Cable TV talks about what the Tea Party needs to do in order to have political impact and MSNBC voices like Chris Mathews and Ed Schultz insist that the National Tea Party and Tea Party Patriots are a puppet movement of right wing nut jobs they disdainfully call "birthers".
In fact, Tea Baggers and Birthers have two different causes. The birther movement questions the citizenship of President Obama and demands proof of where and to whom he was born. Tea Bag protesters protest taxes, regulations and want representation. The Tea Party Movement is concerned about the same things that antagonized colonial rebels at the Boston Tea Party.
Cable news spends hours trying to figure out who is pulling the strings and leading the Tea Party Movement. They often focus on trying to define a specific Patriot platform and figure out what the movement's positions are on their issues but the news hosts don't listen to much of what their Tea Party guests are actually saying.
Cable News tries to ordain a Tea Party Movement leaders such as the Republican Party, Sarah Palin or Rush Limbaugh and then tries to show viewers that there is dissension in the patriot ranks by highlighting differences of opinion.
What the press first called a fly by night movement of irrational, crazy, birthers has become an exponentially growing grassroots movements of concerned, rational Americans.
The chances are very good that you know a Tea Party Supporter or Patriot.
All over America local groups of citizens are growing by tens and hundreds each month.
Many of the new members are well educated homebodies who say "a year ago would never have imagined being part of a political protest group".
Many of the groups loosely trace roots to Glen Beck and the reason there is no central platform on specific issues is similar to the conundrum of anarchist forming a club. Tea Party Patriots belief largely in states' rights, individual rights freedom to think and speak freely.
Patriots want small government to protect their rights, not force them to be right.
They want to unite for the cause and the cause is every American being able to act on their own cause.
The Tea Party is a movement of individual American's coming together.
They have united concerns about this country not American's united by alliance to a political party nor person.
These are not people being led; the Tea Party is a movement being led by the people.
When these individuals no longer feel threatened by the decisions being made by their government the movement will disperse.
They feel threatened and are very unhappy and concerned about the direction of our country and they are trying to do something about their concerns.
Why People Don't Understand the Tea Party Movement
The tea party movement is misunderstood because the press keeps calling it The Tea Party Movement. Many media celebrities do understand the tea party movement because they refuse to see that this is not a politically contrived strategy or commercially engineered campain.
No unified platform exists because there is no leader.
The Tea Party Movement is a ground swelling of discontent and the Tea Party Convention is about manifesting power in united numbers and not disseminating a united message.
The phenomenon is that the Tea Party Patriots are truly an American grassroots movement that is being led by the people and for the people.
These are individuals who believe that not all change is good.
They believe in our Constitution preferring to be free rather than regulated into perfection. "We the people in order to form a more perfect union..." is part of their battle cry but they emphasis that for the people is what makes a more perfect union.
How to understand the Tea Bag Momentum
To understand the Tea Party movement consider that all of the conflicting ideas from Tea Party Patriot leaders are not problems but power and remember that these "leaders" are being appointed by the press not the movement!
The media will begin to understand the tea party movement when they realize that there isn't a clear platform on issues because there is no central head to issue a press release.
The growth and momentum of the Tea Parties will slow down and dispersed when people no longer feel that thier rights are being threatened and that America is changing for the worse.
Perhaps everyone will understand the Tea Party Patriots better when the media realizes that the Tea Party Movement isn't growing because the crazy people are coming out to play. The Tea Party Movement is growing because when Chris Mathews says "but no one really thinks that" there are Americans thinking "well, actually I do".
Published by April Bair
April Bair writes a little bit of everything. She considers herself a project oriented person and sees life and work as a series of new projects. Living an ex-patriot life in Heidelberg Germany as a child... View profile
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2 Comments
Post a CommentThank you so much for this article! My husband and his step-father are both into this movement, his step-father having participated in many of the rallies in DC, and even our friends don't understand what the movement is about. Wonderful explanation!
I have been wondering why there have been increased references to 'tea party.' Thank you for explaining the movement for me.