Liberty MavenThe Tea Party: Mass movement or sore-loser fad in Dystopia?
January 15th, 2010 5:00 am | by Marc Gallagher | Published in Activism, Big Government, Blowback, Commentary, congress, Federal Reserve, Foreign Policy, History, Libertarianism, Liberty, Maven Commentary, Neo-con, Obama, Rand Paul, Ron Paul, Sarah Palin, War | 31 Responses
Bear with me. This is going to be a long and random deluge of my thoughts on the state of politics in the USA as we begin the year 2010.
In 1773 it was Britain’s tea tax on the colonies that moved the American revolutionaries to protest by dumping tea into the Boston harbor. In late 2007 a tribute to that protest occurred on it’s 234th anniversary when $6.04 million was raised in a single day for Ron Paul’s Presidential campaign. In 2009 the Tea Party tribute reached some kind of critical mass with various protests all over America.
Did this happen because the U.S. citizens suddenly realized that their government no longer represented them? Or did this happen because they were just pissed that Barack Obama was elected President instead of Johnny “Maverick” McCain?
It’s important to look at the origins of this “movement”. It all goes back to Ron Paul, or rather, Ron Paul’s grassroots supporters. They were the nuts that commissioned a freakin’ blimp to fly up and down the east coast “advertising” their candidate. They were the nuts that littered America with signs (homemade and otherwise) in every city, town, and suburb. They were the nuts that organized following each debate to vote for their candidate in the post-debate text polls.
They were in your face and you either hated it, tolerated it, or loved it. No matter what your reaction, you can’t deny their dedication. I’m not sure I see that kind of dedication from the Tea Party movement yet. Even though they try to portray that they are angered at the growth of government, many seem to be dedicated to their dislike of Barack Obama and not much else. Bad-mouthing Bush now, comes off as merely lip-service or useless 20/20 hindsight.
Ron Paulers have been doing it since 2007 and are still doing it. The evidence is all around us. Ron Paul’s books are consistent best sellers. His Federal Reserve audit bill has 317 sponsors, including every House Republican and over 100 Democrats. That bill, in the form of an amendment, is contained within Barney Frank’s financial regulatory bill that passed the House and is now waiting for Senate action. Paul is omnipresent on main stream media outlets like CNN, FOX, and MSNBC. He’s a political celebrity that draws huge crowds for conferences and speaking engagements. Politicians seek endorsements from him. In a word, he is “hot” right now, politically speaking.
The best thing to conservatives was for Barack Obama to be elected President. It has galvanized and united many Republicans, libertarians, free market economists, and many independents disillusioned with America’s power elite. However, below the surface runs a very deep divide when it comes to foreign policy. This divide is between those like Ron Paul who support non-intervention and those that support our current policy, the Bush doctrine of preventive war.
Interestingly, this divide cannot be found between Democrats and Republicans. Fundamentally, both parties support the Bush doctrine of preventive war. They may disagree on the specifics of tertiary issues like which country to invade, but there is no difference on policy. This “invade or die” policy is the poison pill that will ultimately bring about our demise because we simply cannot afford it any longer. Perhaps it should be rephrased, “Invade and die… eventually.”
The jury is still out whether the Tea Party Movement will last. I suspect it may dwindle away once a Republican is in the White House, likely 2012 at the rate Obama is going right now. It’s “cool” to be anti-government these days, but a non-interventionist foreign policy is still “that which will not be discussed”.
Neo-conservative interventionists firmly believe that “they hate us because we are free”. Liberty-conservative non-interventionists firmly believe that they hate us because we meddle in their affairs. How do we reconcile this divide? Is it even possible?
I believe it is, but I don’t think the reconciliation can come from Ron Paul. He carries too much negative baggage among neo-cons from his 2008 campaign. I think it could come from a candidate like Rand Paul. He frames the argument in a palatable way for interventionists. Lib-cons need a candidate like him to help avoid turning off the other side before the debate even begins.
In practice, the best argument for a non-interventionist foreign policy is not the cost argument. Yes it costs way too much, but die-harders don’t care about that. To them any amount is worth it. The better argument is to ask them if they would enjoy having a random muslim family set up a camp in their back yard and use up their household resources (utilities) like water and electricity for as long as they feel is necessary. If someone knew of a best argument then there’d be a lot less interventionists walking around nowadays.
I keep hearing commentators like Glenn Beck tell us that the Tea Party movement is about values and principles and goes beyond partisanship. To his credit he is critical of John McCain, calling him a progressive. Yet he seems to be enamored with Sarah Palin, who to me is nothing more than a partisan pin-up girl of the interventionist neo-conservatives.
In her recent interview with Glenn Beck they discuss the need for Federal Reserve transparency. She actually says the following:
“It’s one of the things we are thankful for Glenn, that you are bringing this to light. And um, I don’t know anybody else who is.”
No mention of Ron Paul and his 317 cosponsors for HR.1207 and 30 cosponsors in the Senate for the companion bill. No mention of Ron Paul who has been shouting for Fed transparency for over 35 years. Palin is demonstrating where the partisanship truly resides. She is the Tea Party movement’s supreme double agent.
So is the Tea Party movement going to fade away and be considered the fad of 2009? Will the movement extinguish itself if the Republicans win a significant number of legislative seats back in 2010 or if they win the White House in 2012?
I expect it will, but then again I’m a libertarian-leaning cynic and freedom-loving Ron Paul nut. So what the heck do I know about politics in our non-imaginary dystopian world?
Loading ...
January 15th, 2010 at 4:42 pm (#)
Dare I say we should infiltrate the infiltrators? Politics is all about alliances, we just need to bring the tea parties*? around on foreign policy, and at the very least their small gov't views should bring us to an agreement on pulling troops out of Europe, Japan, South Korean and what not. Even Beck has talked about these things.
January 15th, 2010 at 5:54 pm (#)
Don't be a sore winner.
……………….
January 15th, 2010 at 3:48 pm (#)
The Tea Party "movement" will fizzle after being hijacked by the neocons. This is not a prediction, as it has already happened. When the idea was first introduced by Ron Paul activists, I was interested and excited. Now when I hear the term I wince, because I know that it no longer has the meaning it once did. In fact, for me, there's a negative feeling attached, with the likes of Gingrich associated with it.
January 15th, 2010 at 3:48 pm (#)
The Tea Party "movement" will fizzle after being hijacked by the neocons. This is not a prediction, as it has already happened. When the idea was first introduced by Ron Paul activists, I was interested and excited. Now when I hear the term I wince, because I know that it no longer has the meaning it once did. In fact, for me, there's a negative feeling attached, with the likes of Gingrich associated with it.
January 15th, 2010 at 4:42 pm (#)
Dare I say we should infiltrate the infiltrators? Politics is all about alliances, we just need to bring the tea parties*? around on foreign policy, and at the very least their small gov't views should bring us to an agreement on pulling troops out of Europe, Japan, South Korean and what not. Even Beck has talked about these things.
January 15th, 2010 at 4:42 pm (#)
Dare I say we should infiltrate the infiltrators? Politics is all about alliances, we just need to bring the tea parties*? around on foreign policy, and at the very least their small gov't views should bring us to an agreement on pulling troops out of Europe, Japan, South Korean and what not. Even Beck has talked about these things.
January 15th, 2010 at 4:48 pm (#)
I'm a tea-party dude, I've gone to some meetings,and I tell ya, I'm not going to stop being a tea-party dude. It wasn't out dislike of Obama that brought us out, it was the assaults on our liberty the likes of which nobody's ever seen before. It was the frog dropped in scalding water, rather than the slow heating we've seen since Wilson. If the republicans take power and roll back taxes and entitlements and waste, then obviously there'd be less lift the sails. But nobody expects that to happen. What I expect is that we'll put politicians in who say they want what we want and then we're going to have to hound them to hell and back to get it done. Thus, more tea-party protests and more organizing.
Palin: eh, she also didn't mention Rush, or Hannity. Her omission of Ron Paul shouldn't be seen as anything more than a kind statement about Beck imho
AWESOME BLOG!
January 15th, 2010 at 4:48 pm (#)
I'm a tea-party dude, I've gone to some meetings,and I tell ya, I'm not going to stop being a tea-party dude. It wasn't out dislike of Obama that brought us out, it was the assaults on our liberty the likes of which nobody's ever seen before. It was the frog dropped in scalding water, rather than the slow heating we've seen since Wilson. If the republicans take power and roll back taxes and entitlements and waste, then obviously there'd be less lift the sails. But nobody expects that to happen. What I expect is that we'll put politicians in who say they want what we want and then we're going to have to hound them to hell and back to get it done. Thus, more tea-party protests and more organizing.
Palin: eh, she also didn't mention Rush, or Hannity. Her omission of Ron Paul shouldn't be seen as anything more than a kind statement about Beck imho
AWESOME BLOG!
January 15th, 2010 at 5:54 pm (#)
Don't be a sore winner.
……………….
January 15th, 2010 at 5:54 pm (#)
Don't be a sore winner.
……………….
January 15th, 2010 at 7:58 pm (#)
Great post Marc, I guess the plus of tea parties is reminding people they have a right to speak out. The problem is the derailing by NEOCON Narcissistic Beck for his own agenda. He obviously has to toe the Murdoch line regardless of his self proclaimed Libertarianism (forget his Paul bashing). Then the simple fact that Palin is out to lunch on monetary policy speaks volumes and her belief that the tea-party activists can be brought back into the GOP movement points to the problem with the TP movement. It appears that once the other half of the "Establishment Party" regains control they will be satiated – missing the forest for the trees. joe
January 15th, 2010 at 10:42 pm (#)
You people will surely screw Scott Brown and all of us on health care because you are purists.
To vote for this Kennedy guy is insane.
Let the Dems vote for him instead of Martha, but please, GET SOME BRAINS just for this election huh?
January 16th, 2010 at 2:57 am (#)
"They were the nuts that organized following each debate to vote for their candidate in the post-debate text polls."
I am used to being called a nut-because I am pretty nutty about Dr. Paul- but to say that we "organized" following each debate to influence the after debate text voting outcome is outrageous.
Could it be possible that after watching the debate viewers simply voted for the candidate who came off as making sense, embodied statesman-like qualities, integrity, experience, and a deep historical grasp of geopolitics from an Amerocentic viewpoint, not to mention the only candidate who hews to his oath to protect and defend the Constitution from all enemies foreign and domestic?
And please do not forget that one text per phone…no way to fudge the outcome.
January 16th, 2010 at 3:24 am (#)
Blonduxo,
It's not at all outrageous to suggest there was some "organizing" going on with the text phone polls. I myself was part of that organization. Immediately after the debate all the Ron Paul sites and forums posted the text number for others to text in to vote for their man and many of us texted from our spouse's cell phones too. The blogs, the chat rooms, the forums all posted the number.
So it wasn't "cheating" but it most certainly was "organizing" in that way.
Enjoy,
Marc
January 16th, 2010 at 3:24 am (#)
Blonduxo,
It's not at all outrageous to suggest there was some "organizing" going on with the text phone polls. I myself was part of that organization. Immediately after the debate all the Ron Paul sites and forums posted the text number for others to text in to vote for their man and many of us texted from our spouse's cell phones too. The blogs, the chat rooms, the forums all posted the number.
So it wasn't "cheating" but it most certainly was "organizing" in that way.
Enjoy,
Marc
January 16th, 2010 at 10:13 am (#)
It's funny, this guy talks about the Ron Pauler's doing this since 2007, I'm a tea party organizer in my area that carries most of the same views as the "Campaign for Liberty" folks (and even attended the 1 single rally they put together). Problem I see is that most of them tend to have "movie night" get togethers to educate themselves on their "truther" beliefs and THAT'S IT. They can preach all they want, but they're not going to take back our country by sittin on the couch and watching NWO movies once a month….all bark and no bite. I'm crashing BOS meetings, city council meetings, congresspeoples event's, etc. on a regular basis as these folks sit back and bitch and complain…..wish most of the Ron Pauler's were willing to "walk the walk". The only ones that do are the Alex Jones crowd, "we are change" etc. They ought to be able to sway a lot of mainstream America don't ya think?
January 16th, 2010 at 10:13 am (#)
It's funny, this guy talks about the Ron Pauler's doing this since 2007, I'm a tea party organizer in my area that carries most of the same views as the "Campaign for Liberty" folks (and even attended the 1 single rally they put together). Problem I see is that most of them tend to have "movie night" get togethers to educate themselves on their "truther" beliefs and THAT'S IT. They can preach all they want, but they're not going to take back our country by sittin on the couch and watching NWO movies once a month….all bark and no bite. I'm crashing BOS meetings, city council meetings, congresspeoples event's, etc. on a regular basis as these folks sit back and bitch and complain…..wish most of the Ron Pauler's were willing to "walk the walk". The only ones that do are the Alex Jones crowd, "we are change" etc. They ought to be able to sway a lot of mainstream America don't ya think?
January 16th, 2010 at 10:13 am (#)
It's funny, this guy talks about the Ron Pauler's doing this since 2007, I'm a tea party organizer in my area that carries most of the same views as the "Campaign for Liberty" folks (and even attended the 1 single rally they put together). Problem I see is that most of them tend to have "movie night" get togethers to educate themselves on their "truther" beliefs and THAT'S IT. They can preach all they want, but they're not going to take back our country by sittin on the couch and watching NWO movies once a month….all bark and no bite. I'm crashing BOS meetings, city council meetings, congresspeoples event's, etc. on a regular basis as these folks sit back and bitch and complain…..wish most of the Ron Pauler's were willing to "walk the walk". The only ones that do are the Alex Jones crowd, "we are change" etc. They ought to be able to sway a lot of mainstream America don't ya think?
January 17th, 2010 at 5:30 pm (#)
neocons have hijacked the teaparty movement.
in contradiction to ferocious independent thought practiced by the founders, Americans latch onto glitzy hollywood-ish shells no matter the interior. obama the orator had them swooning with change and palin the beauty queen has them singing the songs of peace and prosperity. –no matter that she agreed with Bush on the tarp funds. –no matter that she says Georgia should be allowed in NATO and the U.S. should attack Russia if Russia attacks Georgia.
whichever way the wind blows them and whichever way the masses move is the path of the new American.
ron paul we need you.
January 19th, 2010 at 8:21 pm (#)
Again, I can only speak for "my area" which I stated above. If you have contacts, or avenues for me to find contacts in this area to ally with that are about "action" I would appreciate it. Most of my attempts for contact have come through the various groups at http://www.meetup.com (sacramento ron paul revolutionaries, etc., they're all worthless as far as "action" goes). Campaign for Liberty and the 9/12 group did an excellent job of spearheading the overthrow of the Nevada GOP "old guard", I'm doing the same with my network in my area, but we need more constitutionally minded people that are about "action". Unfortunately, their is no strong 9/12 group presence in my are to ally with either, so I'm left with the groups that have the most bodies to "cherry pick" the non-GOP establishment types for my crew/network. Any suggestion on how the local Ron Paul groups should be approached to get them to get off the couch? Lmk. Thanks.
January 19th, 2010 at 3:50 pm (#)
Many of those "you people" you are referring to are working on Brown's campaign as we speak.
These "you people" pushed the RNC hard to put some money behind Brown, until they finally cracked.
You might want to look in the mirror and check your brain.
January 19th, 2010 at 3:50 pm (#)
Many of those "you people" you are referring to are working on Brown's campaign as we speak.
These "you people" pushed the RNC hard to put some money behind Brown, until they finally cracked.
You might want to look in the mirror and check your brain.
January 19th, 2010 at 3:54 pm (#)
Apparently you haven't met the majority of Ron Pauler's. We're working on campaigns, crashing meetings, we're at the State Capitols, in D.C. speaking to Congress members, testifying in committee hearings, and walking door to door in our neighborhoods.
The complainers and movie watchers aren't the majority.
January 19th, 2010 at 3:54 pm (#)
Apparently you haven't met the majority of Ron Pauler's. We're working on campaigns, crashing meetings, we're at the State Capitols, in D.C. speaking to Congress members, testifying in committee hearings, and walking door to door in our neighborhoods.
The complainers and movie watchers aren't the majority.
January 19th, 2010 at 3:54 pm (#)
Apparently your definition of "getting some brains" would be to vote against one's beliefs and ideals.
January 19th, 2010 at 3:54 pm (#)
Apparently your definition of "getting some brains" would be to vote against one's beliefs and ideals.
January 19th, 2010 at 8:21 pm (#)
Again, I can only speak for "my area" which I stated above. If you have contacts, or avenues for me to find contacts in this area to ally with that are about "action" I would appreciate it. Most of my attempts for contact have come through the various groups at http://www.meetup.com (sacramento ron paul revolutionaries, etc., they're all worthless as far as "action" goes). Campaign for Liberty and the 9/12 group did an excellent job of spearheading the overthrow of the Nevada GOP "old guard", I'm doing the same with my network in my area, but we need more constitutionally minded people that are about "action". Unfortunately, their is no strong 9/12 group presence in my are to ally with either, so I'm left with the groups that have the most bodies to "cherry pick" the non-GOP establishment types for my crew/network. Any suggestion on how the local Ron Paul groups should be approached to get them to get off the couch? Lmk. Thanks.
January 19th, 2010 at 8:21 pm (#)
Again, I can only speak for "my area" which I stated above. If you have contacts, or avenues for me to find contacts in this area to ally with that are about "action" I would appreciate it. Most of my attempts for contact have come through the various groups at http://www.meetup.com (sacramento ron paul revolutionaries, etc., they're all worthless as far as "action" goes). Campaign for Liberty and the 9/12 group did an excellent job of spearheading the overthrow of the Nevada GOP "old guard", I'm doing the same with my network in my area, but we need more constitutionally minded people that are about "action". Unfortunately, their is no strong 9/12 group presence in my are to ally with either, so I'm left with the groups that have the most bodies to "cherry pick" the non-GOP establishment types for my crew/network. Any suggestion on how the local Ron Paul groups should be approached to get them to get off the couch? Lmk. Thanks.
January 19th, 2010 at 8:23 pm (#)
Now that's a broad statement, guess I could say "Truthers and passivists that would bend over if the russains attacked the US" have taken over the Ron Paul movement. Typical RP supporter attitude, wonder how our founders would feel about that…….
January 19th, 2010 at 8:23 pm (#)
Now that's a broad statement, guess I could say "Truthers and passivists that would bend over if the russains attacked the US" have taken over the Ron Paul movement. Typical RP supporter attitude, wonder how our founders would feel about that…….
January 19th, 2010 at 10:29 pm (#)
I pushed Ron Paul, campaigned for him, was a district coordinator for him. The problem with lots and lots of Ron Paul pushers is that they forget that Ron Paul is only one person, he is not the answer to all of our problems. If you push someone else you are automatically called a NEOCON. The Tea Party Nation is an awesome movement, and NO RON PAULITES did NOT start the Tea Party, it was started back at the birth of our country. I do think Gingrich is a NEOCON and several others, but I disagree about Sarah Palin. I think Palin is one of us, she is the real deal and the main reason I voted and Pushed Ron Paul was not because he is a genius with economics or against the war, it was because he was honest and practiced what he preached. We need an honest, down to earth candidate, and Sarah Palin is very much that type of person.
I am sick and tired of electing politicians to office – I want an average American to lead.