Navy Seals ordered to remove "Don't Tread on Me" flag from uniforms because it "is too closely associated with radical (tea party) groups"

This is too much.  A symbol of American military resolve from the beginning of the Republic is being ordered off of military uniforms because of its association with the tea party?  From the Daily Caller:

The Navy Jack is the ‘don’t tread on me’ flag, one that has earned a revered place in America’s naval history and a beloved place in sailor’s hearts, through its use for over two centuries. This symbol of America’s naval ferocity has spanned our country’s entire existence, flying from the masts of the Continental Navy during the war of independence, to today’s War on Terror. In fact, an amendment to the Navy code called SECNAV Instruction 10520.6 clearly states that as of 31 May 2002 all ships are to fly the flag throughout the duration of the War on Terror. . . . 

When a friend of mine asked his leadership the same question, he was told, “The Jack is too closely associated with radical groups.” We must assume that this thought policeman embedded in the SEAL community is speaking of the Tea Party . . . .

Democrats indicted for trying to placing fake Tea Party candidates on the ballot

Democrats indicted for trying to put fake Tea Party candidates on the Michigan ballot.

The indictment alleges that the pair attempted to place two county commission candidates, Aaron W. Tyler and Ruth Ann Spearman, and a state senate candidate, Johnathan M. Young, on the ballot without the candidates' knowledge. The two men forged the signatures on the affidavit of identity and falsely swore under oath to qualify them to run, the indictment says. . . .

Rep. Bachmann's response to the SOTU

This is actually quite good.

Dems are caught putting up another fake Tea Party Candidate

Why isn't there more media coverage of Democrats doing this? Here is some previous notes on this.

On a balmy evening last May, about three dozen members of the South Jersey Young Democrats convened at the Camden County Democratic Committee Headquarters in Cherry Hill.

Freeholder Jeffrey Nash warned the assembled crowd of party volunteers and legislative aides that the sour economy would make the coming election season difficult for the Democratic majority.

He told the young activists they had to get out the vote for Democrats in the fall.

Then Steve Ayscue -- a paid CCDC consultant -- took the floor with a bearded, flame-haired man few had seen before. The latter was Geoff Mackler, dispatched from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee to lead freshman Rep. John Adler's re-election campaign.

Ayscue and Mackler had a plan to ensure Adler's victory. They just needed volunteers.

Internal numbers-crunching showed the difference between Adler and his Republican opponent -- then undetermined -- would hover around 5 percent. To give Adler an edge, Ayscue had recruited a then-unidentified man to run as a third-party candidate.

That candidate would act as a conservative spoiler to confuse voters and pull votes from Adler's eventual Republican challenger. But first he had to get on the ballot. With the filing deadline just weeks away, CCDC needed volunteers to hit the streets and collect signatures -- fast. . . .

Now candidate Jon Runyan has issued a statement on the false Tea Party candidate in his race.

A fake Tea Party Candidate in Nevada might hold the margin between Angle and Reid. See also this.

There is another example in Florida:

GOP congressional candidate Bruce O’Donoghue is intensifying his campaign to brand the Florida Tea Party as a front group for Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.)

In an interview with POLITICO Thursday, O’Donoghue called the Florida Tea Party a “sham,” alleging that the organization was coordinating with Grayson and fielding a third party candidate, conservative activist Peg Dunmire, in an effort to split the Republican vote in the November general election.

“The issue at hand is there seems to be a real connection with Alan Grayson,” said O’Donoghue. “There’s something going on.”

O’Donoghue echoed his comments at an Orlando news conference earlier in the day, where he appeared with local tea party activists Diana Evans, Lisa Ferloi, Ron McCoy, and Linda O'Keefe to decry the Florida Tea Party’s presence in the race.

O’Donoghue’s charges come three days after the Orlando Sentinel published a report detailing alleged ties between the Florida Tea Party and Grayson. The story noted that Doug Guetzloe, a Florida Tea Party co-founder and Orlando political consultant and radio talk show host, had at one point been appointed by Grayson to serve on an advisory panel and that Guetzloe’s son had once interned for Grayson. . . .

More Democrat dirty tricks?

As previously noted, Democrats have been posing as Tea Party members to get people on the ballot to take votes away from Republicans (see also this). Their effort to do something similar in Michigan has failed.

A shadowy group calling itself "The Tea Party" won't be allowed on the state's November ballot after a Friday order from the Michigan Supreme Court.
The high court's 5-2 vote lets stand a ruling earlier this week from the Michigan Court of Appeals that keeps "The Tea Party" off the ballot because it didn't comply with some technical requirements in state law.
Republicans and tea party activists consider "The Tea Party" a Democrat-supported fake aimed at siphoning away votes from conservative candidates. The effort has connections to a former Oakland County Democratic Party official.
The appeals court ruled earlier this week "The Tea Party" could not be on the ballot because of an irregularity on its petitions circulated to make the ballot. The word "the" in "The Tea Party" title was not in 24-point bold face type on its petitions as required by law. . . .
A message was left seeking comment after Friday's ruling with Michael Hodge, an attorney representing "The Tea Party." . . .
Michigan Supreme Court Chief Justice Marilyn Kelly and Justice Diane Hathaway, both nominated by Democrats, would have granted "The Tea Party" request to appeal and further contest the case.
The majority was formed by three Republican-nominated justices and two Democratic-nominated justices, including Alton Thomas Davis, who was appointed to the Supreme Court by Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm last week.

Democrats getting independent Tea Party Candidates to Run and Divide Votes with Republicans

Among the campaigns that the Democrats have done this are Joe Sestak's Congressional seat in Southeast Pennsylvania.

The charges of dirty tricks are being leveled in Pennsylvania, Michigan, New Jersey and Florida — and they involve more than a half-dozen contests that could tip the balance of power in the House.

The accusations range from helping tea party activists circulate candidate petition sheets to underwriting the creation of official tea parties, which then put forth slates of candidates that local conservatives accuse of being rife with Democratic plants.

In all of the affected races, the outcome is expected to be close enough that a third-party candidate who wins just a few percentage points could end up swinging the outcome to the Democratic congressman or candidate.

“The Democrats have come to the realization that they can’t win on issues, and with their flawed candidates, so they are forced to skirt the rules by running candidates who they hope can split the vote with Republicans,” said Paul Lindsey, a National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman.

Democratic officials deny there is any grand conspiracy.

"The DCCC has nothing to do with this," said Ryan Rudominer, a spokesman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

But the evidence of campaign tampering in at least two states is hard to dismiss. In Michigan, the party chairman in suburban Detroit’s Oakland County now concedes that one of his top aides played a role in helping nine tea party candidates get onto the ballot for various offices across the state — including the open 1st Congressional District and the 7th Congressional District, held by vulnerable freshman Democratic Rep. Mark Schauer. . . .

More fraud by Democrats on the Tea Party front from the WSJ's Political Diary.

You know a movement has arrived when it attracts fraudsters and fakers seeking to piggyback on it.

That appears to be the fate of the Tea Party movement. Yesterday Rick Scott, a GOP candidate for governor in Florida, touted an endorsement by the "TEA Party" a day before his primary against Bill McCollum, the state attorney general.

The only problem is that the TEA Party appears to be a shell group set up by liberals to siphon votes away from Republican candidates in the fall election. In June, WKMG-TV in Orlando exposed financial links between the TEA Party and Democratic Rep. Alan Grayson. The report found several TEA Party candidates had ties to Mr. Grayson and also that the Democratic congressman had paid $27,898 to Dou Guetzloe, a key figure in turning the TEA Party into an entity that ran its own independent candidates.

"This is a new low for the fake political TEA party," said Don Hensarling, a Tea Party activist in Florida. He and other Tea Party leaders called on Mr. Scott to reject the endorsement.

They didn't have to wait long. Only hours after trumpeting the news in a campaign e-mail blast, the Scott campaign obliterated all references to it on its website.

Other states, from Michigan to Nevada, have seen attempts by Democrats to create fake Tea Parties and then use them as vehicles to divide conservative voters in the November elections. At least in Florida, they appear to have been quickly exposed and thwarted.