America’s Right: Radical and Successful

They’re anti-Obama, and they think government is something evil. America’s right-wing conservatives gather for a “tea party convention.” Keynote speaker is Sarah Palin.

It’s the most surprising political movement during Obama’s term in office. Surprisingly radical and surprisingly successful. When Obama took office in January, America’s conservatives had every reason to be meek. There was little to admire in the eight years George W. Bush was president. But they soon were on the way up once again. In a very aggressive populist campaign, they portrayed Obama sometimes as Hitler, sometimes as Stalin and managed to derail his health care reform proposals. Their grassroots efforts contributed decisively to Republican victory in the Massachusetts senatorial election.

Today marks the start of a four-day Tea Party convention in Nashville, Tennessee. The convention is less a party conference than it is a cultural happening like Woodstock, but for the right. Saturday’s keynote speaker will be Sarah Palin, conservative vice presidential candidate and former governor of Alaska. Admission fees of over $500 per person and the honoraria paid to prominent speakers have provoked enraged protests that threaten the cohesion of the Tea Party movement. Their attempts to exclude most of the media because it is seen as “liberal” and not sympathetic to their cause also damages their credibility.

The protest movement’s name tells the whole story: When government gets too big and begins interfering in everyday life and the economy, resistance becomes a matter of duty. Citizens must be loyal only as long as government does their bidding and serves their interests. The 1773 Boston Tea Party was the decisive step toward American independence. The British crown dictated prices via their monopolistic trade organizations for goods that were produced by their colony and forced settlers to buy highly taxed tea imported from India. Angry settlers finally boarded British ships in Boston Harbor and threw the Indian tea overboard.

It was in this spirit that right-wing groups began their opposition to Obama and his policies early in 2009. The president had called for an $800 billion stimulus package; he had the state take over banks and automobile companies in order to keep them from going bankrupt; he wanted to impose a health care system on citizens whether they wanted it or not. For conservatives, that amounted to a breach of the social contract. According to their philosophy, government is something bad that should only be as large as is absolutely necessary. For very few tasks, such as national defense and police protection from domestic disorder, government is seen as a necessary evil. Beyond that, their ideal world consists of the smallest government and the lowest taxes possible.

The Republican Party has an ambivalent relationship with Tea Party activists. They’re helpful in opposing Obama and the Democrats, but they’re impervious to suggestion. Many of them mistrust senators and congressional representatives; they, too, are seen as a decadent part of the hated Washington system. Angry factions threaten to set litmus tests for candidates in this fall’s congressional elections and to oppose any Republicans who do not pass muster. They’re disgusted with George W. Bush because he expanded government in the wake of 9/11 and spent far too much public money. Richard Armey, head of the group, FreedomWorks, says the Republican Party is being watched like a criminal “on probation.”

Sarah Palin is a heroine to Tea Party members, but some look askance at the $100,000 fee she will pocket for her appearance at their convention. They say it’s should to be a “matter of honor” and a “patriotic duty” to rescue America from the destructive path of bigger government and higher taxes.

The $549 admission fee (plus $9.99 administrative costs) plus travel costs plus hotel bills are beyond the reach of typical Tea Party members who live far from the great metropolitan centers and don’t have highly paid jobs.