Sheer Idiot Tea

On April 15, protests around the country were held to voice dissent at, well, just about anything having to do with the Obama administration. I want to say they were held to voice dissent at the improper use of taxpayer money, but considering that the majority of these protestors didn't say a word while the Bush administration attempted to pay for two wars with the world's biggest credit card and created one of the largest government entitlement programs in history, I'd be a liar to write that.

In any event, these people are upset about how their tax money is being spent. Putting aside the fact that the majority of these protestors had just received a tax break, I can see their argument. I mean, who needs elections to determine which political party gets to wrap their hand on the dole, just complain you've been shut out of the process for too long (in this case all of a couple of months). Never mind that your elected officials were at the controls when the economic plane hit the side of the mountain.

One of the more notable themes at several of these protests was talk of secession. Never mind that anyone advocating for such a position is an idiot, and that includes Texas governor Rick Perry. The question of secession was put to sleep once and for all at Appomattox.

Perry is stupid twice over because he seems to think Texas has some right to secede that no other state enjoys. Maybe if he understood his own state's history he would recognize that while Texas has the ability to divide itself into five separate states, its treaty of entry with the United States does not give it a right to secede. Apparently that's asking too much.

I don't disagree that this country has a tax problem. The tax code is too complicated, and politicians on both sides of the aisle spend money like it grows on trees. I don't agree with these bailouts any more than I agree that "American Idol" is good television. But I also didn't start an internet chat site during the Bush years to foment treason, which is exactly what those who advocate secession are doing. It's the height of irony that someone calling for leaving the United States considers themselves a patriot.

Protest all you want. If I happen to come up on a protest, I'll join it in general principal even if I don't know what it is you're protesting, or why (I got a couple of chants off outside the White House in the mid-1990s, something about Venezualan immigrants I believe, when I came upon a protest in progress). Even if I disagree with you I appreciate you exercising your rights.

Just don't act like you're the voice of the oppressed minority. And please don't talk about secession. This country already has critics who claim we're a bunch of dolts. Don't feed the fire.

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