Tempests in a Tea Party

A good friend of mine is a Canadian that grew up in Lebanon. His family still owns a bit of land that is situated between two of the refugee camps. It is a bleak scene by all accounts. I asked him what he learned growing up in that kind of environment. He said, "I learned it only takes a very few people to screw it up for everybody."

I had the same impression as I watched the "9/12 tea party march on Washington" this past week. It is fine for any group to demonstrate. That is their right. But I am also a bit perplexed why a campaign that has a few thousand people should be getting the same kind of coverage in the media that other marches involving millions, such as those for the civil rights movement, receive. I am also perplexed that the media doesn't make a distinction between hate-filled Nazi style sloganeering messages and slogans that call for something.

It is clear that at least some of the mob is racially motivated -- as reflected both by brandishing the Swastika and by "witch doctor" imagery. These people should be ashamed and ignored as just plain ignorant and despicable. For the remainder, however, it is appropriate to listen and try to at least understand and hopefully engage in a civil discourse even if most of the participants in the "tea party" don't seem interested. It is clear they are concerned about spending levels, as are many liberals. It is clear they are against what they call the "liberal media," even though "conservative" media is at least as prominent. It is clear they are against higher taxes, even though President Obama is honoring his promise not to increase taxes for the majority so far. It is clear they are against reforming our health care system, even though: a) we will pay for the uninsured one way or another anyway, b) the current costs are totally out of control, and c) the quality of the current system is 37th in the world. And it is clear they are against anyone who disagrees with their view.

Contrast this to Martin Luther King's clarifying distinction that he was not so much "against discrimination" as he was "for equality." I have yet to hear what the "anti-activists" in this campaign are for. I cannot believe that they are all so blind as to not acknowledge that if they do defeat the current campaign for reform, the problems won't go away. What do they propose to do? In the absence of a constructive alternative, they should be heard but not taken seriously. They are a few thousand hard-core individuals intent on destroying possibility and undermining the man that a majority of Americans elected.

We cannot and should not stop their speech, but we can and should turn off the endless ranting and ratings-motivated media hype this sort of nonsense creates. When a few people occupy the time and "conversational space" of the majority, then it is no longer about free speech. It is about communication strategy. And it only takes a few to mess it up for everyone.

© Jim Selman. All rights reserved.

 

 

Comments

[1will]

"A few thousand people"
Try a few hundred thousand people and hundreds of thousands more that agree with the politics. We had around 300,000 people show up for the April 15th Tea Party Protests and around 75,000 on Sat. Between these two protests there have been hundreds so Tea Party Protests nationwide. Keep believing that the numbers aren't there. By the way, I was at the march on DC and saw no signs that were racist. I suppose if you gather 75,000 people you will get a few bad apples and poorly displayed signs (kind of like you guys having protesters that burn flags and spit on vets). Of course you guys will try to pretend that a few bad apples represent the entire movement.
Good job crying racism. Do we have Czar for that yet?

[savvydad]

It's always about free speech. Always. My God, if it wasn't we wouldn't be here debating. sorry for the use of God.....lol

[Aaror]

A good point that should be pounded home again and again by every reform supporter! Thank you sir!
Specifically, the call for us to say to anyone who opposes the plan "what plan would you propose?

If every knee-jerk opponant of Obama's plan was confronted by that question, the stridency of the opposition would certainly decrease, and the level might as well. Especially when we ask them what they plan to do to end the death panels the health insurance companies use, how they would like to stop paying for treatment of illegal aliens, and why they are ok with living in the worst health care system in the world. While you are at it, ask them how they feel about paying for abortions with their current health insurance, and who would Jesus allow to die because they don't have insurance. Ask them why they don't want to reduce the number of abortions in the US (a better health care care safety net for women would lower abotion rates).
Pretty much every argument used against Obama's plan is at least as damning of the current system. Run their noses in it like you would rub a dog's nose in the crap on the rug!

[mcthfg]

"For the remainder, however, it is appropriate to listen and try to at least understand and hopefully engage in a civil discourse even if most of the participants in the "tea party" don't seem interested."

You may want to listen to them, but I'm tired of pandering to people who refuse to educate themselves. These are the same people pushing creationism - who refuse to listen to scientists because it goes against their 2000 year-old mythology. The same people who have been fighting for decades against protecting the environment, clean water, Medicare, and every other thing that makes the US a decent place to live.

These people have said nothing new in the last 50 years. The grumble of "We want lower taxes" has been played out, and few of these people realize how low their taxes actually are, and what they get in return.

We do not need to listen to these people. If we did, we'd have dirty drinking water, no interstates, no electricity, and no hope. We need to leave them behind, in the 18th century, dying at the ripe old age of 35 because they don't have access to medical coverage.