mistaken (wouldn't be the first time)- maybe they're all members of Jeremiah Wright's Somali chapter congregation? ; – )
So then Andrew what shold the message be.
Let's face it cutting taxes is one of the "gimme" issues for us conservatives. In the end people have to "pay" the tax. That said spending is the difficult one. Although it is the right thing it's real easy to slip in a little pork for this and a little pork for that. If there is a vocal constituency allows the dems to bring pressure.
In the end I think the better plan is to attack what LAdyHawkSF proposes, CONTROL. I believe (you guys are more knowledgeable) that there was a law past in the mid 70's by congress that forbade the executive branch from not spending all the money that was appropriated in a fiscal year. What business owner would refuse to discontinue unnecessary spending simply because they were under budget. We need to identify these type of lawsthat are allowing the system to run a muck and cleave them out.
Don't get me wrong. I know that the Tea Party protestors are protesting a great deal more than taxes. But we have to get better at it. The guy with the baby obviously understood, so when he started talking about freedom and Lincoln, the CNN hack tried to shout him down. The message can't be too esoteric or it's too easy attack. Although that protestor was absolutely right, it required an explanation that was not going to be allowed. But there is a message that is a direct quote from our first Chief Justice: "The power to tax contains within it the inherent power to destroy." That requires no additional explanation.
Bingo! I participated in the Arizona tea party with a big sign that read "Napolitano..Vets & Conservatives are NOT TERRORISTS!"…I saw the greatest signs..one showed the usual suspects..Pelosi, Reid, Hillary, Obama..all in a boat with the caption "America's Pirates"..and so many more. There was none of the nasty foaming at the mouth hatred from the crowd. People were laughing, going around taking pics of everyone's signs and basically having a good time. I guess our rich fat-cat backers forgot to back us because the only downside was that our pa system sucked.
True. And we do need to get better at it, but give our side time — we're relatively new to this. We're not good at slogans or sound bites yet. But it's coming.
You of all people, know that a successful protest requires a catchy slogan that summarizes your entire movement in one simple phrase. It's the same thing as a political speech. You need that one moment that sticks to the imagination and which encapsulates everything you are about. That's why we remember things like "Hell no, we won't go" but we forget "It's time for a more equitable way to organize books in the library." It's short, snappy, and full of meaning.
But it also takes time to "stumble" on that perfect moment. We're not there yet. But as the movement grows, it is more and more likely "to find its voice."
Burt..as far as Napolitano knowing how to spot who the terrorists are, we should be very afraid. I'm from Arizona and as Gov. she managed to allow our state to become the number one location in the US for kidnappings due to the illegal drug cartels and number two in the world behind Mexico City. She proudly said on her recent trip to AZ that DHS is now monitoring the southbound traffic into Mexico to stop the gun smuggling….just like Janet, never worrying about the northbound traffic of illegals and drugs but dang it if she's going to let us evil American potential terrorists smuggle AK-47s southbound into Mexico. There goes my weekend job.
Just an outstanding article. I appreciated it much more than I can say. It is horrific to see what Obama is doing and to see clearly just who HE is and how he intends to destroy this country. He has a lot of help and they are moving inexorably toward their ultimate goal. I am afraid that they have accomplished even more than we suspect. I believe these incredibly 'close' elections in Minnesota and NY are examples of how they are using ACORN and other methods ( denying absentee ballots from military overseas to be counted on the pretext they were late when they were sent late to begin with and other irregularities that seem to be getting by Secretaries of State and Judges in these various states. These are important clues and serious matters that we may find come next election time we have been boxed in and our 'King is in check' unless we are vigilant and forceful right now.
I think the "Tea Party Movement" could slowly become a new conservative movement. It's forming from the ground up, it's genuine, and right now it's not limited in its scope. We'll have to see how it grows. But if it hits on the right message, then it stands a good chance of pulling the Republicans (who are kind of rudderless right now) into its direction and away from their current interest group structure.
Yeah, Nixon gave that up — it was called "impoundment."
I don't know exactly what the message should be right now because I'm not sure exactly who is being drawn to the tea party movement at this point. Are they purely interested in economic issues or do social issues matter to them as well? I don't know yet.
If your question is how would I reign in the government, then there's a list I would certainly consider:
1. Line item veto.
2. 60% vote for all legislation.
3. balanced budget amendment, debt reduction (not deficit)
4. flat tax rate, reduced rate, eliminate payroll tax
5. honesty in budgetting — no off budget expenditures
Just for a start.
How about "Freedom is good for children and other living things"? Or "Osama, Obama, they're not the same. One's a mass killer, the other's just lame." OK, so it's a work in progress. Remember, my glory days in the great revolution were forty years ago. It's going to take me a little while to get back up to speed.
40 years ago, that was the robber baron era right? "Bust the Trusts!"
We should have a slogan contest. If any of our BH contributors are listening, how about a slogan contest to see what good conservative protest slogans we can come up with?
Democrat Party
Libertarian Party
Green Party
Constitution Party
Republican Party
…
Tea Party
Hmmmmm.
I wasn't aware of Uncle Jeremiah having a Somalian chapter, but ANYTHING is possible. I like to think of myself as a terrorist, because I don't approve of people shoving scissors into the back of a tiny baby's head. If that's a terrorist, or one who wants people to actually live a decent and moral life is one, then I guess I am. As for the T party movement, it depends on people being determined to fight for what they want, and willing to keep fighting. It can't be an one-off thing. And I agee with LH,(or was it Mr. Price?), the message will become more cohesive as time goes on. We just have to keep pushing, and not let the media, or anyone else define us.
Yes, a great post, Burt! Much love, from one suspected terrorist to another. Or whatever Janet Reno Napppytoe calls us all, today. She knows, ya'll, she was involved in the McVeigh case. So, she's like an expert, or something.
No–it was the beginning of women's lib. "Trust the Busts."
No–it was the beginning of women's lib. "Trust the Busts."
And in this age of Bernie Madoff, it's "Busted Trust."
Burt, out of all the great insights that you've written here, this has to be one of the best. I can feel your anger and more and more people I come in contact with are seething. They can't believe the reckless abandon these guys are purveying – everyday a new manuever, another blow against the future. And with all this groundswell, there is still nothing we can do to stop it.
We could put that to the tune of "Tainted Love" and have a hit.
I attended the Tea Party in Gilbert, Arizona. The best sign I saw was held by a small boy, it said:
"President Obama, I am NOT a credit card"! Seems to me we have all become credit cards in the eyes of this administration.
It's a three-way battle. The Baptists have the upper hand, but watch out for the Presbyterians and Methodists, they're comers. Islamic piracy hasn't got a chance. Besides, how can Muslims be pirates anyway. Doesn't Islam mean peace?
Did someone put out troll pellets last night? It seems awfully quiet today (knock on wood).
burt, i wish i'd known you were at the van nuys tea party. i would've loved to meet you! thanks for your article. i'm still astounded at how quickly this administration seems to be going for our collective, conservative jugulars.
burt, i wish i'd known you were at the van nuys tea party. i would've loved to meet you! thanks for your article. i'm still astounded at how quickly this administration seems to be going for our collective, conservative jugulars.
I just want to say it feels like the end of the world to me,
[...] his clear intention to nationalize the banks and take control of them, his strange ideas about economic recovery and his seeming inability to find much good to say about his own nation, while abroad. That’s [...]
There's an old Sicilian axiom that goes…"Little and often fills the pot". The TP thing is just getting underway (and I don't mean Toilet Paper) The success demonstrated on 4/15 will hopefully build on itself. Maybe on July 4 the crowds will be larger, and talking about fiscal things and defense cuts, or the foreign policy embarassments, or whatever. But I'm willing to bet that the Parties will be a little more focused. And the one after that even moreso. Nobody gets anything exactly right the first time they try something new. But the conservatives are driving these, not RINOs or libs, so the learning curve won't be too steep. The TP movement is a marathon, not a sprint. To use a sports adage, we don't want to peak too soon.
No 'Hawk, did you forget it's Earth Day? The trolls have all piled into their SUV's and are out at rallys drinking $7.00 lattes, burning patchoulli candles and counting polar bears while telling the rest of us not to be wasteful. This is like the hours after I got my toddlers to bed. Enjoy the peace.
From everything I've read, and it is much, Himmler was as banal and seemingly mild as man could be. And he was a man of much greater evil than his boss, and definitely created the most evil apparatus within the most evil apparatus in human history. But the Obammy-ites are running against time, technology and conservatives. They will not win.
During Churchill's first tenure as First Lord of the Admiralty, he was accused by many older navy men of traducing certain traditions of the Royal Navy. "And what are they?", he asked. 'Rum, sodomy, and the lash." Now Islam certainly forbids the first two, so how can we expect these Islamic poor excuses for seafarers to be good pirates if they can't get even the basics down?
Aw c'mon now Ben, buck up for crying out loud. The best things in life are difficult. that's what makes them the best. isn't just great to be the one to say "the emperor has no clothes!". Like the Bible says in the Book of Proverbs…."If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small." Obama and the Libtards are in the saddle now, but they don't know how to handle the nobel beast they are perched on. And when the steed realizes that his mount can't ride, the horse will throw him faster than Janeane Garafalo with a can of NAIR. Reagan was called the "Happy Warrior" many times. Take a page from his book. Welcome to the fight.
don't forget.. "no rider amendments". You can't add an infrastructure pork project onto a bill that is say for defense….
We must remain vigilant and in the town square. Cede the debate loose the war. As many on this blog, I come from the ‘60s and ‘70s, and be certain that we’re dealing with ‘60s radicals and their offspring. We must get beyond the fear of words, and we must give as good as we get. I know it sounds juvenile and counter intuitive, at an older dignified age eh…hmm, but if we don’t who will. We need a conservative, Rules for Radicals, a manifesto to further unify this burgeoning movement, Street Fighting Man, ha. We have many assets, money, experience, etc. We coalesce, become more unified and we’ll kick a$$! As was discussed up-thread we suck at slogans, Compassionate Conservative, Tea Party, Silent Majority, needs work.
"The greatest trick the devil played was convincing humanity he didn't exist" (this of course ignores that awesome trick with the joy buzzer and the Pope). Nonetheless, it holds true that the most insidious evil is the one 'we' embrace. It's far easier to join the cause of banality, than to look at it with a critical – and often lonely – eye.
Burt, you are such a racist sweetheart ! I think that's the right word. If you disagree with anything that the flawed One says then you're a racist, and since you're from the pitcher bidness, they probably call you sweetheart or sweetie or some such menschy thing. 2010 is coming up soon and we had better tell 'em baby !
I wonder whether the country would have done anything on their own collectively after 9/11 without the guidance of Pres Bush ?? We were so worn out by 8 years of Clinton's obfuscating, I wonder… Now after 100 days of the One, it's like whiplash. How'd you like to be a banker, or a CIA attorney, or a GM exec ?
Nice column, scary but nice sugar.
If it's a slogan we need …
"Eliminate the pork, STUPID!!!"
The line item veto may be useful for a conservative President, but when put in the hands of a madman such as Jim Doyle (Governor of WI), we got our budget rewritten to shift $330 million to local school aid.
I would rather have a complete line item veto that eliminates the item rather than allowing a rewriting of an item when combined with another the item below it.
Bing a lawyer that deals constantly with dysfuntional children and adults that are a result of abandonment or abuse as a child, you should not be hesitant viewing Obama as narcisstic because his childhood history fits all the typical emotional events that lead to it. They develop life social skills that allow them to perceive themselves as controlling everything around them in order to prevent any further emotional hurt. They become, in some casees, very creative and manipulative, always lie to achieve their goals and have to take the victim role so they can justify apposing and trying to control the perceived "victimizer", usually in the form of anti-establishment. Control is the ultimate goal and once exposed or failure occurs, they become revengeful. They can be one of the most dangerous of individuals because of their creative ability to convince others of their worth and abilities, while their underlying agenda is to control by any means.
I completely forgot! That explains it. It also explains the Druid priests wandering up and down the streets here in town. I just thought it was a rally for the mayor's run for governor.
So many of those monsters had that outward appearance. It is generally thought that it was Eichmann that got her thinking about the banality. At times, this mass murderer appeared genuinely mystified as to how anybody could think he had done anything wrong. He, more than any of the others, gave us the horror of "I was only following orders." Arendt later wrote a separate treatise centered around him.
Well said.
I saw many great signs at the protest, but the one that encompasses massive spending/debt and over-reaching government in all its nasty forms is…
Chains We Don't Believe In.
Even a liberal could agree with that.
That's a good axiom. I do have a tendency to lean toward the German axiom: Send in the Stukas.
How do we maintain the momentum? The "problem" with conservative protests is that we're all back at our jobs/families/churches now and have to deal with the real world. Do we start organizing 7/4 events now so that we ca keep our message out there? Is anyone studying the make up of the Tea Partyers – demo, leanings, interests, etc? We need something to counter moveon in getting folks together. If it's already there, I missed it. The RNC is so pathetic that it's useless. I wouldn't go to an RNC event; would you?
So what's the next step – in practical, applicable steps??
(and thanks to the commenters & columnists here – great conversations!!!!!)
Indeed, and all that said evil needs for victory, be it banal or outright horrifying, is for good people to stand by and do nothing. The Tea Parties of last week are proof that we are all not willing to go quietly into that good night.
Yo ho Yo ho a Pirate's life for me!
Fortunately, nobody has ever accused me of doing anything quietly.
Hey Burt,
I am glad you made it to the party after all and lived to wirte about it. I think I saw you there but I didn't want to bust your move. See you at the next one, I hope. It was a great time among good friends from all walks. Next time there will be more subject variety in the signage, I promise. Lord knows Obama's administration is a target rich environment.
Best regards,
BB
Bahiabob–Sorry you didn't say hello. I wasn't there as an undercover agent. Not in tennis shorts. Maybe I'll run into you on the 4th of July.
Best wishes, Burt
[...] So, while I regard Obama’s plan to use the tax code to impoverish productive Americans while using tax rebates to bribe those who don’t even pay income taxes as a vile left-wing plot, I’d hate to have my fellow conservatives so completely focused on this one area that they fail to see all the other tricks this con artist has up his sleeve. [...]
Sounds like you're frustrated………………………….we all are, and you did a really great job of expressing how I feel without using any curse words. Good control. I think most of the Tea Partiers understand that "torture" is really not the issue, it's a diversionary tactic used so we won't pay attention to what's going on. Does everyone know about the alternative/flexible fule bill being voted on today? You may want to voice your opinion to your reps. How about the fact that money in the tarp fund is being stolen and they have a double digit number of prosecutions since the beginning of the year? Who's tracking back on that money, and who do those prosecutions link back to. How about how many jobs have been created by the stimulas? Or where that money is going. Have you checked Eric Cantor's web site. It will make you throw up. The sod on the new Mall should look good for a week or two, you know, the stuff that was taken out of the stimulas. I don't even want to mention the other crap he's doing while he keeps everyone all stirred up. It's time to Party again.
As long as there are those Americans that do not have to pay taxs, of course they are going to vote for the Democrat party. Why would they not? There will never be another fair election again in this country until everyone pays their own way. By letting this group not carry their own weight is the same as a bribe. The Democrat party is buying their vote. Flat or Fair tax is one of the ways we can maybe start having fair elections again.
And it is mind boggling how Acorn has been exposed over and over again and is still able to operate.
Maybe it is time to start picking the news papers, New York Times, Washington Post etc, etc Semper Fi
What does "he was definitely a booby who needed to be hatched" mean?
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