I'm trying really hard to put myself in their place. If Bush were president, and he ran up a huge deficit and raised cut my taxes, would I be mad enough to go to a demonstration called a "tea party" and toss away perfectly good tea in a protest derivative of the Boston Tea Party...okay, there's no if. Bush really did run up a huge deficit, squandering the budget surplus Clinton left him with. And he didn't cut my taxes, but he did cut taxes for the very wealthy and those who earn capital gains.
But I still didn't protest, at least not until he started that stupid war.
So, in my view, starting a stupid war where thousands die needlessly is a reason to protest. Raising taxes on the very wealthy, while cutting taxes on the middle class, is not. Spending billions to boost the economy and put people back to work is not a reason to protest, but spending trillions in Iraq building bridges and ill-will is.
This is making my head spin. Try as hard as I might, I can't understand the reasoning behind those protests yesterday. Except to blame it on partisan, Fox-induced rabble raising, with a touch of sore-loser thrown in. Is this what the next eight years are going to be like? It's sort of like watching a two-year old have a tantrum; at first it's funny but then it gets really annoying.
For some sanity, you can read Robert Reich, who I turn to those times when I desperately need irony laced with good old-fashioned expertise.
And if you prefer a pie chart, here's a nice looking one that separates the cherries from the chaff:
