LV Tea Party Advocates Return to Old-Time Book Burnin'

It's what made this country great, right?

Wait, that was Nazi Germany.

On Friday night, I snuck into Lehigh Valley Tea Party's monthly meeting, which was being held in Palmer Township. Sure, I saw a few of the usual wing nuts, like Ron Shegda. Joe Hilliard was sitting up front, saying "here, here" a lot. There wasn't a single black or Hispanic-looking person in the crowded and stuffy room. But there sure were a lot of people, at least 320 of them. And they listened politely for over an hour as some author droned on about "individual rights" and "freedom" and getting rid of social security and Medicare and things like that.

Every now and then, he'd say something like "I hope Harry Reid goes down," and everyone would start clapping and stomping their feet. They're angry.

By the way, did you know that the Sherman anti-trust Act, passed by a Republican Congress and signed into law by a Republican President, was the first step on the road to socialism? Neither did I. Imagine that.

Well, after spending an hour listening to a lecture about the importance of our individual liberties, the local tea party decided to get into the book bannin' biz. They're taking aim at a book being used at Easton High School, Barbara Ehrenreich's "Nickled and Dimed." That's a story about a year the author spent as a waitress and doing other low-skilled jobs. She's an advocate of a "living wage," and that scares the hell out of Lower Saucon Township resident Eric Adams. He complains that Ehrenreich's tome, like the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, is yet another step along the slippery slope of socialism. He wants the book banned, but the high school has already told him to pound sand.

On March 18, LV Tea Party shock troops will rally at the Easton School Board with their pitchforks and torches. "Let's have a big showing at the meeting to let these people know we mean business!" Here's what one member says. "I know how hard it is to crack the curriculum that is advanced by the libs.

Wait a tic. After an hour of listening to some professor talk about the importance of individual rights, these "patriots" are going to trample all over the First Amendment and censor ideas simply because they disagree with them? I can see the oil painting now, of self-proclaimed Tea Party King Joe Hilliard, courageously burning books they decide are just too damn progressive. For our own good.

What will be next?

Here's a list of the ten most frequently banned books in this nation: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (that damn "n" word); The Catcher in the Rye (farting in church); To Kill a Mockingbird (that damn "n" word again); Bridge to Terabithia (Isn't this now a Disney movie?); The Lord of the Flies (It's pretty much what happens in the blogosphere); Of Mice and Men (Ewww, poor people); The Color Purple (doesn't use the "n" word, but is full of 'em); Harry Potter Series (Hey, it might turn you into a geek); Slaughterhouse Five (probably because it's dedicated to my mother); and The Bluest Eye (I got a black eye sneaking that one around).

What patriots!

When they've finished with the books, what will they ban and/or burn next?