Monday Muse: Tea Party

Grandmother:  When I think of "tea party" I remember the Boston Tea Party when the colonists threw boxes of tea overboard to protest the taxes imposed by England, or I remember having tea parties with my Grandmother where we drank milk mixed with hot water and had Ritz crackers. So when I read about the current Tea Party movement in our country today I was very interested.

What surprised me more was that it was originating within one of the major political parties we have, the Republican Party. The Tea Party is made up of voters that are tired of the way the government is spending money and running the country. This is a wake up call for both Democrats and Republicans as the Tea Party is looking to capture 7 seats. With no charter or council the Tea Party is steam rolling across the United States. Here in Colorado, where we have a large number of registered independent voters, it is quite active. Several rallies have taken place in our town alone and the candidates are showing up for debates and answering questions.

What will happen this off year election is anybody's guess and I wonder what it will do for the Democrats with this split in the Republican party.It should be an interesting election in November.

Mom:  I have to admit that I haven't been paying attention to all of the ruckus that is occurring in politics...mostly because I despise the tit for tat campaign ads that run continuously from now until November. So when both Grandmother and Daughter suggested the Tea Party as a topic for Monday Muse, I was caught like a deer in the headlights muttering, "Huh????" I had to take a quick course in Tea Party 101.

From what I've read it seems to me that the Tea Party faction really is just another outgrowth of voters' malcontent. Just watching what it takes to pass legislation in this country is enough to disgust-----well, that is another topic for another Monday Muse!

I think that the Republicans and Democrats need to sit up and take notice. Just because the Tea Party seems to have originated with some disenchanted Republicans doesn't mean that the Democrats won't experience a similar abandonment on their side. Americans are getting fed up with the traditional party dogmas and the good ole boy system that permeates the hallowed halls of Congress.

So listen up Republicans and Democrats------more of the same just doesn't cut it anymore. Walk the walk and talk the talk or else watch out for the new team in town!

Daughter:  I think it's great that people in our country are so politically motivated in a non-presidential election year.  However, when the headliners of the above mentioned politically motivated group are Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin, that's where I stop listening.  I couldn't put it more eloquently than a protester of a Beck and Palin event in Alaska: "Palin and Beck 2012: Lipstick and Dipstick."  

The Lipstick and Dipstick rally, known to others as the "Restoring Honor" rally, inspired liberals to jump into the political arena Saturday.  Unfortunately many media accounts, describe the event as lackluster, but wouldn't anything seem lackluster next to Beck's grandstanding?

Additionally, Jon Stewart has announced his Rally To Restore Sanity, a spoof on Beck's rally.  Stewart describes this rally of moderates as attracting people "who think shouting is annoying, counterproductive and terrible for your throat; who feel that the loudest voices shouldn't be the only ones that get heard; and who believe that the only time it's appropriate to draw a Hitler mustache on someone is when that person is actually Hitler.  Or Charlie Chaplin in certain roles."

And it seems that people are actually responding, as more than 100,000 people showed interest in attending the rally just three days after it was announced.

All jokes aside though, I do think the political debate that the Republican movement has unleashed is fascinating and for the most part worthwhile.  Because in the end, I think discussion is better than apathy, even if I don't agree with the discussion.