It seems that the entire political establishment hates the Tea Party these days. The Republican establishment is upset they've stood their ground. The Democratic establishment is upset that they have so much influence. The Progressives call them terrorists and racists and talk show hosts are frustrated that they have no leader and can't be beaten into line.
There are plenty of those that like to pigeon hole people with labels out there, that find it frustrating that there is no real leader in the Tea Party. There are plenty of partisans out there ready to assign the whole of the Tea Party a platform that simply isn't true. And there are plenty of politicians that wish to take on the mantel of leadership of the Tea Party, and to harness its power.
But the Tea Party isn't a political party. It is a political movement. It isn't an organization, but rather a group of Individual Citizens that gather for a common goal: Individual Liberty. By it's very nature, each Individual retains his Right to form opinions on a wide range of issues outside of the basic tenets of small government, relief of burdensome taxation, and supremacy of Individual Rights.
The "Progressives" in particular are scared shitless of the Tea Party. Progressive Authoritarianism has the most to fear from a Citizenry that thinks for itself and stands up for Individual Rights. While the Progressives regularly bus in Unions, Acorn members, and various other groups which march in line to their authoritarian dictates, the Tea Party Citizens show up of their own accord with independent thoughts identified of their own convictions and reasoning.
The biggest threat and biggest advantage of the Tea Party is that disorganization and lack of a leader. There is no single leader to attack into obscurity. True, there are those with loud voices who speak to gatherings of the Tea Party, endorse its principles, and are attacked by the "Progressives," but the Individuals of the Tea Party weigh each speaker on the value of the weight of their arguments. They may or may not find Sarah Palin a valuable spokesman. They are less likely to find Michelle Bachman a great candidate for President.
The Individuals of the Tea Party are more likely to point out the hypocrisy of "feminists" that attack Sarah Palin for successfully balancing family and career than to harbor any ill will for a person based on skin tone or sexual organs.
The Tea Party is the very definition of "grass roots." It draws primarily a working class of Individual. Some are low income and some are middle class. There are even a few of the wealthy. Sure, there are no Michael Moores, or George Soros', or Bill Gates, or Warren Buffets, like the "progressives," the occupiers, or DNC have, but there are some rather wealthy individuals that support the ideals of the Tea Party. The Koch Brothers get a lot of air time, but they don't have the resources that George Soros commits to his vast network of "progressive" propaganda machines.
A rather effective and widespread lie about the Tea Party is that they want to ban abortion. I have no doubt that some Individuals in the Tea Party do believe that it is a human life at the moment of conception and believe that abortion is hence a murder, but abortion is not an agenda of the Tea Party. In fact, there are Tea Party supporters that are staunch supporters of "the right to choose." On the other hand, a greater number of the Tea Party believe that the Federal Governement (and to lesser extents State Governments) have no business funding abortion clinics.
The basis for that opposition to government funding is diverse. For some, it is partially based in the belief that it is a human life, with the Right to be protected from harm, but more widespread is the principle that the 10th Amendment precludes Federal interference in domestic governance, and that taxpayer money should not be spent to subsidize personal choices of individuals.
The core of the Tea Party beliefs is the principal that the US Constitution with its Amendments is the Supreme Law of the Land. The Constitution states that it supercedes all treaties, laws, and State legislation. The Constitution restricts the Federal Government to Foreign Affairs and Interstate issues. It plainly states that everything not authorized to the Federal Government is reserved to State government and Individuals. And immediately, it spells out Rights that are Reserved to Individuals. Those 10 Amendments we call the Bill of Rights are what make up the bulk of Tea Party signs.
"Constitutionalists," "Libertarians," or "Liberals" are all labels that could accurately describe the ideals of the Tea Party. Some would take issue with that last label, on both sides of the aisle, but "liberal" doesn't mean what is popularly perceived. Liberal means, in the political spectrum, a belief in the Rights of Individual Citizens over the authority of governments. It is the opposite of what "progressive" authoritarians want and endorse.
The Tea Party's core principals are that the Individual has Rights which the government does not have authority to remove. While there are members of the Tea Party who believe it immoral and sinful to engage in extramarital sex, as a principle, they do not believe the government has authority to legalize or criminalize what happens between consenting adults.
Pedophilia is a different matter. Current law and modern morals protect those under the age of 18 from contractual agreement. A minor cannot open a bank account or enlist in the military or enter a contractual obligation, without the approval and signature of their parent or guardian. As a general rule, those that support the Tea Party principles believe in Individual Responsibility, and in Parental Responsibility for minors. They don't excuse parents from the responsibility to teach right and wrong, nor authorize the government to indoctrinate those minors with a different set of morals.
One of the most despicable of propaganda lines against the Tea Party is to call them "the American Taliban." This is generally a derivative of those that claim that the Tea Party is primarily formed of Evangelical Christians. While Evangelicals maintain a set of morals that includes that extramarital sex is a sin, that drinking is a sin, and that many other things found in modern society will lead to an eternity in Hell, they do not hold that those things should be criminalized, or that they are the Judge of who is admitted to Heaven or Hell. They believe in the Free Will of humans, and that no one can be forced into a religion or denomination, but that only through true faith, and honest repenting of sin can any be saved. They believe that only God may determine the content of the heart. They believe that the repentant thief (sinner) achieved a place in heaven, but that a charlatan in the pulpit will not. Of course they believe that their beliefs are the right ones, just as Catholics or Buddhists do. If they did not believe so, why would they hold them?
The Evangelicals don't wish to criminalize your sins. They pray for your souls and for their ability to convince you to change your ways. They believe that only by Free Will, and honest, heartfelt choice will you be saved. Of course, it is a natural result that they would support the concepts of Individual Liberty, of your Right to Free Speech, and your Right to the Religion your heart convicts you to believe. You don't have to agree with their religious beliefs to agree with their belief that you have Individual Rights the government has no authority to remove. Evangelicals generally do hold that human life begins in the womb, and hence they often do hold that the defenseless should be protected.
But don't worry, there is no possibility that abortion can be criminalized. It would require a Constitutional Amendment to allow Congress to pass a law making it illegal. It simply isn't even up for debate, no matter how staunchly people hold beliefs in the "Right to Choose" or the "Right to Life." What is up for debate is whether or not Congress can fund groups that fund Abortions or whether State legislatures can codify that a child is born when the head is out of the womb, or that if a baby born alive in a failed abortion must be given the medical care to save its life.
I am not the judge of when life begins. I do not fault those who believe that it is 3 weeks or 3 months, but I do find that if we believe it is human life, we must believe that it is wrong to take that life. If your sincere belief is that it is not life 5 years after birth, then I will not hold you to be a hypocrite for saying that you believe others have the right to take that life, but if you hold that it is a human life at 5 seconds from conception, then I will hold you to be hypocritical if you believe anyone has the "right" to destroy it. I will say that I believe that contraceptives, from abstinence to condoms and "the pill," are responsible measures to avoid unwanted pregnancies, but also that I understand why some would disagree with some or all of those measures. In short, I believe your own conscience must dictate your position on this very sensitive subject. And I respect the conviction of your belief in that, but the reality is that politicians have no authority to overturn Roe v. Wade, and hence it is just an emotional distraction from real issues.
And that is why the Tea Party has supporters that are staunch "Pro-Choice" as well as staunch "Pro-Life."
It is also why you don't see the Tea Party counter-protesting at rallies to legalize marijuana. They believe in the Individual Liberties of Citizens to choose for themselves, even if they don't seem to engage in drugs themselves.
And they believe in Individual Responsibility for one's own actions. In the aftermath of a Tea Party Rally, there is almost no litter on the ground. They throw their trash in the garbage, and even pick up the trash others have left.
This is an extension of their position that an Individual is responsible for their failures at business, or employment, and hence entitled to retain the rewards of those endeavors. It is why you rarely hear members of the Tea Party mention race, even though all races are found in their numbers. They believe each Individual should be judged and rewarded based on their own merits and accomplishments, not the color of their skin. They refuse to accept that one race is too unintelligent and subservient to need special privilege to attain equal results.
It is this belief in Individual Responsibility to form their own opinions and positions and the Individual Right to express those beliefs that makes the Tea Party so uncontrollable and feared by both parties and particularly the authoritarian "progressives." Because the supporters think for themselves, they cannot be beaten into submission by the Republican Party, or threatened to extinction by the Democratic Party. It is why establishment Republicans fear them. They realize that this individual reasoning and decisions based on Constitutional principle can turn on them and throw them out of office if they become tools of corporate lobbyists as easily as it puts other Republicans in office when the Tea Party arose to oppose the abuses of the 2009-10 Pelosi-Reid Congress.
Those like Mitch McConnell, Lamar Alexander, and John McCain are feeling the heat of the Tea Party, because the principled oppose the largesses of the RNC selling out as much as they oppose it when the DNC undermines the Constitution. As a group of Individuals, the Tea Party are unwilling to accept hypocrisy solely because the party in question is closer to their own beliefs. The Tea Party is not about rich or poor, though its supporters are more likely to be workers than employers. So, the millionaire status of Romney didn't bother the Tea Party, but his support for big government did prevent their mobilization in his support.
They opposed the imposition of big government in TARP, in the Patriot Act, in ObamaCare, but were mixed on issues of the Iraq War and cuts to Defense spending. They praise Warren Buffet for his acumen on the stock market, but oppose his support of greater taxation and big government. Rarely though, do they suggest he doesn't have a right to spend tens of millions of dollars to get Obama and Hillary elected, even as they expose the hypocrisy of those that claim the DNC has not sold out to the wealthy.
The Tea Party doesn't demand that you agree with them, but rather hopes to convince you to think for yourself. They don't want to remove your Right to believe things they disagree with, but rather to refuse to allow you to outlaw their Right to believe and speak about what they believe. They absolutely support YOUR Rights as guaranteed in the Bill of Rights. But, that lack of group think means they can't counter the propaganda as a cohesive group. It means that there is a diverse opinion on many non-Tea Party issues.
Stumble It!
