As opposed to the Tea Party
From an email I received:
The Coffee Party Movement gives voice to Americans who want to see cooperation in government. We recognize that the federal government is not the enemy of the people, but the expression of our collective will, and that we must participate in the democratic process in order to address the challenges that we face as Americans. As voters and grassroots volunteers, we will support leaders who work toward positive solutions, and hold accountable those who obstruct them.
You can join the Coffee Party via their Facebook fan page.
VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 
How utterly oblivious to the teachings of the Founders, and the legacy of liberty that was willed to us by them….
Just have a cup of tea then, James. It suits you better anyway.
As a lover of coffee and working toward progress, I’m intrigued.
“Working toward progress”?
What does THAT mean? Progress is moving toward something. What, exactly, do you want to progress to?
The FEDERAL government generally does NOT have a role in solving our problems.
Gosh. Then I suppose there’s no need for all those power deals. Or medical research. Or defense. Or courts in which to enforce contracts. Or . . .
Haha, MB, you’re right! Who needs bridges, interstates, federal subsidies for farmers, police, and fire departments.
No, we DON’T need federal subsidies for farmers, police, and fire departments.
Infrastructure goes to the “general welfare of the States” clause, IF that infrastructure is interstate in nature, such as the interstate highway system and railroads. Local roads can be paid for by local governments. Why filter it through another layer of bureaucracy that is further from the problem?
Defense is a role specified in the Constitution, as are the courts. What the statists want is for the central government to solve personal problems, such as providing health care and retirement income.
And have you noticed that despite not having a government-run health care system, our medical research is the best in the world? Why? Because people can make money on it. That’s why people invest in drug companies, biotech companies, etc.
A little disengenuiness if you ask me. Hey some people love “Big Government”. I get that. Whether they want power over others or would prefer to have others think and do for them, some are into that. A “movement” dedicated to “Big Government” isn’t out of the realm of possibilities.
However, this seems less of a true movement and more of a reaction to the Tea Party movement. More against something as opposed to being for a set of ideals.
While speaking of diversity and cooperation, she speaks in sterotypes. Theses are engineered sterotypes created by critics of the Tea Partiers. Tea partiers are allegedly racists and believe in “no government”.
I am continually amazed at how many people truly don’t understand the Tea Party. There is a difference between limited government(limited by the Constitution) and anarchy(no government). Being oppossed to a totalitarian state that micromanages our lives with politically correct thought control is hardly anarchy. Being against unsustainable spending is hardly saying that there should be no taxes(borrowing in Bush’s case). It was bad enough when China laughed at owning the US. Now they fear that what they own might end up being worthless. THAT is how bad it is now.
Racist Tea Partiers? Non-diverse eh? First they were labeled as angry white old men. Then…..ok they have younger men too. Then…..ok….they do have many brainwashed women. The whole color thing was never taken back, eventhough equally wrong. There are SO many pictures of people of color at the protests. I have many saved and some posted in articles on the blog I write for.
One of the functions of government according to allegedly radical Libertarians(many being in the Tea Party movement) is to protect the INDIVIDUAL from force and fraud. Given that function, one can understand minorities embracing larger government since government has been a protector of minorities from the persecution of the majority. Tyranny of the majority. Yet, there are quite many driven minorities that are passionate about the country’s fiscal health. These are minorities that are passionate about self-determination rather government directed lives. These are minorities…….people……like you and me, that refuse to shackle their creative energy and recognize the vast potential when we all are free to pursue excellence rather than settle for frankensteinian enforced “fairness” that in the end, is unfair to us all. These are minorities that recognize history of government and know that government once embraced tyranny of the majority when it allowed slavery, reservations, and persecution of minorities based on something as trivial as skin pigmentation.
So when the critics of the Tea party point their race baiting fingers and in witch hunt fashion, declare Tea Partiers to be racists……..just how are they helping race relations? How are they helping cooperation among people? How do they help as they stoke false fear?
After all, government was the tool to enforce human rights not what brought it forth. Civil rights was forced unto a government by the people. It was also a movement, the Civil Rights movement. I’m not really comparing the two, I’m simply illustrating that government is a tool, like fire, and not “the answer”.
If you truly despise the Tea Party, it is quite easy to make it disappear. Stop all the bailouts. Stop spending America’s future into oblivion. If you reform healthcare, don’t do it in a way that rations it and ruins the economy in the process. Stop pushing politically correct green carbon taxes based on bad data based on an engineered “global warming”study. Carbon swapping schemes benefit the carbon bankers like Al Gore, rather than the planet. Stop all these gargantuan programs that we can’t afford! If you do that, those Tea Partiers will lose interest and go back to watching American Idol and the daily celebrity scandals on TV.
It’s late, Britt, but let me say a few things here.
You talk about disingenuousness. Well, how is it that to ‘stop the Tea Party’ you list things that have happened in the previous administration (bailouts)(spending) and list those things that have only happened in a scant year plus of trying to clean up a huge mess and move us forward?
I would posit that the same people who were watching Dr. Phil and American Idol were cheering on the Bush administration as they did their evil deeds.. This includes gutting the Office of Civil Rights in the DOJ and many other economic based disincentives to fairness and equality.
I also need to mention that in my research, I regularly find Tea Partiers that make comments that ascribe to the theories of Jared Taylor and many other White Supremacists on Tea Party blogs. I could show you where tonight. The two are hand in hand in some places. Where, on a Republican blog, this speech is routinely criticized rightly, it is complimented and agreed with elsewhere on Tea Party blogs. Do they know the difference? The cure for racism is not only more inclusivity of people of color. It is about ideas as well.
I live in the 5th District, one that I would dare say is one of the most racist areas in the Commonwealth.
So, who has the race baiting fingers now?
Mark, much of what you said is fair commentary. Specifically in reference to President Bush. The spending and general economic policy of Bush in his second term is in my opinion, horrific. Bush damaged our economy and our currency. He left quite a mess for Obama.
Hey, there is no hypocrisy or disingenuousness on my part. You want me to criticize Bush for his big government policies and insane spending? Consider that done.
I agree with you in that some people don’t care about principle. To them team or party name is more important than right or wrong. There are indeed fiscal conservatives that have been critical of Bush during his tenure, but yes there has been a shift in the GOP now that a Democrat is in office. Hey, we agree on that.
However, at some point, Obama MUST take responsibility for the overall economy. He can’t simplly blame Bush forever and get a free ride on his policy decisions. Obama, further must take immediate credit/blame for these gargantuan spending programs that ultimately will further harm us in addition to Bush’s horrible policies.
You don’t fix what is wrong by doing more of the same, but faster. Repeating the same actions and expecting a different result is just insanity.
I do appreciate that you have noticed criticism of racism on some Republican blogs. Research is good, but you need to do more. Especially on Tea Party sources. The blog I write on supports the Tea Party movement. It is Libertarian and not Republican though.
You’re missing quite a lot, Mark. The Tea Party is made up of Republicans, Libertarians, Constitution Party and yes, EVEN Democrats. The Tea Party is an economic policy/smaller government driven movement. Race is not an issue that the Tea Party even addresses. Just because you found some neo-nazi kooks masquerading as Tea Partiers, doesn’t change that, Mark.
Look, people of color are SPEAKERS at Tea Party events. It goes beyond that they are participants. Just how well do you think a racist agenda would go over with them? I have been to local events. Yes, I took pictures. Sorry, Mark but your ideologic need to paint Tea Partiers, does not wash with the truth or even the pictures on my blog.
Are there racists in the Tea Party? Are people trying to use the success of the Tea Party movement for their own twisted ends? Of course!! That happens in most successful endeavors. Further, all large groups and political parties have their extremes and nut cases. You want to claim the Democrat party doesn’t? I’ll be the first to admit that in the Libertarian Party there are small pockets of anarchists and some that are only in it for legalizing pot.
Maybe some in the Democrat party excuse John Edwards, but that doesn’t mean all Democrats will cheat on their wives that suffer from cancer. They don’t all sully the blue dresses of young interns the way Bill Clinton did. They were not all once ranking members of the KKK like Sen. Robert Byrd was.
Byrd held the titles Kleagle (recruiter) and Exalted Cyclops.
“I shall never fight in the armed forces with a Negro by my side… Rather I should die a thousand times, and see Old Glory trampled in the dirt never to rise again, than to see this beloved land of ours become degraded by race mongrels, a throwback to the blackest specimen from the wilds. ”
— Robert C. Byrd, in a letter to Sen. Theodore Bilbo (D-MS), 1944
Source – Wikipedia
Does that mean I should point a “race baiting finger” at the Democrat party and attempt to stoke fear in people of color in order to smear the Democrats? In order to attempt to disuade people of color from joining the Democrat Party? Of course not. That would hardly be fair.
However, that is EXACTLY what this person is doing in the video by making these references to race. It is EXACTLY what you are doing Mark, when you find a few idiot kooks and attribute their values to a much larger group of good Americans. You slander their names. It just isn’t fair and does NOTHING positive in improving race relations. In fact it encourages fear and distrust. I would urge you to continue your research, but be open to paying attention to the many good among the tiny percentage of fools using the Tea Party name(or any name) for their particular set of foul interests.
I know you mean well. I am sure you are a good man, you are simply wrong and misinformed as to what the Tea Party is all about.
Britt pretty well covered this, but to sum up, the video basically throws out veiled accusations of racism and stupidity, and calls us “obstructionist” for having the will to stand up and impede the march to socialism desired by the left. Not saying there’s isn’t racism to be found on the right and even in the tea Party movement, but it can found on the left as well. We’re not tarred or intimidated by these accusations. Sorry.