Forget lacy parasols, elitism, and expensive chinaware, tea parties just reclaimed the bold, patriotic connotation of revolting Bostonians in war paint. Tea Parties protesting socialistic government erupted across the nation on Saturday afternoon. Thousands pumped signs into the air declaring King Barack, Here’s Your ‘We We We The People’! In a recession that casts millions into unemployment and reduces the working class to pawns for a progressive coup, tea parties rejuvenate democracy by reminding America’s elite that history’s newest strand of populism seeks to re-secure the blessings of liberty.
Politicians over the past eight months left “the people” rolling in the dust while scrambling to pass stimulus bills, climate acts, and universal healthcare despite popular opposition. But politicians sacrificed personal liberty and Constitutional integrity at the door of expansive power long before President Obama’s reign. Indeed, “the people” have become a long since forgotten constituency, and the Tea Parties’ populist streak reminds both the left and the right not of William Jennings Bryan but the Constitution itself.
During an economic recession where the needs of the working class are the most pronounced, Republicans focused rhetorical efforts on cushioning corporate taxes and the insurance industry and Democrats tastelessly mock citizens at town halls. Liberals wander far from personal liberty and dub the Constitution a “living document.”
While conservatives experienced a comeback to Constitutional principles in recent months, the past eight years render the Republican Party as deviant as the Democrats. Neither party convincingly recalls the people they supposedly represent.
In the 2008 election cycle, Sarah Palin spoke to the people in a way Americans could resonate with; she spoke about jobs, spoke about values, and spoke about personal liberties. In true populist fashion, Palin promised relief for the lower classes. Yet rather than calling for government intervention in farming like 1890’s populists, Palin envisioned a break from federal meddling in individual lives like 1780’s founders.
Just like the infamous People’s Party of the nineteenth century, Palin represented a faction of America that repels modern elites. And just like the failed People’s Party, Palin never received the desired national mandate to represent the needs of a distressed group.
But in history lies our hope.
The populists gained political success after their party’s dissolution because the two major parties eventually realized the necessity of populist claims. The Tea Party movement does not claim partisanship or party status, but it is clearly a political platform that cannot be silenced until a major party recognizes its appeal to American principles and halts the tyranny of expansive government.
Tea Party passion is young and contagious, and instead of letting it quietly inspire and then quietly expire, conservatives must facilitate its pandemic spread. The Republican Party should gather the movement’s sentiments under the platform of prudent restraints on government power. The spirit of democracy in these demonstrations is empowering, rambunctiously awakening the Republican Party into a state of action rather than concession. Republican politicians should rile up their constituents, adopt an undignified attitude of excitement, and ride the wave of Constitutionalism into Congress.
Pinstriped suits and slicked-down hair are all well and good on progressive elites, and while conservatives may not benefit from adopting Representative Joe Wilson’s lack of decorum exemplified by his notorious heckling during Obama’s healthcare speech on Wednesday, spirited democracy built off the Tea Parties’ enthusiasm is back in style.
Remarkably, Republicans are shaking it up on the political scene, adopting a populist tone in the healthcare debate, recalling the importance of bills that are read before they are passed, speaking at Tea Parties, and embracing the “blessings of liberty” that they temporarily forgot. Congressional Democrats decry the recent rumbling of the republic as backwards and ignorant, but condescending attitudes toward a democratically motivated people can only endanger Democrats’ chances of reelection.
Moderates balk at masses of people waving “Obama is a socialist” signs, and some Republicans are less than thrilled about the media’s belittling coverage of the Tea Party movement. But how is worrying about the Republican image with a media obsessively declaring the demise of the Right going to help us? As Barry Goldwater reminded those skeptical of democratic protests, “Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. And moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.”
Faced with an authoritarian administration adamantly fixing harnesses around the economy and civil society, conservatives obtain virtue by acknowledging and then legitimizing America’s desire for liberty.
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Rachel Wagley is an undergraduate at Harvard University where she serves on the Executive Board of the Harvard Republican Club.
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Andrew Jackson. WJ Bryan. Barry Goldwater. Sarah Palin?
Nuh-uh. You will need an actual leader, not someone who bails out on a governorship in order to cash in.
Where is the unselfinterested leader you need?
Is my previous comment in the system here somewhere?
From new GQ article:
“I’m trying to remember if I’ve met [Sarah Palin] before. I’m sure I must have.” [Bush's] eyes twinkled, then he asked, “What is she, the governor of Guam?”
Everyone in the room seemed to look at him in horror, their mouths agape. When Ed told him that conservatives were greeting the choice enthusiastically, he replied, “Look, I’m a team player, I’m on board.” He thought about it for a minute. “She’s interesting,” he said again. “You know, just wait a few days until the bloom is off the rose.” Then he made a very smart assessment.
“This woman is being put into a position she is not even remotely prepared for,” he said. “She hasn’t spent one day on the national level. Neither has her family. Let’s wait and see how she looks five days out.” It was a rare dose of reality in a White House that liked to believe every decision was great, every Republican was a genius, and McCain was the hope of the world because, well, because he chose to be a member of our party.
I read some articles here every now and then but this is top one i’ve read so far