Tom Hayes: Is Gary Hart downplaying the threat?

I disagree that the tea-baggers and others referred to in Hart's Huffington Post OpEd today, "Getting the Government We Seem to Want," hurt only themselves - by acting to disrupt civil discourse and undermine the effectiveness of our government they drag the country toward a path that will parallel the outcomes of "no taxes but no government" as currently practiced in Somalia.

"...the cynics and trolls who scream like banshees at town hall meetings and scan the blogosphere to post cynical put-downs of their country's government are hurting no one but themselves."

I'm forced to disagree: They hurt me. They hurt everyone else living in the U.S. In fact, it goes beyond today; such actions threaten the well-being, liberty, standard of living, and the intent of the founding fathers when they inserted the language pertaining to "pursuit of happiness" for my descendants (and yours, and theirs.)

I do share Hart's concern that, "the most qualified Americans will continue to choose not to serve their country and we will continue to be weaker for it."

Under the adopted camouflage of the Boston Tea Party, which was about the unfair nature of being taxed without representation not anarchy, these short-sighted, loud-mouthed, anti-government anarchists threaten the values predicating, and described in, the Constitution of The United States.

Thomas Hayes is an entrepreneur, journalist, and political analyst who contributes regularly to a host of web sites on topics ranging from economics and politics to culture and community.

Boston Tea Party? Not so much... -By Tom Hayes

-Let’s skip past questions of who benefited from Bush-era tax cuts, and move right on to the guts of the question: are taxes unfair, and is a tea-bag an apt modern rallying symbol?

People having trouble making ends meet have reason to wish bank and credit-card fees were less onerous, and we naturally resent the inevitable burden of any tax they think is unfair. Money is tight for most of us, but we don't want to become the next Somalia, either - we value government services as much as - if not more than - our founding fathers did when they included phrases such as, "insure domestic Tranquility," and, "provide for the common defense," in the preamble to the U.S. Constitition. Today we just want the burden to be fair.

And that tea-party tie-in? That was a reach. We might've bought it if the whole movement really was spontaneous - but with 8 months of planning, to settle on "tea bagging" is frankly embarrassing. The media coverage reminded me more of Alice in Wonderland's Mad Hatter than it did of colonials risking their lives and livelihoods to thumb their noses at distant despots (they sure didn't want anybody recording their presence for posterity.)

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