Tea Baggers spit on Democratic member of Congress and call others 'nigger' and 'faggot' at the Capital

As thousands of tea bagging protesters descended on the Capitol to protest the passage of health care reform prior to President Obama's speech to House Democrats, their demeanor quickly devolved into a shocking display of hostility, resulting in abusive heckling and some mild physical abuse of members of Congress as they passed through Longworth House office building.

A staffer for Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) told reporters that Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) had been spat on by a protestor. Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), a hero of the civil rights movement, was called a 'nigger.' And Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) was called a 'faggot', as protesters shouted epithets at him and the others.

Rep. Clyburn said he had not witnessed such treatment since he was leading civil rights protests in South Carolina in the 1960s.

"It was absolutely shocking to me," Clyburn said, in response to a question from the Huffington Post. "Last Monday, this past Monday, I stayed home to meet on the campus of Claflin University where fifty years ago as of last Monday... I led the first demonstrations in South Carolina, the sit-ins... And quite frankly I heard some things today I have not heard since that day. I heard people saying things that I have not heard since March 15, 1960 when I was marching to try and get off the back of the bus."

Fellow Conservative charges Fox host Sean Hannity's Freedom Alliance charity with unethical fundraising

Conservative blogger Debbie Schlussel has charged Sean Hannity's Freedom Alliance charity with unethical fundraising practices. She says that less than four percent of Freedom Alliance's earnings in 2006 went to college funding for children of fallen soldiers and care for wounded veterans which were the nonprofit's listed aims. She has accused them of spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on private planes and limousines for Fox host Hannity's family and friends, with very little going to soldiers and their families.

Media Matters for America backs up the accuracy of Schlussel's numbers analysis, but does not fully endorse all of her claims because the Freedom Alliance does not state on its Web site what percentage of raised funds will go to their specific programs.

DebbieSchlussel.com posted the following: Despite Hannity's statements to the contrary on his nationally syndicated radio show, few of the children of fallen soldiers got more than $1,000-$2,000, with apparently none getting more than $6,000, while Freedom Alliance appears to have spent tens of thousands of dollars for private planes. Moreover, despite written assurances to donors that all money raised would go directly to scholarships for kids of the fallen heroes and not to expenses has begun charging expenses of nearly $500,000 to give out just over $800,000 in scholarships.

Constitutional law expert Jonathan Turley criticizes wife of Justice Clarence Thomas for her Tea Bagger activism

On Monday George Washington University professor and Constitutional law expert Jonathan Turley criticized the wife of Justice Clarence Thomas for her ever-increasing role in Tea-Bagger political activism.

"It's, in a word, injudicious," Turley,, said on MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann. "The fact that this is news is an example of the self-restraint used by most spouses of Supreme Court Justices previously." He said it's not much to expect for spouses to try to refrain from direct political activism, particularly to start a group like this so far into her husband's tenure."

Turley noted that neither Justice Thomas nor his wife are violating any ethics laws, but asserted her actions were rather unseemly and could raise questions about the impartiality of the Court's justices, whose only role is to uphold the constitution.

The Los Angeles Times brought the story to the nation's attention on Sunday:

In January, Virginia Thomas created Liberty Central Inc., a nonprofit lobbying group whose website will organize activism around a set of conservative "core principles," she said.

The group plans to issue score cards for Congress members and be involved in the November election. Thomas said the group would accept donations from corporations, as allowed under campaign finance rules recently loosened by the Supreme Court.

Thomas's group will benefit financially from the Citizens United ruling, which her husband's vote helped secure. Liberty Central pledges on its Web site to "preserve freedom and reaffirm the core founding principles" as well as help citizens "make a difference in the fight for liberty and against the liberal Washington agenda."