Tea Party Begets Heat Party

(photo: Elaine Thompson/A.P. caption: Greg Dement, left, is handed a Starbucks coffee drink as he sits with a handgun strapped to his belt while looking on at an anti-gun rally in Seattle, Wednesday, March 3, 2010. Starbucks is sticking to its policy of letting customers carry guns where it is legal and said it does not want to be put in the middle of a larger gun-control debate.)

Here’s the photo the NYT ran of Greg Dement (yes, that’s his last name) anchoring a Tea Party-inspired, “right-of-the-NRA” demonstration to openly flaunt weapons in public — given his right to do so in 38 states. (In contrast to other big coffee chains that have barred weapons, Starbucks has officially decided “not to get involved” — thus turning their stores into protest corrals.)

I’m not sure if the composition of this photo was determined by the pairing of the gun with the coffee cup with the anti-gun protesters. Someone defending Mr. Dement might argue, however, the point was simply to “make him look an ass.”

(But if that was the motive, still another person might say this does an even better job.)