Questioning The Tea Party Movement
Yesterday, I wrote about the large gathering for Saturday’s Tea Party in Starkville. The event was highlighted by keynote speaker Angela McGlowan who has made several Tea Party speeches over the past year in North Mississippi.
As I alluded to yesterday, not all who were in attendance were in support of the ideals of the Tea Party movement. As opponents have done throughout the country (including on the editorial pages in Mississippi), one person wondered if those in attendance had problems with not necessarily the president’s policies- but with the president’s race.
Sule Alli, owner of Boardtown Insurance in Starkville, submitted a question asking why the Tea Party chose this particular time in history to form. The question was meant to illustrate how a faction of the country is becoming active just as the first black President is beginning his term.
“It’s an indictment of the new President,” said Alli. “The government has been taxing too much since the ’80s, and there has not been this kind of protest. I came here to see if there’s some reason.”
What makes this comment (and others like it) ironic is the fact that Saturday’s rally was headlined by McGlowan, an African-American. McGlowan does not make race an issue, and has been a conservative and GOP ally long before Barack Obama had much recognition outside of Hyde Park.
I will say this about Tea Parties: Those who try to give this an appearance of a bi-partisan movement are wrong. It is a mixture of conservatives and libertarians, but not people who were working on Obama’s campaign a year ago. There is nothing wrong with that. When Pres. Bush was occupying the White House, liberals held no shortage of rallies keeping with their tradition going back to the 1960s.
What makes today’s Tea Party movement so interesting is the fact that conservatives have no history of protesting. They were not happy with Jimmy Carter or Bill Clinton, but they did not take to the streets. Granted, it is easier to organize with the Internet and social networking sites, but this is unheard of in GOP circles for 400 people to gather in Starkville on a Saturday in December. On Sunday, more than 1,800 people gathered in Omaha, Nebraska in a rally to protest Sen. Ben Nelson’s (D-NE) support for the Democrat’s healthcare legislation.
It is still eleven months until Election Day 2010, and while activists are not going to win an election on their own, we know the base needs to be excited. As of right now, Democrat’s trail Republican’s greatly in the enthusiasm field.
Sule Alli is right the government has been taxing too much since the 80s. Since Obama took office,spending has gone to a HNL (whole new level). The tipping point of what average Americans are comfortable with accepting tipped to unacceptable point. We are unable to sit by and do nothing any longer. For most Tea Party protesters it is the policies and spending and not the race of Obama.
I am not against Obama because of his race but because of his desire to bankrupt this country. I also dislike those that B.O. surrounds himself with. It looks like the roll call at a communist rally. I believe in American exceptionalism. I am not embarrassed about this like my president is. I wanted him to succeed and do the best he can but his arragance and complete ignorance of American morals and beliefs is mind blowing. I think he truely dislikes “flyover America.” I believe Obama is attempting to break our country. We are not Europe. We are a country that is set apart and until this is recognized by the sitting POTUS we will continue to have problems.
Ditto Amber! Perhaps the biggest reasons that the Tea Party Movement is so strong now is because true conservatives really have no party. Unfortunately the Republican Party has moved so far left that it is hard to tell them from the Democrats anymore.
Obama has only one direction – spend. It will eventually bankrupt our country – and then I guess he can continue his apologies to other countries except this time it will be for non-payment of debt. His race has absolutely nothing to do with this. Let’s face it race seems to be the big fall back line for anyone who cannot justify the actions of this current administration.
The phenomenom of the TEA Party Movement and the 9-12 Groups has nothing to do with Obama’s race but everything to do with his policies. The conservatives in this nation have long sat silent, but with the sweeping changes that the current administration is ushering in there is one thought that is share by all patriotic Americans that are tired of being marginalized, minimalized and ignored by our employees in Washington and that thought is “Aww Hell No!” The Americans who have sat in their darkened living rooms and thrown their remotes at the TV for years are now calling out to one another in the dark. And they found each other on September 12 in DC. Washington, you still aren’t listening. We will be back in April. You will be leaving in September 2010! Update your resumes.
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Thanks
ron
Donna, Well Said!
Donna,
You have it right – damn right!!!!!!!!