The Return of Black Helicopter Chic

(courtesy of Armed Apparel)

During the Clinton days, you couldn't turn on AM radio without hearing about Janet Reno and her ATF stormtroopers burning down your house Waco-style if you were a member of the NRA. However, that anti-guv'mint movement sort of petered out when Bush got elected and 9/11 happened. But with the Tea Parties churning out legions of protesters and some perceived federal overreach in domestic affairs, you starting to see articles like this one at PJs:

Obama himself, far from the bipartisan spirit promised — indeed, even the respect expected from the officeholder — mocks opposing opinions. He did it recently by ridiculing those who listen to Rush Limbaugh and he did it during his “town hall” meeting in Arnold, Missouri, to mark his first 100 days. He cast tea party participants as those “waving tea bags around.” His assertion then that he would be happy to have a “conversation” about federal spending and his warning that while “we have to tighten belts, [we] have to do it in an intelligent way” were audacious displays of disdain for Americans in light of his midnight-3:00 p.m. push-through of the “stimulus” bill. Does he think we have forgotten how much time he gave Congress to sign a bill over a thousand pages long — and after promising five days for public review of all bills? In light of the events of just the first 100 days, we should be worried.

This type of rhetoric attracts a few crazies out there, but it's valid to be concerned over the massive increase in the federal government's power (and Obama has upped it quite a bit). Unfortunately, the GOP (supposedly the party of limited government and fiscal responsibility) completely failed while they were running the country and actually spent wildly, increasing the already monstrous debt under Bush. So who knows if this grass roots type boilerplate gets turned into productive political action to prevent America from going the way of the Weimar Republic or we get stupid red herring issues like saving human vegetables designed to cater to moral absolutist types.