Legacy of Boston Tea Party Sullied by Sensationalist Politics (Tea Party Pooper Alert)

Occidental Weekly ^ | 2/3/2010 | Chloe Jenkins-Sleczkowski

[Fiji Hill]

Legacy of Boston Tea Party Sullied by Sensationalist Politics

By: Chloe Jenkins-Sleczkowski

Posted: 2/3/10

The past year has brought on an inreased exposure of tea - not Earl Grey. I am speaking of the Tea Party Movement, the grassroots and conservative-minded (dis-)organization that has been making headlines with its latest shenanigans to reclaim the country for the intellectually lazy.

Although some political diversity is a nice change, it does not need to be in the form of griping conservatives who are only making it harder on a president who has more than enough on his plate. The Tea Party Movement began roughly a year ago, starting with a number of protests staged against government bailouts, government regulations on big business and the health care overhaul. Most notably, beginning last February, members of the movement have staged scattered protests throughout the country in opposition of Obama's health care plan and various other proposals. Basically, if Obama proposed anything, they griped.

The Tea Party began merely as multiple protests across the country, and remains an unorganized confederacy of fractured groups, who call themselves "grassroots" and "populist." In most recent news, the Tea Partiers have claimed credit for Republican Senator Scott Brown's win in Massachusetts, labeled as a "surprise attack" because of his against-all-odds win over the democratic favorite Martha Coakley. "Surprise attacks" like this should cause Democrats and Republicans to consider the Tea Party a threat to party foundations.

Two hundred and thirty seven years ago, a group of American patriots protested unfair taxation by throwing shipments of tea into Boston Harbor. This event became a symbol for American liberty and independence. Hoping to garner support from followers who want to feel American, the Tea Party Movement stole an historic icon to make a badge for people to attach to. It has done this in order to enroll the support of lazy citizens who otherwise would not know or care about the ideals of the movement.

It sounds good to be a patriotic member of the "Tea Party." It's a catchy name with built-in recognition - a brilliant marketing scheme - but the two Parties have little in common. The revolutionary Tea Partiers stood up for their country's independence. Today's Tea Partiers want to use that independence and the very government our forefathers framed to deregulate big businesses and eliminate government control, to strip our country of the only tools that still fight for the people and fend off the excesses of special interests. How did "taxation without representation" turn into "whine whine whine?" Today's Tea Partiers are more likely to be sipping from porcelain cups than their Bostonian ancestors.

For a movement that Sarah Palin, the keynote speaker at the upcoming Tea Party Conference, calls "beautiful," and named for the Boston forefathers' liberating protest against British taxation, the Tea Party is surprisingly uncouth. They claim that their purpose is to return the government to its constitutional definitions (the Tea Party Mission Statement advocates "Fiscal Responsibility," "Constitutionally Limited Government" and "Free Markets"), but all they've been doing is making loud, obnoxious and huffy protests that keep catching the headlines. Obama wants to fix the health care system; they decide to cry about it because they disagree. Congress tries to rekindle the economy; the Tea Party goes up in arms about protecting their big businesses.

Opposition groups have always existed, but nowadays they're more voice than action. Two years ago, protesting the president was considered un-American. Now, being a good American includes the ideal of self-importance and overratedness, and then perpetuating the ideal that if you're loud enough, you can get your own way. They have turned politics into more of a shouting match than a tool to work for its citizens. The Tea Party Movement also prides itself on being without a distinguishable center. It consists of multiple independent movements without a unified plan, leader or center, whose focal points vary by state and city. Democrats and even some Republicans dismiss them as "Astroturf," a name referring to a fake grassroots organization that touts its localness but is, in fact, just loud and ineffective.

Despite the conservative Republican base of the Tea Party Movement, no one actually wants anything to do with them. Democrats scorn them and call them dirty names. Republicans criticize their disorganization. Even the man they call their poster boy, Ron Paul, has clarified that he does not want to be affiliated with them. The Tea Partiers are just an alienated faction that can't stand being on the outside, so it shouts from the loudspeakers to be heard. It doesn't matter what's being shouted, as long as it is loud and in the headlines. Rather than supplying a constructive oppositional voice, this movement only serves to derail any forward movement liberals hoped to have.

The Tea Party Movement just needs to get over itself. Instead of throwing a fit when they disagree with the administration's policy, opposition needs to sit itself down and think about what's truly best for our country. Shouting back and forth, admittedly a fault in both parties, will get nothing done. Instead, oppositional voices need to present a structured, sensible argument that leaves wiggle room for both sides. In our increasingly polarized and politicized world, everything is just about "objectionalism" and "obstructionalism." What happened to a good debate?

Chloe Jenkins-Sleczkowski is a senior ECLS major. She can be reached at cjenkins@oxy.edu.

[Fiji Hill]

The Occidental Weekly is the student newspaper at Occidental College, which President Obama attended. If you want to leave a comment at the paper, you can do so here.

[sinanju]

Ungrateful wretches! We should hang our head in shame for irritating the Great One.!

[Pollster1]

The Occidental Weekly is the student newspaper at Occidental College, which President Obama attended.

The Occidental Weekly is the student newspaper at Occidental College, which former US Senator Obama may have attended (we don't know because his claimed college records have not been released).

[Tarpon]

Another lost loon of the "We Generation". Needs to get over herself and do some learning.

Watch the linked video if you want a big belly splitting laugh. Hitler youth groups would be proud of the propaganda. Any idea why tyrants always use the ignorant utes to do their dirty work?

But I am sure if the "We Generation" is so smart, they would know that their favorite hoax is a big lie.

[a fool in paradise]

Although some political diversity is a nice change, it does not need to be in the form of griping conservatives who are only making it harder on a president who has more than enough on his plate.

Stuff it.

I had to suffer through 8 years of "selected not elected" and "Bushitler" and even now "Try Bush and Cheney for war crimes!" meanwhile Obama is NOT charging KSM with a "war crime".

College kids know everything. How do they come to need to learn so much when they get out of schools?

[mnehring]

What is more ‘sensationalist’ than a bunch of guys dressing up like Native Americans and throwing tea off a ship to protest unfair tariffs and protectionism by a king?

[cripplecreek]

Good Lord these people are morons.

[Uri’el-2012]

The Occidental Weekly is the student newspaper at Occidental College, which President Obama attended.

My understanding is, 0bama was a foreign exchange student.

[a fool in paradise]

Two hundred and thirty seven years ago, a group of American patriots protested unfair taxation by throwing shipments of tea into Boston Harbor.

"Yeah! Don't hijack that legacy just because a bloody Red Marxist is in the White House ushering in UNREPEALABLE socialist plans..."

[ejonesie22]

It never ceases to amaze me how much smarter these young twenty year olds with no job, no mortgage and no real experience are than the rest of us.

[a fool in paradise]

Indonesian foreign student is the tale...

[Pontiac]

Rather than supplying a constructive oppositional voice, this movement only serves to derail any forward movement liberals hoped to have.

Then it is performing a good and useful function.

[a fool in paradise]

This event became a symbol for American liberty and independence.

There is NEITHER liberty nor independence under SOCIALISM.

[a fool in paradise]

The revolutionary Tea Partiers stood up for their country's independence. Today's Tea Partiers want to use that independence and the very government our forefathers framed to deregulate big businesses and eliminate government control, to strip our country of the only tools that still fight for the people and fend off the excesses of special interests. How did "taxation without representation" turn into "whine whine whine?" Today's Tea Partiers are more likely to be sipping from porcelain cups than their Bostonian ancestors.

[Fiji Hill]

The Occidental Weekly is the student newspaper at Occidental College, which former US Senator Obama may have attended (we don't know because his claimed college records have not been released).

During the years Obama said he was at Oxy, he apparently didn't do anything newsworthy or write anything for the Occidental Weekly. I looked through back issues of the paper, which are available in the library, but found nothing by or about him.

Interestingly, a man interviewed on Fox News who said he was classmate of Obama's remembered him as being a hard-core Marxist.

[patriot08]

The tea party movement is sullied by crooked politicians such as Debra Median who's running for governor of Texas:

Medina is NOT representative of the Tea Party movement. She USED them- latched herself on to them. She’s a hard core Libertarian who has realized that the Libertarian Party will never win anything and that the only possible way to get herself into office is to do what Ron Paul did and wrap herself in the Republican cloak in hopes that it will fool enough of the voters enough of the time.

The Ron Paul nutter bunch kept harassing Glen Beck to have Median on his show. He did. Callers wanted him to ask her if she was a truther. He did. Medina exposed herself by refusing to give a simple no when asked by Beck if she thought the govmt was behind 9/11. This idea that Beck (or anybody else) sabotaged Medina is absurd. If you can’t answer “did the govt have anything to do with the 9/11 attacks?” you're not be fit to run for dogcatcher.

For God's sake, has anybody really looked into her platform- her background? Has this woman even been vetted?

She wants legalized drugs.

She backs gay marriage.

.

She has not spoken to her elderly parents for YEARS. They had to find out she was runing for governor of Texas by reading the newspaper!

http://www.statesman.com/news/texas-politics/medina-hailing-from-beeville-learned-political-skills-on-229907.html?srcTrk=RTR_95609 What does this say about this woman's character? And rumors are begin to surface about husband Noe's past associations.

Take a look at some of the statements she has made: "It’s a shame isn’t it, that Republicans continue to ignore Hispanics especially here in Texas?’

"Who is going to think more about Latino families? Rick Perry, Kay Bailey Hutchison or me, who has a Latino family?”

"Being married, however, to someone with a Mexican American heritage, I certainly embrace the culture.”

"I believe we too often get into race when it’s immaterial.” (Obummer, is that you?)

I don't believe for one minute Medina's propaganda about wanting to strengthen the border!

La Raza probably has her in their back pocket!

Glenn Beck has once again helped the tea-party stay in the Republican mainstreamby by weeding out dangerous fringe thinkers like Medina.

Thank God Glen Beck outed her in time.

Retrieve your sombrero from the ring and go home Senora Medina. You're Texas toast.

At 3:30 medina says why no police killed 9 11 http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=news/politics&id=7274692 ______________________________________________

[a fool in paradise]

Congress tries to rekindle the economy; the Tea Party goes up in arms about protecting their big businesses.

The Democrats are AGAINST a healthy economy and our Red President knows this:

"We've got to make sure that our party understands that, like it or not, we have to have a financial system that is healthy and functioning..." Barack Hussein Obama, February 2010

[CSM]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJxmpTMGhU0

“I am sick and tired of people who say that if you debate and you disagree with this administration somehow you’re not patriotic. We should stand up and say we ar...”

[a fool in paradise]

Interestingly, a man interviewed on Fox News who said he was classmate of Obama's remembered him as being a hard-core Marxist.

In Obama's OWN autobiography (which he may or may not have written himself):

"I chose my friends carefully. The more politically active black students. The foreign students. The Chicanos. The Marxist Professors and the structural feminists and punk-rock performance poets.We smoked cigarettes and wore leather jackets. At night, in the dorms, we discussed neocolonialism, Franz Fanon, Eurocentrism, and patriarchy. When we ground out our cigarettes in the hallway carpet or set our stereos so loud that the walls began to shake, we were resisting bourgeois society's stifling constraints." - Barack Hussein Obama

[a fool in paradise]

How DARE you take Hillary Clinton’s words out of context. She meant it was OK to protest President Bush, not when Democrats are president.