Something in the Tea

What are they lacing that tea with? And why are the 'bagger candidates trying to hide their own views?

Maybe to try and actually get elected?

Chris Matthews calls out Alabama Congressional 'bagger candidate Rick Barber, picking up on his lying "metaphor" defense of his inflammatory insurrectionist ad:

But Matthews also grilled Barber on the language used in his campaign ad, during which he references taxation "without representation" and a George Washington character says "gather your armies."

When Matthews asked who Barber intended to gather his armies against, the candidate claimed it was a metaphor for "political armies."

"He's wearing a military uniform and says 'gather your armies' and you're saying that's a metaphor?" Matthews asked.

"Chris, do you know what a metaphor is? Do you know what hyperbole is?" Barber shot back.

"Are you a metaphor for a guy running for office?" Matthews asked. "Or are you a real candidate?"

Also speaking metaphorically is Rand Paul, 'bagger candidate for Senate in Kentucky:

"In the latter days of Rome, the economy was crumbling, the emperor ... would placate the mob with bread and circus - food and entertainment to placate them since the economy was in shambles and dwindling around them," Paul told several hundred people gathered for the rally in a Bullitt County park.

"Now in our country, as our economy is in shambles, they give us Cash for Clunkers and a stimulus check and they tell us to go to the mall and spend your money and everything will be OK ... That's not how you become prosperous as an individual or a country," he told the crowd of supporters.

...

Following the 14-minute speech, he brushed past a gaggle of television and print reporters and climbed into a sport-utility vehicle without answering questions - except to acknowledge that despite his call for term limits, he would not voluntarily impose one on himself.

His campaign manager, Jesse Benton, said he had to get back to Bowling Green for a family birthday party.

Benton said Paul uses the fall of Rome as an analogy to explain the country's current economic situation.

"Rand is deeply concerned about the debt and unsustainable overspending in our country," Benton said in a statement. "He uses Rome as a metaphor to show that great nations can fall if they are not vigilant in protecting their traditions. He believes that millions of Kentuckians share that same concern."

So helping out the auto industry in a time of crisis...is like letting lose Christians in an arena to fight lions?

Then there's Sharon Angle, who beat that chicken lady to run against Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid as the 'bagger candidate in Nevada. Angle, often the lone dissenting vote in otherwise unanimous votes in the state assembly, has publicly called for the elimination of both the federal Department of Education and Department of Energy, the complete privatization or elimination of Social Security, and any offshore drilling regulations. In an attempt to keep her from sounding like a total moron, while making her a stealth 'baggercandidate, her website has been scrubbed and either outright contradictions of her opinions or...metaphors?...added instead:

Asked about the website alterations, the National Republican Senatorial Committee said that it was a normal upgrade for any candidate transitioning into a general election.

"Many campaigns revamp and re-launch enhanced websites over the course of an election season," said NRSC spokesman Brian Walsh. "Sharron Angle's positions have not changed though and she remains committed to reversing the economically disastrous policies of Harry Reid while offering Nevada the fiscally responsible leadership they deserve."

But even if the revisions offered to Angle's record don't represent position changes (though with respect to offshore drilling, a clear change was made), they do reflect a decidedly tone-downed candidate. No longer does her bio list the endorsement from the "birther" organization, "Declaration Alliance PAC." Gone, likewise, is her call for "free market alternatives" to Social Security as that system is "transitioned out." In its place is a short section that calls for the country to "keep the promise" of Social Security and redeem the IOUs.

There are other obvious changes that, under normal circumstances, would seem like drastic attempts to dilute a legislative platform. Angle no longer refers to a cap and trade proposal as "unscientific hysteria over the man-caused global warming hoax" that stepped "over the constitutional boundaries of the federal government and is merely another way to tax the people."

As for her reference to the United Nations as an institution "captured by the far left and has become ineffective and costly," that's gone too.

Her new website does not, like the old one, call for abolishing the "67,000-pages of IRS code," or for making the "death tax cuts permanent." Nor does it mention her proposal to require that a "supermajority two-thirds requirement" be instituted for passing tax increases.

It's even scarier that they're covering it up...imagine if she gets in.

Interestingly enough, a Republican who I never before considered "moderate" but who has been heckled by 'baggers, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) has come out with some truth likely to get him in further hot water:

In a previous conversation, Graham told me: "The problem with the Tea Party, I think it's just unsustainable because they can never come up with a coherent vision for governing the country. It will die out." Now he said, in a tone of casual lament: "We don't have a lot of Reagan-type leaders in our party. Remember Ronald Reagan Democrats? I want a Republican that can attract Democrats." Chortling, he added, "Ronald Reagan would have a hard time getting elected as a Republican today."

Next thing you know, those tea hunters will have bagged him as prey.