The "Tea Party"

I tend toward fiscal conservatism, socially more liberal but of course, those are just labels. What I would prefer to be described as is reasonable, thoughtful, and well-informed.

The thing is, it’s getting harder every day to be well-informed but still maintain a reasonable stance.

The current political climate is making my head spin and not because of what’s right or wrong, what’s smart or not, even what’s good or bad for the nation. The argument these days revolves around who can make the electorate believe the “other side” is evil.

We have a potentially disastrous situation facing our nation in the confluence of two terrible truths: first, the electorate has degraded over time to the point that these days, most citizens seem more interested in reacting to sound bites than in observing actions or thoughtfully analyzing arguments; second, leaders of a new group, the so-called Tea Party, are intent on applying a scorched earth approach if they don’t get their way. And their ‘way’ is elitist, racist, and wholly misaligned with the intent of the Constitution.

The Tea Party, it seems to me, has two goals that overarch all their political calculus – the ascendancy of powerful, moneyed interests and the destruction of a truly pluralistic society. This group is intent on preventing the full deployment of the first comprehensive health care reform legislation in my lifetime. They are dedicated to taking any action that will prevent a positive legacy of the first non-white-male chief executive. They care not one whit for the fact that they are a minority or that poll after poll indicates that most Americans disagree with their aims. And their elected members are willing to shut down the government – the effective and efficient and fair operation of which should be legislators’ primary objective – in an attempt to prevail by tantrum.

The Tea Party would have us accept the outrageous assertion that this country was founded on – and should hew to the canons of – the Christian religions. Never mind that many of the founders and the clear majority of our current citizens are not adherents to this particular belief system. They question the legitimacy of a freely elected President born in Hawaii but talk about a national office in the future for a guy born in Canada (note to TP’ers – not legal; not gonna happen).

It seems to me not particularly surprising that the power basis of this group resides primarily in states south of the Mason-Dixon Line and in pockets elsewhere with overwhelmingly white populations. Let me be clear – I DO NOT believe that membership in this group is proof prima facie that one is evil or racist or elitist. But I do believe that the organizers of the group are precisely those things. This is a latter day John Birch Society, made infinitely more malevolent because they’ve assumed the false mantle of respectability.

The Tea Party is intent on redefining some terms we all thought we understood since childhood. A ‘patriot’ is now someone who believes as they do and everyone else is anti-patriotic. ‘Compromise’ means browbeating the rest of us until they get their way. Even ‘Tea Party’ is redefined – it no longer refers to an act of civil disobedience against unreasonable taxation by a foreign king. Now, it simply refers to their ‘us,’ with the rest of us, the majority of us, redefined as ‘them.’

Too bad we’ve come to this. I love discussing politics but to do so these days frequently means damaging longstanding relationships. I don’t care if you’re a Republican or a Democrat or even a Tea Partier – we should at least be able to talk.

I have friends and family members with whom I can no longer discuss politics or even current events. That’s tragic. Adams and Madison and Hamilton were able to talk and debate. Reagan and O’Neill were both respectful and friendly even when their view of the world was most at odds. I guess those days are gone.

Damn.