Letter: Rebellion is communicable

The April 24 Columbian story “Tea Party influence already felt” describes the increasing influence of the Tea Party.

Inspired by the Boston Tea Party of 1773 and the colonial slogan of “no taxation without representation” they have become an important voice among conservatives.

I too have been inspired by another, though lesser known, tax rebellion in American history. In the 1790s the federal government placed an excise tax on each gallon of whiskey. Farmers of western Pennsylvania refused to pay the tax in what is now referred to as the Whiskey Rebellion.

Motivated by those events I would like to announce the formation of the Whiskey Party. Our motto is “no taxation without inebriation.” Our position: Give us huge deficits like Ronald Reagan and every other Republican president since then.

When asked where we were when George W. Bush took us from a nation at peace and with a budgetary surplus to a country involved in wars without end and a massive deficit we can say, “Huh? What? I was out of it, man.”

Tea Partiers, where were you?

Disclaimer: Please don’t vote and imbibe.

E.L. Ernie Santner

Vancouver