Unusual blast at tea party from FL state senate president (R) re. nullification & Obamacare. [View all]

[pampango]

And in Florida, Senate President Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, responded to tea-party demands that Florida fight Obamacare using states-rights "nullification" strategies with an anecdote about Andrew Jackson's supposed reaction when told that "nullifiers" were threatening to burn down the White House.

"Without lifting his head from his reading, Andrew Jackson said, 'Shoot the first nullifier who touches the Flag. And hang the rest.'" Gaetz wrote to tea-party attorney KrisAnne Hall.

"… I have sworn an oath on my father's Bible before Almighty God to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution and government of the United States. And that's exactly what I intend to do. Count me with Andrew Jackson."

**snip**

If that sounds like, "Stick to the issues we agree on and we'll get along fine," some tea-party groups aren't having it. Many of the issues that Republican leaders are dismissing — from nullification to dealing harshly with illegal immigrants to opposing "Agenda 21," a theory that the United Nations is trying to Europeanize the United States — remain the focus of many tea-party activists.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/politics/os-gop-spurning-tea-party-20130210,0,6515784.story

That the first time I have heard of that quote from Andrew Jackson.

I know nothing about Don Gaetz other than that he is an R and the president of the state senate in Florida. He may be a jerk in every other way, but blasts at the tea party are always appreciated.