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You didn’t think that Republicans had a masterstroke of thought, did you? Call it the Piracy of ideas. They steered their privateering ship up to the SS Libertarian and pillaged and plundered the idea booty of Captain Ron Paul. Argh!!

Tax Protest Origins: Ron Paul Supporters Make Case On “Rachel Maddow” (VIDEO)

Who invented this Tea Party stuff, anyway? Glenn Beck? Rick Santelli? Twinings? The matter is up for dispute. Serious dispute. In fact the dispute over who invented the tea party may be a more serious and substantive dispute than anything that will actually be disputed at the Tea Parties themselves.

On the Rachel Maddow Show Tuesday night, Maddow explained the burgeoning teabaggy rift that’s emerged within the teabaggers. On one side: RON PAUL SUPPORTERS! They were going to float around the country on a blimp and drop tea into Boston harbor. On the other side: a special Astroturf comprised of Newt Gingrich and Fox News and Dick Armies.

YouTube – Rachel Maddow: Tea Parties and Ron Paul

It’s Paul’s supporters who most strenuously claim ownership, and they largely feel that their great works have been co-opted by the GOP. Maddow quotes libertarian activist Jason Pye, who griped to the Washington Independent thusly:

Bringing in someone like [Newt] Gingrich takes away from the message…Newt Gingrich enabled George W. Bush…he enabled the big spending. He lobbied conservative Republicans to compromise their principles and support Medicare Part D. He supported the bailout.”

So how did the tea parties go? Swimmingly. It was a motley mix of anti-fascists, anti-socialists, anti-immigrationists, anti-inclusivists, and anti-taxists but all anti-Obamists. And the publicity-seeking TV pundits and politicians to whom they owe their relevance. Check out the pictures from DC:

There was even a Tea Party here – although not a big one. It was three dudes. At the post office. In Spanish. I wonder if those anti-Immigration dudes in DC would approve.

And as I drove by to mail my taxes, I felt solidarity with the movement. No taxation without representation … that we voted for! I wonder if, given that, I could have not paid my taxes under the 8 years of Bush because I didn’t vote for him! Or if, in the future, I should protest the government policies of the governments I don’t vote for using mob-rallying hyperbole? Wouldn’t be America if I didn’t! These people better be glad ol’ Dick Cheney’s out of office – he wouldn’t have any of this protest shit going on under his watch.

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