The Tea Party Is All About Race

[Joanne98]

For OpEdNews: Bob Cesca - Writer

from the Huffington Post


I was going to open this piece with an analogy about the tea party groups and why they're treated seriously by the press and the Republicans. The analogy would go something like: "Imagine getting a serious profile in a mainstream newspaper, and imagine serious Democratic politicians appearing at their convention."

The problem is, when I really evaluated what the various far-left activist groups are all about and compared them with the tea party movement, there really wasn't any equivalency. At all.


Because when you strip away all of the rage, all of the nonsensical loud noises and all of the contradictions, all that's left is race. The tea party is almost entirely about race, and there's no comparative group on the left that's similarly motivated by bigotry, ignorance and racial hatred.

I hasten to note that I'm talking about real racism, insofar as it's impossible for the majority race -- the 70 percent white majority -- to be on the receiving end of racism. That is unless white males, for example, are suddenly an oppressed racial demographic. But judging by the racial composition of, say, the Senate or AM talk radio or the cast members playing the Obamas on SNL, I don't think white people have anything to worry about.

http://www.opednews.com/articles/The-Tea-Party-Is-All-About-by-Bob-Cesca-100303-89.html

[NoNothing]

1. I know a lot of these people personally

Not only is this article wrong on the premise, it's also wrong on the facts. Dale Robertson is not a tea party founder. In fact, he was asked to leave.

http://motherjones.com/mojo/2010/01/wash-post-quotes-bogus-tea-party-leader

EDIT: Not to give the impression that I support them in the main. They prove the axiom that for every propblem there is a solution that is simple, easy, and wrong. But I understand where the fear and the anger come from, and I am sympathetic to that, because it doesn't come from race - it comes from a realization suddenly hammered home by the economic problems and especially job losses that the middle class is dying.

[ensho]

2. its race

nt

[cowman]

8. Bullshit

The Station House I work out of in Las Vegas has several Tea Party members and 2 are AA. They are pissed off about runaway Govt. spending, bailout of big banks that got us in this mess in the first place, and the fact that the Pol. in Washington are so disconneted with the people of america. To say they are racists is just dishonest. I work with these guys and gals and they are honest, hardworking people who are fed up with Washington

[Bgno64]

3. It's right-wingers pissed off that "their" country has been taken over by "the enemy"

http://blogs.lancasteronline.com/smartremarks/2010/03/04/tea-party-republicans/

A striking 85.7 percent said “No” when asked if they were in favor of moving in the direction of a Third Party. This number dropped off when asked with which political party they were affiliated:

•61.7 percent Republican, 27.7 percent Independent, and 10.6 percent Tea Party.

Hm. So if three-fifths of tea partiers surveyed still self-identify as Republicans, and they don’t want to move in the direction of a third party - I wonder which party they’re voting for in 2010 and beyond? Could it be the same one they’ve always voted for?

Once surrounded by others with the same commitment to transparency, fiscal responsibility, and a greater appreciation for American exceptionalism, the Tea Party people felt something they hadn’t up till then: Hope.

Emphasis added. This is a direct response to the election of Obama and the Democrats, who - as Fox News tell them - hate America.

And a full 36 percent would support Sarah Palin for president.

So can we please stop pretending the Tea Partiers are going to vote anything but Republican in the next election and in every election beyond that? Can we please stop pretending this is some ideologically middle-of-the-road-movement? This is ideological, Fox News extreme conservatism, borne of out these people’s frustration that their brand of conservatism reached its apex - such that it was - in the early Bush years, and is now past its sell-by date. The tide of conservatism as they know it and cherish it is receding, and it pisses them off.

[Syntheto]

5. The point is...

... they can vote... The next election cycle will show a big turnout... both sides will provide transportation to and from the polling places... Everyone will want to be involved... it's good for the country because a big turnout (plus or minus stolen votes, the votes of the dead, as well as cartoon character enfranchisement) will indicate a voter plebiscite for the winning platform, no matter how odious or unrealistic... Time to gird the loins and the lines...

[Tutankhamun]

6. That's exactly right about "the tide of conservatism" receding.

Their brand of conservatism was an utter catastrophe, and that's really difficult for them to admit. Many of them have run around for decades, spewing conservative bullshit to anyone who will listen or is forced to listen for the time being. Their worldview has been thoroughly debunked. They're cornered now, and this is how frightened, cornered animals fight. The teabaggers are at their most pernicious now. They would rather take the country and the world down with them than relinquish control to "socialists/fascists/Nazis/communists/heathens" (anyone other than white, ultra-right wing Republican Jesus freaks).

[Bgno64]

7. well, and...

they'd also rather take the world down with them than admit they might have been wrong.

[Tutankhamun]

10. Yes. They are loudmouths by nature, and they've been telling EVERYONE ad nauseum everything that's

wrong with society. A teabagger has invested a huge chunk of his/her identity in being an "expert" on social ills, foreign policy, macroeconomics (even though they have no idea what that word means) and constitutional law. It's too painful to admit they've just been parroting Rush/Beck/Hannity/O'Reilly, etc.

Deep down they are starting to sense the emperor's lack of clothes. Teabagging is realizing the emperor is naked and tossing him an intellectual Snuggie.

[Andronex]

4. No...

...it's about giving democrats something to fight against since we do not have anything to fight for, it's a well financed and organized diversion to keep this corrupt two party system going, that is why the loony right wing stuff is given so much exposure at DU.

[NICO9000]

9. Racism is just the cherry on top

These people would reflexively be against any Democratic president, but having a black one just sends them over the edge. Obama has bent over backwards to try to be as inclusive as possible unlike the last guy, and where has it really got him? The tea baggers have proven their racist shit over and over - just look at the 99.9% white folks at their rallies and events along with the majority of their signage. When I saw one of them with "nigger" misspelled, it said everything to me. It's also interesting how this so-called movement has really allowed people like Limbaugh to not even try to hide their racism anymore. I had the misfortune to hear a few minutes of him last week and he went on and on about "axing" questions. Naw, nothing racist there - just good ol' Amerikkkan satire!