Comments on: Invite the Rest of Us To Your Tea Party

By: Kevin Marshall

Kevin Marshall — Fri, 07 May 2010 13:53:07 +0000

Oh! I just realized which post specifically you're referring to: http://blog.timesunion.com/marshall/the-deep-divide-in-the-20th-present-tense-gets-international-coverage/59/ It's keeping in line with this one: that the thing I hate about politics is the childish nature of the discourse.

By: Kevin Marshall

Kevin Marshall — Fri, 07 May 2010 13:43:58 +0000

Awesomedude – I can see where you might think there’s a conflict. This is more of an appeal for there to be a Tea Party blogger just so that we can try to do away with much of the derision associated with it from both sides. If anything, I’m just saying “let’s give it a chance and try to be adults about it, so that we can get past all the nonsense of it all already.”

By: Awesomedude

Awesomedude — Fri, 07 May 2010 13:41:30 +0000

K-Marsh- could’ve sworn you ran an earlier post here about your distaste for politics…I wonder which posts are the true K-Marsh posts- I’ve always applauded your blog for never just running posts that conflict with one another simply just to add content…

By: Ellie

Ellie — Fri, 07 May 2010 07:21:14 +0000

The problem with the tea-party is that, for all I’ve seen, there is no set platform. And it’s because its not yet a clearly defined movement. Oh certainly things are going in that direction, but there is no one group running things. As of this moment. As we’ve seen from Time’s 100 Influential People of the Year, there are clearly organizers that are becoming party leaders. And candidates are beginning to run on what they want to be the tea-party line.

Many I know involved in the movement wish to make their community more sustainable. When I first met them, I was convinced that the tea party movement was a conservative yet green party. And then I considered going to a rally. There I saw not so many bikes and more than my share of SUV’s. Escalades. Talking to a few of them, I realized the rally was against Obama’s healthcare plan. And more than one interviewed by Metroland indicated they supported killing government officials because of a real distrust of the political process. You know, French Revolution sort of stuff.

What I find interesting isn’t so much the tea-party movement, but how the public has reacted to it. Liberals were branded as unpatriotic during the years after 9-11 for suggesting we not bomb countries that did not have WMD’s or suggest that elements of the Patriot Act were unconstitutional. And yet no one is willing to say that conservatives that throw rocks at the windows of gay and black congressmen are racist and homophobic. There’s no real public outrage.

The issue isn’t what the tea-party is or what it stands for. The real issue is that America is still a racist and homophobic nation. elements within the tea-party movement are simply channelling that feeling.

By: BL

BL — Thu, 06 May 2010 18:19:12 +0000

Kevin – it’s probably one of many, but I think this article discusses the problems you are describing: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/04/AR2010050405168.html

Further, IMO, any time you get a large group of anyone together, you are going to get outliers and kooks. The trick is in whether or not you allow yourself (your movement) to be defined by the kooks. Sometimes, as I suspect might be some of the case with the Tea Party people, it is either in the strength of your opposition (obviously those who feel threatened by you work very hard to define you and marginalize you) or if the isolated instances of kookism are so out there that they co-opt attention from the majority, or if the media itself finds the kooks to be a better story and are not willing to work to learn that they are outliers. Generally it’s a combination of everything. For example, you mentioned the AZ law and the support or protests. The protests last week had their share of violence and derogatory names, etc., likely in no less proportion than the Tea Party rallies. I think you have different perceptions of both things, no?

I don’t think that there is substance in very much in life. It’s all just how your picture is painted.

By: Tony Barbaro

Tony Barbaro — Thu, 06 May 2010 18:18:04 +0000

While I am not a Tea Party Memeber, I do agree with some of their points. I have friends that are in the “movement”…..they are not racist (one is actually a black guy…who knew?) and they are not homophobic. I consider myself pretty conservative in most areas. It does annoy me that the Tea Partiers are grouped together with some fringe elements of the movement. Just like not all Democrats are hemp smoking hippies from the 60’s who burn the flag and blow up police stations…..not all Republicans/tea partiers are anti-government yahoos, with KKK tatoos and a rebel flag bumper stickers.
I would love if a local member had a blog. I’m sure it would be really popular, and have “lively” discussions.
I think the Tea partiers are more Libraterian(I’m sure I spelled that wrong) than Republican. I know I lean more that way. In otherwords, a you leave me alone, I’ll leave you alone kind of thing.
But back to the Tea Party thing…has there been ANY violence associated with the meetings or rallies? I don’t think there has. Unlike some of the fringe left wing rallies. I think everyone has a right to their wrong opinion…..even me.