Anyone in Lansing who thought
the tea party activists would grudgingly view Tuesday’s Senate vote as the end
of the bitter battle over Medicaid expansion – at least until the 2014 elections — was
proven drastically wrong within minutes of the final tally.

“Ladies and gentlemen, it’s
time to secure your pitch forks and torches for Sept. 3,” said leader Joan
Fabiano in a message to members of Grassroots in Michigan, perhaps the state’s most influential tea party
group, .
The Sept. 3 reference is in
regard to the House vote to concur, giving final approval to the Medicaid bill.
Fabiano was angry, but far more reserved than some other devastated tea party
types.
On Facebook, many singled out
the Republican senator who cast the deciding vote, Tom Casperson of Escanaba.
One outspoken conservative wrote of Casperson, “May
you rot in a very hot place, you traitor.”  And she added this: “May the fleas of a
thousand camels invade your crotch … and may you never ever be able to remove
them. I wished that once on ‘Hussein Obama’ … I wish it more on you. … You’re supposed
to be one of us.”
Northern Michigan talk-radio host
Doug Sedenquist said he can describe Casperson in four words: “a piece of
EXCREMENT.” Another agitated agitated
activist said the Michigan Legislature now consists of “the evil party and the stupid party.”
Of course, the eight GOP senators who supported the legislation were
called traitors and “a–holes,” and most who commented vowed to make sure those
senators face a GOP primary challenge in August 2014.
Gov. Snyder also has come
under sharp criticism in the aftermath of the Medicaid vote. Michigan GOP Vice
Chair Victor Diaz, who has repeatedly belittled the plan as “Snydercaid,” said
he may react to the Senate decision by moving his business out of state. He
also proposed that Snyder and each lawmaker who supported Medicaid
expansion should “pledge their wealth” to the state and federal treasury to
help pay for “this boondoggle” if the plan falls apart.
And then we have the infamous Trucker Randy, also a
right-wing radio talker for Up North, who on his program this morning essentially
accused Casperson of taking bribes – cash or a cushy job – in exchange for
switching his vote at the 11th hour to a “yes” for more Medicaid.  For some reason, Trucker Randy has concluded
that Sen. Arlan Meekhof, a west Michigan Republican who voted “no,” convinced Casperson
during a Senate recess to provide the deciding vote to approve the Medicaid
plan.
Trucker Randy, who knows quite a bit about breaking the
law, told his listeners that he thinks Meekhof privately offered Casperson some
cash or a job at Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Michigan – if the Escanaba
Republican loses his 2014 re-election bid.
The real story behind the Senate’s action, Trucker Randy
claimed, was this behind-closed-doors “money laundering scheme” between
Casperson and Meekhof.

Huh?

UPDATE: On his radio show this morning, Trucker Randy said that Sen. Casperson will  burn in hell. Which makes me wonder — if Casperson did something really outrageous, like vote for a tax hike to improve our roads, would the tea party types attempt to stone him to death on the Capitol lawn?

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