A Tea Party Grows in Manhattan...

...so I'm walking down a sweltering 7th avenue, looking to grab a slice and a Coke (no Pepsi, not ever, since their tie-in w/Barack Obama), when I see on the shimmering horizon...the Gadsden flag. More than one, apparently.



I get to the scene, in front of the Sheraton Hotel on 7th off of 53rd. And there stood a hardy band of some fifty to sixty Tea Partiers, fighting the good fight against...the New York GOP.

More from the Nassau Tea Party:

Gary Berntsen, American Hero and Tea Party candidate, is pushing the Republican party to nominate him to run against the incumbent statist Charles Schumer.

Gary, who had previously been endorsed by Tea Party groups on Long Island to run against congressman Tim Bishop, decided to take on the bigger challenge when it became apparent that the Republican party had no candidate with the visibility, credentials and popular support to take on the Schumer machine.

Bernsten is more than qualified:

He took on the Taliban as a clandestine C.I.A. officer, and was one of the first into Kabul during the American invasion in 2001...

Seems like Gary enlisted in the Air Force when he was 18, and served in the CIA from 1982-2005. He is a well-known National Security and Counter-Terror expert who received medals from both presidents Clinton and Bush for his clandestine service.

I don't know, but given that New York is constantly under the threat of terror, one would think nominating a man who will stand up to the president's insane policy of trying terror suspects in New York (Schumer is more concerned about his career than his constituents, and has already sacrificed them and their safety in order to gain brownie points with the Obama administration) is a complete no-brainer.

But based on the NY GOP's success rate, and their incredibly weak candidate recruitment in what is shaping up to be a wave year (is there anyone going up against the widely disliked waif Kristie Gillibrand yet? Unbelievable...), maybe "no-brainer" is an accurate description of the state's GOP leadership.

It was a enthusiastic, highly informed crowd which was more than pleased to talk to me (and any onlookers) on a day where the sidewalks are shimmering with summer heat:








Best of luck to them. If the Tea Party can spread roots in the Big Apple, it can flower and thrive anywhere...