In a response to the Tea Party Convention held in Nashville, Tennessee last week, the Florida Whig Party stated on the group’s blog (in part):
While we have been in agreement in spirit with the Tea Party Movement, the time has come to make it perfectly clear that: The Florida Whig Party finds the Republicanization of the Tea Party Movement disturbing and destructive . . .
From coast-to-coast and border-to-border, many Tea Baggers are staunch members of the Republican Party. While many are from the Ron Paul movement, a growing number are from formal Republican leadership positions and they are intentionally or unintentionally causing the Republicanization of the Tea Party Movement. For example, in Marion County Florida, there is an active Tea Party Group that meets in Ocala. At these meetings, many Republican faces, including longtime Marion County Republican Executive Committeewoman Marguerite Cavanaugh can be seen. There is little doubt that REC Committeewoman Cavanaugh is a staunch conservative on social and moral issues and so it would be natural to see her engaged in the Tea Party Movement. The problem the FWP has documented is that she is not alone. Many current and former members of Florida Republican Party Executive Committees are engaged on a semi to active basis in the Tea Party Movement.
11 responses so far ↓
1 David F. Nolan // Feb 9, 2010 at 4:09 pm
“There is little doubt that REC Committeewoman Cavanaugh is a staunch conservative on social and moral issues and so it would be natural to see her engaged in the Tea Party Movement.”
And therein lies the problem. When it began, the Tea Party movement was supposed to be about ECONOMIC issues: taxes, spending, stopping bailouts, etc. The idea was that by focusing on these issues, and setting aside “social” issues, it would be possible to build a might coalition of people who simply want less government. As soon as divisive social issues are brought in, the coalition crumbles.
2 Gary Chartier // Feb 9, 2010 at 4:25 pm
Didn’t TEA stand for “taxed enough already”? That surely suggests just the economic focus David highlights.
3 Don Lake .......... be alert // Feb 9, 2010 at 4:43 pm
the movement needs more lerts ……….
4 d.eris // Feb 9, 2010 at 4:54 pm
At Polizeros, Bob Morris argues that the left needs to get involved with the tea party movement to change these sorts of dynamics:
“Right now the Tea Partiers are mostly inchoate with a right-wing slant. Sooner or later they will probably find a leader and a voice. If the left doesn’t get involved in this process now, then the result could be scary right wing, zenophobic, racist (and heavily armed.)
But it doesn’t have to be that way. That’s my point. Their anger is based on real grievances, and those are shared by many on the left. Washington DC is indeed unresponsive, mired in corruption, while the banksters continue to siphon off billions. That’s the core of the problem.”
5 Sean Scallon // Feb 9, 2010 at 6:24 pm
I agree
6 MN Indy // Feb 9, 2010 at 8:01 pm
The left should stick to re-activating the anti-war protests. They usually have no problem with taxation. Many liberals I have seen dissatisfied with Obama are only so because he hasn’t yet succeeded in forcing us to take a pure, “public option” form of hellcare.
7 NewFederalist // Feb 9, 2010 at 8:23 pm
Once again David Nolan nailed it.
8 Alexander Snitker // Feb 10, 2010 at 9:59 am
David Wrote
“And therein lies the problem. When it began, the Tea Party movement was supposed to be about ECONOMIC issues: taxes, spending, stopping bailouts, etc. The idea was that by focusing on these issues, and setting aside “social” issues, it would be possible to build a might coalition of people who simply want less government. As soon as divisive social issues are brought in, the coalition crumbles”
What you either fail to realize or purposely leave out is that the tea party movement was started by Ron Paul Supporters from all parties. It was about getting the government out of our life, end our current Foreign policy and return the monetary policy back to what the Founders envisioned. You come to this movement and want to change it. You are wrong sir and you need to see that. WEWILL NOT BACK DOWN. We will not allow you to co-opt this movement without a fight.
WHO ARE YOU TO TELL ANYONE HOW TO LIVE THEIR LIFE? IT IS THAT LINE OF THINKING THAT GOT US IN THIS MESS. If you have a problem with that then take it up with the founders of this country. We are in line with their vision of this country. Why aren’t you with us on this?
9 Alexander Snitker // Feb 10, 2010 at 10:12 am
You Own Your Life
That is a self-evident statement. It is the fundamental concept of freedom. You own your life. No individual or group can make any higher claim on your life than you. Nor can you, as an individual or member of a group, make a higher claim on anyone else’s life. To be deprived of life through force is murder.
Because you own your life, you also own your actions. You are free to engage in any action you like, as long as it does not specifically deprive another individual of their freedom. You may enter into any relationship or association with any other individual, as long as it is consensual. To be deprived of liberty through force or coercion is slavery.
Because you own your life, you also own the fruits of your labors. You own what you produce. This is your property. Property can consist of your money, your house, or your lava lamp. No individual or group has a higher claim on your property than you. Nor do you have a higher claim on any other individual’s property. You are free to consensually exchange your property for the property of others. To be deprived of property through force or coercion is theft.
I’d like to ask you a basic question: Which of your freedoms are you willing to surrender to the government? Are you willing to surrender your life? Are you willing to surrender your liberty? Are you willing to surrender your property?
Today, both of the two major political parties are asking you to sacrifice your freedoms. A vote for one of the two parties is a vote for which of these freedoms you are willing to surrender.
Democrats force you to surrender your property. They believe that the poor, the unions, or the uninsured have a higher claim on your property than you do. They believe the government has the authority to confiscate your property in order to redistribute it to other individuals, based upon their judgment of worthiness.
Republicans force you to surrender your liberty. They believe that the church, the corporations, or the majority have a higher claim on your liberty than you do. They believe the government has the authority to enforce a moral code, and they want to determine who you marry, what you put into your body, and who your enemies are.
Throughout history, when a government was willing to take liberty or property by force or coercion, they ultimately devolved into taking the most fundamental of all freedoms…life.
This happened in antiquity at the hands of Genghis Khan and Alexander the Great. It happened in the middle ages at the hands of the kings of Europe and the inquisitors of the church. It happened in the modern era at the hands of Nazi Germans, Stalinist Soviets, and Maoist Chinese.
What we need is a logically consistent approach to politics based on the moral principle of self-ownership. Each individual has the right to control his or her own body, action, speech, and property. Government’s only role is to help individuals defend themselves from force and fraud.
We seek a world of liberty; a world in which all individuals are sovereign over their own lives and no one is forced to sacrifice his or her values for the benefit of others. We believe that respect for individual rights is the essential precondition for a free and prosperous world, that force and fraud must be banished from human relationships. Only through freedom can peace and prosperity be realized.
We should defend each person’s right to engage in any activity that is peaceful and honest, and welcome the diversity that freedom brings. The world we seek to build is one where individuals are free to follow their own dreams in their own ways, without interference from government or any authoritarian power. Stop supporting the lesser of two evils.
Stop supporting the two-party political machine.
Many of you will argue that a third party candidate will never win. You may think that supporting a third party is throwing your vote away. Allow me to explain why that type of thinking will ensure that true and meaningful change never happens.
Some people will continue to vote for a candidate because of an (R) or (D) next to their name. They may have done this all their lives, hoping that “this time, it will be different.” Ask yourself this: Has it ever really been different?
How many times have you voted Republican because you believe in economic freedom? Have the Republicans ever delivered true economic freedom? Our tax system is broken and unjust. Our debt is unsustainable and unending. Our small businesses are being crushed by regulation.
How many times have you voted Democrat because you believe in civil liberties? Have the Democrats ever delivered true individual liberty? Gays and lesbians are still second-class citizens. There are plants that you are forbidden to possess or use. You can be forced to fight wars that you oppose.
If there is ever to be real and lasting change, you must stand up for your beliefs. The time is now to support candidates who will protect ALL of your freedoms, not just select ones.
It is your time to act. To speak. To vote your conscience. Take action today.
http://www.snitker2010.com
10 David Atwater // Feb 10, 2010 at 10:50 am
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHawISn5vNM
I think he nailed it. They want the economic solutions and the TEA Party to stay focused and not “republicanized”. Neat. I also see they are hard core in Florida on the 10th Amendment and want a repeal of the 17th. Solid thinking! Keep it up.
11 Phijamlan // Feb 12, 2010 at 2:09 am
I come from the town of Ashburnham, MA. This is the town that Ebeneser Monroe is from. He is the man that “fired the shot heard round the world”, you know the one that started the first American revolution! His last remaining decendent still lives there. He went to high school with my older sister. I have actually held Ebenser’s musket (1967). My lifelong friends and I have been American revolutionists our entire lives! I grew up in a house that was a bakery during the Revolutionary War, in fact the oven is still in our basement!
The problem with our society today is not just to much government, it is also to much special interest (the will of few being forced upon the majority)! While Mr. Snitker’s speech is eloquent and seemingly perfect, so is Obama’s speeches of politcal rhetoric!
For Mr. Snitker’s environment to exist humans would have to be perfect, everyone would have to agree, everyone would have to get along, and everyone could not have an opinion in disagreeing or believing something is wrong!
One problem with his theory, IT’S NEVER GOING TO HAPPEN AS LONG AS PEOPLE ARE ALIVE! If history has taught us anything, it has taught us the humans will always seek to impose their beliefs on other humans, using violence if necessary!
Whether it is more government, religion, gay rights, terrorist rights, taxes, loss of freedoms or telling parents they can’t humanely spank their kids, we as humans will always have differences of opinions. Nature itself can teach us most of the lessons we should have learned, the rest should have been endowed upon us by our creator! Our founding fathers wrote the second most amazing document in history, to that end America was at one time a shinning example of what might have been! Sadly, the more time has progressed, the more progressive we have become, and the will be humankinds undoing!
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