“Faggot,” “N—er,” and “Babykiller!”
These were all words that were shouted out towards members of Congress outside of the capital on March 21, 2010 by a group that calls themselves the Tea Party Movement (a new protest group that was inspired by the Boston Tea Party).
The Tea Partiers spouted out mindless racial and discriminatory slurs to protest the proceedings of the Healthcare Reform Bill, proving, once again, that this right-wing conservative group’s extreme tactics marginalizes them from mainstream society and prevents them from being treated as a legitimate political group.
The movement has been energized ever since President Obama has taken office. They took inspiration from the Boston Tea Party because of their similar message. The group is protesting big government and taxation. They want to “take their country back.”
Some concerns of this group are legitimate, as President Obama recognizes.
“There’s (a) segment of it (that) I think is dug in ideology and has existed in American politics for a long time,” President Obama said. “Then I think that there’s a broader circle around that core group of people who are legitimately concerned about the deficit, who are legitimately concerned that the federal government may be taking on too much. And I think those are folks who have legitimate concerns.”
Though the group may have legitimate concerns, those concerns are getting lost in the chaos. The Tea Party movement’s most vocal and radical members are the ones that are highlighted the most, making it seem like the movement is made up of only these type of members.
Radical Tea Partiers yelled “Faggot!” to U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, who is openly gay, and “Nigger” to U.S. Rep. John Lewis, who is an esteemed civil rights activist. The use of this ugly rhetoric makes the Tea Party seem like a racist group that will stoop to any level to spread their message.
“They were shouting, sort of harassing,” Lewis said. “But, it’s okay, I’ve faced this before. It reminded me of the 60s. It was a lot of downright hate and anger and people being downright mean.”
The Tea Party will never be taken seriously as long as the majority of the movement is stuck in the rhetoric and beliefs of the past. These radical tactics make the group seem like a backwards movement, which can never make a true connection with mainstream America.
The midterm elections are coming up and the Republican Party would be served best by disassociating themselves from the Tea Party. However, it seems like the party is doing the exact opposite and are instead embracing the group.
Republicans even seem to be following the tactics of the movement, as is evident by U.S. Rep. Randy Neugebauer (R-Tex.) shouting “Babkiller” at Bart Stupak during Stupak’s remarks at the end of the Health Care proceedings.
Republicans are doing this because they believe that the energy of the movement will bring them votes in the midterm elections, but this belief couldn’t be farther from the truth. The movement is likely to repel the majority of moderate America, which won’t bring victory in November.
The Tea Party is like the crazy old grandfather who no one listens to. This is why it is time for the Republican Party to leave this group, with its ugly rhetoric and extreme tactics, completely behind.
Effective Response 
What scares me the most is simply the sheer numbers of this movement. I feel at this point people are just going in for the sake of joining in. As you stated, I’m sure this group has legitimate concerns however I really don’t know how many of the really boisterous advocates really understand what those are. What organization willingly posts the addresses of the opposing party’s congressmen and then acts surprised when there are acts of violence and racism. Those in charge of this whole thing are striving so hard to be taken seriously, and yet they take it upon themselves to use provocative rhetoric and pictures of Obama as the Joker to get their point across. Meanwhile the rest of the world sits back and laughs because they don’t understand how we put up with people like Palin in the first place.
It’s interesting how powerful hate messages can be in the midst of political debate. As an opening to your op-ed, it definitely captures how polarizing and immature this particular lobbying group is behaving. For the most part, when you reach the adult world, the loudest person in group isn’t necessarily the one that is most respected or the most listened to. It is true, the Tea Partiers do have some legitimate concerns but all in all, because of their methods they are digging their own grave.
Essentially, they are kind of like the political equivalent of PETA. They are definitely getting headlines but they are going about it completely wrong by outshining the issues with hate-mongering speech. Try offering solutions, Tea Partiers.
It is a shame how the real message of the Tea Party is overlooked. The public opinion on the Tea Party is misguided when the media portrays the movement inaccurately (as mindless idiots). The Tea Party actually holds extremely legitimate concerns and values.
The Tea Party’s mission revolves around protecting individual rights, revolving around the three core values of “Fiscal Responsibility”, “Constitutionally Limited Government”, and “Free Markets”. All of these values have been essential to the success of America, and should be protected.
I was watching a story on one of the local rallies and it’s hard to know if the facetious nature in which the tea parties are portrayed are somewhat exaggerated by the media. There was one clip when a rallier was asked “is there anything good about Obama?” and the reply…”he has a nice tie and a good 3 pointer”. I do think that in order to get their points across there should be some more organization and coherency, but many of their points are valid and I feel like these are at times ignored in the liberal tendencies of the news.