From Tim Burton's upcoming film
I don't know if the Tea Party that tea partiers say exists really exists. Characterized as a pitchfork-and-torch mob pursuing the Frankenstein monster, they may well have more in common with the monster than the mob.
The movement was born out of individuals legitimately frustrated with unresponsive politicians and gained momentum last year as members mobilized to express anger over President Obama's policies.
A typical example is Keli Carender, whose early activism made her a star of the movement. Often known by her pseudonym, "Liberty Belle," the Seattle native says she was motivated by "this idea that Obama and other people decide what the needs are in society. They get to decide. But in order to fund those things, they have to take from some people in order to give to the other people." It's a legitimate populist, albeit decidedly conservative, sentiment, but one to which many tea partiers can relate.
But tea partiers have a problem: They can't control their message. The face of the movement has been defined by evocations of Nazism, allegations of socialism and admonitions about keeping government out of Medicare.
Last week, a California Field Poll found 71 percent of California Republicans identifying with the movement, and nearly 60 percent unconvinced the president was born in the United States.
The distortion is further embellished by a media that highlights "loons" over legitimate protesters because loons get ratings.
Thus, reason is overrun by irrationality, civility gives way to petulance, and provocative inquiry is drowned out by inflammatory carnival barkers and agendized hucksters demanding we take our country back.
From who?
Dick Armey, CEO of FreedomWorks, the special interest group financing much of the Tea Party movement, admonished 9/12 protesters to rail against government-run health care. Yet, Armey has been on the public dole nearly his entire career: 13 years on faculty in the taxpayer-supported University of Texas system (free health care), followed by 18 years as a member of Congress where he enjoyed and continues to enjoy a government health care program supported by you, the taxpayer. We should give the country to him?
A week after Scott Brown's victory in Massachusetts, radical conservatives slammed him for being a RINO --"Republican in name only"-- after they learned he's pro-choice, supports the state's government-run health care, and he has no intention of challenging the state's gay marriage law. This puts Brown squarely in line with the independents who elected him, but out of step with a conservative fringe that sees him as a socialist supporting Obama's agenda who must quickly be replaced.
Odd that a crowd which crows constantly about politicians who ignore them is now ready to dispatch a politician whose only crime is that he listened to his constituents. Shall we disregard the will of the citizens of the Commonwealth because their candidate doesn't think like "we" do?
Meeting last weekend in Hawaii, Republican National Committee members considered a 10-point "purity test" allowing greybeards to evaluate and enforce party loyalty by separating "true" Republicans from the RINOs; if you didn't agree with eight of the 10 planks, you'd get no endorsement or campaign money. (Ronald Reagan would have failed the test but Meghan McCain totally passes)
Sanity prevailed and the idea was rejected but the proposal's chief sponsor, committeeman James Bopp, defends his purity test, saying critics "will attack any effort to reassure voters that we are serious about restoring our conservative bona fides."
In my community, the chair of the local Republican Central Committee goes after GOP officeholders who he thinks aren't conservative enough. When five registered Republicans on the city council supported the extension of a park tax, the county chairman issued a call to "take out" those "liberal RINOs."
Residents passed the tax by an overwhelming 83 percent, which raises a question: What happens when ideologues are out of step with the body politic?
Unapologetic, the chairman is absolutist in his scorched-earth defense of ultra-conservatism against what many of his ilk call "liberal Republican ticket-switchers."
Those are people who've left the party to become declined-to-state or even Blue Dog Democrats, often because they're alienated by unyielding, uncompromising extremists.
Should people like this be the face the Tea Party movement? People touting ideological purity and intolerance to dissent as party mantras, something entirely anathema to the founding principles and resultant pluralism that has always defined America?
Or is it opportunistic politicos manipulating the movement for their own selfish gain? Dick Armey told RNC gatherers the GOP can't win without Tea Party voters. Yet voters in my community are dismissed as misguided while the choice of Massachusetts voters must be replaced without haste.
The movement, I think, is like a cousin to the religious right activism of the previous decade, and accompanied by the same problem: The overzealous ones dominated the message and tainted an entire brand, including its reasonable, realistic and best members.
Someone will get the last laugh, but it's not likely to be any member of the citizenry (from the upcoming Alice in Wonderland)
There are serious, thoughtful people who align themselves with the Tea Party idea who have nothing to do with the anger, hyperbole and hatred that dominates the message. Critics on the left would be smart to respect and converse with these more serious individuals because both want the same thing: Representative government that addresses the needs of society in an equitable manner.
As it stands, I think tea partiers are being conned and they're headed for disappointment when their hopes are dashed by modern-day Pied Piper power players yet unseen, and perhaps never to be seen. Like countless voters of all stripes before them, they'll have been had, and they'll wonder what happened to all their expectations and promises, and perhaps they'll be manipulated into blaming their political adversaries when it was the ones they believed to be their allies who were duping them all along.
You don't have to be aligned with the Tea Party to be saddened by the reality that these fellow Americans are misrepresented by distorted images of kooks and all-or-nothing ideologues. And I fear that their heartfelt and genuine beliefs are being milked by manipulators who seek only a return to power in Washington, prepared to abandon their supporters once they do.
And therein perhaps lay the tragedy of the Tea Party: That a sincere protest may ultimately and invariably be doomed, and that its practitioners, like the Frankenstein monster, may already be the walking dead.
No matter your politics, no one should be cheering about that.
Comments
This article is describing what happened to the Obama acolytes including yourself. How is that hopey changey thingy workin' out Bruce?
Exactly Jimbo!! Obviously good ole Brucie is venting his frustrations at being duped by barry soetoro. Project much Brucie?
Bruce, when was the last time you saw such a movement from the people against the government policies?
If you are under 35 you probably have NEVER seen such a movement. The last one I saw was the anti war movement in the 60's and 70's.
Being as the true movement is not in any way "organized" it really cannot fall apart.
The message is spreading and it WILL indeed continue right up until November. Then, we will see its results. We are seeing them right now.
A Tea Party presidential candidate in 2012 would be a dream come true. The goal is to have Palin/Beck on the ballot in all fifty states.
Jimbo and Hoax:
For what it's worth, the candidate I supported was not Obama, but if you must know, I wasn't naïve enough to think he would solve any of the systemic problems that exist in Washington, just as you are mistaken if you naïvely think your version of the Messiah, Sarah Palin will be the answer. You're a fool if you think that; indeed, I laugh at the foolish things you wrote. Your defensive lashing-out reactions totally proves two points in the article: 1) the polarizing nasty attitude that brands the tea party movement as filled with idiots, and 2) a childish mentality that makes you ripe for clever political opportunists and power seekers. You've been conned and you haven't even voted yet. You, like many other voters in many other elections, will have to learn the hard way: Electoral hopes are rarely realized by the elected. I'd love to be wrong but history is on my side, not yours.
Hey Brucie don't tell me you were a Hillary supporter, or was it Mitt Romney, hell was it even Ralphie Nader? Nah no way are you a Ron Paul guy who did you support Brucie who? The world wants to know?
Part 2...
The problem is embodied in what Keli Carender said. She's mad because she doesn't like that other people decide what society needs. And she should? She's a spoiled brat who didn't like that her politics lost. Her comment is a stunning disavowal of the principles underlying representative democracy: stunning in her apparent failure to comprehend that this is the mechanism responsible for the infrastructure, the defense, the education, the regulation, the technology, the very society, on which she is dependent; stunning in her blindness to the disastrous consequences of needs and decisions made solely by a rapacious market, and; stunning in her repudiation of the idea of a social contract, of the common good. She is the very essence of a generational problem that says: It's all about me. That is NOT what America is about. If that sort of self-entitlement prevails, we will no longer be America.
Larry ... in 2 parts...
I remember the 60s and early 70s. They had greater power because we'd never seen anything like it before, but that wasn't about government; it was about a war that was destined to fail anyway (and it was also about civil rights). And it had real leaders that were willing to lead, particularly RFK and Martin Luther King. They were bright, learned men molded in a tradition of service. That ain't Sarah Palin or Glenn Beck.
A disorganized movement is a mixed blessing. It's diffusive nature can easily dissolve (as other movements have), become fractured (that's already begun) or become hijacked and absorbed (it will). Ambitious power seekers will bide their time, pick up the pieces and he who has the most pieces at the end of the game will win, go to Washington and change nothing because he or she will have gotten the power they wanted. You and I will be left with the same frustrations.
This movement has another signal problem (see part 2)...
??? says: "...who did you support Brucie who? The world wants to know?"
The world doesn't want to know and it's none of your damned business because an acolyte like you can't grasp a world that isn't perfectly pigeon-holed.
What's the big deal Brucie? I didn't vote for either loser McAmnesty or Odunga although I respected Palin. As much as I liked Palin back then I couldn't bring myself to vote for a traitor like McAmnesty. I mean Brucie you're always critiquing people's choices so maybe you can teach us who we should vote for. How is your political candidate a personal question? Are you ashamed of your choice?
Interesting I ask Brucie a perfectly reasonable question about who he supported for POTUS and he resorts to the same sort of childish name calling he supposedly condemns. It's easy to make fun of who other people support, but who did Brucie support? It's like the guy who sits on the sidelines and makes fun of a football or baseball player while he enjoys the luxury of just being a spectator and not having to risk failure or success.
The movement will NOT disband, breakup, in fight etc. It is a movement from the heart and mind. It is a widespread phenomena. When there are no bounds between the movement other than the shared disgust of the government, there is nothing to break.
This IS the largest movement since the 60's and is not going anywhere. Most I know or have talked to feel the SAME way about the government today REGARDLESS of party. RE-ELECT NO INCUMBENTS!
I voted for the Constitution Party and Mr. Brown.
Answer my question. Address my post. Post my address. Dress my ghost. Press my roast Address my post Answer meeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! Glad we cleared that up
We are going to run candidates as a third party in all fifty states and siphon off just enough 'Real American' votes to ensure that a few RINO's will be defeated. Wolverines!
hehe. That's exactly what I thought.
Wait a minute can't we keep Bawney Fwank, Murtha, McAmnesty, Reid, Pelosi, Schumer, LIEberman etc. they've done so much for our country. I mean can we really do without their trusted guidance and experience.
??? says: "How is your political candidate a personal question? Are you ashamed of your choice?"
Not at all. I felt the tone of your question was immature. Had I said Obama, you'd have plenty of people --I thought you'd be among them-- who'd become cavalierly dismissive: "Oh, well he voted for Obama. He's a liberal, so what does he know." I'm not belittling choices but attitudes, and I thought your e-mail had a smarmy attitude. There's a more civil way to make inquiries, but it's rare to see on the internet.
As for my vote, I think that's private. On radio, I have never shared that and have never endorsed a candidate. I have no intention of ever doing so. People can make up their own minds.
Further, my vote has nothing to do with the article, nor does my politics. Do you see me bashing tea party people and what they stand for? No. There's something else afoot, I think. Whether I agree or disagree with Tea Party advocates has nothing to do with it.
Larry Soetoro says: RE-ELECT NO INCUMBENTS!
That sounds good when you say it fast but you ll still have to deal with the systemic problems that exist in Washington. I don't know how much it really matters who you send to Washington. Even when there are clear choices between candidates, there are other mechanisms in the nation's capital that are far more devious than even the worst candidate.
They can’t be taken seriously, because they can’t use different name(s), other than the same old typical and predictable Hitler reference and of course cannot point to ONE similarity between Obama’s way of running this country and the way Hitler did it. Or the similarities between Obama and Hitler themselves. While at it, why don’t they find more modern dictators that they can link Obama to, but with something in common. Oh wait too hard for them so they just go with Hitler. Did they even read that Obama said he would be cutting taxes for 95 percent of America? Nope because they get their talking points from Boils News Channel, Rush Vitriol Venombaugh and extreme right wing garbage dump blogs.
Obama and Chavez. Obama picked Mark Lloyd who has an affinity for Hugo's work with the state media. Mark Lloyd is the FCC Minority Czar.
Obama and Il Duce. Hold operating ownership of private industry with nominal ownership of the "workers". See GM, Chrysler, AIG, etc.
"Did they even read that Obama said he would be cutting taxes for 95 percent of America?"
Hey Shantie! Have you done YOUR taxes yet? Or you don't need to claim any income?
Wait until you pay your taxes for 2009 then get back to me.
95% my butt!
Sorry, Chill, but references to socialism are stupid. Just plain, "I don't have to think about it" stupid. They appeal to the basest and most thoughtless of our instincts. Tancredo called Obama a socialist in his speech today at the Nashville convention. That bonehead couldn't even get two percent of the electorate in the GOP primaries. It's idiotic rhetoric like that which people have little use for. Sounds great on talk radio, but not in policy making.
As for Obama's claim on tax cuts, all politicians spin their way through how their policies are doing this and that. Republicans are just as guilty, but I'll at least give Obama credit for going right at the GOP in that meeting last week. Both sides did a great job. Let me see McConnell do that with the Democratic caucus. Or Sarah Palin. Let's have those kinds of discussions instead of Tancredo's assinine rhetoric, which would be laughed out of the room, as well it should be.
Did you see the signs at last summer's town halls? Half the teabaggers can't spell. The ones who can spell believe none of the founding fathers ever banged a slave girl. A literacy test would be electoral doom for the Tea Party
Speaking of "literacy test" I would absolutely love to see barry voters take one and that includes the self-delusional liberal elites, as well as their underlings like Tyronne, Jose, J-Ho, LaQueepha, Ulysses, etc. Let's see the so-called liberal intelligentsia actuall prove something instead of just talking.
Tyronne, Jose, J-Ho, LaQueepha, Ulysses, etc. say: We won.
On the matter of spelling... on both sides, these are people, I think, at the margins of either side. There are bright people in consonance with Obama's politics as there are in the Tea Party movement. The loud, intemperate voices are easy targets and they dominate the coverage because they make for great cable news ratings. The smart, thoughtful and measured voices are the ones who should drive the discussion but discussions are boring; we prefer shouting matches and belittling the viewpoints through insults. I wouldn't disparage the intelligent people on either side by pointing out a spellcheck problem. The idiots on either side only seem like the representative majority but it's probably a good bet they're not.
Typical Obama voters.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkjcZhSyFwc
Bruce. Have you done YOUR taxes?
Chill up my leg says: "Bruce. Have you done YOUR taxes?"
We pay quarterly.
Bruce, if you pay quarterly, you may not see as easily what has taken place. Many who expect a refund that they are used to getting are shocked when they must now PAY.
I have a 4 foot snow drift pushing on my sliding glass door! I hope it does not shatter. If I open the door to shovel it will dump into my kitchen! Looks like i will be in the house a few days. My 650 foot driveway to the main road is under 29" of snow and more on the way. HELP!!!
That was me. What a storm!
Snow - HA! You poor... well, I love snow! We don't see that where I live in California. It ain't winter when you live in a place where the whole city shuts down because there's a 2-inch dusting... ya know... like Atlanta. Just spoke with a friend in D-C. He's buried. Hey, at least it shuts down Washington.
As for taxes... I'm saying more than I'd like about our family income but let's just say we're in a bracket that liberals tend to think should pay higher taxes. Believe me, we pay. I know there's government waste. I know some people sponge off it --from poor and/or lazy to hypocrites like Dick Armey. Tax cuts have never changed that and they never will.
All that snow is probably from Global Warming. How ironic that the DC metro is one of the most hardest hit. Maybe God is trying to tell all those super smart scientist and Al "I invented the internet" Gore that he controls and determines the weather, not some money making fairy tales invented by pencil-neck dweebs. hehe Global Hoax another LIE brought to you by the libprog society for globalism.
Hey snow says: All that snow is probably from Global Warming. How ironic that the DC metro is one of the most hardest hit. Maybe God is trying to tell all those super smart scientist and Al "I invented the internet" Gore that he controls and determines the weather, not some money making fairy tales invented by pencil-neck dweebs. hehe Global Hoax another LIE brought to you by the libprog society for globalism.
Your comment is a waste of bandwith. Local "weather" is not the same as global "climate." Nobody claims short-term weather occurrences prove or disprove global warming. Long-term climate data indicates global temperatures have increased. A snow storm requires WARM air in order to happen. Like 5-year-old, you couldn't resist taking a swipe to score a lame political point. Result: You end up making a moronic comment demonstrating that certain people don't even understand basic facts about climatology.
Well, the snow stopped about 4:30 this afternoon. I would say 34". It drifted so much it is hard to tell. I wish I could post pictures! Took me 1.5 hours to get my snow blower from my basement to my front porch. I got 20 feet of my 630 foot driveway cleared. Was supposed to have a SB party. Not sure if I can get it cleared by then. As it settles the snow blower bogs down more. Got a vintage bottle of Crown Royal waiting.
Can't you blame Bush or FEMA for that snowstorm? Shouldn't the gubmint send you a $2,000.00 debit card?
I'm going to see if I can get Anderson Cooper or Geraldo Rivera to go to the eye of the storm so to speak and lay down some heavy duty leftist rhetoric.
I took my laptop to my roof waiting for someone to come take care of me! Isn't that what I'm supposed to do?
Its amazing to me how much hate thre is aginst the tea party movement out there considering that they are the only group fighting for a good cause.
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