At least 100,000 people across the USA turned up for April 15th Tea Parties (and probably more.) So, out of curiosity, I did a google search, "LA Times tea party" ... and here is the first hit:

Anti-Obama Taxpayer Tea Parties steeped in insanity

Marc Cooper, the author, goes on to say

I can recall only a few outbreaks of such collective insanity as these tea parties in recent years. There was that time in the mid-1990s when a $19.95 video proving Bill Clinton was some sort of serial killer went viral. And then, a few years back, there was that chilling, televised midnight seance from the floor of the U.S. Congress aimed at reviving the long-brain-dead Terri Schiavo.

And now this. Whip out your Lipton and don your tinfoil hat and join the protest against ... against ... against what exactly?

He further alleges

this rash of tea parties is being organized not only by the pseudo-journalists at Fox News (with Glenn Beck, Neil Cavuto and Sean Hannity actively stoking the flames) but also by FreedomWorks, a conservative lobbying outfit headed by former House Majority Leader Dick Armey.

I am almost speech-less. Is Marc Cooper actively stupid, or simply dishonest? Personally, I think the insanity of spending trillions of dollars that we don't have easily outpaces any alleged craziness on the part of ordinary people who turn out to say "Hey! Enough already! Stop wracking up debts on our behalf!" It is crazy to complain about spending "our" money, because that supply was spent long ago ... we're now borrowing against many years' worth of future income. Oh how crazy to be concerned about this! Oh dear Mr Cooper! How ever can we explain such a thing except by making allusions to serial killer conspiracy theories. As for the attempt to characterize these protests as products of Fox news and paid lobby groups ... I'm sorry, but that actually brings a smile to my face. This part I think has to fall into the category of dishonesty, as I'm going to give Cooper the benefit of the doubt that not even he could be that stupid. The thing that struck me about these protests was that I spotted two people who had the look of "professional protesters" about them. I saw them slinking around the outside of the crowd taking photos, and never participating or clapping. On the other hand, I saw a couple of thousand amazingly ordinary looking people carrying banners. There were lots of men and women in business clothes who had clearly taken time out from work to attend. There were young mothers with prams. There were old ladies of the type I'd expect to serve tea at church functions. There were respectably dressed military veterans. It was the most amazingly normal middle-class group of people you could ever care to see.

Mr Cooper ... are you that scared of this movement that you're prepared to use all manners of lies to bring it down? Well, come down to the next tea party protest, and repeat your claims there. Here's my prediction ... the first reaction will be a wry smile or a short chuckle. The protesters will assume that you're being cleverly ironic making a parody of the liberal media. You'll need to repeat your claims more earnestly, and make sure they'll really understand that you're serious. Let me explain the reaction when they realize you mean it. Imagine sitting at a dinner party, and you discover that the person next to you is a certifiably raving lunatic. He wants to talk to you about how the moon landings never took place, or something like that. You nod your head, smile nervously, and quickly disengage yourself and pretend to be in animated conversation with the person on your other side. Occasionally there might be a brave soul who will try to engage the nut, but most sane people will simply conclude that there's really very little point in trying to engage with a lunatic. You know the expression they have on their face? That's the look they'll give you, Mr Cooper.