Friday, April 3, 2009

The TEA Party Movement

Or should I say "T.E.A. Party"?
Various incarnations of reviving the "Boston Tea Party" are in the air. Fortunately none of the current versions include plans for recreating the type of vandalism involved in the original.

There are two general types of these movements, at least of which I am aware. One is the T.E.A. (Taxed Enough Already) theme, such as is being encouraged by former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich at: http://www.teapartyday.com/

Another form of Tea Party is that suggested by the gentleman who appears in several "YouTube" videos in the persona of Thomas Paine, writer of "Common Sense". Although his video originally suggested putting tea bags into envelopes and sending them to elected officials, his suggestion was later revised to suggest sending only the tag from the tea bags in the envelopes. This was apparently due to failure to deliver the envelopes to Senators and Representatives on the excuse that some might have substituted some controlled substance for the original contents of the tea bags. This revised suggestion is included in his interview on the Glenn Beck program, after Bech showed parts of his original video. This can be seen on YouTube as: Glenn Beck Interviews 21st Century Thomas Paine

The original "Boston Tea Party" in 1773 included boarding ships and dumping Tea into Boston harbor. This was not just an objection to taxes per-se, but rather a reaction to an attempt by the British crown to usurp authority over the American Colonists in a manner to which the Colonists had not consented and in which decision the Colonists were not represented.

Today in the United States of America, these "Tea Parties" come as a result of not just additional taxes and the expectation of additional taxes; but that our elected representatives, in both houses of Congress, are passing legislation that shows they have much more interest in usurping control over American individuals and businesses alike than in actually representing the people who elected them. The Colonists in Boston were basically rebelling over taxation without representation. Although we have those elected as "representatives" and "senators"; it is becoming increasingly clear that we, the taxed, have little if any real representation. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that a new wave of "Tea Parties" are on the rise.

Our elected officials should get down on their collective knees and thank the "Creator" (referred to in our Declaration of Independence) , as I do, that this time the Tea Parties are peaceful. Then they should rise and get to the work for which they were actually elected. They need to start representing us in the manner intended by the Constitution, instead of spending the fruit of the labors of generations as yet unborn with carrying out the wishes of those who have sought to tear down our Constitutional Republic and remake it in the image of a Socialist state over the last several decades.

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