Governor Rick Perry (R-TX) set off a bit of a firestorm yesterday:

When Perry addressed those gathered in Austin, he spoke as one of them and mocked the Department of Homeland Security’s warning that tea-party participants could be part of “right-wing extremist radicalization.” Said Perry: “I’m just not real sure you’re a bunch of right-wing extremists. But if you are, we’re with you.” He then told the cheering crowd: “We will not stand our pockets being picked, our children’s future being mortgaged, our rights being taken away.”

Yet as important and poignant as Perry’s words were to those gathered outside City Hall, it’s what he said to reporters afterward that set the blogosphere ablaze: “My hope is that America and Washington in particular pays attention. We’ve got a great union. There’s absolutely no reason to dissolve it. But if Washington continues to thumb their nose at the American people, who knows what may come of that.” While Perry didn’t come right out and use the “s-word” (secede), you can sure bet that’s what he meant, and he made it crystal clear by adding: “Texas is a unique place. When we came into the union in 1845, one of the issues was that we would be able to leave if we decided to do that.”

I am not a secessionist – I believe as Lincoln did that a political union cannot be broken up, save by war, unless all parties to the political union agree. To secede is to defy at least part of the union – it is not to say “let us part” but, instead, to say “I’ll have no more to do with you”. The United States was, of course, founded by secessionists – we call our founding war the Revolutionary War, and it was in the sense that we changed from monarchy to republic, but what it all really amounted to is part of the British body politic exiting the union without the consent of the rest of the body. And so there was war, and war decided the validity of the assertion of independence. The South tried this again in the 1860’s and, once again, the issue was decided by war – with the result, this time, being that secession was disallowed.

What governor Perry has done, however, is quite useful – the government in Washington, and its liberal cheerleaders around the nation, need to be strongly reminded that the federal government serves the needs of the States, or the people. We did not seek a more perfect union in order that a few people in DC shall tell us what fuel economy our cars shall have, nor whether or not some allegedly endangered species trumps our property rights. Governments are instituted among men, goes our sublime Declaration of Independence, in order to secure to men the rights endowed by their Creator – what liberals want is a government instituted by liberals in order to secure what they consider a just outcome in the game of life. This is un-American – and it has gone on too long, and gone too far…and now Obama proposes to make it go longer and further.

And thus the Tea Party movement – a healthy and very American reaction, long delayed, against an overbearing government. Don’t get me wrong; plenty of Republicans participating in the creation of this devouring, political monster in DC – there is plenty of blame to go around. But we’ve gotten off the track – ’round about 100 years ago, a section of American political life got it into their heads that there was no area of life off limits to the ministrations of supposedly enlightened people who knew how to set things to right. The best way to describe the ultimate outcome of this is thus:

Imagine a man, leaving his job as a customer service rep for a global corporation, walking past a boarded up church, around the philosopher with his mouth taped shut, down by a patriot with his flag burnt in front of him where he then goes into his trendy apartment building standing on land once owned by a mechanic dispossessed of his property via eminent domain and then, finally, into a darkened room where he masturbates to internet porn and shouts out “I’m free!”.

We’ve really screwed up – and while we are the unworthy heirs of better men and women, we can still repair the damage we have done if we show the courage to confront the beast we’ve made and cut it down to its proper size. We can, once again, be the America our Founders pledged their lives, fortunes and sacred honor for – a nation of free men and women who rely upon God, themselves, their family and their Church; a nation which makes, mines and grows its own wealth for its own use; a nation which is, once again, that shining city on a hill.

All we have to do is show courage. Will we do? I think we shall – and then we’ll have that more perfect union we can all stand for.

Ok, so we had a series of rousing successes yesterday which have, I believe, made all of us feel more hopeful about our nation’s future than we have been for a while. It is astounding that so large and widespread a event could occur with no central organization – opposition to fascism (of whatever stripe) and the ardent desire for liberty were made manifest. We can’t fool ourselves into thinking we’ve captured an electoral majority – we’ve just started a movement. A movement, to be sure, which could bring peaceful yet revolutionary change to America, but just the start – we’ve got miles to go. So, what now?

Beats me, for the moment. What I clearly envision – and have envisioned for some time – is that the ultimate way to retake control of our government is for we, the people, to show up in extraordinarily large numbers in DC and thus drown out the siren songs of the corrupt special interests. While I’m a Republican it isn’t a matter of the GOP getting a million people to DC – this, actually, might be counter-productive to both conservatism in general and the GOP in particular. What is wanted is a mass, popular movement demanding change which the GOP can pledge itself to support.

Time after time in reports from yesterday’s events I heard that local party leaders – GOP and Democrats – who tried to latch on to the events were politely but firmly told to please sit quietly and listen; this is the American people telling you, the politicians, what we want. The Republican Party is what it is – the home of conservatism, the bastion of the Culture of Life, the defender of liberty; but what the Tea Party is about is, at bottom, a demand that government cease mortgaging our future in the pursuit of temporary, partisan advantage. In other words, the people want government to understand that it exists for the people, not the people for it.

Certainly the massive spending and prospective tax burden of the Obama Administration has been the spark plug of the movement – and this, in turn, has placed a fiscal conservative/economic libertarian coloration on the movement, but anyone who wants to merely put this out as a conservative movement is missing the point. In point of fact, the movement actually tends away from conservatism in a lot of ways and heads straight for what is called today “classical liberalism” – something I’m not too enamored of (to say the least), but which is something I can ally myself with in the service of a general curbing of federal government power. And that is what this is really about – not pro-conservative nor anti-liberal; it is anti-big government. Anti-Statism. Anti-Big Brother.

What I hope to see is literal millions of average Americans continuing to meet and discuss and issue demands – with the ultimate hope being that some time early next year, as we head towards the mid-term elections, that a very large number (5 million would be ideal) descending on Washington, DC to essentially present the peoples’ demands upon government. And then let those who will – Republican and Democrat – pledge their support for these demands. In the nature of things, most GOPers will pledge their support…but so will some Democrats, while some Republicans will be vocal in their opposition. And thus the battle lines will be drawn between the corrupt status quo and the insurgent people – with, perhaps, a coalition in the House in 2011 pledged to reform and ignoring the political barnacles, Democrat and Republican, who feed off the system as it is.

We can leave Barney Frank and Arlen Specter in a corner to discuss whatever business they wish – we, the people, will take back our government and enact long overdue reforms which will get us out of debt, get us off government dependence and restore the rights of the people, and the States, as opposed to Federal power.

We’ve been getting a few complaints over the past few weeks about a number of regular commenters here, both liberal and conservative, and  so, before we start banning people left and right I want to offer this post as an advisory notice for everyone to keep things at a respectful tone. Seriously.

UPDATE, by Mark Noonan: Its been a long time in coming, boys and girls, and we’ve tried to be nice about it. But it has got out of hand. I just wanted to throw my two cents in and, also, be right out there saying that I’m in on this, too. Polite. Calm. Say the serenity prayer before you come in. Whatever it takes.

I really didn’t know what to expect when I attended the teaparty in my home town today, but what I found was clearly a pleasant, and somewhat overwhelming surprise!

Details, including pictures and video, at The Ice Palace.

Unfortunately, I have to work – to pay those taxes which keep Obamunism going strong, so you know how happy I am today. Report and discuss here the Tea Party events of the day. We’ll update as we can.

UPDATE: Instapundit has the round up – seems that huge crowds showed up all around the nation. Given the numbers I’ve heard, I’ll bet that a million or more Americans – on a Wednesday made up of people who have jobs and real lives – showed up nation wide.

Now we just need to bring 5 million Americans to DC….

An infamous performer in pornographic films:

Marilyn Chambers, 56, the onetime Ivory Snow model who became the star of the pornographic film “Behind the Green Door,” a salacious sensation that helped hard-core movies find a mass audience and a measure of public acceptance, was found dead April 12 at her home in Santa Clarita, Calif.

The Los Angeles County coroner’s office was planning to conduct an autopsy to determine the cause of death. Foul play was not suspected.

At 19 she entered the pornography business and went on and on and on with it…and then there’s this bit:

Two years ago, Ms. Chambers told the Providence Journal that the adult-film business “chews women up and spits them out. It’s a business I’d never want my daughter to be in.”

Yes, indeed. Pity it took her that long to figure it out.

Eternal Father, I offer You the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your dearly beloved Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world.

No surprise, the State is governed by Democrats:

If election officials started disenfranchising minority voters at a rate of 80%, headlines would scream on the front pages of the New York Times and the Washington Post, as would civil rights leaders. And rightly so.

However, when those being disenfranchised are military voters, the media and the traditional civil rights establishment give a collective shrug. I posted a story on April 2 about the shameful behavior of the New York Election Board and the inadequate actions of the Department of Justice in protecting military voters in New York’s 20th district congressional race.

Yesterday was the deadline for the receipt of completed absentee ballots from military voters—ballots that had been mailed out too late by local election officials. The Election Board has posted a chart showing that 998 absentee ballots were sent to military voters, yet only 205 were returned in time to be counted.

There is no doubt many more would have been returned if New York had been forced to take other steps to remedy their late mailing of absentee ballots. For example, the state could have been required to pay for international express service for the return of voted ballots. That didn’t happen. The resulting low voting rate among service members can be partly attributed to the failure of state and federal officials to carry out their responsibilities to comply with and enforce the federal statute that guarantees the rights of all military personnel to vote.

Remember the rule, guys: “Count every vote” means “count every vote which helps a Democrat, even if you have to count it a dozen times”. If you’re even possibly going to vote GOP, then counting your vote falls in importance to somewhere below investigating Obama’s ties to Ayers. We can expect more and more of this as time goes on – Democrats are determined to win and they don’t care how they do it. The ultimate reason for this is that Democrats believe that if everyone was being sensible and not bitterly clinging to God and guns (you know how those service members are…they have guns and, my goodness, a lot of them pray), they’d vote Democrat…so, its ok to disenfranchise them because its in their best interest.

Its going to be a long, nasty fight to get these Democrats out of power.

If this report (PDF) is accurate. To quote:

(U//LES) The DHS/Office of Intelligence and Analysis (I&A) has no specific information that domestic rightwing terrorists are currently planning acts of violence, but rightwing extremists may be gaining new recruits by by playing on their fears about several emergent issues. The economic downturn and election of the first African American president present unique drivers for rightwing radicalization and recruitment…

…(U//FOUO) The possible passage of new restrictions on firearms and the return of military veterans facing significant challenges reintegrating into their communities could lead to the potential emergence of terrorist groups or lone wolf extremists capable of carrying out violent attacks.

The report goes on to note that people who hold anti-abortion opinions – ie, me – are primarily hate-orientated and thus a threat.

If this is a correct report – in other words, if this is a real DHS report – then this is the first shot of Civil War II. President Obama must investigate and if this report is found to be accurate, those who prepared it must be removed from their positions in government. We cannot tolerate that we on the right be considered potential terrorists merely for being opposed to gun control or abortion.

UPDATE: Governor Rick Perry (R-TX) stands for the Constitution.

UPDATE II: Please don’t read this subversive, right wing, hate-filled, anti-government document.

Reuters reports an increase in first time tax delinquents as a result of the current recession.

As a deep recession strips Americans of their jobs, homes and investments, the 2009 U.S. tax season promises to see a large uptick in first-time delinquent income taxpayers.

“Our calls are up 280 percent,” said Richard Boggs, founder and chief executive of Los Angeles-based Nationwide Tax Relief, a firm that helps delinquent taxpayers resolve tax issues.

“We’ve seen a huge rise in what we call the rookie delinquent taxpayer,” he said. “They are incredibly scared, and they have no idea what’s going to happen to them because, God bless them, they’ve never owed before.”

The IRS, according to the story, “vowed to show its gentler side this year.” You think? The economy aside, with so many tax delinquents in or nominated for Obama’s cabinet, it would be hypocritical for the government to say it is okay for the Secretary of Treasury to be a tax delinquent, while throwing the book at middle-class taxpayers who are late to pay their taxes.

Of course, they can always just apply for a job in the Obama administration.

Guess we can at least say she isn’t proud to be a backer of the Culture of Death:

President Barack Obama’s health secretary nominee, Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, got nearly three times as much political money from an abortion doctor as she told senators.

In response to questions from the Senate Finance Committee, Sebelius wrote that she received $12,450 between 1994 and 2001 from one of the nation’s few late-term abortion providers, Dr. George Tiller.

But records reviewed by The Associated Press show that Tiller gave at least $23,000 more from 2000-2002 to a political action committee that Sebelius established while state insurance commissioner to raise money for fellow Democrats.

The Health and Human Services Department said Monday that the omission was an oversight Sebelius would correct.

Omission? Yeah, whatever – seems like a lot of Democrats have a lot of omissions they have to correct these days.