A recent article by TL Davis concerning the Tea Party’s status as “nothing more than a minor-league Republican support group” had a comment concerning the TEA Party as opposed to the Tea Party. This comment was the catalyst for this post as well as some personal actions on my part. So let’s get to it.
There are three Tea Party movements in this country presently: the TEA Party, the Tea Party and the Hard Tea Party. Yes, this is my opinion and there will be disagreement, the never ceasing personal attacks and even some agreement. And yes, I have been told by a few “TEA Party” leaders that I do not understand the Tea Party: I wear that criticism as a badge of honor.
1. The TEA Party
TEA in this case stands for Tax Enough Already. This group’s main focus is the reduction of taxation in the country so that they can keep more of their money. Fine. But this will not restore our nation’s principles or provide freedom for our children. Taxation without representation was the reason for our Revolution but we must look deeper. The real reason as outlined by George Washington was slavery: the theft of wages with no recompense is slavery and all men are free as guaranteed by God’s natural laws. This group is not concerned about natural laws; they are only concerned with greed and material possessions. How do I know? I asked them. Samuel Adams provides guidance for this movement:
“If you love wealth more than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, depart from us in peace. We ask not your counsel nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you. May your chains rest lightly upon you and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen.”
— Samuel Adams
Harsh but true. As long as this group has their “money”, they will crouch down as low as the people who have sold their votes for a government handout.
2. The Tea Party
This group identifies itself with the original Boston Tea Party. They feel that “We the People” should be put back in charge of the government and the Constitution should be restored. Unfortunately, after three years, this group is fractured and has been usurped by the Republican Party (see TL Davis article). Arguments? Or facts? Tea Party Patriots, Tea Party Nation, FreedomWorks, Teaparty.net, Tea Party Express, Americans for Prosperity, National Tea Party Federation, the 912 Project and Nationwide Tea Party Coalition. Fractured or united?
An attempt to unite the Tea Party is the Unity Rally 2012 in Tampa, FL at the Republican Convention. From their announcement:
Here is a list of our current lineup of speakers.
Rep. Michele Bachmann
Mr. Herman Cain
Dustin Stockton of The Tea Party.net
Judson Phillips of Tea Party Nation
Stephani Scruggs of 9/12
Niger Inis of CORE Join America
I was sent an email outlining this event from a friend with the following comment:
What a GREAT name for a rally! “Unity Rally 2012”. Unity and oneness with the GOP? Please, and just by happenstance right before the GOP convention in Tampa? Yes the tea party and GOP are one in unity just as in Haywood County, NC. Why aren’t you doing something in Charlotte? Tell me when your tea party candidate, Mitt, utters the words individual liberty and freedom. The tea party is sick, and has been infected by the Washington DC virus.
You can shoot the messenger but having a Tea Party Rally in conjunction with the Republican Convention in Tampa validates the usurpation of this movement. I do not assign blame to this group since they are easily lead. Why would I say this? Here is a correspondence from a Tea Party leader in response to my inquiry about endorsing candidates instead of educating people:
Just a few members of our 9-12 work very hard all year long donating their time, energy and dollars to educate others about the issues, current events and candidate choices. Those who take the time to do their own research, will make up their own minds and vote accordingly. The majority, however, are sheep who want to be led to water. Condemning the tea party for leading the sheep is counterproductive. Led sheep are far preferable to lost sheep.
Trading one set of masters for another set of masters is not my part of my vision for the future. Based on the endless endorsements of candidates (all Republican) in North Carolina by Tea Party groups instead of educating people on the requirements of the office, candidate positions and qualifications, I resigned (effective July 12, 2012) as the North Carolina 912 Project Coordinator.
I wish this Tea Party well in their efforts to retake the government by retaking the Republican Party. If I would have seen any leadership under the 2011-2012 Republican House of Representatives, I would be more optimistic in this endeavor. However, the truth is twofold:
a. Mitt Romney’s position on the NDAA is against the majority of the Bill of Rights.
b. The majority of the Tea Party is only supporting the candidate in order to remove Obama. While I agree that a second Obama administration will destroy the country, we still must ask ourselves how the Republican Party candidate was able to outspend the competition to receive the nomination.
3. The Hard Tea Party
I need more. I need personal conviction and founding principles. I need our forefather’s Tea Party, not my mother’s tea party social. And I suspect that most patriotic Americans feel the same way. The III Percent Liberty Movement is concerned about Liberty, not political parties.
As I have written previously concerning George Washington and Thomas Jefferson:
George Washington warned us about so eloquently in his farewell address about political parties.
“It (the party system) serves to distract the Public Councils, and enfeeble the Public Administration….agitates the Community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms; kindles the animosity of one….against another….it opens the door to foreign influence and corruption…thus the policy and the will of one country are subjected to the policy and will of another.”
Thomas Jefferson started the National Gazette newspaper to present his views on our fledgling republic that were in direct conflict with the views of Alexander Hamilton. Philip Freneau was the editor who wrote an editorial in 1792 titled: RULES FOR CHANGING A REPUBLIC INTO A MONARCHY. Of course today, monarchies are known as dictatorships. Item number 6 of the 15 points detailed in the editorial:
6. But the grand nostrum will be a public debt, provided enough of it can be got and it be medicated with the proper ingredients. If by good fortune a debt be ready at hand, the most is to be made of it. Stretch it and swell it to the utmost the items will bear. Allow as many extra claims as decency will permit. Assume all the debts of your neighbors — in a word, get as much debt as can be raked and scraped together, and when you have got all you can, “advertise” for more, and have the debt made as big as possible. This object being accomplished, the next will be to make it as perpetual as possible; and the next to that, to get it into as few hands as possible. The more effectually to bring this about, modify the debt, complicate it, divide it, subdivide it, subtract it, postpone it, let there be one-third of two-thirds, and two-thirds of one-third, and two-thirds of two-thirds; let there be 3 percents, and 4 percents, and 6 percents, and present 6 percents, and future 6 percents. To be brief, let the whole be such a mystery that a few only can understand it; and let all possible opportunities and informations fall in the way of these few, to clinch their advantages over the many.
I have provided the definition of the word “nostrum” below since I believe this word is not taught in our public school systems.
1. A medicine whose effectiveness is unproved and whose ingredients are usually secret; a quack remedy.
2. A favorite but usually ineffective remedy for problems or evils.
I know in my heart that our forefathers swore their lives, fortunes and Sacred honor to give their children their rights under natural law provided by God. I see only one Tea Party movement that agrees with these sentiments. Make my Tea Party Hard with an infusion of Liberty.
David DeGerolamo
Let me be surrounded by patriots… as for the rest, they are what they are for the sake of their choices, as poor as they may be. Perhaps if we show them the possiblities, some will choose better; but as for the rest, I do not expect them to do so.
I, for one, will not vote for anyone who does not speak about following natural law or more importantly, our constitution. I understand the the original intent of our founders. So what will be will be.
I’ll take a “shot of the hard stuff”. In Liberty, Bill
You are wrong about some of these groups. Your ability to win people is hurt because you are selling solutions that are far too drastic for the current state of things. The liberty movement isn’t changing anything not because the changes wouldn’t be helpful but because they don’t educate in a way that empowers. People choose to tune out the liberty movement because they stifle debate by demeaning anyone who doesn’t agree with every tenet of their ideology. Don’t believe me, ask me about my support for Liberty candidates.
Thinking that all the people in the other TEA/Tea party groups are hopeless souls is as stupid as people who think that there aren’t smart people in the Liberty movement.
If you play on a team, people will listen to you, and then you can compete for the right to educate them. Wanna see how it’s done, participate in the Unity Rally with a throw-away email address. If you don’t see anything you find value in, I would be shocked.
We can agree to disagree. I am not trying to “win” people and you may want to outline what drastic solutions you are referring to. A return to the Constitution does not seem drastic to me.
I do not see any empowerment of the people by John Boehner or Mitt Romney. I see the Tea Power empowering the elite in the GOP instead of heeding the warnings given to us by our forefathers.
Which Liberty candidates have you supported? I am talking about the Liberty Movement, not a political party.
A Unity Rally at the Republican convention only confirms my belief that the Tea Party is mainly a front for the GOP. Given a viable option to provide freedom for their children, I believe people will at least listen.
Or vote “R” and hope that the next Congress will pass a budget instead of a $5 trillion deficit. Or that the poster child for elitism (Mitt Romney) will garner the support of middle America.
I want to be clear: people need some hope to face our future. If this hope is based in taking back the Republican party, that is fine. As I said in the article, I need more. I will trust in patriots and the Lord.
Dustin: How about giving David a speaking slot at the Unity Rally?
Kerodin
III
Willard “Mitt” Romney does not respect the Constitution. His support of the indefinite detention provisions of the NDAA reveal this. It’s insane to continue voting for people who do not honor their oath to the Constitution.
Consider the import of the following quote from 1966 by Carrol Quigley who was a Professor of Political History at Georgetown University for 35 years. This quote is from his Magnum Opus Tragedy and Hope, a 1348 page book of world history:
“The argument that the two parties should represent opposed ideals and policies, one, perhaps, of the Right and the other of the Left, is a foolish idea acceptable only to the doctrinaire and academic thinkers. Instead, the two parties should be almost identical, so that the American people can “throw the rascals out” at any election without leading to any profound or extreme shifts in policy.”- Carrol Quigley, Tragedy and Hope – A History of the World in Our Time pp. 1247-1248).
In 2008 Ron Paul openly cited Quigley as part of his rationale in refusing to endorse John McCain for President.
Voting for traitors will only result in more tyranny.
As I type this there is a general uproar on other forums regarding the way the GOP-E is ignoring Sarah Palin. Might I suggest you invite her to speak at your “Unity Rally”? I’d be willing to bet she would draw a greater crowd than Mitt ever will. If that were to happen it would send an unmistakeable message to the “leaders” of the Republican Party that they had best begin embracing the tenets the Tea Party, the Hard Tea Party and other conservative/patriotic groups espouse.
If Hard TEA doesn’t get time at the podium to speak, then there’s no point in spending the time or money to attend any such Unity Blather-fest. I guess most folks just don’t comprehend the phrase, “by any means necessary”.
Personally, I think it would be a better investment to spend the money on ammo, and the time on the range… at least that way I will be better prepared when the time comes to reclaim our Liberty -- I can read the cliff-notes version of the unity rah-rah thing online.
LT
~Those who abuse Liberty, do so at their own peril!