Bagging the Tea Party; The End is Near

In the last few years, a new phenomenon has risen on the political landscape. Almost immediately, it became known as the “Tea Party Movement,” a reference to the well-known incident in Boston in 1773. American colonists, revolting against the imposition of British taxes, dumped an entire shipment of tea into the harbor. Since then, the name has been attached to any number of non-violent protests against what participants view as oppressive actions by the government.

In this case, the movement became populated by, at first, disaffected Republicans and libertarians who grew frustrated with the refusal of those they elected to hold firm to conservative principles. For a long time, these people were considered fringe elements by liberal Democrats and mainline Republicans as well. However within the last year, especially, the movement has grown in strength, numbers, and power resulting in what may be the most fundamental grass-roots political revolution in recent American history.

Ironically, the attempts by both parties to minimize the Tea Party have only served to strengthen and widen the movement’s popularity. If the results of the primary elections are any indication, the 2010 midterms look to be the first wave of political change that may sweep through the 2012 presidential election.

The left have disparaged the Tea Partiers, referring to them with the obscene double-entendre “Tea Baggers.” Described as Red Necks, ignorant and naïve, uneducated, racist and sexist, liberals have used just about every derogatory term in their vast inventory. Even the mainstream Republican Party has noticeably kept them at an arm’s length. But recently, a clearer picture of the Tea Party has begun to emerge. In listening to their rallies, reading their statements, and observing their membership, I have come up with what I think are the characteristics that define the movement and its membership.

1. Socially conservative. They are uniformly against abortion, some on religious grounds, others citing the unknown potential of any human being regardless of the circumstances of birth. For most, their religion, usually Christianity is a major part, if not the driving force in their lives. While they understand that there are people who need financial help, they believe that a responsible approach to life, making moral and ethical choices along the way, is preferable to being trained to be dependent on government handouts.

2. Politically conservative. They believe in small, limited government, responsible management of the budget, low taxes, a strong military, property rights, and marriage as a union between one man and one woman. Their approach to business is firmly laissez-faire, and feel that the natural forces of the marketplace are the best rules for business. They understand that success of any kind means hard work, long hours, and an expectation that failure will occur on the way. But failure is not an end in and of itself, but a platform for learning from mistakes.

3. They understand that the Democrat version of compromise consists of the phrase, “My way, or my way.” That past attempts to reach compromise has resulted in Republicans giving up far more than they receive. As a result, their candidates campaign with one overriding mandate: Stand Your Ground.

4. They also understand that what they term “The Main Stream Media” is uniformly hostile to conservatives and their views. They feel that the principles of their party have been twisted and de-contextualized into something resembling autocratism by reporters, anchors, and editors. They view the members of that elite as promoting liberalism instead of merely reporting it, failing to critically examine the actions of the left to the extent of minimally or even completely failing to report scandals of liberal Democrats while obsessing over even the most minor of misdeeds by Conservatives. The explosion in the popularity of Fox News is symptomatic of that belief.

Hounded by circumstance into a unique situation, rejecting liberalism/socialism, and their concerns actively dismissed by their own party, they have spontaneously organized, first at the local levels, and now into a national force to be reckoned with.

The recognition of the new reality has been slow in coming. Democrats, staring at the results of the fiscal policies of the President, the Speaker of the House, and the Senate Majority leader, are fleeing from those policies. Many candidates have turned down the offer of the Administration to have President Obama speak at their rallies. Republicans, finally realizing that the Tea Party is now firmly entrenched, is now beginning to reach out, hoping to avoid a civil war at the polls in November.

In a very real way, the appearance of the Tea Party mirrors the ideological shift within the Democrat party. Liberals took control of their party away from the Clintonian centrists and moved it decisively to the left. This shift took them away from the center and into the arms of those who 40 years earlier had been known as campus radicals. This tactic motivated voters, giving them the victory in 2006 that gave them control of both the House and the Senate, and the big prize, the White House in 2008, electing the first President of African-American heritage.

This model of success showed that in order for Conservatives to regain power, they, too had to move decisively away from the center and towards their conservative roots. In a sense, American politics is now dominated by two Parties of McCarthy; Eugene and Joe.

But the actions of both parties in their lunge to the left and to the right have opened up a cultural chasm in the middle, one that seems to widen on a daily basis. People, instead of debating intellectually, are now screaming at each other, completely consumed by their emotions. What was once the arena of ideas is now a pit of passion. Irrationality rules the day.

What will become of these developments? No one can say for sure. It could be that the political divide will reach a point of critical division, causing people on both sides to stop the rifting. Or, if no such rapprochement occurs, it may be that today marks the beginning of our eventual dissolution as a nation.

What the British failed to do; what the Germans, Japanese, and Soviets could not accomplish, the destruction of the United States will occur not at the tip of an enemy’s sword, but at our own hands.