Tax Day ‘war’? Tea Partiers promise to meet anarchists with firepower

Update: Conservative blogger objects to being quoted as example of "Anarchist side," asks for correction

It's war!

Or at least that's the word being employed by the right-wing blogosphere to describe anarchist groups' plans to "crash" the Tea Party movement's Tax Day demonstrations on April 15.

"Anarchists plan war on April 15th Tea Parties," reads a headline at Gateway Pundit. The Fox Nation Web site links to that story using the same headline.

But is it war the anarchists are planning? Not according to the blog posting that started it all: A call to action at the anarchist news site Infoshop, urging people to "Crash the Tea Parties!"

"If the tea party movement continues to grow in size and strength there is a big chance they will dominate this country in the near future," the posting implores. "If the tea party movement takes over this country they will really hurt poor people by getting rid of social programs like food stamps, unemployment benefits, disability benefits, student aid, free health care, etc."

Infoshop outlines "three options" for challenging the Tea Party movement: Organizing counter-protests on Tax Day; handing out leaflets at Tea Party events to convince some of them to change their views; and "ignoring the Tea Party movement," which it suggests is "the worst option."

Nowhere in that list is any suggestion of violence -- or "war," as some bloggers would have it -- but that didn't stop a number of commenters at Gateway Pundit from promising to come to the protests armed.

"I’ll wear my hard hat and carry my 'little friend' under a jacket," promises commenter "Tom Mannis," in the first response to the Gateway Pundit article.

"Be aware anarchists, you WILL be HUGELY outnumbered," writes "Rick Mercer" at Fox Nation. "You won't have the numbers you like to help yourself feel anonymous. And some of us DO legally carry concealed weapons to protect our rights. MAKE MY DAY, PUNK!"

For its part, the anarchist side seems to be taking a different tack.

"Bring your video cameras to every single tea party rally you may attend in the future, with extra batteries and more memory than you think you need," writes blogger "Russ" at The Resistance. "Don't...fight...back. If they yell, yell back. If they rant, rant back. If they push or punch...make sure it was on tape, smile and tell them they're on Tea Party Camera."

Update: In a comment left on this story, conservative blogger Russell Cote pointed out that he is far from being a member of "the Anarchist side" and requested that Raw Story provide a correction to the above paragraph, which cites "Russ" as offering the advice to anarchists that he was actually quoting sarcastically.

Cote, whose own blog is That's Right: A Conservative Madman's Conversations with Himself, writes, "I'm sorry you and nobody else got the joke but your site is getting a little out of control with the loons and I am holding you personally responsible for any shenanigans that go on. A simple correction is all I'm asking for."