It’s pretty clear to me that the Tea Party convention in Nashville was all sorts of crazy, and should be attacked and dismissed by anyone with common sense. Of course, Pajamas Media thinks this is the greatest thing since sliced bread, and they’re even launching “Tea Party TV” to demonstrate their commitment to impartial reporting. Most of the links below are from LGF, but I’m not always going to be linking to his work directly, because I want the impression of “this is how you look to the rest of the world” to sink in to any Tea Partier that might have a sliver of a doubt about what they’re participating in:
- The “kickoff” (their term) speaker for this thing was Tom Tancredo. You might know him as the guy Karl Rove kicked out of the White House for his anti-immigrant hate. Of course, here’s a sample of the pleasant things he had to say: The opening-night speaker at first ever National Tea Party Convention ripped into President Obama, Sen. John McCain and “the cult of multiculturalism,” asserting that Obama was elected because “we do not have a civics, literacy test before people can vote in this country.” The speaker, former Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., told about 600 delegates in a Nashville, Tenn., ballroom that in the 2008 election, America “put a committed socialist ideologue in the White House … Barack Hussein Obama.” Tancredo did not stop at the Democratic president — ripping McCain, R-Ariz., the 2008 Republican presidential nominee, for shaping up to be a repeat of “Bush 1 and Bush 2.” “Thank God John McCain lost the election,” he said, voicing his belief that McCain would have presided over big budgets and lacked a tough stand against immigration. If you’re wondering about what a civic or literacy test isn’t even a veiled allusion to, go read LGF on the matter.
- No Tea Party Convention is complete without giving a standing ovation (albeit a short one) to someone who repeatedly questions whether the President is a citizen. Nor is it complete without turning issues about gays into an “us vs. them” platform, accompanied by a call to arms among 2nd amendment enthusiasts: “Go forth armed in the holy cause of liberty,” he told the cheering tea partiers.
Charles Johnson brought up this observation from Mary C. Curtis at Politics Daily, and it is worth repeating:
Where Are the Young?
A funny thing about the break-out session “How to Involve the Youth in the Conservative Movement” – not too many young people showed up. Mishelle Perkins, a 44-year-old mother of five children, worries about the paucity of young people at local meetings. The Rutherford County, Tennessee activist came Friday to get some tips. Jordan Marks, executive director of the conservative Young Americans for Freedom, suggested that activists use Facebook, volunteer to speak at high schools (“bastions of liberalism”) and simply do fun stuff that hooks high school and college-age kids. Marks described a bowling party he organized – “Knock Down the Pinheads of Communism.” A strike equaled Mao, a spare, Pol Pot. Perkins said she supplements her children’s education with books by Tea Party authors, but right now it’s hard to get them too interested.
I know a lot of conservatives are older, and don’t feel any sense of shame, not like they used to (to this end: I am so, so grateful for my readers that are older conservatives and give my thoughts a chance). In the face of change, one feels defiant. Well, I’ve got news for them: there aren’t gonna be any young people who pay attention to you unless you present something worth having or emulating. It’s up to older people to set an example, not just indulge in craziness and feel justified. Some of you will recall that I’ve brought this issue up before, in “Why do we need a party?” I’m going to go further than just raising the question of winning elections now, and say this: if you choose to be an extremist, you are accountable in this life and most certainly the next, if there is one. One cannot ruin the future for everyone else and say it was the fault of liberals, not when it is clear one wants to indulge in conspiracy theories. The things I’m interested in – whether or not we can have fraternity as Americans, whether or not we can have a culture of life that takes precedence over rank materialism, whether or not we can have an economic order that celebrates freedom – they may sound idealistic and stupid to you. All I can say is that I’m not young any more, and that my causes are worth fighting for.
- Not the party of grievance, but the party of genuine unity
- A Very Preliminary Thought on Nature and Convention
- Not Terribly Objective Thoughts on a Portion of the Democratic Convention
- Re: Charles Kesler, “The Tea Party Spirit”
- For My Republican Readers: Why Do We Need a Party? And How Are We Going To Win Elections In the Future?
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