Tea Anyone?

Last April 15th, I was downtown Cleveland for a meeting. I had heard a few days prior that there would be a "Tea Party" rally that day near the courthouse so I decided that since I was already in the area I would check it out. The weather that day was absolutely awful. It was about 45 degrees and overcast with a brisk wind coming right off the only recently melted lake. I thought to myself that it was not exactly a conducive recipe for a big turnout. I was also skeptical because never in my lifetime had I really seen conservative minded people protest in large numbers. I had watched countless numbers of liberals protest the war and other issues during the Bush years, but I had always been told that Republicans did not protest because they had jobs to go to. I guess desperate times call for desperate measure then because I was pleasantly surprised to see so many patriotic Americans brave the elements last tax day waving flags and signs to voice their opposition to a government they believed was becoming too big and spending way too much money.

We are now a year removed from the initial Tea Party experiment and we can now put into perspective how this little movement has exploded into a political juggernaut. Not since the rise of the New Left during the early 1960's has a true grassroots political movement risen to such prowess in such a small amount of time. While it is true that the organizers of the Tea Parties have done a magnificent job in creating this political force, the real credit must be given to the current administration and their accessories in the Congress. This government has become to large and grotesque while simultaneously spending our country into bankruptcy that we the people now know that it is up to us, not our inept representatives in Congress to do what our Constitution says and organize to voice our opposition. Regardless of what our complacent media says, the Tea Party is a movement made up of regular, hardworking Americans who realize the severity of our current situation. Most of the people who make up this movement have never been politically active before, but their love for this great yet diminished land has forced them to be silent no longer.

The aforementioned American media have done their best over the past year to ridicule and silence the Tea Party. The liberals who run the networks, newspapers and magazines have become so desperate that they have had to resort to their trusted and predictable nuclear option -- racism. The left has always used the race card against conservatives to try to marginalize our politics but this time it is different. A black man is now the president and according to the media, all we care about is the color of his skin...not his policies. MSNBC in particular is on a daily basis trying as hard as they can to make a connection between the Tea Parties and racism. Comedian Janine Garofalo said last year on that network that we are nothing but a bunch of "Teabagging rednecks". How nice. CNN, by the way, has also used the word "Teabaggers" to demean this movement. Op-ed's have run in prominent newspapers like the New York Times and Washington post equating the Tea Parties with the Ku Klux Klan and George Wallace supporters. The media ignores the broader movement when reporting and scourers the crowd to magnify the few nuts in order to paint us all with the same brush. It is funny because I do not remember this type of scrutiny of the anti-war protest that called for the murder of George W. Bush. In fact, I remember an instance when our local news rag of record, "The Plain Dealer" actually printed a map and directions to an anti-war rally so that the participants could find the easiest route. I am sure the five people that showed up were overcome with appreciation.

Despite their pathetic attempts, the American people thus far have had and still hold a positive view of the Tea Party. Level headed and free thinking Americans know that we have absolutely no issue with the president because of his ethnicity, we care about the fact that we have accumulated a $13 trillion dollar debt that is growing with every passing day. We care that a government that was created of the people, by the people and for the people is now perishing as a result of government growth and intervention. We care that only 50 years ago President John Kennedy told us to ask not what our country can do for us but what we can do for our country, but now it has become the exact opposite. We care that everything that has made this country so successful and powerful over the past 235 years is unraveling into an unsustainable and unamerican welfare state akin Western Europe and other socialized nations. We want to get back to a country that rewards success and ingenuity, but that will never hesitate to help the helpless, just not the clueless. We want to be a nation that again relies on the individual to be responsible for himself not one that provides a safety net for anyone who is simply unwilling to try.

The Tea Party stands for all of these things, as do I think most Americans. Regardless of what the media or the administration tell you, they are listening to us. They know the significance of this movement, if it was not such a threat to their power they would not waste the time in trying so hard to marginalize it. That is why we can not stop being boisterous. We mustn't stop until our country is once again on the right track and we can take the first step in that direction this November. Remember, the last revolution also started with a Tea Party.

BMN