Billy "I Voted for the Patriot Act" Long Will Speak at Joplin Tea Party

I thought the idea of the Tea Party was to let Tea Party citizens come together to inform their elected leaders about their dissatisfaction of government spending and the lack of compliance with the Constitution. Apparently, that isn't the case in Joplin, Missouri, where the event is starting to look like an extension of February's Lincoln Day Even rather than an event where common people speak out for liberty and freedom. It has been announced that Billy Long will address the Tea Party in Joplin.

A Tea Party who can't see through Long yet, is a Tea Party that doesn't need to exist. Oh sure, he voted correctly on the latest round of budget talks last weekend, but his record in supporting our Constitution is weak. The very idea the Joplin Tea Party is propping up the representative to speak to those involved in the Tea Party shows me the Tea Party in Joplin needs  better leadership.

How quickly do they forget in Joplin that Billy Long voted for the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendment killing Patriot Act extension, a law Tea Party founder Ron Paul has spoken out against with great concern as to the rights of individual Americans.

As well, as the Tea Party should be concerned about Obama's unconstitutional attack and act of aggression as the nation building of the federal government continues even against the advice of our Founding Fathers. In a recent letter to a constituent, Long says he supports the military attacks against Libya despite John Quincy Adams saying America "goes not abroad in search of monsters to destroy." Apparently, Long didn't pick up in his rode hard and put up wet pocket Constitution that our military is to be used in defense and not aggression.

Let's not forget Long's promise to cut federal spending. Long didn't provide any input by proposing any amendments to HR1; however he did vote to continue federal funding of NASCAR Teams. As well, Long quickly showed how quickly he could be influenced to break his no earmark pledge when O'Reilly Arena on the campus of Drury University didn't receive the federal money they were promised to build a storm shelter. I can't find anywhere in the Constitution where it's the job of Congress or the federal government to build storm shelters, but Long's office promised to fight to see that Drury University received the federal money for this pet project/earmark.

Where was Billy Long during the greatest symbol yet that showed how powerful the Tea Party had become? Remember the reading of the Constitution on the House floor? Nancy Pelosi showed up to read the Constitution, but Billy Long was meeting with a lobbyist and missed reading the Constitution on this historic day in Congress.

Then there was Long's attempt to silence his political enemies by taking political advantage of the Gabrielle Giffords tragedy by asking the FBI to investigate his critics and then pay them a visit nothing they might be threats to Congressman Long. This was Long's attempt to trample the First Amendment the Tea Parties require in order to spread their message. It definitely wasn't very Tea Party of Congressman Long.

So why is Billy Long addressing the Tea Party when he has clearly shown in the almost four months he has been in Congress he isn't committed to following the Constitution. I invite the Joplin Tea Party to provide some answers here. If anything, Billy Long should be forced to listen to the Tea Party message rather than being given the chance to pollute it.