MODERN TEA PARTY HISTORY: the definitive edition

[Kulindahr]

so fox and beck were involved from the beginning....lol

what a big circle this is going in.

Except they appear to have been hostile and not friendly.

this is all very interesting and at this point I have one question that I hope someone has an answer for...

If the movement started with the 2007 teaparty fundraiser by Ron Paul, then why did the 2009 people call themselves Tea baggers until they figured out what that meant sexually?

That was one beginning. Don't be so fixed on institutional continuity. Another was from these folks: http://www.taxfoundation.org/taxfreedomday/

Note in there the difference between tax freedom day and spending freedom day. The people (lots of us) who insisted the latter was more relevant were very much early Tea Party types, because we insisted that tax freedom day should come after spending freedom day, not the other way around: the day the country as a whole finished working to end the tax burden should come after the day when spending was covered (otherwise the debt was sitting there neglected).

Many people I'm acquainted with in the Tax Freedom ranks latched on to Paul's "Tea Party" fundraiser, just to try to get a candidate out there who would really talk about the debt.

Here's an article (I know, it's current) that illustrates the sort of ties between the Tax Freedom thing and the Tea Party movement/reasoning; I've seen this around since <gasp!> the Gulf War (the first one, when we didn't mess up an entire country). There were lots of people already doing "Tea Party" things, just with no unifying label.

 

[Kulindahr]

I honestly think there is more than one. The evolution of the movement(s) is yet incomplete.

Bingo. There are still numerous strands, which agree on only one thing: Washington taxes too much. They range from the infantile "Cut my taxes; I don't care what happens!" to the puerile "Slash all spending; I don't care what happens!" to thoughtful "Start hitting the brakes, and bring this under control without crashing". There are imperialists clear to isolationists, 'fair' tax advocates and progressive tax advocates, Christian theocrats and anarchocapitalists and anarchosocialists... and a number of just plain bigots.

I think you misunderstood me. I was trying to show you that Ron Paul's movement evolved into the current tea party movement. I meant any link that you showed between Beck, Fox, and the Tea Party was tenuous at best because the party has changed from what it was originally.


I think the current party is an evolution of the original party.

All movements evolve. Ron Paul touched a nerve, including some people already active.

There were some racists, but Ron Paul is not one.

On the floor of Congress he isn't, but read his newsletters. It's one of the reasons a lot of Libertarians said "Hell, no!" to asking him to be the party's presidential candidate again. Many people overlook his racism because he's essentially the only voice in Congress for holding to the Constitution, but it's nevertheless there.

 

[Kulindahr]

The current one is filled with it? shall we take a stroll down that memory lane ONE MORE TIME????

Taking this with what you said in the opening post, you've already convinced yourself that the thing to look for to find the birth of the Tea Party movement is hate signs showing up.

That's not an objective approach.

 

[Kulindahr]

this is what I am finding as well, although it has taken a day of reading to get there.

The idea was original and since then a host of people have swooped in to capitalize on it for their own reasons... and it makes me wonder whether or not Paul is sorry for not officially organising it in the beginning.

The guy that found the titanic didn't file papers of ownership because he mistakenly thought the world would respect the site and leave it alone. what happened in reality was people realized they could make a buck if they took a trip down there, and they are destroying the remains of the wreck in the process. IF the guy who found it had just claimed it as his, the integrity of the ship would still be intact.

now its a ransacked mess on the ocean floor.

thats kind of what the Koch brothers and freedom works have done to the Paul teaparty.

I want to say that philosophically I disagree with the whole mess.

IF theres any lesson here it is just this... if you say even in honest intent, that you think the 13th or the 14th amendment were unconstitutional and misguided, and have NO racial prejudice when you say that, in the end, you attract people that may believe as you do, but for all the different wrong reasons.

when you wake up and find out they have jumped on your bandwagon, you either get off the wagon or get rid of the wagon, but you don't just let it ride.

I like the Titanic illustration.

So far I'm seeing the Tea Party business as an idea simmering along; Paul's fundraiser brought it to a boil, and the "mail a tea bag" stunt kicked it to a new level. But the closest it ever had to a definitive core of belief was... ... well, epitomized by those miniature tea chests those Paul people in Portland carried.

As regards the wagon, can I pull off everyone who isn't a racist or theocrat, and then push it into a very deep ravine?

oh lord.... I hate waiting for him to catch up. why cant he just read the whole thread first, before commenting on each post one at a time.


AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

this is his revenge, I am now sure.

No, it's that in my current level of anxiety I couldn't track more than a few posts at a time.

BostonPirate, you need to watch Rachel Maddow's MSNBC show regularly. She's been reporting on/commenting on some of the questions you are asking for the past year and a half.


The following, though, is from ThinkProgress's Lee Fang 9 April 2009 (the original article includes links that are not reproduced here):

THOSE are the folks I've been looking for! Now, when did they step in, and are they doing more than coordinating, e.g. suggesting speech themes and the like?

 

[Kulindahr]

Unclean, that's useful stuff. I demur slightly on the "libertarian mob" tag, though; most are libertarian only insofar as regards welcoming anyone with an axe to grind -- racists and theocrats as libertarians is a contradiction in terms.

 

[JB3]

I started this thread asking for people to change my mind. if you have an issue with that then you should just stop participating.

snarkiness is not doing it, nor is school marmy finger wagging. I am looking for the truth and sometimes the truth is not neat and clean. sometimes it doesn't have a direct answer. There was a time when people could have a conversation without this nonsense.

If you have a point, make it, or get out of the way so I can focus on what kulindahr is trying to say.

Are you serious? Its clear from the very first post in this thread, and every subsequent post, that you have already decided what you think the tea party is and nothing is going to change that. This entire thread is a masturbatory ego stroke that serves no purpose except to allow you to continue to spout off lies and brush off anything that proves you wrong as falsehoods perpetrated by some imaginary corporate overlords.

 

[BostonPirate]

Are you serious? Its clear from the very first post in this thread, and every subsequent post, that you have already decided what you think the tea party is and nothing is going to change that. This entire thread is a masturbatory ego stroke that serves no purpose except to allow you to continue to spout off lies and brush off anything that proves you wrong as falsehoods perpetrated by some imaginary corporate overlords.

I don't like them, but I think anyone can see that I have conceded that they were hijacked just as you said.

if you are going to chime in at the last minute, and slam me, at least figure out a real reason for doing it.

You are a prime example of republicans who can't read what is right in front of them.

 

[White Eagle]

BostonPirate
I ran across this this AM. Thought you would be interested in it.

http://www.teapartymovie.com/

Tea Party: The Documentary Film

Liberty’s march has a new generation of patriots.

About The Film
The Tea Party movement of 2009 shocked the political establishment, the nation at large and left a big media machine dizzy in its wake. How did it happen? Where did it come from? Now, experience the story of the movement that's driving our national dialogue against big government spending and a Constitution under assault. "Tea Party: The Documentary Film" follows the struggles of five grassroots individuals and their transformation from home town rally goers and rally organizers to national activists in the 912 March on Washington. In the process, the film reveals what is at the heart of this nationwide surge of civic engagement - a return to and respect for a Constitutionally limited government, personal responsibility and fiscal restraint at the Federal level.

Goals for the Film
The film seeks to further the conversation about the principles of the movement among tea party activists and provide a compelling means to share the story with those on the outside who are looking to understand its true nature.

 

[BostonPirate]

Thanks for the film, Eagle!

I will watch it as I drink my coffee this morning.

 

[Kulindahr]

Thanks for the link, W.E.

I notice one has to buy the film -- out of my reach at the moment, blast it.



edit: I've never heard a reference to "five grassroots individuals" before. That's intriguing.

 

[JB3]

I don't like them, but I think anyone can see that I have conceded that they were hijacked just as you said.

if you are going to chime in at the last minute, and slam me, at least figure out a real reason for doing it.

You are a prime example of republicans who can't read what is right in front of them.

If I'm a republican then you're a red commie bastard.

Just because I lean right on many issues does not make me a republican. It makes you look like an ignorant fool to make assumptions about people.

And there is plenty of reason to criticize you. You aren't interested in the truth or anything except your very narrow pre-conceptions on this topic. You've shown it in every response and every interaction in this thread. Its not a 'slam' if its the truth.

 

[BostonPirate]

You may be one of the most unreasonable persons here with the most unsound thinking abilities.

IF you want to start a criticizing contest then go ahead....

You know... you have just made me sorry I tried to understand this whole thing.

Thanks for that.