From the opinion page of the Journal and Courier, this letter was published on August 15, 2011:
Tea party not nihilists as columnist suggests
Demagogues seek influence and political power by appealing to the prejudices, emotions, fears and expectations of the public. They manipulate a political issue in a manner to distort the truth by appealing to people’s emotions and prejudices.
On Aug. 3, the Journal & Courier published Richard Cohen’s column that portrayed the tea party as radicals, nihilists and a “totalitarian movement.” This followed reports of U.S. Rep. Mike Doyle and Vice President Joe Biden’s likening of tea party Republicans as “terrorists.”
What supposed evil has the tea party done to deserve this?
Because it had the nerve to follow constitutional principles of limited government and the low taxes and low spending that go along with it?
The definition of nihilism is the total rejection of established laws and institution. How ironic that Cohen uses this term against the tea party, which strives for following the Constitution as originally intended by our Founding Fathers.
Our federal government is almost $15 trillion in debt, which means today every man, woman and child would have to pay $45,000 if we ever intend to pay off this obligation. That debt was incurred by Republicans and Democrats. Raising the debt ceiling did not make this problem go away. The “compromise” that Cohen strives for will not make it go away. Taxing the rich (i.e., employers) will merely raise unemployment and stifle small business, and so will not make it go away. Reducing spending will. Simplifying regulations will. Simplifying the tax code will.
John Pickerill
Crawfordsville
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