by Bryan Ridenour

Created on: April 10, 2010   Last Updated: April 11, 2010

Since its humble beginnings a couple of years ago, the Tea Party movement has gained marked and passionate momentum.  Unpopular decisions in Congress have sparked Tea Parties all across America.  According to the Tea Party website, members desire to hold elected officials accountable for “reckless government spending.”  Adherents to the Tea Party, proudly claim a love for America and her guarantees to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” 

Some question the Tea Party’s motives.  This grass roots movement formed for many of the same reasons as the historic Tea Party of Boston fame.  Colonists showed their disdain for the Crown by heaving 342 chests of tea, valued at thousands of dollars, into Boston Harbor.  Their reason for rebellion?  Taxation without representation.  The Parliament in England had been implementing new taxes without colonial consent.  Fast forward two hundred plus years.  Because of out of control Congressional spending and a disregard for the concerns voiced by a majority of Americans, a modern day “Tea Party” sprang to life, magnifying the fiscally conservative position.  To counter the influence of the Tea Party, another group hopes to disrupt the next series of rallies to be held on tax day, April 15th.

The “Crash the Tea Party” website touts the following:  “We are a nationwide network of Democrats, Republicans and Independents, who are all sick and tired of that loose affiliation of racists, homophobes, and morons; who constitute the fake grass-roots movement which calls itself “The Tea Party.”  Their agenda is simple, to disrupt and demolish the Tea Party movement by any non-violent means.  Suggested methods of damaging the Tea Party’s image include: holding misspelled protest signs, yelling racial epithets, and “crasher’s” making themselves available to news organizations to rant and rave in front of a television camera.  Liberal news outlets would like nothing more than to capitalize on a wild-eyed kook, spouting verbiage detrimental to the Tea Party organization.  Who cares if the one being interviewed only poses as a Tea Partier but in reality is a “crasher”?  Most news outlets only want a sound bite powerful enough to humiliate Tea Party participants, not a fair and balanced examination of their goals and principles.

The whole

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