This is a particularly salient point in the capital of New York State. We recently ranked last (dead last… severely bottom-feeding last… at the extreme arse end of the scale last) on the Mercatus Center at George Mason University’s Freedom in the 50 States: An Index of Personal and Economic Freedom. It’s crazy to me that moving to a state like California would be a big, big improvement.

Well it’s no surprise to any New Yorkers that we’re in the pits. This state loves to spend, spend, spend… tax, tax, tax. No responsibility. No long-term vision. We reinforce the entitlement mentality of an ever-growing pustule of dependent special interests.

And I wouldn’t be surprised if there were government agents in the crowd paying attention to who was there… what with Janet Napolitano releasing a report on “right-wing extremism” naming various traits to watch for in citizens such as:

• Opposes abortion
• Opposes restrictions on firearms
• Opposes lax immigration
• Opposes the policies of President Obama regarding immigration, citizenship, and the expansion of social programs
• Opposes same-sex marriage
• Opposes one world government

I guarantee you this tea party was ripe with honest, hard-working, God-fearing, conservative, patriotic folks who would associate with most of the traits listed above – myself included. I guess according the Janet (who later had to tuck her mangy tail between her legs) anyone with traditional values is a potential threat. Hey Janet… come and get me!

Some cell pics of the event:

And as always you can see all my tax day photos in my gallery here: http://stevemooradian.com/gallery