United Liberty
Erick Erickson is right about the Tea Party Convention
Tue, 01/12/2010 - 3:03pm | posted by Jason Pye
Over at Red State, Erick Erickson has lit into the organizers of the National Tea Party Convention, which costs between $349 and $549 per person, and Sarah Palin’s scheduled keynote speech:
The tea party movement was always about the unorganized masses of concerned, passionate Americans uniting together with a common voice to protest the direction of the country. From that passion, others have sought to make money off the tea party movement. Some have done it for good. Many have not. And more and more we are seeing some people rise up to claim the mantle of “leader” of the tea party movement. Many of us who have been around for a while just want to know who the heck these so called leaders are.
The tea party “leaders”, if there are any, are actively at work in their home towns changing things one letter to the editor, one contribution to a candidate, and one protest at a time. They are not on bus tours profiting off the hard work and sometimes the names of others (some also on the bus with no pay) headed to Nashville licking their lips at the $500.00 per person payments coming in to their for profit company.
Sarah Palin is certainly giving the National Tea Party Convention legitimacy. But at what cost? I am fearful this thing will blow up and harm her. I am more fearful that a bunch of well meaning people from across the nation are going to show up, expect more, and then grow disaffected or burn out when the deliverables they expect do not come in.
Now, I really could care less whether Sarah Palin hurts herself in all of this. Frankly, I had enough of her last year. However, what has become of the Tea Party Movement bothers me and it’s where I agree with Erick.
The tea parties have been co-opted by people who are more interested in using it to help establishment Republicans or to want to enhance their own profile. It’s unfortunate, but true.
The idea of a formal organization among the Tea Party crowd will be their undoing. Once there is a central planning body, there is a single entity to attack, a label associated, and that can’t be made up for in organizing and planning resources. The loosely-connected, but easily mobilized activists were the Tea Parties’ greatest strength, and central planning will destroy that.
Why do you think I was so irritated about the April 15th Tea Party in Atlanta? Nothing but politicians and people trying to pimp something.
I agree with both of you. A centrally planned, top-down approach will ruin any kind of authentic, grass-roots movement. There are many who would love get their hands on the tea party movement to get it to yield to their agenda. I am speaking particularly of neo-conservatives such as Newt Gingrich, and other ego-maniacs of the sort.
Without doing too much of a terrible imitation of “who’s on first”… The original TEA party is no longer the TEA party. It has become a Republican cheer fest. There are spots where true liberty prevails, but the overall feel reflects what is written in this story.
The folks who came together over a year ago to say enough is enough! Both parties are destroying the country - and no one gets a free pass - are all now sitting at home feeling like we’re back to square one. The Republican machine has effectively swallowed up as many as they could from the movement (from what I see it’s about 10%) and they are moving full steam ahead at demonizing any and all democrats in the hope that come election time, people will pull the lever for a republican just to be against a democrat. And it’s working.
My hope is that people out there searching are finding sites like this one. My hope is that the frustrated reminents of what was once a grass roots movement do indeed decide that they are voting for the person that represents their views, and if there is not one, they vote NOTA, stand outside their polling place and scream “These candidates are TERRIBLE!”
When one side controls 3 out of 3 elected divisions of government, there could be worse things than the side out of power co-opting a mass movement in order to reintroduce balance.
Both major parties are definitely bad, but I would add that any political party is bad. The lessor parties just have not had the opportunity to prove how corrupt and bumbling they would be in the same position.
Divided government is the best and probably only path for maintaining personal liberty.
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