A nice concise look at the Tea Party Movement

[dogtowner]

read

its not long but it is accurate

http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=UUP

Scott Brown's victory in Massachusetts last month did more than just break the Democrats filibuster-proof majority in the Senate. It also brought the movement into the mainstream as the Tea Party played at least an indirect role in helping the Republican win. But what, exactly, is the Tea Party?

It's hard to define by conventional means but Ben McGrath, staff writer for The New Yorker, says the Tea Party is a "marriage of two main strains" of conservative politics - libertarians and social conservatives. "People who would have voted Republican historically but don't think of themselves as Republicans" anymore, having been frustrated by the big spending or international activism (or both) of the GOP during the George W. Bush era.

In a recent New Yorker article and the accompanying clip, McGrath takes pains to dispel the commonly held view that the Tea Party is a bunch of fringe radicals.

"Sure [you] might find one or two wacky people but they're [mostly] just ordinary Americans who have a deep sense the country is going to a place they're not comfortable with," he says. "Something about the idea of a tea party [the] connection to the American Revolution has animated them, gotten them interested in civic engagement in a new way."

McGrath also disputes the notion the Tea Party is being led by Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin, Dick Armey, Lou Dobbs, Rick Santelli or anyone else for that matter.

"There isn't one leader and even those who might be indentified are really sensitive to the concern of followers there need not be a leader, should not be a leader," he explains. "The Internet is the leader" much like with Moveon.org or the Obama campaign in 2008.

Because of the common misperceptions about the Tea Party, especially in mainstream media circles, McGrath says the movement is being
underestimated as a powerful force in American politics, as we'll discuss further in an upcoming segment. The First National Tea Party Conventions kicks off Thursday in Nashville.

 

[ASPCA4EVER]

Thank you...not as hyped up and as riddled with the filth that some posts have suggested/innuendoed at and not so driven by the ilk of Glenn Beck/Rush Limbaugh/Sarah Palin as I was afraid of TY...hard to ask simplistic question {sincerely} when all one gets back is more hysteria and verbal garbage...but that was very simplistically written!

 

[ktucan1]

read

its not long but it is accurate

http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=UUP

not very inclusive neither.....I don't trust the Tea Party because of the lunatic's that it attracts and it has a long way to go to present itself to those who live in the inner cities and the poor in this country.

 

[Helicitor]

not very inclusive neither.....I don't trust the Tea Party because of the lunatic's that it attracts and it has a long way to go to present itself to those who live in the inner cities and the poor in this country.

The poor should continue to vote Democrat, since they promised 70 years ago to eliminate poverty. And every local jurisdiction where they are in the majority is the least crime infested rat hole in the country--like Detroit, that Democratic utopia. Yeah, I don't think the tea party offers much hope for folks like that--they've already found their solution.

 

[dogtowner]

not very inclusive neither.....I don't trust the Tea Party because of the lunatic's that it attracts and it has a long way to go to present itself to those who live in the inner cities and the poor in this country.

The dems have been the friends of the inner city and the poor ?
Some friend....

Perhaps they should look elsewhere.

 

[CHAINSAW]

Thanks.
I believe, inspite of the "main-stream" medias bias that the Tea Party movement is people just being fedup with Washington politics as they are now. As far as I can see they are made up of folks from the middle to the right of the political spectrum from BOTH parties.
Hopefully the idiots in Washington, and every State for that matter, relaize that the they have awoken a GIANT and the rath of the people. As one poster indicated, as with all political views, there are a few "hair brains" that make the core group look radical. I strongly beleive that these folks only want what is best for the Country and nothing else.
Take care folks.

 

[Alana]

=dogtowner;129439]read
..........................
McGrath also disputes the notion the Tea Party is being led by Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin, Dick Armey, Lou Dobbs, Rick Santelli or anyone else for that matter.

What planet is McGrath living on?? Of course the Tea Party is being led by the Republican elite. It was started by Dick Armey, former House Majority Leader for the Republicans via his organization called Freedom Works, and financially supported by big oil billionaire David Koch via his organization called Americans for Prosperity, and Sarah Palin has been their guest speaker.

The Republican elite provides busses to haul the Tea Baggers around, they provide the whacko signs they carry, they arrange conventions for them in upscale hotels, and Sarah Palin comes there to speak to them. Who do they think makes all these arrangements? It's a big production that doesn't just happen by accident. It is well orchestrated.

And, the Tea Baggers are most certainly primed and pumped up by Glenn Beck, a drug and alcohol abuser and Rush Limbaugh, who has been in rehabilitation 3 times for his addiction to Oxycontin.

Just because McGrath and the grass roots lackeys running around in tea bag hats carrying whacko signs don't understand the origins of their manipulators, doesn't mean they're not being manipulated.

Make no mistake the Republican elite will make sure they all vote Republican. You won't see any Tea Baggers voting for the person instead of the Party.

 

[dogtowner]

What planet is McGrath living on?? Of course the Tea Party is being led by the Republican elite. It was started by Dick Armey, former House Majority Leader for the Republicans via his organization called Freedom Works, and financially supported by big oil billionaire David Koch via his organization called Americans for Prosperity, and Sarah Palin has been their guest speaker.

The Republican elite provides busses to haul the Tea Baggers around, they provide the whacko signs they carry, they arrange conventions for them in upscale hotels, and Sarah Palin comes there to speak to them. Who do they think makes all these arrangements? It's a big production that doesn't just happen by accident. It is well orchestrated.

And, the Tea Baggers are most certainly primed and pumped up by Glenn Beck, a drug and alcohol abuser and Rush Limbaugh, who has been in rehabilitation 3 times for his addiction to Oxycontin.

Just because McGrath and the grass roots lackeys running around in tea bag hats carrying whacko signs don't understand the origins of their manipulators, doesn't mean they're not being manipulated.

Make no mistake the Republican elite will make sure they all vote Republican. You won't see any Tea Baggers voting for the person instead of the Party.

they certainly can't vote dem if they are committed to lower taxes and greater freedom. the point is much the same as MoveOn on your side, to demand that conservatism make a come back.

 

[Alana]

they certainly can't vote dem if they are committed to lower taxes and greater freedom. the point is much the same as MoveOn on your side, to demand that conservatism make a come back.

These dumb bunnies don't realize that the only people the Republicans want to lower taxes on are the super rich. The average citizen won't even notice thier tax cut if they get any at all. Obama has already lowered taxes for the working class to less that what they were under Bush.

I don't know of one freedom I or anyone else has lost under the Obama administration. As far as freedom goes, the Republicans want to control what goes on inside a woman's body. That's about as big a loss of freedom as you can get.

 

[IndependentBear]

Make no mistake; the Republican elite will make sure they all vote Republican. You won't see any Tea Baggers voting for the person instead of the Party.

We really have a problem with the Republican elite in Virginia's 2nd Congressional District. The Republican elite gave us car dealer Scott Rigell, who donated to President Obama and Democratic Senator Mark Warner and supported other Democratic causes. One thing I will not do is automatically vote Republican no matter who is running. I've been a registered voter since 1982 and have never had a lower opinion of any Republican than Rigell. I have jumped ship from the Republicans to support independent candidate Kenny Golden. Golden supports the FairTax, and with 31 years in the Navy, he has more national security experience than his two opponents combined.

 

[PLC1]

Tea Party is a "marriage of two main strains" of conservative politics - libertarians and social conservatives.

Wow, talk about politics making strange bedfellows!

Good article over all. The "tea party" is not a particular political philosophy, but a general reaction to the breakdown of government in Washington. The Congress of the US has had approval ratings, where? In the teens or lower, I think, for some time now. It is appropriate that people are beginning to get involved and show dissatisfaction with government.

Marriage of libertarians and social conservatives tells it all. There is a highly diverse group who don't like the way the country is going, and don't buy in to the my party right or wrong philosophy. Good for them.