Tea: Vaccine against the Partisan Virus

Democrats cannot save this country. Neither can Republicans.

If you are counting on a political party to rescue us from the downward spiral we are on, then you have not been paying attention. The political parties are the problem, not the solution. They are the ones that created the country’s downward spiral, which like the spiral of DNA is a double helix — in this case, one part elephant and one part donkey.

Think of it as a virus that has invaded the body politic.

For years, the Partisan Virus had remained fairly harmless, sort of like the common cold — a nuisance, but not generally life-threatening. At some point, however, it mutated and became deadly. Exactly how or when this happened no one can say, but the current state of the nation should prove to any rational mind that the Partisan Virus is now so dangerous that the body politic must be wheeled into intensive care or perish from lack of treatment.

Anyone who doubts this needs merely to look at the housing bubble under President Bush, the disastrous recovery program that began in 2008, and the rapid expansion of the deficit under President Obama. Neither Republicans nor Democrats have been telling you the truth. And if John McCain had been elected president instead of Barack Obama, the country would have been in much the same mess, with a multi-trillion dollar debt and no visible means of (life) support.

Symptoms of the Partisan Virus are well-known — deafness (to the pleadings of the people); an uncontrollable urge to spend (other people’s money), and hypnotic suggestibility (to do whatever party leaders tell you to do). The most virulent cases are drawn incontrollably toward Washington, D.C, where they band together in a manner similar to the vampires of popular mythology. This perhaps has something to do with the common characterization of the worst-hit victims of the Partisan Virus as “bloodsuckers.” The virus unfortunately strikes young and old alike, and usually remains present until treated.

The treatment, fortunately, is also readily known. Like many vaccinations or antiviral drugs, it employs a non-toxic variation of the harmful element present in the virus itself to protect against infection or actually to bring about a cure.

Thus, we can say simply that the cure for those who have been exposed to the harmful effects of either the Democratic Party or the Republican Party is to enjoy the reviving medicine of the Tea Party, which looks almost like the other parties but has had the toxins of corruption and self-aggrandizement removed.

This patriotic brew can only be taken voluntarily, and though it creates a violent reaction in some people who already have the Partisan Virus, there appears to be no alternative treatment available that can bring the patient back to health.

Unlike the Republican and Democratic parties, the Tea Party has no leadership. Therefore its proponents cannot fall victim to the usual propaganda that is the bread and butter of political parties. Likewise, because the Tea Party IS “we the people,” there is no chance that it can be steered against the popular will. Finally because the Tea Party consists of Tax Payers, the urge to spend has been nullified by the fact that it’s not “other people’s money” that is being spent, but our very own children’s future and inheritance.

The words of Patrick Henry at the First Continental Congress of 1774 are instructive: “The distinctions between Virginians, Pennsylvanians, New Yorkers, and New Englanders are no more. I am not a Virginian, but an American!”

This statement came shortly after the original Boston Tea Party that helped inspire American patriots to seize their liberty, and by the same token, those who drink the hearty brew of patriotism today should consider making the following declaration: “I am not a Republican. I am not a Democrat. I am an American.”

Indeed, it is healthy to remember that partisan politics is not part of the corporate structure of the American body politic — there is no place for the Republican Party or the Democratic Party in the Constitution. They evolved as a matter of convenience to those who were eager to gain or hold power.

The Tea Party, on the other hand, is an evocation of our deepest founding principles, which Samuel Adams warned us are “worth defending at all hazards.” Just as the original Tea Party was a rebellion against entrenched power, so too the modern Tea Party is a small but potent force to protect the liberties and Constitution that were “purchased ... for us with toil and danger and expense of treasure and blood.”

Let Adams, who knew as much about tea parties (and patriotism) as anyone, have the last word:

“If ever a time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in Government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin.” ... “It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people’s minds.”