The Tea Party Movement

You won’t read much about it in the media, but over the last couple of weeks a seismic rumbling has been felt across the country. Triggered largely by Rick Santelli’s rant on CNBC a couple of weeks ago, citizens in dozens of cities and towns have gathered in small impromptu rallies to protest the out-of-control government spending that threatens our way of life.

Santelli is planning a major nationwide tea party on July 4th. The details are being tracked here.

There are several websites that describe the extent of this grassroots movement.

• Rick Santelli’s Tea Party site.
• Glenn Reynolds (here, here, and here) and Michelle Malkin are providing extensive coverage, including lots of photos.
• New American Tea Party site, focusing on Washington, D.C.
• A list of all the tea parties  known to have been conducted over the last few days.

The Christian Science Monitor had a good write-up on the movement, with details of a rally in Atlanta. (Side note: This story recounts the best placard I’ve seen coming out of these protests: “Pillage and plunder: At least the Vikings did it openly”).

Blogger Clarendon ponders the long-term impact of this fledgling movement:

I wonder, what are we expecting to achieve from these protests? Are we content to merely register our disapproval, or are we seeking to change what Congress and our president have done? If it is the former, I’m sure the politicians will note our objection, and wait for us to quiet down. If it is the latter, I fear our current protests are too scatter-shot to do any real good.

I suspect this July 4th will answer his question.

The Obama Depression

Dick Morris sees a sinister motive behind Obama’s persistently negative rhetoric about the state of the economy.

Having inherited a recession, his words are creating a depression. He entered office amid a disaster and he is transforming it into a catastrophe, all to pass every last bit of government spending and move us a bit further to the left before his political capital dwindles.

UPDATE: Gateway Pundit has the numbers to prove it. Obama, the Depression President.

I’m Back

The blog has been quiet the last several weeks due to a number of factors. First, I’ve been engaged in a series of time-consuming home improvement projects that have eaten a large chunk of my time.

But more significantly, I’m still a little bummed out over the Obama election. Not Obama himself, but the millions of my fellow citizens who elected him. I genuinely worry about the future of my country. I fear that as a nation, we have lost the moral fiber that once made us great. Now we have become a nation of pathetic whiners.

I know, I know — that’s all the more reason to be actively broadcasting a contrarian message. But I’m giving a lot of thought as to how best to do that.

Whatever. I’ll try to stay more engaged.

How the Press Distorts the AGW Story

Warren Meyer (Climate Skeptic) documents a classic example of how the media exaggerates the global warming issue.

The headline on a recent article screamed, “Scientists:  Pace of Climate Change Exceeds Estimates.” But read the article carefully, and a different picture emerges. The headline should have read, “Scientists Have Raised Their Forecasts for Future Warming.” That’s an entirely different story.

Science is not the issue in this debate. It’s the political agenda of the Left and their hacks in the media.