if you're a resident of Washington DC, a tea party actually makes some sense

Also because it's cold (well, mid to upper 40s, which is pretty cold for this time of year), wet, and rainy in DC today.

I want to throw a proper tea party, complete with cake and watercress sandwiches. We could video-tape ourselves raising our cups and saying things like, "That Obama, he's a pretty good president." "So nice to see some consideration for infrastructure in the budget." "I do hope there's a bit more oversight in the new stimulus bill than in TARP." And we'd all keep our pinkies out.

Of course, there are no tea bags at a proper tea party.

When they had the Boston Tea Party in 1773, tea bags weren't invented yet. They were invented in 1907.

Unicorn Nuts…On Your Face

Tea Partiers are hoping that if they mimic the energy of anti-war protests and the savvy of Obama’s new media operation, that at some point an actual movement will spawn. Getting together a bunch of pissed off middle-aged white people with no clue about how the tax system works in public areas will generate a coherent agenda designed to combat the stimulus; if it gets enough media coverage, they will DOMINATE THE AGENDA.

It’s like taping a horn to a horse and waiting for it to alight on a magic cloud of stardust and pixies.

Getting together a bunch of pissed off middle-aged white people with no clue about how the tax system works in public areas will generate a coherent agenda

That's exactly how California passed Proposition 13.

And just look at our public education system in California! That didn't have any unintended consequences, did it?

However I am in no position to grouch about Prop 13 given that it saves my ass when it comes to property taxes.

Yet Proposition 13 latched onto an issue, or maybe an entire mindset, that was on the rise. Level of taxes, size of government, and the like were Ronald Reagan's big campaign issues. And he became President just two years after Proposition 13 passed.

The tea partiers, on the other hand, are trying to create a movement on the same issue when the mindset is different. The mindset has moved on to worrying about jobs, health care, infrastructure, and the like. Maybe there's a way to address those concerns with a low-tax, small-government agenda. But the tea partiers don't seem to be able -- from what I've seen, don't want or don't even have an idea that they might want -- to do that.

If I'm making any sense here.

The only thing I like about "tea parties" is all the innuendo they spread across MSNBC. Keith and Rachel being twelve ftw! And who knew Shuster was funny?

Prop 13 just pisses me off.