The Next Tea Party

Taxation without representation in the form of the Stamp Act of 1765 and the Townshend Acts of 1767 brought a seething discontent among American colonists to the boiling point by 1773. A tea boycott against the British East India Company organized by John Hancock had succeeded in reducing the sale of English tea in the colonies from 320,000 lbs to 520 by 1773. Dockworkers had aided in this effort by refusing to unload East India Company ships. A standoff between the Royal Governor in Massachusetts and the boycott leaders was inevitable.

On the evening of December 16, 1773, a group of men calling themselves the “Sons of Liberty” boarded three British ships, the Beaver, the Eleanor and the Dartmouth, and dumped forty-five tons of tea into Boston Harbor.

Editor’s Note: As there was no EPA at the time, the perpetrators were free from any threat of punitive damages or costs associated with marine ecosystem rehabilitation.

So what does this history lesson have to do with a second Boston Tea Party?

It probably will not be in Boston and will definitely not involve tea. But it should and I hope will involve dumping 45 (or more) tons of useless cargo into the Potomac in 2008. A complete emptying of the cargo holds at the Federal, State and Local level. For too long, the East India Companies of today; the Democrat and Republican parties have shipped the same tired old cargo of recycled politicians to Washington DC.

After staying just long enough to secure a lucrative position at some Beltway Bandit or high powered K Street firm (Dewey, Cheatham and Howe?), they abandon ship and wash-up in the offices of their old cronies from their former life.

The dance goes on year after year; election cycle after election cycle. Meet the new boss; same as the old boss.

Well, I think it’s time all that changed.

This election year: THROW ALL THE BUMS OUT! Yep, every single, vapid airhead who gets $400.00 haircuts; every former Klansman masquerading as an Elder Statesmen; every Senator who plays footsie in men’s room stalls; every Attorney General who thinks granting blanket amnesty to folks WHO BROKE THE LAW is a good idea.

From where I sit, it can’t possibly get worse.