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The “Tea Party” Conception

April 2011: Featured Post

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Tea-Party-Movement

Introduction:

When people hear the name Tea Party, whether they like or dislike it, they often credit the wrong people for the origins of the movement.  It wasn’t Sarah Palin, Alex Jones, the pork spending Republican Party, or even Ron Paul that founded the movement.  Of course, people like Ron Paul helped mold and develop the Tea Party into what it is today; but I’m sure even Ron Paul would be the first to say, that he’s not responsible for the birth of the biggest grass root political movement this nation has ever seen.

History:

boston-tea-party

Now, if you want to get real specific, the Tea Party movement was actually started by those great patriots who lived in Boston, Massachusetts all the way back on the day of December 16 1773.  However the modernization of the movement can be credited to a young improvisational actress, Keli Carender, who is also a teacher of adults math and resume writing.  As a Seattle, Washington-based blogger, and everyday American girl, like most people, Ms. Carender grew into adulthood and began working a 9 to 5.  She tries to maintain some sanity as she keeps her personal freedoms afloat.  She wasn’t one that concerned herself with politics, but like many Tea Party members, she began to have serious questions about what the government was doing with her taxes.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, abbreviated ARRA (Pub.L. 111-5) and commonly referred to as the Stimulus or The Recovery Act, is an economic stimulus package enacted by the 111th United States Congress in February 2009.  The Recovery Act, a Keynesian economic bill, motivated Keli Carender to take a stand.  She took to the internet as a blogger known by the name “Liberty Belle”.  She began to spread the word and motivated others to join a grass-roots political movement which is known by many today as the Tea Party.  On Febuary 16th 2009, Keli Carender spent several hundred dollars of her own money on pulled pork, to feed the 100 or so protesters that rallied together against excessive government spending in Seattle.  They called the Recovery Act a "porkulus" signing.  The young, conservative mom blogger had a message that spread through the internet like a California wildfire, and within days people came together in cities throughout the United States, to take part in the protest against big government spending.

Tea Party Values:

The Tea Party is a movement that likes to keep it simple and stick to three core values:

1) A fiscally responsible government that honors and respects the freedom of the individual, to spend their monetary earnings in a way the individual sees fit.  The Tea Party believes that the individual should be free to reap the rewards from the fruit of their labor.

2) A constitutionally limited government.  People within the Tea Party believe that the Constitution is the supreme law of the land. They believe that the founders of the country shared an original intent that was set forth with the Constitution.  As the government is of the people, by the people, and for the people, in all other matters we support the personal liberty of the individual, within the rule of law.

3) The endorsement of free markets, which is the economic consequence of personal liberty.  The Tea Party like the founding fathers believed that people cannot have personal freedom without economic freedom.  A Tea Party activist sees the government’s interaction within the economy as interference; a distortion of the free market system that inhibits the pursuit of individual and economic liberty.  The Tea Party supports private industry and giving back to the community, so that even the smallest mom and pop store can compete against big industry, without the laden burdens of government intervention.

Keli Carender

Keli Carender is truly an American inspiration whose story is lost within mass media biases.  Liberty Belle founded and co-chaired The Seattle Sons & Daughters of Liberty, where she continues to fight the good fight that every person is equal and deserving the right to individual freedom.

Tea Party OR Racist party:

Many people call the Tea Party a racist, right wing, white, Christian fundamentalist group, which just isn’t true.  The Tea Parties are a very diverse community of people coming from all ethnic backgrounds, orientations, and religious beliefs.  Most do share the common biblical belief that “God helps those that help themselves”, thus making a government welfare state an ineffective means to ever leading a sustainable life.  One can never be free if they are subjected to the government for provisionary needs.

Tea Party protesters quickly became the subject of left wing media epithets: with people such as Rachel Meadows calling hardworking Americans; who are tired of needless spending and taxation, that only love their country, and want to insure a better future for their children as “Tea-baggers”.  The white Tea Party protesters are called male chauvinist and white supremacist.  The black Tea Party members are referred to as Uncle Toms.  It would seem that no matter what the Tea Parties say or do, they are under ruthless attacks to eliminate their movement for limited government and maximum freedom.

Fortunately people like Liberty Belle, who despite the attacks to label her and the movement as a bunch of extremist, continues to blog and speak with honesty, perseverance, and integrity against big government and the corrupt politicians that are involved in it.

project21

Even President Obama went as far to say that the Tea Party is motivated more so by the color of his skin, than the content of his agenda.  This quite frankly is an absurd statement considering there are many black leaders within the Tea Party.  I personally saw a white war veteran weep and thank a black couple for being at a rally in Philadelphia.  The man expressed the great pain he felt being labeled a racist for believing in personal liberty.  Although there will always going be some bad in every group, in my own experiences, I have not seen any racism while attending any Tea Party Rally by people who support the cause.  I have seen on numerous occasions prejudice actions perpetrated against Tea Party members by union, leftist and people who just bought into the misinformation of left-wing media.  It seems that groups like Project 21, an all-black conservative group, doesn’t see the so called racism that the media projects about the Tea Party.  Project 21's common philosophy is that government interventions such as reverse discrimination and affirmative action are poisons that divide us.  Dependence on the government keeps minorities subjected to the government, rather than being personally accountable for the well-being of themselves and their families.

My Conclusion:

In closing I leave you with a quote from the American Dream by James Truslow Adams.  "Life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement".  Regardless of social class or the circumstances that gave birth to the Tea Party, they believe that  people should have the opportunity to do for themselves, and reap the rewards from what they have sown.

2. Do you believe that the Tea Party is Christain?

3. Should Black people support the Tea Party and/or Moderate republicans?