Remeber the days when dissent was considered "patriotic"? Last year, I think it was...

April 15th. Write that date down; people- it could very well mark the beginning of the end. With the notoriously conservative Tea Party movement gaining steam, is it time to take the ‘United’ out of ‘United States’? An off-the-cuff and seemingly harmless comment from CNBC drone Rick Santelli- who called for a Chicago ‘Tea Party’ in response to Obama’s handling of the worsening economic situation- has now developed into a full-blown national movement. On April 15th, hundreds of thousands of PO’d red meat eatin’ Americans will converge on the streets to protest the Obama administration’s policies and platforms. Over 360 cities nationwide have been confirmed as protest staging points, and conservative luminaries like Newt Gingrich and Sean ‘Rough Rider’ Hannity will lend their considerable girth and celebrity to ensure a sense of bloated spectacle. The Tea (Taxed Enough Already) Party-people consider themselves a coherent and diverse network of Americans from every conceivable walk of life. They are cultural warriors fighting against the tax-happy, spend-happy ways of the evil Obama cabal, real American patriots, and staunch defenders against the creeping evils of Socialism. In reality, their ‘movement’ is incredibly divisive, a mindset that stands in sharp contrast to Obama’s calls for bipartisanship in this time of great national need. Their arguments have the potential to divide the country along titanic lines not seen since the bloody days of the Civil War. Think I’m exaggerating here? The Tea Party movement is an incredibly dangerous concept, fuelled by the usual gushes of sycophantic support from the conservative news media (here’s looking at you, Fox). Consider a recent poll posted on Sean Hannity’s website, asking his loyal followers if they thought America was ripe for ‘revolution’. Or perhaps you’ve heard some of the vitriolic treasonous crap spewing forth from the mouth of Fox’s resident white-haired lunatic, He Who Shall Go Unnamed. You can tune in to his show practically any day of the week for an (increasingly) thinly veiled call to arms against the President and his evil liberal cronies. The Tea Party Movement is basically a flag for Republicans disenfranchised by last year’s election results to rally behind. Give it up, guys. You lost fair and square. Obama and his policies have the mandate of the people- unlike a certain Bush I could mention. If the country continues down this dark path, a second Civil War might not just be a cool idea for a sci-fi novel anymore. Can you imagine the potential for chaos if some of these ‘protesters’ decide to exercise the Second Amendment and bring their weapons to these rallies? There’s a thin line between peaceful protest and bloodthirsty patriotic fervor, especially if those protesting are used to being on the side of the mighty status quo. I hope April 15th comes and goes without major incident. And I hope the protesters fail in their mission to bring their message to a national audience. It’s a message of fear, prejudice and, quite frankly, hate. President Obama was elected democratically, according to the doctrines set forth by the Founding Fathers. The Tea Party movement represents a real danger to the tenets of democracy Americans have embraced for centuries.