The Tea Party: Back Up!

The advent more than a year ago of the Tea Party, a radical movement in opposition of Barack Obama’s policies, certainly indicates a new turn in the psychodrama that has never ceased to be U.S. policy. On Feb. 19, 2009, Rick Santelli, a CNBC business reporter, flew into a rage on live television against the financial support measures advocated by Washington to help the Americans on the verge of losing their homes: “losers,” according to him, “that has [sic] an extra bathroom and can’t pay their bills.” No reference here to a mortgage crisis, nor to the resulting inflationary interest rates, of course.

In the same breath, Santelli announced a Tea Party gathering in Chicago, making reference to a historical event that occurred in Boston in 1773 when the American colonies, revolting against taxation of tea by the British Parliament, seized English commercial vessels and dumped hundreds of chests of tea into the harbor. It was by analogy to this event that the opposition to the Democrat’s economic stimulus plan and to their health care reform crystallized, so that the taxpayer celebrated as an individual, would not have to pay the collective bill. Despite claims that this is a spontaneous movement, the Tea Party enjoys strong support from conservative groups and sustained media coverage by Fox [News], whose Republican allegiance is well known.

In sounding the death knell of the Democratic super-majority, Republican Scott Brown’s election to the Senate seat vacated by Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts was the movement’s first victory. Unfortunately for them, not only was health reform passed anyway, but Brown was also to play a role in the Senate’s passage of financial reform, which includes the establishment of a consumer protection agency within the Federal Reserve. Why bother, since it protects the individual…

The Republican Party Is Too Soft

It would make sense to believe that an organization on the rise would seek credible leaders. Thus, we can legitimately be surprised by the cheers of “Palin for President,” chanted by 20,000 enthusiastic supporters last Apr. 14. This marathoner, popularized by the party’s self-destructive split, received $100,000 for her speech on that occasion. There are worse leaders (yes, it’s possible): Paul Rand, rising star of the party, after defeating the Republican candidate for the Kentucky Senate seat, has found nothing better to do to in celebration than to repeat at every opportunity that the 1964 law on equal civil rights was too broad and that Obama is “un-American” before insisting that a private business ought to have the right to refuse a black customer…

Anti-Democrat, the Tea Party remains critical of the Republican Party, which is too soft for their liking. They want to radicalize the party by advancing candidates who embody its values better. Such a tactic could well have the effect of splitting the vote in favor of the Democrats during the midterm elections.

Even John McCain, the defeated presidential candidate, might not win a fifth term as a senator from Arizona due to the threat of an ultra-conservative Tea Party candidate J. D. Hayworth. Thanks to the Tea Party’s strategic blunders, and those of their leading figures, Obama’s hypothetical second term could well become reality in 2012. In the Oval Office, the President’s guard might be wishing for the longevity of the movement, of Sarah Palin and of Paul Rand…