If it's Nashville, it must be the Tea-Baggers Convocation.
The grass-roots movement spawned by the election of a black liberal as President and whipped into a froth by Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity, has descended on America's heartland for three days of peace, love and joy. The banner welcoming attendees to the Gaylord Opryland Hotel (Gaylord?) proclaims "Give us your white, your old, your overweight yearning to breathe free." Well, not exactly free. Assuming you drive the family pickup truck from God's Garterbelt, Arkansas and stay at the Sleep Inn in Murfreesboro instead of the pricey Opryland Hotel, you are still paying $549 a head to listen to the speechifying. As to the event, America hasn't seen this many white people in one room since George W. Bush's last golf outing. Canadian hockey crowds are more diverse. Attendance has been solid, owing to the fact that most Tea-baggers are retired or at least negotiated a few days off from their greeters job at Walmart.
The convention got off to a rousing start with a kickoff speech by Tom Tancredo, former Congressman from Colorado. Aside from his somewhat truncated bid for the Presidency in 2008, (he never got off the bus in New Hampshire) Tancredo is perhaps best remembered as the anti-immigration candidate who suggested that all immigration be halted for three years while current immigrants assimilate. Plans for stopping illegal immigrants from entering the country included fences, guns and a lot of harsh language. He has also suggested that any further attacks like 9-11 should be met with the immediate destruction of Mecca. A Molotov Cocktail party will follow.
Breakfast on Friday will feature Steve Milloy, FoxNews commentator famous for labeling all research on climate change as "junk science". Milloy also disputes the harm done by second-hand smoke, views the Clean Air Act as an abridgement of freedom and has campaigned against the ban on DDT. Milloy's cozy and longstanding relationship with the tobacco industry has cast a cloud over his credibility. No matter. Most of the attendees will be out for a smoke break during his address.
Lunch will include a speech by former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore. Judge Moore came to prominence as the jurist who resisted a federal court order to remove a monument of the Ten Commandments from the Alabama State Courthouse in 2003. The Alabama judiciary responded by removing not just the monument but also removed Judge Moore. The Judge will be accompanied by Joseph Farah. Mr. Farah, editor of the conservative website WorldNetDaily, is one of the more vocal adherents to the notion that Barack Obama is a Kenyan. Saturday's breakfast speaker is Ana Puig who will discourse on the correlation between Barack Obama and the Marxist Dictators of Latin America. Oddly, the Mensa Society passed on an opportunity to stage a membership drive in the hotel lobby. Seriously, why would any movement with aspirations of being taken seriously as a political force invite this collection of wingnuts to speak at their meeting? The only applehead missing is Lyndon Larouche.
Delightfully, the piece de resistance is the keynote speech delivered by the always insightful Sarah Palin. Despite collecting $100,000 for her starring role (the Governor of Alaska makes $150,000, dinner not included) Sarah claims it's not about the money. Her theory is that as long as the Tea-baggers are determined to be fleeced, it might as well be by someone who loves them. Sweet Sarah is apt to look a bit lonely in Nashville. Her usual props: unwed daughter w/ baby, goofy husband, Cindy McCain staring holes in the back of her head will all be missing. It will be just Sarah and the 1,100 or so faithful admirers. No hints have emerged as to the topic of Gov. Palin's address but we can expect plenty of "golly shucks" and a few "you betcha's." There was a "substance alert" earlier in the week but Ms. Palin's spokespeople assured the group that the Governor would never say anything meaningful or significant. Thank heaven for that!
The organizers of the event have rejected a re-creation of the famous Boston Tea Party as potentially dangerous. With all the elderly attendees, there was some concern about throwing the wrong bags overboard. Sorry!
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Supreme Court – Multinational Corporations do “Victory” Dance.
The Robert’s U.S. Supreme Court decision changing the interpretation of the Bill of Rights from meaning “We the people” to mean “We the multinational corporations” on January 19, 2010 will live as a day of infamy in the history of our (what was our) Constitution. In one day, the Supreme Court has set themselves up as the “Fathers of a New U.S Constitution” and moved Americans from a “Representative Democracy” of individuals to a “Corporate Plutocracy” representing the rich and powerful.
Congress is in the bag, of course, and will not move to overrule Robert’s Supreme Court. The time for Justice and action passed by when impeaching Bush for War Crimes and nullifying his appointed (planted) neoconservative Supreme Court Justice appointees was possible. What George W. Bush blew-away of our American Democracy and Independents (Free Trade) in 10 years; it will take at least 100 years of struggle (probably 300 years) and millions of American lives to regain.
Today, the seemingly driver-less steam roller of Bush right-wing “your either with us or you are the enemy” unethical opportunist (no one can be identified as the driver) are on an itinerary. Follow the money, mass media propaganda, slander attacks, CASH-root organizations (Tea Baggers) and their Totalitarian agenda become apparent. 2010 is going to be one ugly year; the Dupes August assault on the Capital will be spectacular.
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