Tea Party redux 

Dec 16 is the anniversary of The Boston Tea Party. It was a matter of principle; the overall price of tea had just gone down because the British East India Co. had been awarded the right to dump its oversupply on us without paying export taxes to Britain. Today, if president Bush drove into town, you could stand on the sidewalk to greet him with a pro-Bush sign, but if you held up an anti-Bush sign and you refused to leave, you would be arrested. And parading without a permit (in the street) is no longer just an infraction, it’s officially terrorism.

We import most of our foreign oil from non-Islamic countries. What we steal from Iraq only slightly defrays war costs. Dubya’s “political capital� has been noted (by himself) as prior motivation. And corporate man Cheney swore at Sen. Leahy for criticizing Halliburton. Kerry was a regular AIPAC crooner, but almost all candidates for national office are. Neocons in high places are all about “securing the realm� for Israel, but the news media are mum, having been taken in hand at all echelons by Jewish Americans intent on preventing the scourge of anti-Semitism and protecting “poor little Israel.� Israel in turn repays our generosity only with treachery. Does anyone remember the U.S.S. Liberty? But let us not be conspiracy theorists.

The Boston Tea Party … it’ll take our minds off electoral fraud!

Adonis (Don) Tate

San Luis Obispo