From the WSJ, this might be the most accurate and concise description of the Tea Party that I've seen:
To be sure, the tea party sports its share of clowns, kooks and creeps. And some of its favored candidates and loudest voices have made embarrassing statements and embraced reckless policies. This, however, does not distinguish the tea party movement from the competition.Born in response to President Obama's self-declared desire to fundamentally change America, the tea party movement has made its central goals abundantly clear. Activists and the sizeable swath of voters who sympathize with them want to reduce the massively ballooning national debt, cut runaway federal spending, keep taxes in check, reinvigorate the economy, and block the expansion of the state into citizens' lives.In other words, the tea party movement is inspired above all by a commitment to limited government. And that does distinguish it from the competition.
This is why I call myself a Tea Party activist.
Related...
OTB: Dismiss the Tea Party at your peril... "The human race divides politically into those who want people to be controlled and those who have no such desire."
"First they ignore you..."
Don't miss this, via Ed Morrissey: Video: The Tea Party vs the Ruling Class
6 comments:
I'd have to disagree with the WSJ. The Tea Party movement was not "Born in response to President Obama's self-declared desire to fundamentally change America" but rather it was born out of the ideals of the Ron Paul R3volution to bring us back to our Constitutional roots, well before Obama was elected.
I think the Tea Party is more about limiting Federal Government. It's also about increasing Democracy and Participatory Government. We, the People, Blog, Comment and use our words on social media to describe our situation, and how we would like things to be. "They" do not listen, and proceed apace as if they know better. We are remaking the US from a representative government, into a representational government...one that is, as the geeks say, "user driven".
I am a tea party activist! Hell I attended a event yesterday......
I don't think they have a clue what the Tea Party really is all about. All they care about is discrediting the movement and their efforts to bring some sanity back to our government.
I'm with LD. They don't have a clue.
Chris W makes a good point, though I've never been a big follower of Dr. Paul, I see it as an extension of Conservative anger towards the GOP. For most of the last decade, and certainly back into the 90's, the GOP would talk the Conservative talk, and with only a few exceptions, walked the RINO walk. Hence, the Tea Parties have really attacked the GOP over the last year and a half.
Obama was the flash point, and Conservatives did not trust the GOP to do the right thing, so they organized themselves.
That being said, I do mostly agree with the article.
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