Neocons Panic Over ‘Tea Party’

The tiny but well-placed – and very well-financed – political sect known as the neoconservatives is in panic mode. Discredited by the disastrous war in Iraq, and implicated in the trail of lies that led us into that quagmire, the neocons are deathly afraid that the jig is up: that their agenda of perpetual war … Continue reading “Neocons Panic Over ‘Tea Party’”

Can Americans Who Oppose War and Empire Work Together?

Lindsey Graham, a war-supporting senator from South Carolina, said what he fears most is a Left-Right alliance against the Afghanistan War. He recognizes that such an alliance could stop war funding and force American troops to return home. But the masters of war may not have to use divide-and-rule tactics, because many war opponents on … Continue reading “Can Americans Who Oppose War and Empire Work Together?”

Rand Paul Drinks Tea, Turns Into Hawk?

“When it is said that nothing, including a nuclear strike, is off the table on Iran, are those who say it not also threatening genocide?” – Rep. Ron Paul, May 22, 2007 “I don’t think you take [nuclear weapons] off the table.” – Rand Paul on Iran, The O’Reilly Factor, May 19, 2010 “Rand Paul … Continue reading “Rand Paul Drinks Tea, Turns Into Hawk?”

To the Tea Party: War and Liberty Aren’t Fellow Travelers

In an astute op-ed piece in the Christian Science Monitor, James Bovard points out that the love of liberty by the Tea Party crowd usually takes a backseat to a hatred of President Obama and the Left. After attending a tax day Tea Party event in Rockville, Md., a suburb of the nation’s capital, Bovard … Continue reading “To the Tea Party: War and Liberty Aren’t Fellow Travelers”

Populism, Left and Right

The rise of an often militant right-wing populist movement – the tea partiers, the Ron Paulistas, the tenth amendment restorationists and the regionalists – has the powers-that-be in a tizzy. On the "progressive" left, we have Rachel Maddow sounding the alarm about hordes of armed militia types supposedly marching on Washington, in a populist version … Continue reading “Populism, Left and Right”

Buzzkill at the Tea Party

They were certainly not the proudest moments in what has been called the Tea Party Movement: activists on Capitol Hill this weekend to oppose the Democratic health-care bill accused of slinging the N-bomb at black lawmakers, screaming "baby killer" at Rep. Bart Stupak, calling openly gay Rep. Barney Frank a "faggot," and spitting on Missouri … Continue reading “Buzzkill at the Tea Party”