Corresponding to national tax day yesterday, there were numerous "tea parties" throughout the US protesting the massive spending spree the government has undertaken. A friend emailed me today to get my thoughts on these tea parties. I post our conversation because it sums up my thoughts.
-----MESSAGE-----
FROM: JASON
TO: JAKE
SUBJECT: TEA PARTIES
Hey boss,
So today a bunch of law students were heading up Tuscaloosa's "TEA party." I was curious what you thought about these? Anyway, I hope things are going well for you. 24 days until I graduate!
-Jason
-----MESSAGE-----
FROM: JAKE
TO: JASON
SUBJECT: RE: TEA PARTIES
My first impression is that I would give more credence to the idea of the tea parties if the Republicans in attendance gave an unconditional mea culpa for the past 8 years. My problem is that all of a sudden the conservatives have crawled out of the woodworks to now instantly become fiscally responsible. These are the same jackholes who wage perpetual war against any and all nation states (or collection of disorganized freedom fighters ["terrorists"]) and pin the debt on our posterity.
Yet when Obama spends, borrows, and prints money, NOW that is unconstitutional and they want the country back. To be sure, they ARE correct - Obama is awful. But they all are awful.
In the end, I am happy that they are taking place and I think for them to be successful, all partisan politics must be checked at the door. There must no longer be Republicans and Democrats. They must all be collected together in the spirit of freedom.
Out of curiosity, where do these law students typically stand ideologically? Do you see many liberals?
-Jake
-----MESSAGE-----
FROM: JASON
TO: JAKE
SUBJECT: RE: TEA PARTIES
The law students that were behind the tea party were all very Republican. And I use that word instead of conservative on purpose. Many of them have worked in Alabama or D.C. For senators, etc. and are very much in the political arena.
As for the law school in general, it is probably evenly divided or slightly leaning right as a whole. Obviously this is a very different makeup than most law schools.
-Jason
-----MESSAGE-----
FROM: JAKE
TO: JASON
SUBJECT: RE: TEA PARTIES
Ask them where they've been for 8 years. I have no tolerance for these beltway Republicans. I find them more repulsive than Democrats even though I find more collective common ground with the GOP (or the OLD GOP). With Democrats, I know what I'm getting. I'd rather be punched in the face than stabbed in the back.
-Jake
-----MESSAGE-----
FROM: JASON
TO: JAKE
SUBJECT: RE: TEA PARTIES
I completely agree with you. However, my discussions generally don't get far with them because many of them still feel like Iraq is/was the right choice. I am not only dealing with Republicans, but southern Christian Republicans that believe America does no wrong when it flexes its muscles in other sovereign nations. It's America's (or better yet God's) calling.
-Jason
-----MESSAGE-----
FROM: JAKE
TO: JASON
SUBJECT: RE: TEA PARTIES
I was listening to Jamie Allman's morning radio show earlier this week. I don't know if you ever listened to him while you were here, but he is a Bush Religious Republican to the T. I'm not sure why I was listeningto him - maybe I'm just a glutton for pain.
Allman was going on and on about how Obama is creating massive amounts of debt for our future generations to pay off. He is right about that. But he excused the past 8 years of foreign spending because Bush was "making an investment" for our future generations since he was "eradicating Islamo-fascism". You gotta love that term, BTW. Add fascism to the end of anything and it sounds bad.
It is all coming to a head right now - we are living in very interesting and pivotal times right now. Talks of secession are becoming more popular. One of your neighbors to the west is already considering it - the Texas governor has come out and openly considered it in the news. My prediction: Obama (who idolized Lincoln and was even sworn in on his Bible) will step in and prevent any secession movements from happening, just like the bearded tyrant of the 1860s. The empire only EXPANDS, not contracts. Who will pay the king's blood money?
-Jake
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We'll likely see a revolution from the hard right (with Fox News pumping out the anti-obama propaganda) before we have an intellectual revolution from the hard money libertarians.
ReplyDeleteThe republicans will do whatever their media/leaders tell them to do... and right now it is to have tea parties.
Am I wrong here or am I just an asshole?
You're not wrong, Dude.
ReplyDeleteHere's a great post on LRC.
Writes Jeff Deist:
It seems to me the Tea Parties failed to deliver any coherent or consistent message; therefore, it was easy for the Left and the pro-state media to marginalize and denounce the protestors. Unless and until people renounce and repudiate Bush and the Republican party utterly and entirely, it's easy to dismiss them as kooks, racists, religious zealots, etc.
After all, what is the protestors' message? We want to go back to Bush? We want less spending but agitate to expand insanely expensive wars? We want a "fair" tax? We're against bailouts of Wall Street, even though the public (correctly) perceives the political right as bought and paid for by Wall Street? We're for states rights and the Constitution? Laughable. We're pro-life? Laughable--even ignoring the pro-war killing mentality, the GOP has done zero to stop abortion.
Conservatives by conscious choice have tied their fortunes to politics in general and the GOP in particular. Politics is nothing more than gang violence over turf. The turf is us. The winner gets to control and loot the American people. So now the other gang controls the turf, and conservatives don't like it.
Cetainly most media outlets prefer the Obama gang to the Bush gang, and shade their "reporting" accordingly. But there is truth in the criticism that the Tea Parties represent nothing more than sour grapes. The public senses, quite correctly, that conservatives only "rebel" when their preferred gang is not in power.