'Gone Teabagging': Blogger attempts to identify elusive group

by Susan Marie Kovalinsky | January 27, 2010 at 06:46 am

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What Exactly Is A "Tea Partier"? A political blogger attempts to identify the movement

The Tea Party Patriots and the rest of the Tea Party protesters have swept the nation in 2009 and have intrigued many with their blend of founding father principles and libertarian independence.

The Boston Tea Party is even its own political movement now.

The national grassroots movement which has been described as an army without a general, the Tea Party movement in America has been a spontaneous uprising against the Washington DC bureaucrats and elitist politically correct liberals. This part I can strongly identify with (I only wish Obama were part of it all; he seemed so Tea Party in his '08 oratory).

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The Tea Party movement will grow larger and larger and will resist being taken over by insiders who see potential for their party or candidates until the distance between what average Americans feel and what political leaders do in pure self-interest has been closed. To understand the anger in the Tea Parties one has to understand that many Americans still expect our government to act in the public, instead of private or political interest.

Andrew Breibart's "Big Government"

A little historical thinking and research tells one that , historically, popular movements will form spontaneously during periods of social and civil unrest and upheaval, much like the 1930s era and today. Howe and Strauss, two astute social historians whom ought to be called "classical futurists", for want of a better word, had more or less depicted the Tea Party movement (unnamed), in their 1997 book, "The Fourth Turning", and likened it to the populist movements of the Great Depression or the Civil War era, both of which we are experiencing in spirit form today.

In fact, with that prophetic insight so peculiar to these two - so subtle and profound - in the Howe and Strauss epic work, a figure makes an appearance in the book, an anonymous X, known only as "the Grey Champion", who is so much like a Tea Party Patriot in manner, looks, and cultural sensibilities, as to make one blink in disbelief.

If one takes the very long historical view, one can even compare the Tea Party movement to the Protestant Reformation period, as Fabius Maximus does on his own website, and rightly so: Powerful elites stir up populist movements to their own ends (whispered to the Tea Baggers). This blogger points out the manner in which they can flare up, and suddenly fizzle out, like the Bonus Army of 1932, or the New Model Army of the American Revolution.

Sounding more like Howe and Strauss with each paragraph, he continues : "If this recession continues much longer, or even grows worse (aka the double dip), then we’ll see real public anger. The political map may change in ways we cannot now imagine.".

He also says that the Tea Party movement is "a real life version of the 1941 film, Meet John Doe" starring Gary Cooper. This is accurate: Indeed, the film depicts a populist movement full of angry and fed up American voters, who nevertheless maintain the backing and approval of key party members in high places.

Of course, many liberals such as the politico blogger, Jezabel, and Think Progress, have questioned if this is not merely a case of powerful political lobbyists taking advantage of unrest:

Also read Andrew Breibart's "Big Government" site, Explaining the Tea Party movement and the Bewilderment of the Political Class

Yesterday, Think Progress reported on Republican lawmakers planning to speak at anti-Obama “tea party” protests taking place nationwide on April 15. Last night, Eric Odom of the DontGo website — one of the organizers of the protests — wrote a blog post stressing that these protests are displays of “regular American[s] in protest of government spending and extreme taxation,” rather than something affiliated with a political party or special interest agenda.
Today on Fox News — which has actively been promoting the protests — Glenn Beck pushed the tea party talking points, similarly claiming that the protests aren’t “coordinated” and are fully organized by “regular” people. Watch it:

Often spotted on the nightly news, at protest rallies, or at undisclosed bunkers in the heartland of America - and influencing elections, notably in Florida andMassachusetts - the whims of Homo sapiens teabaganderthalensis are of great interest to social scientists and political junkies. Below, we break down the details.
If the designation of "tea partier" (or in a more leftist parlance, "teabaggers") seems nebulous, that's because the identity of a tea partier is mutable. The initial 2009 reports of Americans gathering to protest against taxes and larger government gave rise to the idea that tea partiers were pissed off members of the Republican fringe. Wingnuts, if you will.

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Karen Hatter

at 12:24 on January 27th, 2010

An excerpt from Tea Party Disputes Take Toll on Convention :

A Tea Party convention billed as the coming together of the grass-roots groups that began sprouting up around the country a year ago is unraveling as sponsors and participants pull out to protest its expense and express concerns about “profiteering.”

The convention’s difficulties highlight the fractiousness of the Tea Party groups, and the considerable suspicions among their members of anything that suggests the establishment.

The convention, to be held in Nashville in early February, made a splash by attracting big-name politicians. (Former Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska is scheduled to deliver the keynote speech.) But some groups have criticized the cost — $549 per ticket and a $9.95 fee, plus hotel and airfare — as out of reach for the average tea partier. And they have balked at Ms. Palin’s speaking fee, which news reports have put at $100,000, a figure that organizers will not confirm or deny.

CynicalPatriot

at 19:10 on January 28th, 2010

Dear Karen,

Maybe you have missed the obvious. First, the tea party movement is not one single group. There about 20 major groups and 50 or more smaller groups. Please take off your Progressive party hat for a while and listen to what your fellow Americans are telling you.

Please read my articles on Examiner.com like A TEA Party Christmas wish and TEA Party Suggested news years resolutions. Please realize that both major political parties manipulate us to turn on each other by emphasizing our differences instead of our similarities. We Americans are more alike than we are different.

Please understand that we realize the corruption, duplicity and excesses of the Republican Party. And they allege they are conservative, just like us.

For example, I don't like my political party saying they are for free markets and then bailing out banks instead of letting free market forces work. And I don't like that they tell us the Democrats are tax and spend while they are just Spending and borrowing.

Why don't some of you liberals hold your Democrat party accountable like we conservatives are. Democrats are suppose to be for the little guy and the voted to spend how much tax money to bail out rich bankers ? And did they fire any rich bankers, so they don;t get to do it to us again?

Karen, that was a bi-partisan kickback feeding frenzy of giant proportions.

Do you not see the irony of you celebrating the fractiousness of the tea party while the country crashes in burns? Will you feel any better if your party is in charge when it crashes and burns?

Please put your country before your party. Yes I know the Republicans have been evil. At the same time, Democrat leaders have been evil. Please look past the duplicity, propaganda, dogma and censorship. Do not accept the perception of reality your own party inflicts on you. Think Critically. Don't believe anything anyone says, even me, until you can verify it for yourself.

Back to your my response to this article and what you have written hear. Please remember liberals long ago said the tea party movement was just a Republican Ruse, a trojan horse if you will. And it is true that persons with deep ties to the Republicans did start some "trojan" horse tea party groups to try and harsh the passion and direct them into voting for Republicans. (Warning, the Republican Loyalist thought police might hear me)

What you miss is that the true grassroots, free thinking tea partyers hold career politicians and career bureaucrats responsible for ignoring the constitution and the bill of rights, regardless of their party affiliation. Even in the very few, true trojan horse tea party groups, the handlers are losing control as the base rejects the notion of top down direction. In true grass roots movements, direction comes from the bottom up...

So please realize that while you are out their celebrating the, what you term fractiousness of the tea party, you miss the point that we will not be duped by any political party that alleges itself to be conservative and insists we have no choice but to vote for them, else those demonic democrats will get reelected because we split the vote.

Please, don't stand on the sidelines and snipe. Please lead your liberal cohorts in standing up to the tyranny of your liberal leaders. Let us put aside the differences that divide us and rally around those things that unite us, at least until we save our country.

What differences does winning your issues make, if you no longer have a country or the power to enforce your will?

The obvious point you may have missed is we are holding accountable those that allege to be our own, but betray us once they no longer need our vote,

May I ask you to do the same with your own duplicitous liberal politicians?

I await your thoughtful response.

Those were my thoughts.

Respectfully Submitted,

Don Mashak

The Cynical Patriot