Editor:

In a letter last issue, Timothy Crlenjak asks the rhetorical question of the Tea Party Movement, "And you wonder why you are riduculed?" ("Mailbox," Aug. 12.) I would dare answer that the reason people like Timothy ridicule the Tea Party is because that is what liberals do, as a substitute for actual dialogue. Demonization is their weapon of choice, and has helped turn our political process in to the WWF.

Seeing people object to the Tea Party -- in spite of the patently dysfunctional, parasitical and money-draining political system we now have, with its failures obvious in many of the the most important areas -- reminds me of an old story. It is reported that some slaves were unhappy with emancipation because it represented change, and the uncertainty that change brings. How else to explain his defense of the "us v. them" game, which produces so much discontent, and his call for more taxes as a solution.?

Next, Hank Sims gets a little shot for even mentioning Orleans, where we'd better get ready to take down the town signs like Bolinas used to do to discourage newcomers ("Town Dandy," Aug. 12). He also gets a little shot for speaking of the town without somehow saying more about the Karuk Tribe, who are the original citizens and even now the most prominent.

His emphasis on the "back to the landers" is frightening, as Garberville, once a friendly, inclusive place like Orleans, was engulfed by these folks, who promptly expropriated the community's center, hoisted the Mateel Flag, and took over the place -- which is why G'ville is now less a part of Humboldt County and more the Wall Street of the counterculture. A similar fate befell Arcata, which once had a hip/local blend but is now a liberal monoculture.

Joshua Kinch, Freshwater