Liberal stalwart and failed Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry, Massachusetts Democrat, said last week that the media has a responsibility not to give equal time to Tea Party views because he finds them "absurd" and "not factual" ("Sen. Kerry to media - Stop giving 'equal time' and 'balance' to conservative ideas, called for fairness doctrine in '07," Web, Friday).
While blaming Republicans for last week's decision by a top ratings agency to downgrade U.S. debt, President Obama on Monday said the GOP and Democrats must overcome their "lack of political will" and to push through long-term deficit solutions that will both raise taxes and change Medicare.
Anti-business liberals aren't going to sneak their way into powerful administration positions this summer. Recess appoinments are a traditional method used by the White House - under both parties - to fill government slots without Senate confirmation.
Vice President Joseph R. Biden believes Tea Party Republicans are right-wing jihadists. Following the debt-ceiling deal, in a private Democratic Caucus meeting, Mr. Biden joined several Democrats in accusing conservative House Republicans of behaving like "terrorists."
We are engaged in a long war - actually two long wars. The first and most commonly accepted of our wars is the long war against Islamofascists. It is not a war against vast armies. Comparatively speaking, it is just a war against a handful of thugs, but they want to strike at our heart - wherever we are ill-prepared - and if they can, they will cause incalculable destruction. This we discovered Sept. 11, 2001. We are on the hem of wiping out al Qaeda, but there are other thugs waiting. We must be vigilant against them. It will be a long war.
Columnists Thomas Friedman of the New York Times and Kathleen Parker of The Washington Post this week joined politicians in bashing Tea Party members, including Republican members of Congress. They all used similar wording, comparing the Tea Party's members to terrorists, and said the party was out to destroy the country.
I don't necessarily identify myself with the Tea Party, but I certainly believe the onslaught of criticism it is receiving in regard to the debt ceiling is misplaced, disingenuous and hypocritical.
Can you even imagine blaming a rape victim for being raped or a terrorist victim for being murdered by terrorists? Of course not. In a sane world, the rapist and terrorist are blamed for the crimes, not the victims. But amazingly, blaming the victims is exactly what President Obama and his socialist cabal have been doing in the midst of the debt-ceiling crisis.
The debt deal - if it sticks - is a triumph for the bipartisan, status-quo-clinging Washington establishment. Here is a prediction: Between now and January 2013, total actual spending cuts will be minimal. That will result from the following: (1) The $900 billion deficit reduction is almost all backloaded to the years beyond 2012. (2) The select committee created by the budget deal will fail to pass a "second tranche" deficit-cut package of an additional $1.5 trillion. (3) The "trigger" will be pulled identifying an additional $1.2 trillion.
