You call this a party?

I'm not sure where these Tea Party people came from, but they seem to have found a voice in conservative TV host Glenn Beck and professional embarrassment Sarah Palin, who both appeared at a recent gathering of followers in Washington, D.C. Here is a quote from Beck, who seems to have forgotten the years 2000 to 2008.

"This is the day we can start the hearts of Americans again, and it has nothing to do with politics and everything to do with God," Beck told the crowd estimated at anywhere from tens of thousands to 500,000. Oh boy. There's the God thing again. As though God has among his priorities establishing politics in America. How big an ego does somebody have to have in order for that to make sense to them? God will watch over me because I'm so much better than anybody else. Those are dangerous thoughts.

"For too long, this country has wandered in darkness, and we have wandered in darkness in periods from the beginning," Beck said, at times pacing at the memorial. "We have had moments of brilliance and moments of darkness. But this country has spent far too long worried about scars and thinking about the scars and concentrating on the scars. "Today," he continued, "we are going to concentrate on the good things in America, the things that we have accomplished - and the things that we can do tomorrow. The story of America is the story of humankind."

For too long? How long exactly? How is it that in a scant 2 years since the last election, this group has determined that we have wallowed "for too long?" Would they have organized if one of Bush's relatives were elected president, or (their God forbid) Palin? A recent headline in the Inquirer proclaimed that Palin's "power" had served to get a couple of Republicans elected. How is it that a failed vice presidential nominee has any power at all? Where is Dan Quayle?

What worries me is that the masses are eating this junk alive, and the 2012 presidential election will become yet another media circus. Perhaps this one will be bigger than ever, since we seem to be enthralled with Palin's looks and not so interested in her opinions and people like Beck are interesting because they are on television. That much hasn't change since the invention of the device.

I'm not sure why they call themselves a Tea Party, since the original Tea Party was formed because they protested taxation without representation. These people are being represented. Perhaps it isn't as they wish, but I always thought that's what elections were for. I guess the term Tea Party sounds patriotic, and perception is what drives groups like this. The masses hear "Tea Party" and immediately think that they represent something patriotic, when in fact, they just spout anger politics and make people think that God will make everything right.

Maybe what they should be asking themselves is why Beck posted a list of things not to bring to the rally, including firearms (either real or simulated), ammunition, explosives of any kind (including fireworks), knives, blades or sharp objects, mace and/or pepper spray, sticks or poles. What is it about Tea Party activists and implements of violence that attract each other? Why did they think they would need mace and pepper spray?

Shouldn't their God protect them from the supposed wrongs of the world? Maybe He feels that He has wandered too long too?