Playing by the Rules and paying taxes makes you an anarchist?
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Tea PartyTea Party activists have been called anarchists, suicide bombers and extremists. Apparently playing by the rules, paying taxes and being productive makes you an anarchist.
With the US government shutdown heading into its fourth day, with neither side showing any sign of giving in, much of the blame has been placed on the “Tea Party.” When you look at the demographics of the movement, it readily becomes apparent that Tea Party activists are anything but anarchists or jihad suicide bombers.
Regardless where you stand on the policy of using ObamaCare to block the passing of the budget continuing resolution, the Tea Party demographics deserve some attention. According to ask.com, several polls have been conducted on the membership and demographics of the movement. While polls slightly differ, Tea Party members are more likely to be over 45, white, male, financially secure and educated. They have never attended a protest in their life, but have been moved by the overwhelming debt their country is piling on.
Tea Party refers to the Boston Tea Party, which ignited a protest by colonists, who objected to a British tax on tea in 1773, without the right of representation. Tea in the Tea Party is also referred in the acronym “Taxed Enough Already.”
When surveying supporters or participants of the Tea Party movement, polls have shown that they are to a very great extent more likely to be registered Republican, have a favorable opinion of the Republican Party and an unfavorable opinion of the Democratic Party. The Bloomberg National Poll of adults 18 and over showed that 40% of Tea Party supporters are 55 or older, compared with 32% of all poll respondents; 79% are white, 61% are men and 44% identify as “born-again Christians”, compared with 75%, 48.5%, and 34% for the general population, respectively.
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With claims that the Tea Party has hijacked the Republican caucus, it could also be argued that those elected by the Tea Party supporters have hijacked the movement. Suffice to say that the national and international main stream media lays the blame directly at the feet of the Tea Party movement for backing House Speaker John Boehner into an implausible corner, with no way out.
The US national media, according to Media Matters, featured 21 stories clearly blaming Republicans, none blamed the Democrats and only four blamed both parties for the government shutdown. A quick glance at Canada’s main stream media also puts the blame clearly in the lap of Republicans and the Tea Party.
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s (CBC) Neil MacDonald writes, “House Speaker John Boehner working to fight off Tea Party advances.” He depicts the Tea Party and its Republican caucus as taking over the party:
As it turned out, the Tea Party wasn’t much of a threat to anyone during the 2012 elections. Boehner returned as Speaker, got muscular and stripped some dissidents of committee positions. The Tea Party caucus in Congress actually shrank, and even went dormant for several months.
But under the implacable guidance of Rep. Michele Bachmann, they re-formed, more hardcore than ever, and with deep-pocketed outside help, staged a party takeover.
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MacDonald concludes that if Boehner were to put the issue of the shutdown and the passage of a clean bill, as proposed by Democrats, to a vote, he would effectively declare war on the Tea Party. He insinuates that the Tea Party, led by Michelle Bachmann, hoped for a government shutdown.
The internecine Republican warfare is widely described here as a fight between “moderates” and the party’s “right.” That’s a dimwitted choice of words.
The Republican party has long since banished its true moderates, and moved further to the right. This is in fact a war between a right-wing caucus and its far-right ideologues.
“I’m absolutely thrilled,” said Michelle Bachmann earlier this week, as the clock ticked toward shutdown. “This is exactly what we had hoped for.”
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To say the least the main stream medias depiction of this crisis is nothing short of bias. While it is probably unwise to use President Obama’s signature legislation, ObamaCare, as a wedge issue, you can hardly call Tea Party activists as extremists. Tea Party activists do feel that they are taxed enough, relatively prosperous and have been contributing members of society all of their adult life.
http://www.politisite.com/2013/10/04/playing-by-the-rules-and-paying-taxes-makes-you-an-anarchist/
