Why is the drive-by media trying so hard to destroy the Tea Party?  Len Franckowiak wrote a great oped on the subject, which was published by the Courier and Intelligencer!  It is republished here with his permission.

Politics is so much pushing, shoving, feigning, blaming, self-serving, self- preserving.  “We are fighting for you”, the politician’s mantra.   All of it so obvious in the recent deficit debacle financial fracas. 
With our country in jeopardy, the “Old Timers” in Washington, DC, are quick to blame everyone and anything except themselves and God. They would like to blame God but, unfortunately, He has been banished from town.  Their latest scape goat is “The Tea Party”.  Those evil Teas that pulled back the curtain and exposed the greatest financial deficit in the history of the world.  In the process, they ruined the Old Timers’ plan of kicking the can down the road until the next election. 
The Tea Party.  Founded by no one.  More of an evolution, a gentle rumbling across the land.  People from all walks of life, an amorphous group of citizens, concerned for the wellbeing of our nation.  Citizens gathered in small groups in small rooms. More came. They gathered in parks.  Leaderless.  Respectfully, protesting this and that.   Waving American flags, preaching freedom.  Ordinary Americans going to the podium, speaking extemporaneously.  Those who didn’t speak made signs to express themselves. They were so unsophisticated.  Intellectuals labeled them naïve…a flash in the pan…ignore them and, with the coming of winter, the movement would stop like ice floes on the Delaware, melting away by spring!
But, summer came, and the Teas became more. They simply wanted to be heard by those in the great halls of government, but the government would not listen.  Rallies moved from grassy fields to Washington DC and major cities around the country.  Speakers of substance spoke.  The movement wasn’t going away, and astute politicians got involved.  A fire was lit.
An uncontrollable fire that the Washington Old Timers tried to stomp out, getting burned in the process.  Ignoring the Teas didn’t work.  Casting them as racists didn’t work.  Labeling them as terrorists didn’t work.  Even accusing them of, “shooting every bullet they have at the President” missed the target.  Out of frustration, the Old Timers said, “Let us compromise”.
Compromise!  Compromise:  to concede, deal, find the middle ground, give and take, bargain, meet half way.  Compromise, which is the next best thing to kicking the can down the road. Compromise, the last gasp of a loser. It is the reason criminals make pleas and once powerful men grovel.  Nevil Chamberlain compromised with Hitler. Native Indians compromised with the settlers. The Missouri Compromise saved slavery.  Compromise…doing half of what needs to be done.
We have compromised our morals, our children’s future, our freedom, the truth. We have compromised the meaning of what is written in our Constitution. We have compromised the health of our nation. We have compromised many of our human rights. 
The only solution the Old Timers have for reducing the growth of the deficit over the next zillion years is by demanding, “more porridge (tax revenue) please”.  Make the rich pay more! Build guillotines! Eat their cake! And when the rich are poorer, tax the middle class! How will you feel when your can gets kicked down the road?
The Teas are a threat to the Old Timers because the Teas are principled, have values, are patriots.  They are your neighbor. Your fellow worker. They sit in your pew. They support the community. They love our country. They are mentally prepared to spend a winter, in a hut, in Valley Forge to save the nation. They are ready to push away the ice floes and cross the Delaware once again. They are ready to walk shoeless in the snow through the night, confronting those who would destroy our nation.  The only hope for the Old Timers is that the Wonderful Wizard will change enough things to close the curtain, hiding the dreaded deficit once again.
Historians may describe the Tea Party as a Pandora’s Box.  Perhaps, they instead will write of a time when brave citizens sacrificed to save our nation.  How the Teas stood tall while the loyalists berated them, labeled them non-compromising ideologues, racists, terrorists.  They will write of a people who were proud of their citizenship, loved freedom, and were unafraid to say that God is welcomed in our nation.
The Teas are guilty of unfurling the flag of truth.  The Old Timers fear that their can is about to be kicked down the road.
 
Leonard Franckowiak