Tea party types' vitriol against Senate 'traitors' focuses on rear ends and crotches

This post was updated on Aug. 29, 2013, at 1:40 p.m.

Majority Leader Randy Richardville (right) did a lot of lobbying on the Senate floor

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 11^th 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?