SB1070 Update: Where’s the Tea Party?

by David Safier

Tea Partiers, not known for either reticence or flying under the radar, have been pretty quiet about SB1070. When groups have made statements, they tend to be for the bill.

And yet, these are people who want a very limited government. Something tells me they wouldn't be happy if they or their family members were told by a police officer to "Show me your papers" when they were riding in the back seat of a car on the way to church — or being hauled down to the station if they couldn't produce an Arizona driver's license, passport or birth certificate on the spot.

And yet, SB1070 seems to be all right by them.

A group I haven't heard of before, the other 98%, thinks maybe the Tea Partiers motto should be, "Don't Tread on Me. Tread on the Other Guy." They've written an open letter which includes this:

If "Don't Tread On Me" really means "Tread on that Other Guy", or worse, "Tread on that (Brown) Guy", then you are fighting not for the America of our Founders, but for the totalitarian nightmare you so declaim.

Which is it, Tea Party? Are you against tyranny or aren’t you? It's time to speak up and defend the ideals you claim to stand for.

The land of the free should not turn into the land of "show me your papers." Stand with us against this abominable law.