Too Much to Ask?

Normally I don't get political, but something has really been irking me lately.  Its the inauthenticity of the Tea Party, or at least the politicians that are jumping on the Tea Party bandwagon.  I have said for quite some time that America needs a strong third party to combat the constant finger-pointing and partisanship that has our government in a choke hold.  Unfortunately, what I have been hoping for, the Tea Party is not.

There are so many separate factions of the Tea Party, some people who call themselves Libertarians, some people who are ultra conservative Republicans, others who are just anti-government in general.  They call themselves the "Tea Party Patriots" and "Tea Party Express," and they say they are strict protectors of the Constitution and what our Founding Fathers intended our Republic to be.  As a history buff, I think its a great idea, but its kind of like Communism - good in theory, not always good in practice.

My point is that, if you are going to resurrect the virtues of our infant nation (because really, its only been a few hundred years) then please get the facts straight.  There is something called the Internet, which 9 times out of 10 is a great source of knowledge.

Take for instance, Rep. Michele Bachmann's (R-MN) gaffe in Concord, NH in March.  It could have been easily avoided had Bachmann picked up an elementary school social studies textbook and looked up the actual location of the "shot heard 'round the world."    

Then there's Sarah Palin, who recently paid a visit to Boston, MA and gave a terribly muddled explanation of Paul Revere's historic ride.  Maybe I'm just being an elitist.  After all, I grew up in New England and people who grew up in other parts of the country probably didn't have to recite Paul Revere's Midnight Ride in school and didn't take field trips to important places tied to the birth of our nation.

I think my rage can be best summed up by Jon Stewart's rant on the Daily Show a couple of nights ago.  In his swear-laced tirade, Stewart addresses Donald Trump's inability to take his new found friend Ms. Palin to a good pizza place in New York City.  The segment is humorous and a bit over the top, but Stewart's point is that, its about pride and respect.

If the politicians who want to represent us as a nation don't know what happened in their own backyard be it now, yesterday or a few hundred years ago, what does that say about us?  If we as voters allow these people to continue slipping up and saying silly things, when will it end?

Demand more of the politicians you'll be voting for in our upcoming elections, not because I'm telling you to or any other media outlet tells you to, but because this is our country and our politicians should make us proud, not make us wince.  And to the staffers who have to follow the aforementioned politicos around -- carry an encyclopedia.