The Tea Party, thinking it is in charge, gets all officious

The contradictions, duplicity and hypocrisy of this incident are delicious. I don’t spend a lot of time worrying about the Tea Party, as they are just a manifestation of the larger powers at work behind the scenes in our country. Such stupid people as I have seen at the rallies are not capable of large organizational projects, long-term vision or policy expertise. They are just rubes with good reason to be upset, but not really understanding what those good reasons are. They don’t know where to direct anger, and so, like attack dogs, go where the master points. I sympathize with them, but honestly, in a country as stupid as this, there’s nothing more to be done than to sympathize. It is the other end of the leash we need to focus on.

Nonetheless, here’s a story that needs wider exposure. Nichole Sandler is a radio host, which on the left wing is one step removed from food stamps. She went to a town hall meeting in Broward County, Florida, sponsored by Congressman Allen West, a Tea Party beneficiary. West’s town hall was done in the standard PR format to give the illusion of an open public gathering. Questions were to be submitted in writing, and his staff selected those that he would answer. This leaves them free to discard tough questions and even to make up softballs for the jackass to answer.

Sandler was having none of it. When he stood there talking about how he is going to save Medicare by destroying it, she stood up and challenged him. A security guard pointed her out to local police, who sought to forcibly remove her from the room. She is heard saying things like “get your hands off me” to them. She was put in a police cruiser, held in solitary, and when challenging one of her captors to please let her go, was maced. Not a little bit – heavily. The Broward County police obviously had a power boner.

The charge against her? Trespassing. Attending a public event in a public auditorium sponsored by an elected official was trespassing. They did not charge her with speaking up, as that would imply that she had no right to speak. After being arrested for trespassing, they claim that she was a bad girl, justifying the imprisonment, isolation and macing. Maybe it’s all proper, but certainly it ain’t right.

That’s all well internalized here on this end. I understand this country better than most folks. I remember Ralph Nader being arrested when he tried to attend the Gore/Bush “debates,” another controlled forum where dissent is not allowed. He had a ticket, was not barging in. He was Nader, that’s all, so they arrested him. What is so deliciously funny about all of this is all of those Tea Party numchucks who were bussed to town hall meetings during the health care “debate,” how they were loud, obnoxious, disruptive; how the floor was open for unrehearsed questions … how they rode their buses home fully self-satisfied. No arrests that I recall.

What a country.