[Peace-discuss] Tea Party Non-negotiable core beliefs

[Laurie Solomon]

Interesting but not surprising.  The Tea Party is a loose configuration or 
confederation of groups that comprise at best a very general umbrella 
movement and not a single organized and structured organization.  As such, 
it probably has no single set of constitutive positions, no single agenda, 
no single set of priorities, and no unified platform that is commonly agreed 
upon by all who identify with it, affiliate with it, or claim to be part of 
it.  It has no formal membership and its mass supporters typically comprise 
a crowd who  identify with either slogans or individuals or both but not not 
with any defined set of substantive particulars or details or 
interpretations of stated generalized positions.  Thus, it is always easy to 
selectively pull out certain individuals or segments of that movement as 
being representative of any given set of propositions - particularly when 
generally defined and stated.

If the Tea Party people do take to the streets, it probably will be over 
economic positions and for populous reasons and not for opposition to these 
particular wars or war in general.  If war does come into it, it will be for 
practical reasons (namely, it is costing too much, we are not winning the 
wars, or there is too much wastage and inefficiency in the conducting of the 
war) and not for moral, ideological, or philosophical reasons.

-----Original Message----- 
From: Karen Medina
Sent: Thursday, November 11, 2010 1:54 PM
To: Peace-discuss List
Subject: [Peace-discuss] Tea Party Non-negotiable core beliefs

On AWARE on the Air this past Tuesday, Carl Estabrook was trying to
make the point that the Administration is afraid of people taking to
the street against the war, and that the Tea Party, since it is for
smaller government and no taxes, is anti-war as well.

A reasoning person would think this were true.

Today, I was handed a copy of a magazine put out by the Tea Party. The
entire magazine was pro-military.

I went to the web.
According to TeaParty.org, the following are the Non-negotiable core 
beliefs:
1* Illegal Aliens Are Here illegally.
2* Pro-Domestic Employment Is Indispensable.
3* Stronger Military Is Essential. <------ this is the one that I want
to point out.
4* Special Interests Eliminated.
5* Gun Ownership Is Sacred.
6* Government Must Be Downsized.
7* National Budget Must Be Balanced.
8* Deficit Spending Will End.
9* Bail-out And Stimulus Plans Are Illegal.
10* Reduce Personal Income Taxes A Must.
11* Reduce Business Income Taxes Is Mandatory.
12* Political Offices Available To Average Citizens.
13* Intrusive Government Stopped.
14* English As Core Language Is Required.
15* Traditional Family Values Are Encouraged.

Similar statements can be found in many more places. :
http://patriotpost.us/alexander/2010/06/24/the-tea-party-movement/
Indiana Tea Party-ers had signs that said: "Got Rope" and "Our
forefathers would be shooting by now."
In a CBS-TV news interview, Jones said simply, "We are extremely
patriotic. We are extremely American."


The Tea Party is no more anti-war than the average military contractor is.
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