Sarah Palin fires up tea party elites in Nashville convention

  (AP Photo/Ed Reinke)
 

One can only imagine what the tea party goers willing to fork over $500 for the privilege of attending the convention in Nashville believe because there seems to be little cohesion among them other than a general agreement of anger.

The tea party movement may have begun with Libertarians but it has gone far beyond Libertarianism.  While Libertarians admit they sometimes have trouble agreeing on the tenets of Libertarianism, they are able to articulate clearly what they believe in politically.   The tea party nation, on the other hand, has trouble defining itself by anything other than anger.

It appears that many of those who identify themselves with the "tea party" are also anti-abortion and highly religious.  Sarah Palin, the most notable speaker at last weekend's Nashville tea party convention, told the cheering crowds in Nashville this weekend,

And then, I think, it is kind of tougher to -- kind of tougher to put our arms around, but allowing America's spirit to rise again by not being afraid -- not being afraid to kind of go back to some of our roots as a God-fearing nation where we are not afraid to say, especially in times of potential trouble in the future here, we are not afraid to say, you know, we don't have all the answers as fallible men and women.

Who is the tea party nation Sarah Palin seems to identify with and represent?  Certainly not the Ayn Rand admiring Libertarians who reject the mixture of religion and politics.  Ayn Rand was an atheist whose writings urge social Darwinism by capitalism. 

The tea party nation is elitist.  They are people who can afford to pay over $500 to attend conventions, plus travel and accommodation expenses.  They also have the financial means to travel all over the nation attending rallies at the behest of their likeliest leader, entertainer Glenn Beck.   Most are anti-abortion but want the government to stay out of their lives.  They want the government to limit the freedom American women have over their own reproduction while saying they want less government intervention in American lives.  They don't seem to understand the paradox of inflicting their values on others by using the government while advocating smaller government.

The tea party isn't the Libertarian party.  The only thing the two have in common are a desire for less government and the tea party doesn't understand that less government means less "God-fearing" and less intervention into womens reproductive rights.  They don't seem to understand you can't have it both ways.

The tea party movement may have begun as a grass roots effort by serious Libertarians but the Libertarians have been all but ignored by the likes of Sarah Palin and the people who attend rallies with onerous depictions of the United States President morphed to look like Hitler, voodoo shamen and the 'joker' from the fictional film, "Batman."   The tea party nation elites appear to be angry without any clear reason they can articulate. 

Sarah Palin said

it would be wise of us to start seeking some divine intervention again in this country so that we can be safe and secure and prosperous again. To have people involved in government who aren't afraid to go that route, not so afraid of the political correctness that, you know, they have to be afraid of what the media would say about them if they were to proclaim their reliance on our creator.

If Palin had taken the advice of many Republican strategists a year ago to study world history, even American history and political science, she might have actually understood that America's roots are not steeped in a "God-fearing nation," and might have had a chance to make a serious run for President in 2012 by educating herself.  Instead, she chose to quit her governorship of Alaska and embark on speaking tours trashing other people for cash.  Her lucrative speeches are without substance and indeed filled with inaccuracies. 

During the elitist Nashville tea party convention, Palin invoked the name of Ronald Reagan several times during her speech.  Yet if President Reagan were alive, he would certainly not be a member of the tea party nation and would recognize that Sarah Palin is no more than a rabble rouser, one without creditable character or substance.  

Sarah Palin invoked God in her Nashville speech as well.  One wonders how she would interpret President Reagans' propensity to ask advice of astrologers instead of God.  Palin criticized President Obama for using a teleprompter but so do most politicians, including the revered Ronald Reagan.    Palin's criticism of President Obama for using a teleprompter seemed petty and tired especially considering that she had to refer to notes she wrote in her hand to answer the pre-screened questions from Chris Wallace of Fox cable network.

Sarah Palin fired up the elitist tea party nation last weekend in Nashville and they responded by shouting, "Run, Sarah, run!"  Sarah Palin may have the elitist tea party nation behind her, but it's unlikely she could garner moderates of any party to vote for her.  She says what the tea party crowd wants to hear and gets paid $100,000 to make them feel good about their unfocused anger but it's simply not enough to make a serious or viable political candidate. 

Palin said that the Republican party would do well to embrace the tea party nation but the Republican party doesn't appear to be embracing or rejecting Sarah Palin.  The Republican party appears to be almost as afraid of Sarah Palin as they are of Rush Limbaugh.