Ass-tral convergence expected in Rapid City

Yep. Twin recta are expected in Rapid City for a "Battle of the Butt-heads."

TEApottyers are salivating over the appearances of Glenn Beck and Ted Nugent, two of the leading voices in a movement best described as Batshittery on Steroids.

Kevin Woster, his story appearing in the Rapid City Journal, seems to be struggling desperately to keep a straight face as he describes the schism that has separated the men from the non-men:

By announcing Tuesday that it had snagged national broadcaster Glenn Beck for a luncheon appearance in Rapid City on Oct. 26, the South Dakota Tea Party Alliance stole a bit of the show from a previously announced Oct. 16 appearance by rocker and gun advocate Ted Nugent, hosted by Citizens for Liberty.

The two tea party affiliates are the splintered halves of the original Citizens for Liberty, which formed in the spring of 2009 and fractured three months ago in a dispute over leadership. The remaining Citizens for Liberty group had tried but failed to book Beck this fall and was working on an April appearance when the Alliance made its announcement.

Alliance president Shad Olson said Wednesday that the organization was not trying to top Citizens for Liberty with the Beck appearance, which the group coordinated with an appearance by Beck in Colorado Springs the evening of Oct. 26. The book signing and luncheon address by Beck is about promoting conservative values and constitutional understanding, not payback to Citizens for Liberty, Olson said.

"Nothing we're doing is based on bitterness or angst or ill will. We wish them success," he said. "We're not trying to upstage anybody."

Barb Lindberg, acting Citizens for Liberty president, admitted that she was surprised and flustered by the Beck announcement, initially labeling it as "a book signing promotion." But she also said that it would not "take away from the magnitude of the Ted Nugent rally," and would probably benefit the conservative cause in the Black Hills overall.

After a TEA-influenced member of the South Dakota legislature, Don Kopp attempted to pass a resolution adding astrology as a factor in climate change to high school curricula, it is anticipated that former witch, Delaware Senate hopeful, Republican Christine O'Connell will fly in on her broom for opening statements in this pre-Halloween coven.