The stars at night are big and bright*

Like Texas Governor Rick Perry, we're mad as hell and aren't going to take this any more. (See below for details.) Image above of Mr. Cool James Dean as brooding outsider Jeff Rink in Giant.

We were deeply gratified to find ourselves on the same page as Texas Governor Rick Perry, whose recent backing of a resolution affirming Texas’s sovereignty under the Tenth Amendment [The Tea Party sign we'll carry to Boston Common tomorrow references the Tenth Amendment] made top of the fold at the Drudge Report this evening. Bring on the cable interviews! Excellent timing on Mr. Drudge's part featuring the story on Tax Day Tea Party Eve.

You don't suppose the Texas Gov is part of that group of "radicals on the right" Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is warning us about? According to the Washington Times, "A footnote attached to the report by the Homeland Security Office of Intelligence and Analysis defines 'rightwing extremism in the United States' as including not just racist or hate groups, but also groups that reject federal authority in favor of state or local authority." Constitution? What Constitution? Ben Franklin's "If you can keep it" comes to mind. Then there's the bemusement of MSM stalwarts like CNNs Howard Kurtz, as described by The Huffington Post:

In a package that aired on the "Situation Room" Monday, media critic Howard Kurtz said Fox seemed to be a "co-sponsor" of tea parties. Kurtz closed by saying "the question is whether Rupert Murdoch's network wants to be so closely identified with what has become an anti-Obama protest movement" [In a spinmeister's dreams. It ain't anti-Obama. It's anti-big-government.] …

Kurtz and [Chris "Thrill Going Up My Leg"] Matthews also questioned whether the tea party movement has true grassroots or just astroturf [Projecting again]. Kurtz subtly jabbed the notion that the tea parties are a bottom-up campaign, noting that conservative celebrities like Michelle Malkin and Newt Gingrich are "among those backing what's being billed as a grassroots movement."

Puleeze. Michelle Malkin is first among equals of us grassroots types. Newt? Not our cup of tea, but why shouldn't he get involved? It's not as if smaller government hasn't always been his thing. Here's Texas Governor Perry "rejecting federal authority in favor of state or local authority," music to our ears:

“I believe that our federal government has become oppressive in its size, its intrusion into the lives of our citizens, and its interference with the affairs of our state,” Gov. Perry said. “That is why I am here today to express my unwavering support for efforts all across our country to reaffirm the states’ rights affirmed by the Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. I believe that returning to the letter and spirit of the U.S. Constitution and its essential Tenth Amendment will free our state from undue regulations, and ultimately strengthen our Union.”

Perry continued: "Millions of Texans are tired of Washington, DC trying to come down here to tell us how to run Texas."

"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively or to the people" says the Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, featured in the footnote to our "Bigger isn't Better!" Tea Party sign, final version above.

Our Tea Party sign's tagline says it all: Bigger isn't better!

Update: Three related must-reads:

Roger L. Simon: "Tea Party Derangement Syndrome - it’s here!"

Michelle Malkin: "We are all right-wing extremists now."

The Onion: "Media having trouble finding right angle on Obama's double homicide."

Say it again, Ben: "If you can keep it."

Update II: Professor Reynolds in the WSJ on self-coordinating "smart mobs" and "How the tea parties could change American politics." This just in: Drudge headlines the Professor, boldface, all caps, center top of fold! Trying spinning that, Chris Matthews & Company.

Upate III: Amy Kane: "Tea: the perfect diet drink for a fat government."

Update IV: If you're late to the party, Michelle Malkin will get you up to speed with "A Tax Day Tea Party cheat sheet: How it all started."

*Blog title is the first line of "Deep in the Heart of Texas," lyrics by June Hershey and music by Don Swand, that "spent five weeks at the top of Your Hit Parade in 1942" according to Wikipedia.

Comments

[pam]

If the opposition can target us as anti-obama it will make it easier to marginalize us as ODS sufferers.

There are four tea parties [that I know about] on south Florida's east coast... the papers are mute on the subject! Keep it as quiet as possible, maybe nobody will show...!

As if.

[goomp]

How about a campaign to cease buying products that are advertised by media hostile to freedom?

[goomp]

I love Amy's finding tea the perfect drink for fat government.

[Connecticut Yankee]

The federal government should be like our favorite Chelsea blogcat-- Tiny!

[Teresa]

I'm about to have some tea and it reminds me... how did the tea party go today??? My husband wants to know if you were interviewed by CBS radio? :-)