As recorded for broadcast on WCBC Radio, 5-8-10

"And speaking of Freedom Fries, while I’m tongue locked with ‘em, I’d ask that Tea Partiers simply recognize we would not be a nation without France..."

Like a kid before a tablespoon of castor oil, which sounds as bad as it must have tasted, I steel myself to the task at hand.

You don’t always do what you want, sometimes you do what you must.

So it is that I write kindly of the Tea Party. Like the old Nimoy-narrated “In Search Of” series that pursued the “pseudo scientific and paranormal,” I venture forth seeking that elusive something-good of the movement.

Personally, I’m most thankful they adopted as their banner the Revolutionary “Don’t Tread on Me.” I’ve long flown the circled 13, for I’ve long believed this nation has drifted far from the noble, righteous course set by the Founders. So I truly appreciate that they didn’t abscond with my flag.

What I admire most of the Tea Party is its aspiration to independence. Even if many adherents remain of the Fox flock, loudly but meekly herded by Rush and Beck, surely some take to heart the summons to independent judgment; those willing to stand against the number and oppose orthodoxy, not only Left, but also Right.

There are encouraging signs.

According to a recent poll, 57 percent of Tea Partiers support gay marriage or civil unions, and 65 percent support a woman’s right to make her own reproductive decisions. At least in the privacy of a poll, Rebels of the cause, buck social conservatives.

That’s a sign of a challenging, questioning mind. Essential to freedom, and the Republic that affords it.

A good many Tea Partiers are Libertarians. Shake my hand, I’m of your kind.

Keep government out of consenting adults’ bedrooms, and legalize and tax marijuana. That which man does in the privacy of his castle, to no harm whatsoever of his neighbor, should not be the business of the state.

And while women Red and Blue unite in abhorrence that Sarah Palin should be judged by her looks, I and others of the Y unite in finding her utterly hot.

They are brethren, too, who call themselves fiscal conservatives. It is the only time the C word affixes to my name. As a Scotsman, frugality comes natural and waste is anathema. That’s why I’m a fan of Allegany County Finance Director Jerry Frantz.

And speaking of Freedom Fries, while I’m tongue locked with ‘em, I’d ask that Tea Partiers simply recognize we would not be a nation without France.

So there. Wasn’t too hard saying all those nice things.

More than ever America requires a citizenry of truly independent thought to stake out common, middle ground.

And sand bag it.

Because the world may soon need America, as she’s been called many times, but unlike ever before. To be stout, not of arms, but of heart; of fidelity to liberty.

Storm clouds rise on every global horizon, portending economic and social crisis of epochal proportion. Natural and manmade disasters collide and synergize, shaking the foundations of western democracy.

What’s happening in Greece is forecast to spread. Not plague, this time, but contagion. For once, the domino theory really applies. Broken government. Riots. Tribalism.

The waters rise. We must be about the task of uniting and strengthening America….