The 'Tea Party', Are They As Extreme As We Think?
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Those in Britain who are educated on the 'Tea Party', see it as a deeply racist, uneducated and uncontrollable astroturf movement. Its messages are convoluted, its strange air of patriotism confuses us, but most of all its racist sentiment disgust us. But is this the real 'Tea Party'?
Well yes! The 'Tea Party' claims it is a 'grass roots' movement, representing the views of the working man in a way that will bring America back in line with the Constitution. Therefore many of the more extreme elements of the 'Tea Party' believe in a literal translation of the U.S Constitution. The constitution which originally did not give freedom of expression, racial equality, and even did not take into account that political parties would exist! Lets bypass this for a moment , just as the 'Tea Party' membership do and only consider the political arguments the 'Tea Party' support. Are they as extreme as we think?
Many influential members of the 'Tea Party' have made some outrageous statements as to their beliefs. From Trent Franks who has been a congressman since 2003 stating, "we need to realise that he (Obama) is an enemy of humanity", to the darling of the 'Tea Party' Sarah Palin Facebooking, "my baby with Down Syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama's 'death panel' so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their 'level of productivity in society,' whether they are worthy of health care. Such a system is downright evil." With these sorts of influential people at the 'Tea Party' helm, there is no wonder the membership seems to hold such extreme views on the Democratic party, and Obama.
Political rallies held by the 'Tea Party', such as on August 28th 2010, with the 'restoring honour rally', which happened to coincide with the 37th anniversary of the 'I Have a Dream' speech by Marting Luther King show the extreme nature of 'Tea Party' views. Not only was the rally tasteless in the way it took the same day as the speech, but its aim to "restore honor in America" gave rise to many extreme views on what restoring honour in America actually meant. Some, such as the main speaker Glen Beck saw it as turning America "back to God', relating the 'Tea Party' to some sort of religious revival. The fact is that restoring "honour in America" could relate to any one of the 'Tea Party' movements beliefs, and therefore be as extreme as any member thought it should be. Therefore the leadership of the 'Tea Party', through rallies and political speeches allow for their membership to be as extreme as they want. They never seem to draw a political line in the sand. Even In 'Tea Party' rallies, racist signs appear, such as When Dale Robertson, the 'TeaParty.org' founder held a sign saying, "Congress = slaver owner taxpayer = niggar". The extreme views of 'Tea Party' members can be found throughout their membership.
So yes the 'Tea party' is as extreme as we think and this extremism is shaped by its leadership. The lack of motivation to draw a line in the sand on what is too extreme has meant that the depictions of the 'Tea Party' we see in the media are true. Even Six-term Republican Senator Orrin Hatch agrees with the extremism of the party saying, "We don't need nuts in the United States Senate". I would have to agree
Do the 'Tea Party' know what they are supporting?
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I agree with you to a certain extent but on the whole this is surely wrong. Seeing as the 'Tea Party' is such a large movement with polls made by different organisations ranging from 19% to 29% of the population, there are different aspects of the 'Tea Party'. To call them all purely racial group would oversimplify the 'Tea Party' followers.
I am definitely not defending the 'Tea Party'. I am showing the problems behind the 'Tea Party' leadership and their main rallying cry of originalism in the constitution.
To say that Republican politicians try to keep away from the 'Tea Party' is also very hard to believe as the 'Tea Party' has forced the Republicans to become more partisan and extreme. It is also hard to believe seeing as 60 members of the Republican party are part of a 'Tea Party Caucus' in the Senate, three of which are part of the Republican party leadership.
I understand your main point and i believe there is a racist element to the 'Tea Party' but to put it bluntly i believe stupidity causes this. Much of the movement seems uneducated on its actual aims and to gain the most support it heavily targets the south. Many southerners that are part of the Republican party have racist elements, and have simply been transferred to 'Tea Party' membership, along with those in the Republican party who are not racist.
I am Canadian and we have a similar party called the reform party. Are there racists in the party? Definitely. To label the whole party based on some of the people in would be wrong. I am not a reform party member but a lot of their ideas on fiscal responsibility I do agree with. I don't think you can find any party that does not have a bad element in it as well as some good. To say racists might be drawn to these parties I would have to agree with but that is not what the party is about. I am only assuming this to be true for the Tea Party.I would challenge anyone to say there is not racists in every party. I would hope someday that racism would be dead but I don't think I will see it in my lifetime. "If you prick me do I not bleed."
Miss Info 11 months ago
They are very well aware of "what" they are.
Tea Partiers are modern-day racial bigots in subtle disguise. This is why Republican politicians try their very, very best not to associate with them - for fear of losing office and becoming completely obsolete.
Instead of rallying in the streets cloaked in white hoods hailing KKK - which is no longer socially acceptable, they simply wear plain clothes while in the streets, calling themselves "The Tea Party".
Sometimes the best way to hide is in plain sight.