This post pointing out some of the more extreme Tea Party actions, and asking us to imagine the results if the actors were black, is worth thinking about.
Seems like the Tea Party phenom could be complicated. They're easy to ridicule, but Naomi Wolf thinks they need a second look.
Really interesting articles. I sympathize with Naomi Wolff's desire to have a viable populist voice, but I think she is being a bit naive if she thinks the Tea Party as a third political rail that hasn't ALREADY been coopted by conservative Republicans (that feels redundant, as I can't seem to find any moderate Republicans with a national voice) and racists. That ship has sailed. The Tea Party is an incoherent mass of discontent united only by its racism and fear of change.
ReplyDeleteI'll believe in the Tea Party's true libertarian and populist roots when they protest the same pro-business, big government, heavy spending policies under a white Republican administration.
Because they had a chance to protest when Bush ran up the deficit, spent big, added a new department to the federal bureaucracy, and approved measures like centralizing federal oversight of our education system and approving the bailout. And they were notably silent.
Nice comments, Doug.
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