Over the past few weeks I admit I have reached a certain level of “Tea Party” fatigue. Newspapers, television, magazines, and the Internet seem to be fascinated with the actions of the Tea Party faithful.
The actual power and relevance of the Tea Party is open for debate, but for the moment I’m going to give the Tea Party the benefit of the doubt. I will take the members at their word that they are part of a massive grassroots movement. I will accept their claim that the vast majority of Tea Partiers are not racists, and are not advocating violent overthrow of the government.
If these are indeed the facts, then the Tea Party has another issue to deal with:
How do they continue to grow in numbers and in political influence without allowing themselves to be defined by the images of hatred, racism, and intolerance that have been evident at many rallies?
In effort to help, I am offering this list if unsolicited advice: The Top 10 Tea Party Steps to Credibility. Each and every one of these steps should be considered vital to the foundation of ANY American political movement.
Please read and discuss:
1. Reject ANY and ALL racist, homophobic, or misogynistic signs, slogans, chants, etc.
No legitimate public movement in America can tolerate the proliferation of hate. I hope the Tea Partiers who claim that race has nothing to do with the movement will stop and look around them. If you are at a rally, and someone shows up with a racist sign or shouts out homophobic slurs, you have an obligation to condemn that act. If you don’t, that act will define your movement.
Right now the Tea Party is starting to look like a place where bigots can come out of the closet (where they should stay) and can feel accepted. If that continues, the Tea Party is doomed.
2. To steal a line from Steve Martin in Planes, Trains and Automobiles: When you hold your rallies… have a point. It makes it so much more enjoyable for the listeners!
You can’t build a political movement of any substance around bumper stickers, but too often when I listen to Tea Party speeches I hear nothing but slogans:
- Freedom from tyranny – Seriously, do you know anyone who is “pro-tyranny?"
- Constitutionally Limited Government – That’s what America is. And it’s what some of your members seem to want to overthrow.
- Fiscal responsibility – How do you want to achieve this? Aren’t taxes an important part of this? And where were you for the previous eight years?
The time has come for the Tea Party to start standing for something, instead of simply lashing out against things.
3. Stop shouting.
There is no correlation between volume and credibility. In fact, sometimes shouting makes you seem less credible. This doesn’t mean you have to be subdued. You can be outraged about the actions of the government without screaming at people. Trust me. I did it for eight years.
4. To steal a line from “Oh Brother Where Art Thou”… find a leader who has the capacity for abstract thought.
You need to seriously think about who you are letting represent you:- Sarah Palin – When someone can write their talking points on their hand with room to spare, that’s probably not the person you want as your leader.
- Glen Beck – Writing nonsense on a chalkboard doesn’t make you an educator.
- Hannity? O’Reilly? Rush? A movement isn’t based on self-promoters. It should be based on promoting core values and beliefs.
- And you NEED to stop allowing Victoria Jackson and Stephen Baldwin anywhere near your rallies.
5. If you aren’t trying to incite violence stop using violent rhetoric.
Stop talking about overthrowing the government. Stop carrying signs that threaten Obama, Reed and Pelosi. We live in a democracy. Start talking about voting, educating, or, God forbid, community organizing!
When you say a “revolution is brewing”… when you equate Obama to Hitler… or when one of your leaders uses crosshairs on a map to call out lawmakers who voted for the health care bill… you are walking a dangerous path. The last thing a real political movement needs is to incite acts of violence. That’s when you become terrorists.
6. Leave the guns at home.
See step number five.
I understand that many people view the Second Amendment as providing an inalienable right to carry a handgun or a semi-automatic weapon around with them in public. But just because something is legal, do you have to do it?
If the Tea Party wants to unify around the right to bear arms, then that’s one thing. But if the aspiration is to become a political force for change, flaunting your guns will only undermine your efforts.
7. Study history.
The Boston Tea Party was a protest against taxation without representation. The protesters fought for the very system of representative government that the current Tea Party is protesting against.
This is just one example of how a movement needs to know history. Other topics that seem to warrant at least a Cliffs Notes understanding:
- Hitler
- Fascism
- Socialism
- The Budget Deficit (see: the G.W. Bush years)
8. Fact Check
Any time you carry a sign that says, “Keep government away from my Medicare!” you lose credibility.
Similarly, before you start talking about how much your taxes have gone up under President Obama, you should check your return. Either your taxes have gone down (for 95 percent of households) OR you came out of the Great Recession in pretty good shape income-wise. This doesn’t mean you can’t complain about taxes or spending… just try to do it over a foundation of truth.
9. Do NOT embrace the Confederate Flag as a symbol of your movement.
See steps 1 and 5. I know many people view the Confederate Flag as an important cultural symbol. The problem is, many of those people are racists.
10. Stop and think about what “Patriotism” means.
When you say you love America, is it the land mass that is defined by our borders that you love? Or is it the system of government, the checks and balances, the freedoms, and the ability to peacefully transfer power through elections that you love?
Advocating violent overthrow of our government isn’t patriotism. It’s terrorism at best, and could rise to treason. If you want to support the Constitution and the vision of our Founding Fathers, you can’t condemn the very system they set up.
I am not one to criticize the Tea Party for existing. I applaud political action whether or not I agree with a group’s point of view. I do, however, think the Tea Party is getting a free ride right now for some actions that should not be tolerated in American political discourse. And I believe eventually the Tea Party’s long-term prospects are grim if they don’t take steps now to curb some of the more troubling aspects of the “movement.”
Please weigh in on this discussion… I look forward to your thoughts. But please, no shouting.
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Catherine Forsythe
OEsheepdog
kfujioka
ConnieMack
Delhi girl
Lindsay McCullough
Salon.com
Comments
After a year of shouting, protesting and basically doing nothing the majority of America have already turned their backs on the radicals. But you won't see it on the news.
See? Nobody even remembers those folks.
Your points are good...which is why they will fade into obscurity.
You are? They get the hell out of this meeting unless you've got something relevant to say. Do you want to talk about budget cuts to our district? Great. Do you want to hijack the discussion to talk waffle on about America and patriotism? NOT great. At all. There are other parents here who aren't getting a chance to speak about their kids losing a beloved music teacher because you've got the microphone.
It turns out they were protesting a district teacher, Jason Levin, who created a "Crash the Tea Party" web site.
That's fine. It's their right to protest whatever they want. In. The. Right. Forum. Not here. Not hijacking somebody else's meeting.
The only differecne between the Tea Paty and the KKK is the thread count of their sheets.
Most certainly this should be done.
2. To steal a line from Steve Martin in Planes, Trains and Automobiles: When you hold your rallies… have a point. It makes it so much more enjoyable for the listeners!
· Fiscal responsibility – How do you want to achieve this? Aren’t taxes an important part of this? And where were you for the previous eight years?
How long would you like them to wait? That last line is completely ignorant liberal drivel.
3. Stop shouting.
We learned this from liberals. You have no moral right to tell us that we can’t do what you do.
4. To steal a line from “Oh Brother Where Art Thou”… find a leader who has the capacity for abstract thought.
Comical liberal media talking points. Nothing original there at all.
5. If you aren’t trying to incite violence stop using violent rhetoric.
Liberals are prone to riots. There has not been a single incidence of violence. More media drivel.
6. Leave the guns at home.
Constitutional right.
7. Study history.
They did. And this is no longer the same type of government.
8. Fact Check
Absolutely true. I actually turned a profit doing my taxes this year. Too bad my money is not worth as much do to uncontrolled spending.
9. Do NOT embrace the Confederate Flag as a symbol of your movement.
The “Don’t tread on me” flag is not the Confederate flag. See #8
10. Stop and think about what “Patriotism” means.
Thomas Jefferson was quoted as saying that America needs a revolution every 25 years.
How this load of lies, rhetoric and garbage gets to the cover is beyond me. I understand that the OS editors are liberals, but this crap gets out of hand. The easiest way to get on the cover is to say anything that is not liberal is racist; you don’t have to back up your claim b/c facts don’t matter.
Step 11, 2 thumbs: Stop playing the pitiful victim card. Nobody believes you. All you do is prove everything in the post. Good work.
I thank you for weighing in... but want to clarify a few points:
1. I appreciate your agreement about eliminating racism from the Tea Party. If the movement can accomplish this, it will make a HUGE difference in the way the party is seen. Do you have any thoughts about how to do this? It’s no small task.
2. In what way is it drivel to point out the huge growth in the deficit under Bush? Or Reagan for that matter? Yes, spending under Obama has increased… I happen to think this is due to the economic crisis and necessary steps to stimulate the economy. You can disagree with that and call it reckless spending if you want. But to complain about the deficit now without acknowledging the facts about the history of our budget deficit is hypocritical at best.
3. Saying “you do it too” isn’t a response. Yes, everyone should learn to express themselves without shouting. I don’t like it from any side. It just so happens the Tea Partiers are among the loudest.
4. I didn’t think the right would agree… but I do think it’s important to be careful about who your leaders are.
5. “Liberals are prone to riots.” Seems like a pretty interesting generalization.
Threats and intimidation are forms of violence… and there have been a lot of threats to politicians and citizens. As for violent acts:
· Flying a plane into an IRS building
· Shooting a guard at the Holocaust Museum
· The disrupted “Hutaree” Militia plot
· The murder of Dr. George Tiller
None of these strike me as “media drivel”
6. I acknowledged that many hold this as a cherished Constitutional right (even though technically, even if you buy the argument, it’s in the Bill of Rights… and is an amendment to the Constitution)
But just because you HAVE that right doesn’t mean you need to openly carry firearms to public events. Go ahead and own guns, carry them with you… but by openly carrying them at a political rally you, intentionally or not, start to seem like a violent movement… or a threatening one. If that’s what you want, then you of course are within your rights.
7. We still have a representative democracy. How is this is no longer the same type of government that we fought for in the Revolution?
8. Nice to find a point of agreement. And thank you for not buying into the myth that Obama has increased taxes for most Americans.
9. I wasn’t talking about the “Don’t Tread on Me” flag… I was talking about the Confederate Flag which has been very visible at many Tea Party rallies.
10. Do you really believe we need “a revolution every 25 years?” A violent one? Or one through political means like the “Reagan Revolution” or the political wave that swept Obama into office? Please be clear about what you are calling for.
Finally… I didn’t say that anything “not liberal is racist.” I did say there is a strong element of racism in the Tea Party that needs to be eliminated. And you agreed with me in point 1.
Thanks for you engagement… I really do appreciate your willingness to comment.
Do you have any explanation for the "civil" behavior of a bunch of Tea Party members invading my local school board and attempting to hijack the meeting? That is not polite discourse. It's rude and disrespectful.
The crowd of "I am the face of the Tea Party" folks did much more damage to themselves than anything. Before that event, they were background noise in the news. Now, for me, I know personally how disrespectful they are of process, of their neighbors, and of organizations large and small.
2. I don’t recall saying Bush was blameless. I do recall $878 Billion getting spent in about 7 weeks and then things got much worse and have since stagnated. Again. How long would you like to wait before someone demands DC be fiscally responsible?
3. You’re omitting the Bush years when liberals screamed into mic that “Bush is not the decider he was the liar!’ And then burned him in effigy. You mentioned something about being hypocritical?
4. sigh. Palin is not a leader, the polls show that, Beck, Hannity, O’Reilly are TV people, not leaders, that’s like me saying Leno, Meyor and Stewert are yours. And no one cares what a Baldwin has to say.
5. Burned Greece, rioted at the winter Olympics, rioted at Copenhagen. That’s all within a year. And of course the ‘60’s. You listed individuals and 1 small group. And the plane into the IRS, that’s a lie, you don’t know if he was part of the TEA, you just assumed, and neither were any of the rest.
6. I talked with a Police officer from the ‘60’s. He said the people you had to be the most concerned about was the young girls with signs on poles, b/c they would drive nails through them and use that to try and cut you open. But I agree with the way it looks even though I know it’s bs.
7. I don’t have enough room to explain all of that.
8. See, I’m not totally unreasonable. Did it surprise you?
9. OK. The ‘main’ TEA Flag is the “Don’t tread on me.” Flag. I know to liberals it’s a symbol of racism only, to others has many other meanings. You’d have to live in the South to get an idea.
10. I was quoting Jefferson, which is what he thought. Imagine how little corruption there would be if every 25 years everyone were replaced in DC. I’m not talking about killing people, I’m talking about cleaning house.
My point there. The best way to get on the cover is to say or imply that. Take a look at the cover over the next week. Everyday there will be a story stating the TEA partiers are racist and ignore everything else. Which cracks me up b/c these people are calling the black Tea partiers racist, and not kill whitey racist either.
Your welcome, looking forward to more.
I don't know the details. but this is how some things are done, sadly. Look at what happened to Coultur in Canada. I saw a local reporter at a rally that got surrounded by SEIU chumps that kept blowing whistles every time he treid to speak. Basically; clean up your own yard before you look at mine.
Dick Armey put together a talking points hate the prez one-pager, the Kochs financed it, the credulous hating imbeciles watched it on their cartoon news network (they have their own CNN!) and saw its proponents- 3 drive time DJs and one money grubbing 1/2 gov of a "state" filled with the folks who "don't fit in" anywhere else ... you conclude why ...
Protesting the government that now represents them since the actual Tea Party? No, they are racist sour grapes sore losers who are still in shock our BLACK HAWAIIAN FEARLESS LEADER first tanked the Clinton Machine, then destroyed their ignoramus Mummy & Dummy presidential ticket in a LANDSLIDE, then saved the US & World economies with well thought out Keynsian measures, then KICKED THEIR ASSES with an unprecedented Health Care victory no white prez could pull off, plus saved Haiti and now saving the Gulf, and so on.
How do those Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi credulous imbeciles feel about the Feds now that they've been leveled by Tornadoes and about to have NO SHRIMP SEASON, all due to the contributors to the Armey of Dicks.
WHERE IN HELL ARE THE BAGGERS WHEN ARIZONA IS THREATENING FREEDOM, CIVIL LIBERTIES AND CONSTITUTIONAL GUARANTEES IN ARIZONA?
Haters, racists and scared idiotic fools who ought to simply accept that Manifest Destiny was our westward expansion and we killed millions of Indians, enslaved millions of blacks, excluded Chinese, interned Japanese, ad nauseum.
I want my country BACK(WARDS)- sorry bitches, you can't have that, we are busy getting to Mars and beyond while you try and figure out Facebook --- DEMS DA FACTS!
Second, I pretty much completely and wholly and totally agree with every thing you say.
Third, good luck on encouraging rational and rationed, reasonable discourse on this or any other subject remotely political. I've been trying for awhile. It'll get you nowhere ... except the proud possessor of a grand headache.
Fourth, and most of all, thank You for thinking and talking and not giving up.
-CMc
Thanks!
A person who prefers the kind of tea party where tea, rather than stupid shouting people, is served.
And as to the 'baggers taking your advice. Don't.hold.your.breath.
To say you need to live in the South to "understand" the Confederate flag is an unoriginal and dare I even say a blissfully ignorant cop-out (I assume you are from the South). While I do understand the cultural relevance it has to our nation's history, that understanding is only to be found in the most reasonable, unbiased and civil-minded people. Unfortunately those are not the ones who proudly display the flag in their front yards or on the back of their 4x4's (that’s a truck for all you non-southerners out there who just might not understand).
As someone who was born and raised in South Carolina (the first state to succeed, by the way.) the Confederate flag was and is most commonly found on the t-shirts or bumper stickers of self-proclaimed "good ol' boys" who, without any hesitation, and with the most causal of tone, spit out the "N-word" like we were in 1862 in a cotton field. If you want to claim history as your excuse to wave the flag... fine. But considering most Southern states are continuously at the bottom of the list when it comes to the quality of education they receive (coincidentally, not high on any rightist agenda), and not to mention, high school students in South Carolina are only required to take American History AFTER 1865... I don't really buy the whole cultural/historical argument. The Confederate flag is just as much a part of African-American history, as it is to white-Southerners, yet I don’t see any of them clamoring to keep it flying. Hm, I wonder why? Maybe because it will first and foremost be a symbol for hatred, racism, and the stripping of basic constitutional rights that your party is so up in arms about. Claiming cultural relevance is just a way to hide behind the fact that some people embarrassingly and secretly wish the South would rise again.
Don’t keep people out of a discussion because they aren’t Southern, and just wouldn’t understand. I am Southern, and I understand what it really stands for if you want to be honest about it.
Keep up the great writing!!
Can I prove it?
Not really prove it. But both the timing of their appearance and the non sequitur rhetoric makes me think that I'm right.
So, don't expect your reasonable suggestions to be taken to heart. Reason has nothing to do with their views.