A political party is a group of people who agree about how the government should operate; which policies it should pursue; which priorities it should elevate. By all accounts, then, the TEA party does not qualify. It is a disjointed conglomeration of angry and frustrated people seeking the refuge of common misery. And their coronation of Sarah Palin as the keynote speaker (and “President Palin”) for their first annual convention is a step toward disunity and less organization, because she is in and of herself unsure of how government should operate, which policies it should pursue, or which priorities it should elevate.
There are plenty of instances where government’s usurpation of citizens’ substance has led to revolution . . . the Boston TEA Party, where colonists hurled the American Revolution against the English Crown; Shay’s Rebellion against the fledgling government of the United States called the Articles of Confederation; the Whiskey Rebellion against the newly-ratified Constitution of the United States and it’s first executive, President George Washington for the tax on alcohol. One might even stretch credulity to proclaim that the War Between the States was a rebellion of the southern agricultural economy against federal legislation they surmised would take away the enslaved labor which supported their manner of subsistence.
Ex-governor Palin, though, claims injury when there is none, accomplishments that are not her own, and continues to spew ignorance and venom with a screech and a smile in order to feed the ravening hordes, or “revving up the base”, instead of promoting action. How does a person quit her job in government to lead people to reform the government? Below her jocular tone, and her claim that her husband is “too independent minded to be in the Republican Party (and more conservative than [she is]” appears to be the same narcissistic wannabe sportscaster and beauty queen, shifting and shaping her image to the applause of the day, rather than having principles and standards by which she opens her mouth and speaks truth to power.
The frustrations of some conservatives which are valid are lost in the tumultuous chaos stirred by the likes of Sarah Palin on behalf of and in support of the TEA baggers. As long as she’s the face of the movement “that doesn’t need leaders”, they’ll still be a fringe group that even the Republican Party won’t incorporate.
Tea Party Convention organizer: Tancredo gave ‘fantastic speech’
Well said, Friend.
More political graffiti…unneeded, unwanted, and it helps no one.
Good article, Rey. If you are interested, I returned to writing to on my blog. I sent you an e-mail to have you join me, but it got bounced back, so I assume your e-mail either changed or I entered it into my address book incorrectly. You should get my e-mail address with this comment. I’ll check the box to have comments posted come in after me, just in case. – Julie 1sunfightwordpress.com