Chris Matthews has always been somewhat of an enigma. He’s not a good anchor, which is why he can’t draw an audience, yet he remains on the air, which is why I asked long ago whether someone was subsidizing him.

On a similar note, John McCain’s re-election to the Senate in 2010 was nearly inexplicable (unless you take into account the fact that he, Mister “get the money out of politics,” dumped $20,000,000.00 into his re-election campaign). To be honest, all that money is the only feasible explanation for how he secured another term during an election cycle that witnessed Tea Party candidates wiping the floor with nearly everyone else.

Speaking of the Tea Party, that reminds me that Matthews and McCain have something else in common – they both hate the Tea Party. Matthews hates it because it’s full of people who don’t care about what he thinks and who can’t be intimidated into shutting up and acting like good RINOS (Republicans-In-Name-Only). McCain hates it for the same reasons, plus the fact that they see right through his “Maverick” façade.

In a word, the tea party poses a political impediment to both men insomuch as it literally stands to undo the big government that Matthew and McCain have fought so hard to preserve.

This is why it really was no shock to see Matthews throw a love fest for McCain on Thursday, July 28, because McCain stood on the Senate floor and referred to tea party candidates from 2008 as “hobbits.” (McCain did this because that little temper of his got the best of him again, and he simply couldn’t handle knowing a small group of Tea Party conservatives in the House of Representatives managed to stall debt ceiling talks to the point of almost ending them altogether.)

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Missouri House Republican Steve Tilley dove to cover questions of his judgment this week by blasting members of the grassroots organization that kept his party on life support while his establishment clique spent us into oblivion during the Bush years. Tilley chose the path of progressives in attacking the tea party to hide his own faulty judgment in championing a member of the legislature with radical connections by calling those who criticized him “race baiters.” He did so from the floor of the Missouri House and via the local paper. It’s the tactic of the establishment trying to exert control over a grassroots movement that is stronger than the GOP – sadly, they chose to use a tactic of the ideology from which they hope to differentiate themselves.

It began when St. Louis blogger and tea partier Reboot Congress called attention to the background of Rep. Jamilah Nasheed, the sponsor of the local control legislation. Nasheed’s has a redemptive story, though her apparent participation with the New Black Panther Party – the group at the center of the DOJ voter intimidation scandal, whose leaders preach about killing babies and hating “crackers” – poses the question as why Tilley would align himself with someone who has an active connection to a group making headlines.

From Reboot Congress:

Make no mistake, this is not about Rep. Nasheed who’s personal story ranges from tragic to redemptive. If the people of Missouri’s 60th house district want her to represent them, so be it. However, that does not mean that a Missouri House dominated by Republicans should place her in a leadership position. Speaker Tilley has demonstrated a lack of judgment and opportunistic leadership in his rush to get the Local Control bill passed.

From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

Before the bill passed, both Nasheed and Rep. Tishaura Jones, D-St. Louis, said they were ashamed at those fighting local control for injecting race into the debate. The representatives were referencing a blog post affiliated with the St. Louis Tea Party that accused Nasheed of being affiliated with the “New Black Panther Party.”

The blog post also criticized Speaker of the House Steve Tilley, R-Perryville, for supporting the bill. In a speech on the floor before the vote, Tilley drew attention to the race issue.

“I think we’ve seen race-baiting at a level that I haven’t seen since I’ve been here,” Tilley said.

Either St. Louis Post-Dispatch writer Tony Messenger misquoted Tilley or Tilley meant what he said and used Messenger as a stooge to connect the dots. Only one of these premises is valid. This is expected from Democrats but from Republicans?

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That would be Chris Christie, the new Governor of New Jersey. From the Save Jersey Blog, this priceless video clip of Christie speaking bluntly at a press conference. Be sure to click on the link, then send it to every RINO you know, starting with John McCain, Orrin Hatch and Lindsey Graham.

It’s about time we gave the left a taste of its own medicine, no?

The Mainstream Media’s (MSM’s) latest sport is to try to accuse the Tea Party activists of being Republican hacks. The reality is that their spin is demonstrative again, of their Pavlovian simplicity and lack of vision for their own agenda.

In truth, were the Democrats to give up their agenda of bigger government, more debt, and more spending, some Tea Partiers would return to the party of their grandparents.  Sadly, it appears more likely that donkeys will fly than turn from their statist tack.  For now, donkeys aren’t flying, and the Republicans have an opportunity to garner the support of the Tea Party if they play their cards right.

Tea Partiers will admit that the Republican agenda is much more closely aligned with theirs than the Democrats, even if they are not ready to be pigeonholed with that label.  Most Tea Partiers say that under certain conditions, they might be Republicans, but for now, they are happy “looking in” and demanding changes. (more…)