The Difference Between a Tea Party “Patriot” and a Real Patriot

Republicans are great at coining a term and using it over and over and over and over and – well you get the point. It’s as if there’s a secret handbook only conservatives are given access to where they’re instructed which words to say and when to say them. Rich people aren’t wealthy, they’re “job creators.” Laws that legalize using religion to discriminate against others are “religious freedom” laws. Even when it comes to patriotism they act as if they’re the only ones who are patriotic. As if flying an American flag, putting a “God Bless America” bumper sticker on their vehicle and finishing sentences with “support our troops” instantly makes them patriotic. 

It’s Propaganda 101, but they’re masters of it. Though it’s easy to be a master of propaganda when you’ve conditioned those who support you to blindly support almost anything you say. 

And while I don’t doubt some of these conservatives are true patriots, many of them aren't anything close to being that.

A true patriot loves this country. They want to make this country better for every American, not just those who look like them. A real patriot might question our government, but they don’t hoard guns in anticipation of overthrowing it. True patriots respect our military by only putting them in harm’s way if it’s absolutely necessary, not because they want something by which to try to define their presidency. 

Real patriots respect the rights of all Americans, they don’t try to pass laws which aim to restrict the rights of those who they don’t feel should have certain rights. Actual patriots realize that the best way to fix our government is to make sure it’s easier for every American to vote, not harder. 

Genuine patriots understand that supporting our troops means supporting our troops, even after they've served their country and are trying to adapt to civilian life. Authentic patriotism means understanding that being an American isn’t defined by skin color, gender, religion, sexual orientation, how many flags you own or how many guns you possess. 

Patriotism means understanding that there’s no such thing as “traditional American values” because our Constitution was set up for a nation to evolve and grow as society evolves and grows. It’s not always liking who’s president, but not actively rooting for their failure. 

It means supporting our Constitution, even if it doesn’t support something you think should be constitutional – but isn’t. 

Most tea party “patriots” don’t fall into any of those categories. They say they love our Constitution, yet do everything they can to violate it whenever it doesn’t side with their personal beliefs. They say they support our troops yet their party is the one that always sends them off to needless wars. They brag about their love for America while hating most Americans. They constantly harp on about standing for freedom while seeking to restrict the freedoms for those with which they disagree.

The only “patriotism” that’s found within most of these tea party “patriots” is found in the trinkets they own, like flags and bumper stickers, yet when it’s time to act like an actual patriot they don’t have the slightest clue what that actually means.

Why America is the world's greatest country!

PBR Sold To Russian Company

Iconic Milwaukee-based blue collar and hipster favorite Pabst Blue Ribbon has been sold for $700M to a company based in Russia. 

The buyer is Oasis Beverages, a Russian brewer and beverages distributor. Backing Oasis is TSG Consumer Partners, an American private equity firm focused on consumer goods, which will take a minority stake. “Pabst Blue Ribbon is the quintessential American brand – it represents individualism, egalitarianism and freedom of expression – all the things that make this country great,” Eugene Kashper, the chairman of Oasis Beverages, said in a statement. Pabst has been owned by Dean Metropoulos, the consumer products magnate who recently took over the Twinkie line of products from Hostess Brands with private equity firm Apollo. Mr. Metropoulos acquired Pabst in 2010 for about $250 million, and the sale to Oasis and TSG will be a healthy return on his investment.

Pabst Brewing was founded 170 years ago. Included in the sale are its brands Lone Star, Stroh's, Old Milwaukee, Schlitz, and Colt 45.

The most honest moment in television!

Post by Levi Shaffer.

An open letter to the conservative men of America

Dear Conservative Man,

As I write this, you are probably gearing up for your 4th of July celebration. Perhaps you have reverently hung the Chinese-made American flag you whip out for holidays. You might be lovingly staring at that Stars and Stripes shirt you bought at Walmart (made in Taiwan), or maybe you’ve dug out the silver-plated bald eagle belt buckle to polish, which was machine tooled in Malaysia. You are showing your patriotism… for China, Malaysia and Taiwan.

Steve Stockman

Do you have fireworks? I bet you headed over the state line to pick up the “fun” stuff, didn’t you? Who cares that your neighbor is an Iraq war vet with PTSD who reacts very badly to loud noises. He’s an unemployed slacker, living off the “teat,” as you and your conservative buddies so eloquently put it.
By God, if you hadn’t had those bunions during the Vietnam war, you’d have been in country, killing gooks with the best of them. Hell, you even had a “Bomb Hanoi” lapel button.

And war. You love war. You’ve never actually served, but you love the idea of blowing up countries with different religious beliefs, or too much government. It didn’t matter that Saddam Hussein had absolutely nothing to do with the attacks of 9/11; those damn towel-heads deserve everything we gave ‘em.

It didn’t matter that no one ever found weapons of mass destruction (other than the biological weapons the U.S. and Great Britain sold Saddam that he used on his own people), George W. Bush was the greatest president America ever had because he kept us safe.


You’re excited about what’s happening in North Carolina, Ohio and Texas! Men who look exactly like you forbidding uppity women from killing their babies. Yes, it’s fun to oppress people, especially women who have the gall to stand up for themselves, when they should just shut up, know their role and go make you a sandwich. Steve Stockman is your hero because he gets it. You give unborn babies guns and no more abortions! Praise Conservative Jesus, pass a coat hanger.

My guess is, you’re pretty upset about the whole DOMA thing. And why shouldn’t you be? In the minutes after the Supreme Court ruled DOMA was unconstitutional, millions of straight marriages collapsed faster than a 50-year old bridge.

Wait, that didn’t happen. Well, it will, because Pat Robertson, Rick Santorum, Bryan Fischer and Michele Bachmann say it will, and you follow them like a lemming, right over the cliff. You remember with great fondness a time when gay bashing wasn’t just legal, it was encouraged. Uganda‘s got it right, dammit.

What’s the deal with all this religious freedom attacking your religious freedom? America is a Christian nation; we have God on our money and in the Pledge of Allegiance and our motto is “In God We Trust.” See? No Muslim terrorist, liberal atheist or left-wing witches are gonna change the fact that God loves America. At least he used to until we let all the fags get married and women wear pants.

In closing, Conservative Man, let me just say this. If you read this letter and think “Hell yes, this is exactly what I believe and who I am,” you’re what’s wrong with America.

Happy 4th of July!

Let's Get Naked

Now let me say right up front that I am one of those folks that love being naked. Unfortunately, in America, I am one of those people that Americans will pay me to put my clothes back on! 

When just a mere child I loved going naked outdoors and my mother would chase me down and spank me for my daring! The guys would skinny dip in the irrigation ponds. The locker rooms in high school were either a place of great fear or a place to show your God given gifts! 

Americans are as up tight about naked bodies as they are sexuality. With both of these concepts, people talk in whispers or go over board to shield children from the fact that either people have bodies and have sex. 

From early childhood, we are taught to cover our bodies in shame. Magazines or television shows were boycotted because they dared to show a naked body. For years, never was a man's privates allowed to be shown in a movie but it was a free for all with women breasts! God fid if a person was discovered walking around naked in a beach or park. 

In Europe, it is commonplace to take off one's clothes on the beach or even in parks to get the perfect tan. In America, it will get you arrested and you will have to register as a sex offender in some states!

Our society has become body obsessed and some are body police. They attempt to say who can go naked and who should not be allowed that freedom. Of course the criteria is that you must have a body created on 'Muscle Beach' in Los Angeles and an endowment down to your ankles for most people to celebrate your nakedness. Women are encouraged to show breasts while men are punished for relaxing in the sun. 

There is a great divide between those who sleep naked and those who cover themselves up. People who sleep with something on tend to view those of us who sleep naked as just one step away from perverts. And don't even think about confessing that you walk around naked in your own home when no one is around! 

Wouldn't be wonderful if every gender could have the freedom to celebrate their body? That no one had to feel shame about their appearance. That nudity is not sinful but a place of freedom. That all of us could feel the joy of swimming in the ocean naked or allowing the sun to make us tan all over! That children are raise to believe that the human body is magnificent, diverse and a beautiful.

So my friends, summer is here. Shed your clothes and with hold your judgements. Get naked, get proud!

Landmarks of Freedom Under Construction

'Oh Beautiful For Spacious Skies For Amber Waves Of Grain...'