The American Spectator : No Tea in England

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No Tea in England

By Aaron Goldstein on 8.16.11 @ 6:08AM

The Left seems to prefer British rioters to American Tea Partiers.

“This is the uprising of the working class. We’re redistributing the wealth. In America you have the tea party, in England you’ve got this.”
— Bryn Phillips, U.K. rioter and self-described “anarchist”

Believe it or not, Mr. Phillips might very well be on to something here. In America, Tea Party activists gather across the country to peacefully dissent against irresponsible fiscal policy by Democrats and Republicans alike. In England, gangs of young nihilists wantonly assault and kill people, setting buildings ablaze and redistributing wealth by pillaging goods (though, notably, they don’t seem too interested in books). This is what they’ve got in England indeed.

By stark contrast, of the thousands of Tea Party rallies that have taken place across the United States over the past two years or so, I don’t recall any broken windows, burning buildings or bloodied foreheads. In fact, I defy anyone to name a Tea Party activist who has been arrested for either damaging property or inflicting bodily harm. And yet it is the Tea Partiers who the left-wing chattering classes in America call terrorists, accuse of waging jihad and scold for bringing the country to the brink of disaster. Well, England has gone past the brink and has been overwhelmed by disaster of the man-made variety. Do our left-wing chattering classes condemn the hooliganism in London? Thomas Friedman of the New York Times surely does not:

London burns. The Arab Spring triggers popular rebellions against autocrats across the Arab world. The Israeli Summer brings 250,000 Israelis into the streets, protesting the lack of affordable housing and the way their country is now dominated by an oligopoly of crony capitalists. From Athens to Barcelona, European town squares are being taken over by young people railing against unemployment and the injustice of yawning income gaps, while the angry Tea Party emerges from nowhere and sets American politics on its head.

So when 68-year old Richard Mannington Bowes was beaten to death for trying to put out a fire near his home in London’s Ealing neighborhood and a hundred-plus hooligans prevented police from coming to his aid? That was just their youthful way of “railing against unemployment.” The thug who ran off with Bowes’ wallet was merely protesting “yawning income gaps.” Yet in Friedman’s enlightened eyes it is the Tea Party that is “angry.”

If Prime Minister David Cameron’s Tory-Liberal Democrat coalition directly responds to the riots by enacting some kind of youth employment initiative, then the government will have rewarded lawless behavior. Crime will have paid off. Those rioting Britons were not like the young Israelis currently protesting against Benjamin Netanyahu over the increasing cost of living in major cities. No, those young Britons were engaged in nothing more than wanton violence, and to describe their actions as a political protest is an insult to those who partake in peaceful protest worldwide — from the Israelis who want more from their government to the Tea Party activists here in America who want less from ours.

The fact that Tea Party activists want less government is precisely what bedevils the Tom Friedmans of the world. To Friedman and his ilk, wanting less government is an unnatural state of being and thus no sane person could be in favor of such a thing. In their eyes, Tea Party activists are not engaged in an authentic expression of political discontent.

Yet Friedman has no trouble whatsoever in viewing the riots in England as such an expression. This is not to say Friedman isn’t troubled by their “criminal mutations.” But since he believes they share his worldview when it comes to unemployment and the wage gap, Friedman cannot bring himself to unambiguously condemn their behavior. It could be said that Friedman views the London rioters as Keynesians in the rough. If that is the case then their actions can be characterized as a vicious counter-cycle.

Thomas Friedman and the left-wing chattering classes can disagree with the aims and objectives of the Tea Party all they want. But they’re deceiving themselves if they view the Tea Party as inauthentic or insincere in their beliefs. They are also mistaken if they believe the Tea Party, as Friedman suggests, “emerges from nowhere.” While the Tea Party congealed during the early months of the Obama Administration, the source of its discontent has been decades of unsustainable government spending by both Democrats and Republicans alike. Tea Partiers are no more amenable to President Bush’s TARP than they are to President Obama’s stimulus program. They are no more enamored with Medicare Part D than they are with Obamacare.

But as long as Friedman insists on calling the Tea Party “a Hezbollah faction” that “will take the GOP on a suicide mission,” then he should be viewed as an unserious person. After all, it should never be forgotten that Hezbollah was responsible for the murder of 241 of our Marines in Beirut. That Friedman likens the Tea Party to an organization that actually carries out murder while giving the hoodlums in England a pass renders me to conclude that he is incapable of reason when evaluating those who fall outside the narrow parameters of his point of view.

If there’s any country in dire need of a vibrant Tea Party movement, it is Britain. Alas, it would appear that there is no tea in England.

About the Author

Aaron Goldstein writes from Boston, Massachusetts.

Letter to the Editor View all comments (70) | Leave a comment Leave a comment

oldfart| 8.16.11 @ 7:00AM

Perhaps Mr. Friedman should lift his head a little from his laptop while sipping his overpriced beverage at Starbucks and see what is going on. Will it take a thousand Mr. Phillips raging through Times Square to get Mr. Friedman's attention or will it take Mr. Friedman face down in a New York city gutter to get the attention of the sophists at the NYT?

Anthony| 8.16.11 @ 9:21AM

Maybe we should give Friedman and Harry Reid a taste of what's to come if we continue with this insane spending.
Yeah, I would not mind watching a few folks do a "Clockwork Orange" on ole Tom and Harry. I always was partial to Singing in the Rain.".
Come to think of it, I'll settle for a good ole fashioned ass kicking of these revolting leftists, which will becoming in 2012.

PolishKnight| 8.16.11 @ 9:59AM

In defense of Starbucks, it's not that expensive and I marvel that they provide their coffee at the same price as the airport.

Two Bucks for a 24 ounce cup of high quality coffee. That's not so bad. In addition, Starbucks raised the bar on coffee. I remember 25 years ago that coffee in the states was mud. Now, most places try to serve decent coffee.

cuban pete| 8.16.11 @ 4:56PM

Bardzo dobre!

RCV| 8.16.11 @ 5:41PM

PK, I'm proud to agree with you. They've done well because they produce a darn good product.

Mike D.| 8.16.11 @ 7:24AM

The leftists will never rail against the dependency class they created. This is their standing army. It is a form of power of last resort if they need it for counter-revolutionary purposes. They will use it without any reservations. It(violence in the streets) is self-triggering when the inevitable end of the collectivist money train passes the crossing.
They love this stuff, its what they preach.

martin j smith| 8.16.11 @ 7:30AM

The Rhetoric from the left IS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS. It may seem annoying like having a mosquito buzz you. But in point of fact all of this name calling is de-humanizing and can cause the kind of incidents we have seen to spread such as more Flash Mobs seen in Philly or more like the fires in London. It may be necessary again to educate voters about these dangers and how to protect themselves from danger. This is no joke. The Socialists are perfectly ready to kill in the name of progress. The Socialists as far as I am concered are not nicy nicy proper politicians but more accurate Marxist-Leninist-Ainskyites who have moral code of any kind.

martin j smith| 8.16.11 @ 7:31AM

Timothy L. Pennell| 8.16.11 @ 7:52AM

These are the people that Obama CHOSE to hang around, in College. READ HIS BOOKS.
"I was very careful, who I chose to surround myself with, at school."
And, then he CAREFULLY chose to hang with the RADICALS and the ANARCHISTS, the PUNK ROCK POETS, the SOCIALISTS, and the RADICAL BLACKS.
Every one of these groups, are in the streets of London, right now.
Has anyone heard any DENUNCIATIONS, coming from him?
Of course not.
Has anyone heard ONE WORD from HIS MAJESTY, the 1st Black President, on the BLACK RACE RIOTS, going on in THIS COUNTRY, in American Cities?
Of course not.
It's all part of the PLAN.
"And I saw the BEAST rise from the Sea. And he was given a MOUTH, to speak Haughty and Blasphemous words. And he was allowed to exercise authority for forty two months. Revelation 13-5.
He is ALLOWING these BLACKS to RIOT, in our Cities. His SILENCE is a Green Light, for them to continue. Just like his treatment of Israel's Netanyahu, and Egypt's Mubarak, was the GREEN LIGHT, for the Arab Uprisings.
He NEEDS for there to be ANARCHY.
Now, tell me how wrong I am.

A. C. Santaore| 8.16.11 @ 10:21AM

I cannot tell you how wrong you are because you're not wrong at all.

You are precisely correct in every detail, thanks.

TrueBlue| 8.16.11 @ 3:39PM

Assuming that line from Revelation is correct (I'm not one for believing in prophecy; they tend to be self-fulfilling) what do you expect to happen in July of next year, several months before the elections? It does after all state 42 months, not 48.

Timothy L. Pennell| 8.17.11 @ 7:07AM

I expect him to be DEAD.
The way he is? The things he does? How he lives like a KING, while demanding SACRIFICE, from the rest of us? All of the PAIN and SUFFERING he has caused with his JOB KILLING, WEALTH DESTROYING, Policies? All of the Foreclosures and Bankruptcies, lost Savings, and BROKEN DREAMS.
I'm STUNNED, that he isn't dead, already.
And let's look at that 42 Month Deadline.
Tell me another time where the Bible is so PRECISE. Revelation could have used any Timeline. 40 Years. 50 Years. A MILLENEUM.
It used 42 Months. A Presidential Term is 48 Months. The BEAST is believed, by Religious Scholars, to come from the Eternal Sea. The Eternal Sea is the world of POLITICS.
Think about it: Obama is the son of an Atheist/Communist Mother and a Muslim/Marxist Father. He was RAISED in Muslim Indonesia, where he attended the Muslim Schools and Mosques, until the age of 11.
Once he's back in America, he is introduced, by his Communist Grandparents, to his 1st Mentor: The COMMUNIST - Frank Marshall Davis. He attends College, surrounding himself with those, I've already mentioned. The SCUM. He follows his next Mentor: The MARXIST - Jeremiah Wright, for 20 Years. Sitting in the pews of his HATE Church. Listening to his HATE, for 20 Years. He has this Hate filled POS to perform his Marriage. To Baptize his children in to his Church of HATE. He becomes "A member of my family"
That's quite the Indoctrination, for one short life. Wouldn't you say.
His "FRIENDS" are Domestic Terrorists, PLO Terrorist Recruiters, Communists/Marxists/Socialists/Anarchists/Radical Islamists.
We CHOOSE our friends.
He has NO PAPER TRAIL. Nothing. What there is, is LOCKED AWAY. He has NO FRIENDS from school. No ex-girlfriends.
Does that sound NORMAL, to you?
He receives most of his money from a man who HELPED THE NAZIS, exterminate his own people.
Imagine. This FALSE MESSIAH, this BEAST, is being financed by a man who helped in the attempted EXTERMINATION of GOD'S CHOSEN PEOPLE.
And, not only did he help them, but, when asked about those days? He replied: "It was the BEST TIME OF MY LIFE."
His LIFE, speaks for itself. The CONTACTS he's made. The AQUAINTENCES. The FRIENDSHIPS. The ALLIENCES. The CHOICES he has made, his entire life, are DRIPPING with Evil.
I've laid it out, for you. You can believe what you like, but I'll tell you one more thing.
HAMAS believes that he has been SENT BY ALLAH.
HAMAS believes that he is their DELIVERER.
Why would a MURDEROUS, EVIL, SCUM OF THE EARTH bunch, like HAMAS, believe something like that?
Hmmmmmm?

RCV| 8.16.11 @ 5:43PM

Timothy, a little race-obsessed, are we? Did you get your bike stolen by some neighborhood black kid when you were little?

Timothy L. Pennell| 8.17.11 @ 7:08AM

Race obsessed?
I'm TRUTH obsessed. And, sometimes, the TRUTH HURTS.
Take your PC BULLSH*T, and STICK IT!

Skippy| 8.17.11 @ 5:27PM

Black Americans are not the problem.
Black American culture is.

BsT| 8.18.11 @ 8:47PM

If Tim's wrong and Obama is allowed to retire, he will have done more harm to the black equality movement than any other black leader except perhaps the clown Sharpton. After B.O.'s performance in office it will be another generation before the American people elect a black person as president.

Howard| 8.16.11 @ 8:27AM

"Keynesians in the rough". I love it!

Hillel| 8.16.11 @ 8:31AM

I'm a pre-boomer. I remember the Hough Riots in Cleavland and then riot summer of '67 etc. I never understood the enthusiasm for violence. While I was sympathetic to many of the ostensible causes, I always was concerned about maintaining the integrity of my cranial vault. I still don't understand the "Norman Mailer " wing of the Democratic Party.

Doctor Right| 8.16.11 @ 8:40AM

The more that fools like Friedman willfully distort and misrepresent the Tea Party cause, the sweeter the Victory will be in November, 2012.

These Libs are absolutely terrified of what Obama has inadvertently unleashed, and because they've lost their media-monopoly, they can't control it, either.

We're coming, Tommy. Are you afraid? You should be.

Occam's Tool| 8.16.11 @ 10:44AM

Have you seen Friedman's Mansion? Another Libtard hypocrite. (I am happy that he has an opportunity to get rich, pissed off that he wants to pull up the ladder.)

Al Adab| 8.16.11 @ 11:50AM

Exactly on point Dr. The Left still believes in a zero sum game. Those who are rich want to prevent others from becoming so for fear of losing theirs. Conservatives realize that government should act so as to expand opportunity for many to become rich. As Lincoln put it, "That some become rich means that others may become rich." The more opportunity that abounds, the better for everyone from the poor to the top of the ladder.

RCV| 8.16.11 @ 5:47PM

From what I've seen of people like Gates and Buffet, I hardly see any indication that they or other wealthy liberals "want to prevent others from becoming so." Microsoft, Google, Facebook, et al. have made more millionaires out of ordinary Americans than any phenomenon in history. And from every indication I've seen, they're all about spreading opportunity. It's unfair calumny.

Al Adab| 8.16.11 @ 9:51PM

Very good RCV. Capitalism works. To the federal tax fanatics we say, "Get out of the way and unleash the American business sector."

RCV| 8.17.11 @ 2:22PM

Of course it works. And it flourished in our Golden State, to where all those bright, young, vibrant entrepreneurs come to be with other bright, tolerant progressives. BTW, housing is booming once again in Silicon Valley and San Francisco, to where many of the tech companies have relocated.

Clint| 8.16.11 @ 5:26PM

Which Gutless Coward Was Posting Under My Name Today, Nazi Bigot Dr.Reich

It Better Not Be You.

Occam's Tool| 8.16.11 @ 7:41PM

Clint,

wah, wah, wah. The post was very similar to what you do everyday. Everything in it, you agree with.

I can't post as you, myself. I like having an IQ above room temperature. In Celsius.

Anthony| 8.16.11 @ 9:04AM

And you're suprised by this leftist hyprocrisy? Try this one; the left hate Western religion, especially those snake holding fundamentalists found in the Christian right, yet they swoon over the fundamentalists who practice the religion of Islam.
Tea Party activism bad, very bad, imposing Shiria law, good, very good.
Got it?

POST American| 8.16.11 @ 9:05AM

"--Mobs are ALWAYS used, ALWAYS commandeered
from the top down. They are ALWAYS provocateured
to advance and agenda. ALWAYS. ALWAYS.
NEVER join a mob ---EVER."
-ALAN WATT

"We are using MASSIVE third world
immigration to DESTROY British culture
beyond repair, once and for all --FOREVER."
-TONY BLAIR
Fmr PM/ Glow-ball-ist/ Cultural YOU-genist/
---future EU President?
(Daily Mail interview)

-----And of course Cameron and Brown are
certainly on the same bandwagon ---likewise
our CFR front Clintons and Obamas and Bushes.

The state of chronic, irresolvable 'unease' in
Britain was deliberately created, just as it's being
created here. It's TOO obvious to need detailing.

"Did you just here me? ---THIS IS TREASON."
-ALEX JONES

Indeed it is.

-------------------------------TAKE HEED

Bill| 8.16.11 @ 9:42AM

"We are using MASSIVE third world
immigration to DESTROY British culture
beyond repair, once and for all --FOREVER."
-TONY BLAIR

Tony Blair said that? Wow. Are you sure that's an accurate quote? So who is "we?"

Occam's Tool| 8.16.11 @ 10:45AM

It's an Alex Jones quote on Tony Blair. Nonetheless, Blair was way too open on Islamic immigration. Enoch Powell had a lot going for him.

Mike| 8.16.11 @ 9:08AM

They love this stuff, its what they preach.
http://www.summer-products.com
http://www.ainibag.com

Jesse| 8.16.11 @ 9:09AM

Tea Party activism bad, very bad, imposing Shiria law, good, very good.
Got it?
http://www.jerseys-hats-store.com
http://www.honey-gifts.com

hardcard| 8.16.11 @ 9:09AM

Ah ! norman mailer a POS!!! I think he is with his cronies now, stalin, kruschev, mao, hitler, alinsky, birds of a feather flock together.

Dick Nome| 8.16.11 @ 9:12AM

Friedman suffers from chronic Optic/anal inversion. This would have to be corrected first, but he may be a severe case of an untreatable condition.

Bill| 8.16.11 @ 9:55AM

Are his eyes brown?

Petronius| 8.16.11 @ 10:07AM

Known in the UK as autoendoproctanism. A friend in their NHS published a paper on it's diagnosis and treatment. Mind you: thrusting the head of the patient into liquid nitrogen after excision from the rectum results in complications.

Bill| 8.16.11 @ 4:53PM

I can see how that might be problematic.

Bill| 8.16.11 @ 9:32AM

A new book on the genesis of liberty in the Western world by A.C. Grayling (Toward the Light of Liberty) makes the point that, in America, it took a violent revolution to bring democracy (his term; actually republicanism), while in England liberty came via less violent means.

I guess the shoe has now been placed firmly on the other foot, eh?

Bill| 8.16.11 @ 9:36AM

In England, where are the Colonel Pitcairns of yesteryear?

"Disperse, ye rebels! Damn ye, why don't you disperse?'

BANG!

Bill| 8.16.11 @ 9:37AM

Major Pitcairn, sorry.

D. Singh| 8.16.11 @ 9:54AM

Sir

The church no longer speaks truth to power (the State) in miserable old England.

When you do not teach children moral values, such as the Ten Commandments (honour thy mother and father, for example, the fifth commandment at the centre), – then our children do not stop believing – they believe in something else:

The Fear

I want to be rich and I want lots of money
I don’t care about clever I don’t care about funny
I want loads of clothes and fuck loads of diamonds
I heard people die while they are trying to find them

And I’ll take my clothes off and it will be shameless
Cuz everyone knows that’s how you get famous
I’ll look at The Sun and I’ll look in the Mirror
I’m on the right track yeah I’m on to a winner

I don’t know what’s right and what’s real anymore
I don’t know how I’m meant to feel anymore
When do you think it will all become clear?
‘Cuz I’m being taken over by The Fear

Life’s about film stars and less about mothers
It’s all about fast cars concussing each other
But it doesn’t matter cause I’m packing plastic
and that’s what makes my life so fucking fantastic

And I am a weapon of massive consumption
And its not my fault it’s how I’m programmed to function
Now I’m not a saint but I’m not a sinner
Now everything’s cool as long as I’m gettin’ thinner

Lily Allen

RCV| 8.16.11 @ 5:49PM

With all due respect -- and I'm an Anglican -- the Church in England has never from the beginning been about speaking truth to power. The whole institution was initiated by the King of England for his personal moral convenience.

D. Singh| 8.17.11 @ 6:29AM

He made a mistake. We cut off his head.

RCV| 8.17.11 @ 2:23PM

No, he cut off everybody else's.

D. Singh| 8.16.11 @ 9:56AM

P.S. The Sun and the Mirror are popular newspapers read in England by blue collar people.

PolishKnight| 8.16.11 @ 10:01AM

RussiaToday is largely becoming a left wing Pravda hack. They're spewing out commentary on the riots that somehow the kids are misunderstood and need more stuff. It's a load of bull.

It's clear that the rioters are amoral and even apolitical slackers. This is the future of not only Britain, but most of Western Europe.

POST American| 8.16.11 @ 10:14AM

--That's TONY BLAIR and his Home Secretary
JACK STRAW.

He was just being frank about what the Glow-ball-ist
cultural elimination and standardization OP
is calling for everywhere.

It all stems from Freemasonic doctrines of Social Darwinism. Darwinism itself just the innert teachings of Luciferian Freemasonry. Truly.
ALLL about perfecting, bringing through an elite,
establishing and enforcing caste --AND EUGENICS.

Makes one appreciate anew what the Calvinists
meant by the DEADLY 'Doctrine of Works'
--man's notions of his own self-perfection.

It's behing 'SO-SHALL-ALLLL-ism' and 'CALM-YOU-nism' and, of course, all grades of 'FASHION-ism'.

Calvin, or we should say, scripture, and
pure doctrine catches it. It really does.
That's why the Rock-F-L-O foundation et al
have been so diligent in infiltrating, subverting
and demoralizing genuine Chrisitian culture.
The REAL McCoy of doctrine has their number.

"Understand the Globalists are everywhere and
on every level at war with the REAL culture
and the REAL economy."
-ALAN WATT

This is what the TRILLIONS in TAX FREE
'benny violent' foundations have been funding
for over a century now, here and all around the
world.

REALLY has to be faced, called out and dealt
with once and for all.

It's sordid and hideous and has poisoned everything.

Petronius| 8.16.11 @ 10:21AM

Yet again: Read Rank Ignorance: The Spectator of London, 15 July, 2000. There's little England left in England when half of Westminster is joined at the hips with the yobs.
Hey Friedman! That means you too!

Occam's Tool| 8.16.11 @ 10:47AM

Unless we vote in Bachmann or Cain, we will go Britain's way. Sucks.

Fredrick Ward| 8.16.11 @ 1:00PM

Unfortunately I believe you are correct, and I feel that the likelihood of getting a true conservative in office like the two you name is likely not to happen. The blacks will vote as they did in 2008; blindly and stupidly for the most part because they believe that Race actually matters over the beliefs and direction that Obama is taking us. It's truly sad that they count their vote so cheaply.

RCV| 8.16.11 @ 5:50PM

The chances of either Bachmann or Cain even getting the nomination, let alone winning the election, are slim to none, Occam. Zero.

Occam's Tool| 8.16.11 @ 7:38PM

RCV, old man, that's what STEAK bets are for! I mean, you think that Barack will win re-election, and I think that's ridiculous.

All will become apparent in time. You understand, I'm also OK with Palin /West, etc.

I wish Bolton had entered.

RCV| 8.16.11 @ 9:52PM

I think Bolton may well enter the race -- he's very despondent over the lack of any strong foreign policy focus by ANY of the leading GOP candidates -- but honestly, Occam, the man has a negative personality and couldn't get himself elected to the school board.

cowgirl| 8.16.11 @ 12:35PM

Friedman, Krugman, O'Dowd and the New York Slime. Does anybody really listen to any of these fools?

RWinks| 8.16.11 @ 1:08PM

The Tea Partiers believe the government should live within it's means. They believe in small, constitutional government and the rule of law. For this they are condemned as "extremist" by the Democrats.

The belief in small, frugal government and the rule of law has been the default AMERICAN position for most of our history. It has also been the position of BOTH political parties within living memory.

Every American should be outraged at the radical left---the true extremists---for perpetrating this calumny on the American people.

Should Have Impeached| 8.16.11 @ 9:13PM

"Every American should be outraged at the radical left---the true extremists---for perpetrating this calumny on the American people."

Yes, and now many of us see plainly what we always thought we didn't have the power or the catalyst to change: Democrats are not appropriate for the task of governing the U.S. The Tea Party is just an expression of that very awakening. "Republicans" must now by default be synonymous with "Conservative," precisely and unashamedly anti-liberal--or America's modern-day "freedom fighters" will seek to boot them out with the Democrats. It's all as it should be. We are awake. Problem is: We may be a bit outnumbered right now (!)

"There is no tea in England." -- What a wonderful play on a word!

Thunderbottom| 8.16.11 @ 1:26PM

So Tom Friedman believes that the "angry" Tea Party is dangerous and akin to Hezbollah (meanwhile his fellow "journalists" are reluctant to condemn the actions of the REAL Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. So while there is no record of Tea Partiers being convicted or even arrested for assault, vandalism, or mob action, leftists such the SEIU and ACORN storm the offices of banks and mortgage firms, intimidating employees, and staging noisy, rancorous demonstrations outside the homes of financial executives. Striking union workers have vandalized Verizon equipment and property and have barricaded Verizon managers and workers inside Verizon buildings. Leftist demonstrators have trashed downtown area of cities where World Bank, IMF, and G8 economic conferences have been held. And Friedman and his liberal statist comrades would say that the Tea Party is the danger? Please!

Oldefarte| 8.16.11 @ 1:48PM

Aaron's typically excellent article defines the difference between LIBERAL and CONSERVATIVE, and the asinine nature of the former. Fifty years ago, some of us witnessed the street demonstrations by the liberal youth movement in Watts, Chicago, Kent State etc that was eloquently of liberalism in action. Liberals believe that the morality of taking by force that which legally belongs to another is ethically warranted [whihc is pure bullexcrement]. Such animalistic behavour was wrong then, as it is so today. In liberals' mindset, the end always justifies the means, it's DO AS I SAY AND NOT AS I DO, etc. What we observed in the 1960's eventually went underground and emerged as subversive political activity, with that era's hippies turning into the ultra-liberal politicians, MSM writers and media personalities of today. The culmination of all of this was, as Pam Geller so eloquently wrote in her editorial the other day, a fifty year march resulting in the political election of the current president. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, just as London etc England has been under seige, so too has our nation, and furthermore OUR GOVERNMENT HAS EFFECTIVELY BEEN '''''CAPTURED''''' by these liberals. These liberals now hold the political power to bring about welfarecare, non-stimulus to unionized state/local governments, mandated cap-n-trade eco-terrorism, the Justice Dept's suing of Arizona over immigration and the turning-a-blind-eye towards all discrimination not white-on-black cases, the Interior Dept's mandating non-offshore oil drilling, etc. Not only is there carnage in the street of England's cities/towns, but additionally there's far more destruction existing in the streets of this nation as well!!!!!!!!!!!!

YeloStalyn| 8.16.11 @ 2:54PM

I, increasingly, find myself thinking that there will only be two options for us in America.
1- No matter how loud we protest or how large of a movement we become, we will still accept the ruling of the government and accept more liberalism (eventually slavery... some would say we may be there now) just like we have every other encroachment of freedom for the last 200 years. From our founding, we have seen the government grow... NEVER shrink. And we have accepted it and now, defend it. Civil Rights telling a store owner who he MUST serve (I'm not a racist... but I also believe in personal determination of ones own property... even if its an economically poor decision to exclude a perfectly viable paying customer for no reason other than optical observation), SS telling us we MUST save for our future (and eventually pay for other people's retirement), Welfare telling us that we MUST pay for other people failure to plan for disaster or poor choices, Medicade/care, affirmative action, and a multitude of regulations... all telling us that we're free so long as we only do what we're told.

2- We eventually grab our pair, and grab our rifle and show the liberals just how extreme we are about living free or dying. This... however... I think will never happen. Sadly. I don't want violence... but through history it has been the most effective, and often only recourse for those who seek good that is in direct opposition to those who seek to force evil. There would be a drastic difference between this and the riots in London. We, I believe, would only strike out as a defensive/protective action. We would stop those who seek to control of from controlling us. The riots in London are an attempt to force control on others. To demand that other people do more for the rioters.

Are we willing, like our Founders, to go to the mattress over freedom? I am afraid that, as a whole, we are not. There are some who are... but as soon as they do, no matter how justified they are when that dread day comes, they will "turn off" many who the day before stood side by side with them at a Tea Party rally. They will be scared... because fear of reprisal from a viscious, monsterous force known as liberalism (see: riots, Soviet Gulags, Nazi Gestapo and camps, Pol Pot, Mao, Che, etc.) that will rip them limb to limb... and they won't have the stomach to try and fight back.

RCV| 8.16.11 @ 6:38PM

And who is it, YeloStalyn, you're going to take your little rifle and shoot? The local cops? The US Army?

Maybe instead, you could sit back, take a deep breath, and thank God you live in the freest most prosperous time in history, in a great country, where you can elect whatever representatives you want -- hell, run yourself if you think you have something to offer. You can sit in your room and type any political thought you have -- critical of our President, major corporate leaders, the Pope, anyone you want -- and instantly several million people can read your thoughts. You can fly anywhere in the world you want. And yet, you sit here wallowing in self-pity and call yourself a "slave"?

You, sir, don't have an inkling of what a fortunate person you are.

Occam's Tool| 8.16.11 @ 7:39PM

Yes, RCV, and I'd like to keep it that way. Anybody but Paul/Johnson/Obama 2012.

YeloStalyn| 8.17.11 @ 9:56AM

Why don't you ask the "scab" that was shot yesterday who he should have defended himself against? (answer: A union thug... someone on the left) Or what about the shop keepers in England? (answer: the young hooligans who are lashing out to tell the "rich" and the "police" that they can "do what they want"... kids raised to believe that they are owed something for nothing... liberalism) Or maybe the people from all these race mobs happening all across the country? (answer: young kids, often black [which should be seen more as a reference to the urban culture rather than race alone, although to them it does matter... there are records of them proclaiming as much], who think that the rich white people owe them something for nothing. Again... raised by ideals of inner city liberalism). No... it won't be the police unless we tolerate these people long enough to ligitimize their demands in the government, at which point the police will then be compelled to defend those stances.
Heck... let's assume someone carries their freedom out to the Nth degree right now, in todays free America. SS is unConstitutional. Even if you accept that it may have been at its inception (which I don't) it's a ponzi scheme now and that's illegal. As such, let's say you exercise your right to property and refuse to allow the government to steal from you any longer (they don't have the power to take your money to simply give it to someone else... they have the power to tax to maintain the Constituted functions they are directed to carry out). If you refuse... who comes knocking on your door? And what's the end result if you continue to refuse? You're either arrested or shot. That's in TODAY's world.
I pay my SS taxes out of fear... not loyalty. I have no means to combat the police (and usually am a very pro police person... even considered joined the force at one point and have friends who have/do serve).
So... seeing as how I work to pay for someone else who doesn't have to... that's slavery. I'm compelled, by force, to sustain someone else. No... it's not like it was in the 19th century (thank God we moved past such barbarism and God forgive us for having ever been in that position). But freedom is, increasingly, becomming confined to only small parts of your life (yes, we can say what we want [unless its anti-Obama then you face charges of racism which aren't far from being seen as hate crimes], travel where we want, etc. Like I said... you're free so long as you do what you're told. That's a fact. We even have a president... RIGHT NOW... who said he wants the Constitution to be a list of "positive liberties" for the federal government. He fundamentally believes in somethign different than the very point of the Constitution... to DEFEND US from the government. Instead, he wants to codify it's control of us.

Besides... if you read what I said in whole... I never said we were there yet... in such dire circumstances. But our trajectory doesn't look so bright right now. We can still correct it... but there are people working to make things worse. How long it will take to get there? No idea. Hopefully we never do. Hopefully we can go back to limited government, self responsibility, and the like before it's too late. Europe was worse off than us before it fell apart... so we have time to change coarse. We need to get new leadership... people who won't keep jamming on the gas as the cliff gets closer.

RCV| 8.17.11 @ 4:51PM

Freedom is "confined" to ever-increasing parts of your life, and ever-increasing parts of society. It was only 100 years ago that non-whites gained a constitutional right to have a say in our government, and in much of the country, that right was not realized until 50 years ago. Women -- half of our society, got to have a voice in our government less than a century ago. You now have the ability, and the means to go anywhere you choose, speak to virtually anyone on the planet you want to, and say virtually anything you wish about government, public officials and powerful private people. None of that was even possible until recent decades.

Start taking a broad view of your life, the freedoms you enjoy, and the blessings you have. It will liberate you, I promise.

DRed| 8.17.11 @ 5:38PM

Yelo, you think SS is unconsitutional. Unfortunately, the most of the country disagrees with you. I can understand how that would be frustrating. But it's not slavery. You are perfectly free to leave, or to try to get enough of the rest of us to agree with you and do away with social security.

Being accused of being a racist, is again, probably very upsetting when one isn't a racist. I can empathize. When I express myself I get called a communist and a traitor. It's frustrating for me, but hey, you've got the right to say it.

Pat| 8.16.11 @ 7:52PM

Every successful Fright Movie director needs an effective boogeyman - a deranged guy in a hockey mask or a weirdo sporting long steel fingernails - but definitely someone whose face wouldn’t have appeared in your typical high school yearbook. The mainstream media has opted for the Tea Party as their Michael Myers or their Freddie Krueger – are we going to deny these effeminate scribblers their cheap thrills? And when it comes to riots, two things are always certain. First, someone’s plate glass window is gonna get smashed – and, second, a lot of nonsense will be written about the “underlying causes” afterwards, accompanied by the usual dire predictions regarding the future of civilization.

But teenage girls in skimpy bikinis have far more to dread than a murderous Jason when it comes to government changing riots. In riots which bring down governments, street thugs take control of the show, the more intelligent and the more vicious among the thugs rise to national leadership and begin a campaign to wipe out the opposition; usually involving the indiscriminate slaughter of intellectual pansies on the Left as the first item of business on their daily To Do list - if history tells us anything.

But as much satisfaction as a general housecleaning by the Thugocracy would bring, we’re nowhere near that, either here or in Britain. And when it comes to those scary “underlying causes”, particularly unemployment in the UK, a wise career choice for London’s high school seniors would be learning plate glass window repair.

POST American| 8.16.11 @ 10:54PM

--------------------BOTTOM LINE----------------------

Telling that, at the very height of the Globalist
RED China world TREASON and EUGENICS OP
----no one, but no one, cites such simple and effective
solutions as a quiet General Strike.

Guess Murdoch, ROT-child and Rock-F--L--O
REALLY DO have the media and forums sewed
up into their 'controlled dialectic' afterall.

"----NEVER join a mob ---EVER."
-ALAN WATT

----------------------------------------------AMEN

Brian| 8.17.11 @ 12:12AM

Watch! Ive seen it 100 times. The leftist media will work its magic on the Pavlovian Brit sheeple and the rioters in the UK will soon be extolled as working class heroes.

RCV| 8.17.11 @ 4:52PM

Hardly. All of us recognize those folks for the common thugs they are. They're getting sentenced, one by one, to nice long jail terms.

Nigel| 8.19.11 @ 12:54PM

It would seem that the vast majority on here have completely misinterpreted these events from the 'leftists' to the 'rightists'.

Thomas Friedman was wrong in that they were NOT a protest against the police shooting of the man in Tottenham (under investigation) or a protest against income inequality, but an excuse by a couple of hundred hard-core gangsters to rob and loot and a few anarchistic agitators. The other 10-20 thousand people were simply opportunistic. But the right are wrong, although the first organised looters may have been from an unemployed(unemployable) criminal class, the majority were from all walks of life, from wealthy scions, to public servants and private employees.

Neither was this a 'race riot' as some of the commentators on here have mentioned. In some places there were more black, in others there were more white, but in almost all there was a mixture of all ethnicities.

Between them, they did however represent less than 0.25% of the people in London, even less as a proportion of the country as a whole. And a significant proportion of them are being dealt with severely by the courts, an attitude which the vast majority of people seem to agree with.

Would any of the commentators on here accept a quote of an anarchist as representative of the political reality for any other country? If so, I fear for your ability to exercise influence over your political representatives and be taken seriously.

The American Spectator