How nice of Gerald Caruso to provide us with some fresh revisionist history for the new year. (Maine Voices, Jan. 2. “After ignoring, deploring tea party, press fawns on Occupy movement”)

Here are some fresh facts:

Fact: From Day 1, the tea party had a 24/7 cheerleading squad led by right-wing radio and Rupert Murdoch’s media empire. Fox News actively sponsored and stage-managed tea party rallies. Its personalities hosted them. But it took weeks for the Occupy movement to get noticed by anyone.

Fact: The tea party dominated the Maine Republican Convention in 2010, sliding through what is now the party’s official platform.

Go skim it. It reads like paranoia on steroids.

Fact: Since its ascension into D.C.’s halls of power, the tea party has done nothing to create jobs or close the wealth gap in this country. But they voted to end Medicare as we know it (Democrats saved it in the Senate), passed further restrictions on abortion and re-affirmed “In God We Trust” as our national motto. Heckuva job.

Fact: The tea party has no need to camp out for days on end to be heard. Unlike the Occupy movement, the tea party is no threat to American mega-corporations and their lopsided influence in our government. When you join the war against regulations, taxes and the social safety net, spending an occasional sunny day waving a ‘Don’t Tread On Me’ flag from a comfy lawn chair will suffice.

Fact: Behind the tea party’s deficit-centric message lies some real ugliness. Early tea party rally signs, let’s not forget, included: “Show us the birth certificate,” “Obama is a Muslim” and “Back To Kenya.”

Fact: If the tea party could change history, the 2009 stimulus would never have happened. As a result, under the tea party’s watch, America would’ve experienced its first Great Depression since the Great Depression.

Facts. Stubborn things.

Bill Harnsberger is a resident of Portland.