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

[Morton K. Brussel]

I wouldn't bet that the Tea Party in its amorphous form, but mainly older ignorant, self serving Caucasians, would more likely mobilize to prevent our wars, our national security state, our dismissal of other nations concerns, then the still existent left—even (vapid) periodicals like The Nation Magazine, Maxine Waters, Kucinich et al.— of the Democrats. 


On Nov 11, 2010, at 2:45 PM, C. G. Estabrook wrote:

> The point is that the tea-party is not one thing.  Or, to put it another way, the organized tea-party group(s) involve a very few people.  Beyond them there is a large mass - according to a recent poll, more than half the US population - who sympathize with what they hear of the tea-party - because they know how their own life circumstances have been confiscated over the last generation by the Republicans and Democrats.
> 
> That's what they mean by "Take America back!" = take it back to what (they understood) it was a generation ago: good jobs for those who would work , good housing for those who did work, etc.
> 
> We needn't note again that the Ron Paul movement was an integral part of the original tea-party impulse, and there is no member of Congress clearer than Paul on the need to bring all US troops home.
> 
> Meanwhile Libertarians and Paleoconservatives - who have been against the war on principle, not just "pragmatically" (= "We're losing!") - are rallying to the tea-party movement. For many examples, see the excellent site <antiwar.com>.
> 
> Meanwhile various prowar groups - neocons, statist reactionary "Reagan" Republicans, conventional Democrats - are also stirring the tea. They're using their money and  subsidized propaganda (mostly from ideological institutions like universities and newspapers) to build up a prowar consensus.  (US capitalism needs the war, after all.)
> 
> The future of the antiwar movement in the US is unlikely to lie on the nonexistent left-wing of the Democratic party - Obama et al. have seen to that (witness the Oct. 2 rally in DC).  To build the movement up again will necessitate talking to everyone who opposes what the permanent government is doing - notably, expanding an imperialist war in the Mideast, the specialty of the Obama administration.
> 
> 
> On 11/11/10 1:54 PM, Karen Medina wrote:
>> 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.
>> _______________________________________________
>> Peace-discuss mailing list
>> Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net
>> http://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss
> _______________________________________________
> Peace-discuss mailing list
> Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net
> http://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss