Not my cup of tea
In theory, the Tea Party offers an attractive counterpoint to the Democrats’ ideal of powerful government.
It has been a long time since this nation had a political party that actually supports limited government, while at the same time cherished individual and secular freedoms.
However, the ugliness displayed by members of Tea Party at the protests on March 21, combined with the extreme rhetoric they’ve used since the debate began, leave many independents feeling uneasy.
As an independent, when I see a group of angry protesters, whether they are smelly, peace-loving hippies or Bible-thumping, flag waving zealots, I tend to disagree with most of what they have to say. The current recession aside, I believe that there has never been a better time to be an American.
That being said, it’s interesting how you never hear hippies spouting racial slurs or threatening the lives of elected officials. It’s really hard to seriously consider the merits of limited government when the people supporting it break every social taboo, whether it is their flagrant display of firearms in public, postulating truth the behind Barack Obama’s nationality or the utilization of prejudicial language.
I wish I could say that the level of narrow-mindedness we witnessed was not systemic of the party, but it is. I’m not claiming that the Tea Party is a racist institution, but it does go out of its way to endorse ignorance over intelligence, delusion over clarity, fiction over fact.
I support vigorous debate, but until these people clean house, they should be barred from any serious discussion. However with no real leaders other than Glenn Beck or Sarah Palin, it’s all too likely that the Tea Party will go the way of so many other American political parties and just dissolve.
Hey bro what exactly is the problem with people displaying firearms in public? I’m not sure that’s even a real issue here. If that person has a license to carry then it’s a non-issue. And until you can find physical evidence of a member of the tea party shouting or displaying racial slurs, stop with the libelous accusations of race playing any part in the movement.
Mr. Derek, imagine if you will if a protestor showed up an an event where a Republican was speaking brandishing a firearm? How necessary is that? And how would Fox News deal with it? As for the racial slurs–why is it when you tell Tea Party people that Obama isn’t born in this country they believe it without question (even though it’s not true) but when faced with the scenario that some in their ranks hurled racial slurs and epithets and black and openly gay congressman they demand videotaped proof? You’d think conservatives, being the God-loving types, would take something on faith. And as a recent survey of Teabaggers showed race does indeed play a part in their antics whether they believe it or not. When most of them think Obama favors blacks over whites it is about race. When most feel the gov is focusing too much on the problems of black people it is about race. There’s no myth to it. How else do you explain that less than 1 percent of teabaggers are non-white? And besides that the Tea Party isn’t a movement…
Mr. Manny,
I hope you only right op. ed pieces for this newspaper because with remarks like “teabaggers” you have little credibility on anything else. And just to clarify, the Tea Party is a movement that will move Obama right out of office.
As with any group, only the most radical members are used to assume guilty association with the whole.
Do you really think that the thousands of average Joes and Janes, members of the Tea Party, are like the supposed few who embarrassed themselves back in March?
Why is it called the Tea Party? Reference the original Tea Party. Americans boycotted a British staple item in response to the fact that the colonies were being unjustly taxed for issues that they could neither reform nor support; hence, taxation without representation. The same sort of thing occurred during the first wave feminist movement, which eventually brought the right to vote to women in America. Yet why in the world is this modern movement so demonized when it is stating the very same thing: no taxation without representation?
Many Tea Party members feel that with Congress in the state it is, our voices are not being heard, and we are being/will be unjustly taxed for issues we can niether reform nor support; i.e. public option healthcare. Clearly the majority of the country was not in support of this form of healthcare, yet its bill was passed, and we must now suffer one of its major consequences: more federal taxes.
Tea party members are people who are simply tired of paying taxes for things they do not support. It’s as simple as that, and if you continue to make it into something else (as does most of the media), such as a group full of narrow-mindedness, you will fail to see an important movement of modern America.
I challenge you to attend a Tea Party with an open mind; then you will not be a hypocrite in calling us all narrow-minded.