Gibson Guitar CEO Becomes Tea Party Cause

by Max Johnson

Gibson Guitar was raided by the US Fish and Wildlife Service for using illegally exported rosewood from India. The government raided the facility shutting it down.  The CEO, Henry Juszkiewicz, has become a star in the fantasy world of the Tea Party for railing against laws that destroy jobs.  He was even invited to attend the Obama Jobs Speech as a sign of support by the Corporate party.  He is claiming that he received no warning of any infraction before the raid, and it cost his company $1 million then $2 million or even $3 million, as well as prevented him from hiring 14 additional American workers.  In a time of terror over the unstable jobs market, using the jobs defense is the ultimate trump card.

This is all really silly, and can be easily smacked down.  All the Justice Department has to say is, "If you folks out there in the frontier justice world of the tea party allow Gibson Guitar to make some guitars out of "Lady Liberty" the 2,000 year old Cypress Tree down in Florida and the Auburn Oak which was recently poisoned on the campus of the University of Auburn, we will drop the case against Gibson."   This would shut up these loons who so hate government that they will lionize a corporation engaged alleged illegal activity.  Cut down Lady Liberty and we see how they scream for government regulations.

Is there Really a Tea Party?

by Max Johnson

I do not believe that the Tea Party is real or independent. They seem to be entirely a manifestation of a bunch of rich folks attempting to manipulate popular opinion. I mean the union movement is always portrayed as an overwhelming Democratic institution, but they are not a monolith. Many safety forces, engineers and even teachers unions were endorsing the Party of the Rich. If the Tea Party was real, they would support independent Democrats or Blue Dog Democrats but that is out of the question. There is never a suggestion that Democrats are fiscally responsible even though the last Democrat in the White House left the country with a surplus.

I very much appreciated Dana Milbank of the Washington Post pointing out the hypocrisy of a Tea Party member who wants to de-fund the Legal Services Corporation as retribution for an immigration case they took. Rep. Austin Scott of Georgia wants to end federal legal services for the poor after Georgia Legal Aid won a EEOC ruling that a company was discriminating against US citizens in favor of Mexican immigrants. Milbank rightfully called out Rep. Scott for betraying his Tea Party roots.

The Blue Dog Coalition lost half of their members in 2010 including Ohio's Zack Space. These were not radicals or tax and spend Democrats. If the Tea Party were truly independent, most of the these members would have retained their seats. The Tea Partiers have threatened those who voted for the debt deal that they would run a challenger in the party primary next year. Notice the threat was not that the Tea Party members will vote for Democrats, but that they will go even more conservative. If the House member voted for a reasonable compromise to avoid not being able to pay our bills, the extremists are demanding an even more extreme candidate to take his or her place.

They developed out of a concern over the finances of the United States. Much in the same way, Congress pulled back on government spending in the late 1930s before the country was out of the depression. But now these guys are embracing candidates with a focus on social issues, anti climate change candidates, and the high fences crowd. They are nothing more than extreme conservatives who are well funded and available to the highest bidder.

The Ship Has Sailed

by MAX JOHNSON

According to the Columbus Dispatch

"I just want Ohio to be great; this is our chance," Kasich said during a luncheon at Brio Tuscan Grille at Polaris. "Please leave the cynicism and the political maneuvering at the door. Because we need you on the bus, and if you're not on the bus, we will run over you with the bus. And I'm not kidding."

This means you, NAMI, Bill Faith, Ohio Council of Churches, John Gallo, The Center for Community Solutions, Have a Heart Ohio Coalition, Lisa Hamler Fugitt, and the rest of you bleeding heart liberals. Some of these individuals need to think about retiring in order to avoid being run over by a bus. Thank God Kasich canceled the train or they would have been run over by the train. This unusually harsh tone seemed bitter, but why not? There is in fact no democratic opposition left in Ohio. The only difference between the Democrats and the Greens in Ohio now is that everyone knows exactly where the Greens stand on issues.

Other things that we have learned:

• Nancy Pelosi believes that the Democrats will come back. Why else would she want to be the minority leader? I like the strategy of all the Democrats voting for Michelle Bachman for Speaker of the House.
  
• The Blue Dog democrats were routed. I guess that it may be true that the only thing found in the middle of the road is a yellow line and a dead opossum.
• Both Waters and Rangel won big. So, that will allow the majority party to focus two years on corruption within the Democratic party. What happened to draining the swamp?
  
• The Corporate Party overwhelmed the Democratic Party at the state level all across America. The last time that there was anywhere close to that level of turnover was the 1974 post Watergate election. Amazing.
• Thank goodness for the tea party saving the Senate for the Democrats. Thank you O'Donnell, Angle, and Ken Buck of Colorado for your fringe beliefs.