Who would have thought that when Rick Santelli had his on-air mortgage bailout meltdown broadcast live on CNBC that a political movement would gush forward? The date was February 9, 2009. The setting was the Chicago Board of Trade. His rant examining the non-sensical economic policies aimed at alleviating our current economic crash was for a while the leading You Tube download. His rallying cry "Where are the tea parties?" (referring to the Boston Tea Party of the American Revolution) was met with a grassroots groundswell of ordinary Americans, many of whom were never politically active before.

These ordinary Americans have been painted as patriots engaged in taking their country back. They have also been painted as redneck, racist kooks "clinging to their guns and God". As with everything else political in these times, the truth only comes to the front when examined with a critical eye. We decided to take a careful look, both at the movement in general, and firsthand by attending one of the Tax Day Tea Party rallies.

 At it's incarnation, the Tea Party movement had no organization. It was people acting in concert with family, friends and people who share similar ideas trying to get those ideas heard. It was small gatherings around dinner tables and lunchrooms. People coming together out of concern for the direction of the country, and who thought that applying a little common sense to our shared problems would be the best way to address them.

In many ways The Thomas Paine Project was a breeding ground for the idea that we needed to approach governing the country in the same manner that we run our households. TPP was calling America to action as we saw the 2008 Presidential campaign turn from a debate about the direction of the country, and into the mock-up for the next season of "Survivor: Washington DC - Outwit, Outplay, Outlast". Every week one more candidate was eliminated after a challenge posed by the media circus. What might make for good TV was proving to be an unhealthy way to handle the problems facing America.

 
These individual groups responded to Santelli's call with a handful of public demonstrations that drew attention from the media - mainstream and new. The mainstream media did not understand the tea party protests, and was not curious enough to examine them. They simply labeled the tea parties as wackos venting steam. The MSM would get footage of someone in a flag shirt or cowboy hat preferably carrying a pro-life poster, and dismiss them as an irrelevant oddity. The term "tea-bagger" became the MSM moniker of choice to show it's disdain.

New media, on the other hand, sensed something more than loose groups of rabble making noise. The sense of unease of the American public was prevalent in the wake of the economic crisis and the federal government's panic driven response to it. New media saw the tea party as the voice of this unease. New media saw the potential for a growing movement, even in the heady days leading up to the inauguration of President Obama.

The Tea Party ideals are broad and in most cases generally make sense to most Americans if the "tea party" label is not used. The principles revolve around fiscal responsibility, and less government intrusion into our individual lives. The terms "personal liberty" and "personal responsibility" are rallying buzzwords for the membership. They believe that there is a role for government in our lives, but that the government should not be the always present arbiter of our day-to-day decisions.

They base this belief on the founding documents of America - the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States, and on the writings of the Founders. Many will point out that since federal elected officials are required to swear an oath to uphold the Constitution, that the Constitution takes priority over agendas and ideology. That is a valid point. Whatever agenda and ideology is elected to office, it must be advanced within the framework of the Constitution.

 
The spark that set the tea party movement ablaze was the healthcare reform bill process. It can be argued that it was not the plan itself that was being protested. In truth no one knew what was in the package – not even the legislators tasked with voting on it. The protests arose over the secrecy involving the package (which was the coffin nail of Hillarycare), and the unseemly horse-trading and outright bribery that went out to secure votes.

 
Those tea partiers who had participated in public demonstrations, sought to have a voice in congressional and senatorial town hall meetings throughout the country.  As the healthcare package being cobbled together was on the watch of a Democrat President, the media labeled the tea partiers as kooks, uneducated  bumpkins and worse yet – right wing extremists. President Obama somehow thought it would be helpful to his cause to throw gasoline on the fire and call the tea party activists liars. The condescending and patronizing attitude that the Democrat majority struck towards its constituents threw jet fuel on the blaze.

The Republicans, buried under a Democrat supermajority, saw an opportunity in embracing the tea party movement. Key conservative leaders in the GOP used the tool of the tea party to bolster it’s arguments against the healthcare package, and in many cases, adopted the tea party positions.  Several prominent conservative leaders have become identified as speakers for the movement, and an loose organizational structure has developed to maximize the effect of the tea party as a voting bloc.

The movement snowballed from that point into the nightly news feature that we hear about today. Hearing about it is not the same as experiencing it, so TPP made the decision to attend one of the Tax Day rallies to see for ourselves. We chose an event in held in the red part of California, northern San Bernardino county. It is a largely rural area in what is called locally, the high desert, about 60 miles (as the crow flies) northeast of Los Angeles (one of the co-capitals of Blue California). 

 
The rally was held in a local watering hole – a country western themed restaurant and nightspot. That was the only part of the rally that fit in with the stereotypical view of a tea party rally.

The mood was festive and upbeat, not angry. Many came with flags and signs, which were for the most part respectful, but to the point. There were children present and playing among the participants. Judging from the cars in the parking lot, pretty much every class of working America was represented – everything from a beat up old Ford pickup to a brand new Lexus SUV. There was even a Prius, actually we counted 3 (It is California). A roadside display was set up and flag wavers received lots of honks of support, thumbs up, and waves. Some people pulled off the road to check things out. The best unoffical count was near 500 people attending the rally and meeting.

The meeting was led by the general manager of the hosting establishment. His message was positive – extolling the virtues of America and the benefits of the system set up in the Constitution by our founders. There were several multimedia presentations to educate the crowd on the tea party movement and goals. An excellent presentation on the structure of our government explained the differences between a representative republic, which the United states is constituted as,  and a simple democracy.  There was no rancor, and no bullying. The host sought affirmative voice “votes” to gauge the 
commonalities of those attending, making the meeting inclusive and open.

The microphone was passed around through the crowd for attendees to address issues of individual importance. Though many spoke with great passion, there was no hatred expressed, towards institutions or persons.  If one were to characterize whatever negative emotions surfaced it would be dismay over government actions that seems to conflict with the will of the people, and a fear that we were moving far away from our ideals as a country. As a word, socialism was used. The “N” word was not.

Were there any nutjobs or wackos? There were one or two people who might have made the evening news as an example of one.  That is until you speak directly with these people as individuals and understand their personal experience of being on the receiving end of government policies. People who have been forced into unemployment, who have lost their homes and businesses,  who have had to put other people into financial jeopardy because of this regulation or that permit requirement. One can argue that they might sound paranoid, but the paranoia might be justified.    

 
The vast majority of participants were calm, reasonable and educated on the issues in a way that we found encouraging. This was not a crowd that was anti anything without having an alternate and well thought out counter proposal available for discussion. Some of those alternate solutions might not be any more workable than what they oppose, but they are not just saying “no” or even “hell, no!” They are saying “We’d like you to consider this”. If the volume has gotten loud at times, it is because this large group of people believe that no one is listening.

Common Sense Dictates

This is a time of severe testing for the world's only remaining superpower. America is involved internationally in trouble spots around the world. This is at a time when the economy is still barely limping along, unemployment is high, and people do not trust those people who have been elected to represent them to actually do it.  In such times and such circumstances, our enemies are not ordinary Americans who are working within the system to bring about positive change. TPP understands that to be the definition of “community organizing”. One would think that President Obama might have some sympathy for that – maybe even empathy.

In 2003 at a speech before supporters, Hillary Clinton stated  that “dissent is patriotic”. We agree with her. It is a shame that as a member of the current administration she does not feel the need to re-emphasize that point.

To the best we can determine, the vast majority of those who participate in tea party rallies are regular people with regular lives. They love their families and their country and are concerned for both. They fear and occasionally appear angry because they believe that the government they have elected to represent their interests is unresponsive at best. At worst it is deliberately defying the will of the people. From what has come to pass for governing that view is not irrational.

The tea party movement has existed long before it was named. Suspicion of the government is an inherently American condition. That suspicion is written into our Declaration and Constitution. The American spirit will tolerate a lot in the name of doing what is perceived to be the right thing. Most people do not have the time or energy to devote a lot to the governance of the country. That is why we elect representatives to do that job. We expect our representatives to act in good faith on our behalf. That requires our consent.

When sizable numbers of people get involved in a cause, it would be common sense for the powers that be to take note. When that level of commitment goes beyond flipping a lever on election day, it should be a sign to those in power that they have sparked enough interest to draw the public’s attention to matters it normally would not care about. It is a sign that the good faith relationship is in danger. When that good faith is gone,  so follows the officeholder. The Republicans learned this in 2006.

It is said that society is changed by replacing it one person at a time – so is government. We have no argument with the tea party movement. We hope that it continues to hold the government accountable to the electorate.  That is the common sense position.

RLB