Fighting the Culture of Dependence

[unixronin]

Michael Barone, senior political analyst for The Washington Examiner, writes about what the Tea Parties are really about.

(Hint:  It doesn't involve hating anyone, hunting wolves from helicopters, funding from the Bavarian Illuminati, or any of the other smears you've heard.)

Comments

More to come ... is here ;)

[rain-manpnw.livejournal.com]

The Tea Party Patriots are, as far as I can tell, the largest organized group under the TP umbrella. Their mission satement, at:

http://www.teapartypatriots.org/mission.aspx

is somewhat vague, and I have several comments and questions (in no particular order, just as they come to me):

1. First off, the use of the term "Patriots". How do they define a "patriot"? Does "patriot" equal "someone who agrees with my views"?

Obviously I disagree with that. I consider myself a patriot and I disagree with the views of the TP.

IMO, the use of the term "patriot" by the TP is one of "my country right or wrong, to approve of anything done by a republican president, and to diapprove of anything done by a democratic president - even if it's the same thing."

What's the TP's position of waterboarding and other torture methods of interrogation? The denial of due process and habeus corpus merely on the say-so of the executive branch? Warrantless wiretaps? Other violations of civil liberties under the auspices of the "Patriot Act"? The whole concept of the "imperial presidency"?

I note that the current administration continues to defend those abuses perpetrated by the previous administration, and in cases, continues to use them. I have opposed them from the start, and I consider their contiuance to be a blot on Obama's promises. Where were the TP'ers when they were occuring under Bush II?

2. "Fiscal Responsibility": from the mission statement: "Such runaway deficit spending as we now see in Washington D.C. ..."

_Now_ see? Yes, there's a lot of deficit spending in DC. But there's nothing new about it. Why haven't the TP'ers complained about the multi-TRILLION dollar waste that was/is the Iraq War? Or the deficit spending of the last three Republican administrations?

I've said it before. The Democratic Party is the party of tax and spend. The Republican Party is the the party of borrow and spend - then blame it on the Democrats when they're forced to raise taxes to cover it.

NEITHER party is willing to be fiscally responsible. The basic reason is that the voters themselves want something for nothing, and BOTH parties will kowtow to that bread and circuses desire, merely to stay in office. For the TP to claim that it's one-sided is false.

3. "Constitutionally Limited Government": "We believe that it is possible to know the original intent of the government our founders set forth, and stand in support of that intent."

This raises a red flag with me. What I read from it is "we have the absolute handle on TRUTH, JUSTICE and THE AMERICAN WAY. Any court rulings we don't like are due to JUDICIAL ACTIVISM by LIBERAL JUDGES", etc. etc. etc. To me it smacks of treating all constitutional issues as a zero-sum game, with the TP'ers always in the winner's position.

What is the TP's position on Roe v. Wade and other personal liberty cases?

What is the TP's position on Kitzmiller v. Dover, and other Establishment Clause cases?

What is the TP's position on the ACLU? Do they castigate them for "judicial activism" whenever the ACLU wins an Establisment Clause case against an illegally-imposed religious intrusion, while ignoring the Establishment Clause & First Amendment cases the ACLU takes on for right-wing causes?

IMO, "Constituionally Limited" is too vague, and lets the TP claim conflicting viewpoints when it serves their purposes.

4. "Free Markets": "we ... oppose government intervention into the operations of private business."

Once again, IMO this is vaguely worded to allow the TP to claim conflicting viewpoints, as long as it serves their biases.

What's the TP's position on usury laws? building standards? workplace safety issues - indeed, what's the TP's position on the Massey Energy mine disaster? What about the DMCA and the constant extension of copyright?

* * *

That's all for the moment. I need to drive Mo to work now, so I have the car for errands.

Be well, Alaric.

Re: More to come ... is here ;)

[rain-manpnw.livejournal.com]

Yay! it posted the first try, under the 4300 limit!