Defending Constitution not an extreme position

I am alarmed at the vitriolic rhetoric that is coming from Democrats and the “left” toward the Tea Party. The Tea Party people who I have met are peace loving and law-abiding American citizens. Yet there seems to be a constant stream of incendiary name-calling coming from the leaders of the Democratic Party that is shameful and irresponsible. They are describing the Tea Party as jihadists, terrorists and extremists, terms that formerly reserved for our country's worst foreign enemies.

Tea Party people are nothing more than American citizens who want to move our country back toward constitutional government and to preserve liberty and freedom by defending the Bill of Rights. Why has this now become such an extremist position? It's not surprising then that those who would be so hostile to the defenders of the U.S. Constitution would fail to understand concepts such as “three equal branches of government,” “checks and balances” and the “powers” invested in each branch of government.

The left only seems to be able to grasp one very un-American concept: We won the last election; therefore, we make all the rules. Our president is not the emperor, at least not yet any way.

Robert Reed

Cedar Rapids