The Teapartiers mantra is 'Take back our country'. Just who has taken over our democratic country has been a question that is not unsolved, just not declared openly. A recent article by Nathan Diebenow announces that Progressives are ready to 'uncloak' the secret financers behind the Tea party. "The Sunday, Jan. 30 event thrown by Common Cause, a nonpartisan, grassroots organization, aims to educate attendees in California to the Koch brothers who will be strategizing nearby with their mega-wealthy allies to win the 2012 elections."
The Tea Party is financed far beyond the many small contributions most of the Teapartiers themselves can give. If has long been rumored that the multi-billionaire Koch brothers are the 'angels' behind it all. Now, assuming that might be true, the next question must be, "Why?" What is in it for them? Certainly they need no more money, though money is clearly power. Thus, is it power they are after? If so what is the power they desire? The Tea Party wants to 'take back the government'. I was always taught that plotting to overthrow the government is an act of treason. Are the Koch brothers, then, treason perpetrators?
Also from the article: "Comedian Bill Maher on Friday lashed out at the followers of the Tea party movement whose activities are funded by Koch's Americans for Prosperity group.
"The Founding Fathers were everything you despise. They studied science, read Plato, hung out in Paris, and thought the Bible was mostly bullshit," he said.
'Who' is never enough. We need also to understand the 'why'. It is the only way to protect ourselves. Had we appreciated that bin Laden was not only interested in violence and killing but, rather, to economically disable our country, we might not be in the economic mess we are in today.
7 comments:
In light of the President's plea for a more civil political discourse, we should exercise caution in our political attacks.
The Koch brothers support the Cato institute and the Reason foundation, two organizations that have opposed the tea party on a number of issues, including the drug war, immigration, "Don't Ask; Don't Tell", and the ground zero mosque. In fact, this very blog has linked to a Reason article defending the ground zero mosque!
By itself, use of the slogan "Take Back the Government" does not prove treason. The tea party members who used this slogan almost certainly meant that we should take back the government via the ballot box, not by revolution. In fact, both sides of the political divide have used slogans like this. Did Howard Dean commit treason when he wrote the book "Win Back America"? What about the Democratic party's "Take Back America" conferences? For that matter, the page you linked to for the anti-Kochs event starts with the paragraph:
"Our government is supposed to be of, by and for the people. So are you ready to take it back?"
Is this treason?
Frank, 1) that the Koch brothers give to good causes does not convince me that their intentions are all good at all. Some people bet on several horses at the same time. 2) When I mention treason I am only referring to the violence in the rhetoric from several, especially before Tucson.
The referenced article accuses the Koch brothers of extremism, and this post hints that they are guilty of the very serious charge of treason. For any accusation, the burden of proof falls upon the accuser. In this case, the accusers are far from proving their case.
1) It is possible that the Koch brothers are radical right wingers who have sponsored left wing positions purely to "cover their bets". But isn't it equally likely that the Koch brothers are secret leftists that sometimes take conservative positions to cover their bets? It seems to me that the most likely explanation is that the Koch brothers, like the majority of our citizens, are neither radical right wingers nor radical left wingers, and therefore side with the liberals on some issues and side with the conservatives on other issues.
2) The only tea party speech referenced in the blog is the slogan "take back the government". By itself, uttering this slogan does not constitute treason. But let's assume that some participant in a tea party event committed treason. Does that necessarily prove that the tea party organizers are guilty of perpetrating treason? No, because it is virtually impossible to hold such events without attracting the lunatic fringe. If the protest organizers encouraged illegal activity, then yes, they would be liable. But it would be unfair to punish protest organizers for crimes committed by participants without the encouragement of the organizers, and it would have a chilling effect on free speech.
Frank, why are you limiting yourself to quotes from only one speech. My question about treason arises from the many individual things said by Teapartiers...many of them with violent references using guns, arms, revolution, etc. in their talks.
Yes, there were people who said terrible things at Tea Party events, but you'll find the lunatic fringe at any large scale protests. It is unavoidable.
In fact, the lunatic fringe also showed up at this anti-Koch bothers event, as indicated by this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3ctO7fdrcc
Here the worst of the protesters engage in racism (suggesting that Clarence Thomas be sent back to the fields), talk of killing public officials, and even chant for revolution ("just like in Egypt"). Now I'm sure that there were protesters at this event that were completely civil. I contend that it would be unfair to impugn the whole event because it had a few jokers like the ones we saw in this video. Why shouldn't extend the same courtesy to the Tea Party?
Yes, some Tea Partiers said terrible things, but like I said before, every large protest movement will inevitably attract the lunatic fringe. It is not fair to judge a whole movement by its lunatic fringe.
In fact, the anti-Koch brothers protest seems to brought out the fringe element, as indicated by this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3ctO7fdrcc
The worst of this crowd exhibit racism (one said that Clarence Thomas should be put back to the fields), gleefully discuss killing public officials, and chant for revolution ("just like in Egypt"). I'm sure that we both agree that the event should not be judged on the basis of the jokers we see in this video. Why not extend the same courtesy to the Tea Party?
I'm not limiting myself to quotes from one speech. Yes, some people at Tea Parties have said terrible things, but the lunatic fringe always show up at events like this.
In fact, the lunatic fringe attended the anti-Koch brothers protest, as indicated by this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3ctO7fdrcc
The worst of this crowd exhibit racism (saying that Clarence Thomas should be put back in the fields), talk of killing public officials, and chant for revolution ("just like in Egypt"). We both agree that we should not impugn the whole event because a few lunatics showed up. Why not extend the same courtesy to the Tea Party?
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