Madam, Madam it is TEA time

Say the title in your best English Butler voice

What exactly is the TEA party? Who is the TEA party? And why the TEA party?

A few questions and with a bit of luck I might be able to partially answer them and give a few opinions on what we are encountering with them.

The TEA party seems to be made up of different groups of people. Originally I think there were some people that got together and had a vision of trying to reign in our government. At this point I think their original intent has been pushed aside by a variety of people who have their own agenda. To their original purpose they still seem to attract an audience that doesn’t necessarily call themselves TEA party members, but still are waiting to see if they can really do something about Washington D.C.

And I think many in the political establishment do not seem to realize there is much potential in the TEA party message. Yes it has been hijacked by people with their own agenda, but you have to realize, and again the establishment doesn’t, how fed up people are with Washington D.C. The establishment, and I am talking more than the Republican establishment, seem to think the dissatisfaction with D.C is a blip on the radar screen and things will settle down. They are seriously underestimating the anger on Main Street.

And the opportunists in the TEA party realize the anger and are gaining some traction with it. How far they can go is still debatable.

So who is the TEA party? Unfortunately for the original start up group many people with their own anger have joined the banner of the TEA party. You had people who followed the Taxed enough already ideology, and then their came along a small group of industrialists and wealthy contributors who wanted to direct the group into their own agenda. This money helped a variety of TEA party banner members to be elected in 2010. And of course the original message begins to diverge. It soon became a group of people elected to target certain legislation by whipping up “popular” support against it. They hoped to distract the mainstream by using them to attack legislation so they could eventually get the new group to enact legislation that would favor them. This has been pretty much the usual in Washington; rich people trying to buy their own legislation. Unfortunately the wealthy contributors began to have different agendas. This is a more recent split and is starting to show in TEA party preparations and support going into 2014. I think they will come together temporarily to try and rally more TEA party support and elect their candidates, but how long this lasts will be interesting to watch.

And then over the last couple of years more people starting calling themselves TEA party members who had a general agenda of anything Obama does we are against. There is subtle and overt racism in some of this group of people. Then there are others who actually don’t like large government. And others who are overall dissatisfied with Washington and are looking for some voice or representation that is against anything Washington does. People are tired of what has happened over the last few decades, but they cannot put their finger on exactly why and what. And they are tired of the blame game.

And this is where opportunists like Senator Cruz come in. I am not sure exactly which group of money is supporting him, but he has way too much confidence in himself and his position without someone telling him he has their support. No one can go that all in politically, drum up serious rancor against him and still be able to move forward politically without serious help. The voices in his ear are pretty strong. And there are a few politicians able to tout this anti DC agenda to keep the general public interested in what is coming next. And that to me is one of the problems.

The current group of TEA party politicians doesn’t seem to have an agenda other than stopping DC. It doesn’t matter what as long as they can make noise. Obamacare has given them the perfect whipping post for their efforts, but if this fails they will find something else soon. Immigration reform is another Democrat agenda that could come under their attack. And we are going to find out soon if they have smart leadership.

Can they keep their rabble of haters intact and be able to convince a much larger audience that they have a rational plan behind all their madness? Yes, it is possible they can build a larger audience. Again this is where the current political establishment is missing the boat. People want something new. The TEA party is new. If the TEA party members can come together and voice a convincing message of we are here to throw out the establishment, reduce the size of the government, reduce your taxes, and relief you of the burden and yolk of an oppressive federal government, their audience will grow. It may never become a majority of the country, but it will overwhelm the Republican establishment and create a very hard right party. (And somewhat recently I wrote a post on the difference between being conservative and being right wing). The TEA party is not a conservative group. They may espouse some conservative philosophies, but overall their subtle message is nationalistic pride, return to a better time, and remove all elements of society that does not measure up to their desire.

And some people are not aware they are caught up in this message without realizing the danger of who they are becoming. The TEA party has been consumed with people who have hatred to a wide variety of groups and people. This is more than just subtle or overt racism. This is a belief in a fantasy America that was partially in place during the 1950s, however, in reality never existed to the extent that the members want to believe. And the backers and opportunists are trying to make this message loud and clear. They want the members to believe we can go back to an ideal time.

And what is funny is if they are successful they will lose the audience they need to enlarge their base to get what they want. Again does the TEA party have smart leadership? Can they voice one message to their core group and another of we are new and wanting change in DC to another group simultaneously? 2014 may give us the answer.

I talk to many people who do not call themselves TEA party members, but have their ear. Can my small group of acquaintances flesh out a reliable statistical sample of what is coming? I don’t know, but from what I am hearing I am worried. As someone who calls myself a conservative I don’t see a true conservative agenda from this group. The difference between saying I don’t want a large federal government so I will shut it down vs. I am tired of bloated federal programs that do not work and I want something better for my country is monstrous in my eyes. You can solve problems and not create or use federal programs. It takes work and creativity, but can be done. And if the Federal government is involved it can be utilized within reason. This is not the change the TEA party wants to see. What change do they want? Other than get rid of everything we want to remove, I don’t see one. It is their message of by doing this we can go back to our “ideal” time that is misleading so many people, even their original supporters.

We need change in Washington D.C., but we do not need TEA time change. This will not be change, but a misguided country that will fall back into a hierarchal society that our forefathers worked so hard to overcome. The backers and opportunists are in the TEA party for a reason, and it is for their benefit not the country, constitution, or us.

And next I hope to show you a better conservative agenda. And I do mean agenda. I hope to flesh out points and ideas that will help this country move forward and still reduce the size and scope of our federal government. The TEA party is right. Washington DC is too much and needs change. Change can be productive and must be if we want our constitution, society, country, people, and dreams to thrive. This is the change I plan on presenting.