Last Call

Bob Cesca sums it up brilliantly:

I was going to open this piece with an analogy about the tea party groups and why they're treated seriously by the press and the Republicans. The analogy would go something like: "Imagine [insert left-wing activist group here] getting a serious profile in a mainstream newspaper, and imagine serious Democratic politicians appearing at their convention."

The problem is, when I really evaluated what the various far-left activist groups are all about and compared them with the tea party movement, there really wasn't any equivalency. At all.

Because when you strip away all of the rage, all of the nonsensical loud noises and all of the contradictions, all that's left is race. The tea party is almost entirely about race, and there's no comparative group on the left that's similarly motivated by bigotry, ignorance and racial hatred. 

Do read the whole thing.   There really is a fundamental, basic difference between progressives and teabaggers.  When one says "How can I make America better?" they mean "for all Americans."  The other appends the phrase "for me" after that question.

And that "for all Americans" part includes the teabaggers themselves.  They are still Americans.  They have families, jobs, loved ones, bills to pay, mouths to feed, just like the rest of us.   The great thing about America is people get to have their opinions, and people like me get to have blogs where I point out how and why I disagree with them.  In turn, they get to respond.

Their vote counts the same as mine come Election Day.  The difference is what we choose to do with that vote, and why we choose to use it.