Perhaps you heard something about it on the news? Or did you see the Bostonist photos? Tea-bagging his hit the mainstream. (At least, we heard it called tea-bagging on several news programs.)
Alas and alack, the Olde Towne's rowdy revolutionaries of 1773 have been co-opted again. That's fine: the Boston Tea Party endures as a symbolic event of protest. Supposedly even Gandhi was inspired by those colonists rebelling against the British Empire. It seems that the Tea Party events were co-opted from libertarians to express a general anti-Obama attitude, and we found someone with a Ron Paul sign who agreed with this characterization.
Unfortunately, this Bostonist missed the speakers at Christopher Columbus Park, but was curious to find out if there was more to the movement besides anger at the financial industry bailout initiated under the previous administration, the current Federal Stimulus spending, and the spectre of higher taxes (which aren't really that bad).
These are all legitimate issues for dissent, but it's difficult to determine the Teabaggers' position other than opposition to what exists. Would they prefer complete government inaction in the collapse of the financial system and rising unemployment? Or do they have another suggestion—other than lowering taxes? One person basically told us that "free market forces" would have let other financial companies take the place of giants like Citigroup and AIG. Mmkay.
Apparently, some consider "Tea" to be an acronym for "Taxed Enough Already." The Founding Fathers said, "No taxation without representation." Today's concerned citizens are saying, "No taxation (increases over $250k) without (or with) representation."
As someone who attended anti-war protests in Boston, we were surprised at the media coverage of the event. There was a CNN news truck, and a Fox News correspondent was schmoozing with the crowd and practically kissing babies. We wondered, "Why didn't CNN (left-wing media) or Fox ("Fair & Balanced") cover larger Boston rallies that opposed the invasion of Iraq?"
Having been to protests before, we're also aware that these assemblies usually become a jumble of mixed messages. (G20 protest, anyone?) Yesterday's crowd ranged from calm participants who brought their children to people who would shout down a CNN reporter or intimidate photographers.
While most people agree that government overreaches into the lives of the citizenry in various ways, they'll stay quiet if they the like guy who's living in the White House. This is just the first time in a while they haven't.
add to digg
add to stumble upon
add to reddit