Response From a Tea Party Supporter

What is the greatest divisiveness that drives a wedge between us? What is the single most thing that creates rancor, malice and strife amongst our people? Racism? Yes, there is that. Wealth inequality? Possibly, to some degree. Religion? It has divided people since time immemorial. Political views? They are antediluvian and go hand-in-hand with religion. These are but a few of the contentious estrangements that drive us apart, but then again, there is a plethora of iniquities and non-commensurate issues that takes us all to the doorstep of malevolence. However, that still doesn’t answer the question. What is the inescapable agent that will eventually lead us all down the road to perdition, to the downfall of America and all she stands for?

I recently read an article on Hypocrisy.com entitled An Open Letter to the Tea Partiers, by Snark Twain. Although it started off quite sensitive to the American plight, with focus on what is needed to pull our country together, sadly it was filled with covert brickbats, innuendos and disinformation. And I’ll state that is solely this Tea-partier’s view.

An example. The third paragraph opened with a commitment not to patronize the Tea-partiers, however, the rhetoric did just that. The author propagated nothing more than the same old talking points and attacks we, Tea-partiers, hear from the hard left all the time.

By the way, the author referred to himself as a “progressive political opponent.” Why do liberals do that? Do they not know what the Progressive Party is? In short, it’s one of these three. 1) The political party formed in 1912 under the leadership of Theodore Roosevelt, who advocated popular control of government. 2) A similar party formed in 1924 that supported the presidential candidacy of Robert La Follette. 3) A political party formed in 1948 to support the presidential candidacy of Henry Wallace. That’s not very good company to keep my friend.

The progressive movement is the extreme left. All  those who cling to the progressive banner wish to move America away from what it stands for, what makes it unique and great. They want to mold it into something more like the rest of the world; e.g., France, Russia, Italy, Greece, Germany, et al.

But I digress. Not only does the article state incorrect facts, it intimates baseless accusations and talks covertly down to Tea-partiers as though they were children who didn’t know what they were doing. It appears the left-wing has changed its tactics and has moved away from its vitriolic attacks to covert whisperings of a warm and fuzzy nature. I wonder, does this type of attempted brainwashing work for them on balmy or foggy days?

The article stated the Tea Party had cast their lot with the Republican Party and only the Republican Party. Not true, they endorsed Congressman Walt Minnick, D-ID. They also threw themselves behind Rand Paul, although a Republican and soon to be Senator, who has been described by many as a “constitutional conservative.”

Defacto, the Tea Party does nothing but vet and give support to whatever candidate aligns with constitutional values. They give recommendations based on constitutional points that a candidate has supported during his or her career, or the espousal thereof. They also endorse candidates that have displayed fiscal conservatism or support fiscally conservative measures. That’s it, end of story.

With that said, the article brings into question how many Tea Party events the author has attended. Making one wonder where he got his information about Tea-partiers supporting only Republicans, their lack of concern for their countrymen, or the rancor that fills their hearts. What about the last time a liberal, any liberal, voted for a Republican or reached out with softness in words or deed to one of the opposition? Would that have been Reverend Wright? Van Jones? Henry Louis Gates Jr.? What about ol’ Jesse or Reverend Sharpton? Oh, I’m sorry, am I making “vaguely racist denunciations?” Forgive me while I go check to make sure Conseulla is watching the kids at the summer cottage in Nags Head.

Let me take a moment here to expound on the point of racism. An empirical viewpoint of a man who is madly in love with a woman he has had an interracial marriage with for forty years. Racism is a tool for those who wish to create divisiveness. For those who maintain an agenda of trying to garner wealth or power from doing so. Case in point, Reverend Sharpton, Jesse Jackson or Van Jones. All Democrats, all making their living by stirring the pot of racism. But don’t think the other side is left out. There’s South Carolina’s Republican State Senator, Jake Knotts. “We’ve got one raghead in the White House, we don’t need a raghead in the governor’s mansion.” There has also been the likes of the now deceased Jesse Helms and George Wallace. Or the Grand Wizard, Louisiana State Representative, David Duke. What I have stated here is precisely to my point. It’s what I opened with and what I believe is the preponderant, if not driving source of our woes. But back to Snark’s article.

His are the type of covert intimations and pejoratives I refer to, the ones progressives and conservatives both have spewed in an attempt to blackguard those they disagree with or cannot control. Such as the Tea Party, Sara Palin, or anyone that can think for themselves and refuses to bite on the rhetoric and demagoguery of either side.

I’m a Tea-partier and I have and will continue to vote on both sides of the aisle. I voted for Bart Gordon, a blue-dog Democrat ¾ twice. I also voted for our esteemed governor twice, Phil Bredesen, D-TN. I’d vote for him again if he were not termed out. According to my record it doesn’t look like all of us Tea-partiers have cast our lot with only the Republican Party.

You see, the new Republican Party is what the old Democtratic Party used to be. Hell, I even voted for JFK back in the day. Poor John, he’d roll over in his grave if he only knew what the Democratic Party has become. I’m afraid some of those old schleps, progressives, liberals, whatever you want to call them, have just drank too darn much of that progressive Kool-Aid.

The Tea-partiers were yesterday’s voters who supported and believed in our current and most revered president. They were the ones who bought Obama’s “populist stuff” and not Newt Gingrich’s. Fortunately we have now awoken, and I have to tell you, it’s not a pleasant feeling to realize you were the “pigeon at the table.” But it’s understandable, we, not unlike the left, believed the unctuous demagoguery our beloved president spewed so eloquently. We were looking for change, but we were unaware of how devastating  the change would be. If what Bush did in eight years dragged us backwards, what Obama is doing is taking us to the Stone Age in hyper-drive.

Getting straight to the point, let me impart what I believe is tearing our country apart ¾ the far left and the far right. They troll and throw hooks towards the middle in an attempt to see who they can snatch and drag back to their side. Such as Snark’s feeble and covert attempt to denigrate while feigning sincerity and understanding for what the Tea Party stands for. Under the flag of armistice it is this type of rhetoric that those with an agenda seek to overwhelm or soften their opponents, sink that hook and pull them in.

Wherever there is an issue you will find both sides vehemently at each other’s throat with no reconciliation in sight. That’s what is rife in our society today, witnessed by the controversy of the Journolists, Tea Party, Shirley Sherrod, the Black Panthers, and on, and on, and on. Not talking about the real issues, avoiding the truely hard questions and answers, but slowly and surely taking us down that path to total destruction.

There is one thing I know for sure, one thing I have learned in this short life – there will never be peace in our country until the day we can fully trust and love each other.