Defending the Tea Party

December 16, 1773, the date in which the American colonists announced to the British hierarchy that they would no longer tolerate taxation without representation; a date that would be remembered as one of the key events to what would eventually grow into the American Revolution.
The Boston Tea Party was the culmination of a resistance movement by the citizens of British America, a citizenry growing weiry of the taxation and laws being imposed on them by a legislature in which they had no direct representation. This action by the citizens of the American colonies, was a warning to the government of England that the people of the American colonies would no longer concede authority to tyrants. December 16, 1773 ... the birth date of a new "American" attitude.


Election year 2008. America is tired of the Iraq war, North Korea and Iran are rattling their sabers, gasoline prices remain high, jobs are being lost every day, a Republican Congress has lost it's way, irresponsible bank policies are undermining the economy, Federal spending is out of control, and America has grown tired of a President that has been battered and beaten by the media. America is given the choice of two candidates;
a) Republican Senator John McCain, a moderate Republican with a reputation for bipartisanship, a Vietman War veteran and an American hero, but a man who the media and the opposition tells us represents all the evils of Washington and the Republican Party; a man who represents the status-quo and the business as usual mentality of Washington; a man that will continue the policies of the Bush Administration. His running mate, Gov. Sarah Palin from Alaska. A conservative pro-life Republican. Far removed from the main stream, she is a self-made woman; the epitome of what an individual can accomplish in America. Unbeknownst to her, she would become a lightning rod for the media, the Democrats, and the liberal left. And,
b) Freshman Democrat Senator Barack Obama, a man who promises to end the politics of Washington as we know it, a man who promises to bring transparency and fairness to Washington. A man who promises to restore America's standing around the world. A man who promises to bring the spirit of true bi-partisanship to Washington. A man who vows to stand up for the middle class and spread the wealth around. His running mate, Senator Joe Biden. A veteran Washington insider chosen for his experience in foreign policy, something Barack Obama clearly lacked. With the candidates now chosen, it becomes the battle of the Maverick vs. the Messiah. But in reality, it became the media, the left, and the Messiah vs. Sarah Palin and conservative values.


Fall 2008, two months before the Presidential Election: We witness an unprecedented campaign of personal destruction, especially at Sarah Palin. We listen as her conservative values and common sense ideas are ridiculed. We watched as the media ignored her message but instead worked to destroy the messenger. We the people stood up, feeling attacked ourselves. We watched as unemployment rose to 7.5%. We witnessed the media and the left turn people against eachother. Home foreclosures had increased to a rate not ever seen. Energy costs were sky-rocketing. Bank failures had become a daily event. AIG, the world's largest insurer, was on the brink of bankruptcy. Lehman Brothers went belly up. Goldman Sachs announced they would be next. Retirement fund values declined in the billions. Wall Street was on the verge of collapse, as every new trading day seemed to end in decline. In response to the crisis, the Bush Administration pushed for a government bail out of Wall Street and the banking industry. Congress passed and President Bush signed the Toxic Asset Relief Program (TARP), a $700 billion dollar tax payer funded piece of legislation, in an effort to stop the bleeding. The politicians said it had to be done. Sarah Palin said no. Conservatives had said no. The American people said no. The people were vocal in their opposition, but the people were silenced and ignored. The sleeping giant was nudged from it's slumber. The seeds for the Tea Party Movement were planted.


November 2008, Senator Barack Obama is elected the 44th President of the United States of America. His victory was historic. The promise of hope and change was coming to Washington DC. The promise of fairness and transparency would soon be realized. The promise of jobs and of a growing economy were right around the corner. The people were hopeful. Even the critics wished him well. The dissenters, fearing the worst, hoped for the best. We the people expected results. We expected promises to be kept. The promise of "Hope and Change" was now an expectation. The sleeping giant awoke from it's slumber, with one eye open to the new world order. The seeds of the Tea Party Movement were being cultivated and fertilized with skeptism.


January 20th, 2009, Barack H. Obama is sworn in as the 44th President of the United States of America. It was the day the planets were supposed to align, the clouds in the sky would part and the sun would shine on our new leader as if he were ordained by God. What we received instead, was a glimpse into the soul of a man who suddenly seemed different than the moderate he portrayed himself to be, as he recited a very partisan and devisive Inaguration Address. The media swooned and the Liberals drooled, but average Americans were aghast and confused. The sleeping giant, arising from it's slumber, wiped the sleep from it's eyes wondering if it was just a dream. The seeds of the Tea Party Movement started to sprout.


The era of hope and change started as the winter of discontent. Americans watched as President Obama signed the Executive Order to close GITMO, with no alternative plan to deal with the terrorist detainees. We watched and listened as he traveled the world on his "American Apology" tour. We watched the radical appointments to his cabinet and listened as the White House tried to justify the appointments of self-professed communists and Maoists within the administration. We listened as Obama instructed Congress to pass his health care initiative. We listened, and sat up, as Obama started making the case for another tax-payer funded Stimulus Plan, promising it had to be done to keep unemployment from surpassing 8%. We listened, and stood up, as Obama announced the tax-payer funded take-over of GM and Chrysler, watching as Obama circumvented bankruptcy laws just to protect the union that supported his candidacy. And we listened, and finally shouted "STOP", as Obama announced his first Federal Budget. We watched unemployment top 10% after being promised it wouldn't go above 8%. We watched as Obama quadrupled the Federal Deficit in less than a year. We watched in horror as Obama's deficit spending surpassed the deficit spending of all previous Presidents combined. We watched in horror as Wall Street profited at the expense of the unemployed. We watched in horror as our President bowed to dictators and maligned trusted allies. President Obama's radical agenda was the manure that ultimately fertilized the seedling into an oak. The sleeping giant was silent no more.


The "silent majority", we the people. For generations we have put our blind faith in our government. We have sat back and waited for our government to tend to the people's business. But every year, regardless of the party in charge, the government has ignored the will of the people. But we remained vigilent, vigilent in our silence, ever hopeful that the government would eventually get it right. We have allowed ourselves to be swayed by creative sound-bytes, catchy phrases, empty promises, and a corrupt progressive mainstream media.


Then came 9/11/2001, a beautiful late summer day that turned horrific as innocent and beautiful lives were destroyed by terrorists. Blood and treasure lost forever, simply for being American. It will forever remain a dark day in America's history. On that fateful day, Amercia realized, in an instance, that we were vunerable.


But then came 9/12/2001. The day America came together. We mourned, we prayed, but our resolve was strengthened. The country came together in a way not seen since Pearl Harbor. There was no longer a distinction between Democrat and Republican, Black and White, Christian and Jew, or rich and poor. We were all Americans and we were attacked for no other reason. This spirit of commonality was the foundation of the yet unrealized Tea Party Movement.


In the time since 9/11, we watched as the Democrats waivered in their support on the Iraq War and on the troops. We listened as the Democrats accused our troops of murder and rape. We listened as the Democrats said we were losing and that there was no hope. We listened as the Democrats accused President Bush of lying to the American people, somehow forgetting that they had come to the same conclusion as he. The Iraq War had become a political tool, a tool that the Democrats yielded to turn the country against itself. The mainstream media was all too happy to oblige. But despite the best efforts of the Democrats and the media to undermine President Bush and the Iraq War, the American people re-elected Mr. Bush in 2004. The Democrats wanted revenge.


After the 2004 elections, the Democrats began a concerted campaign of destruction against President Bush and the Republicans. The rhetoric from the Democrats was hateful, even vitriolic. The Democrats attacked the war effort and the economy on a daily basis. Their pursuit of the Presidency in 2008 was relentless. The media, for their part, gave full support to the Democrats. Unfortunately for the Republicans, they lost their way. Instead of adhering to first principles, they instead engaged in irresponsible spending and were caught up in several ethics scandals, losing sight of a faltering economy. An economy devastated by high gasoline prices, a housing down-turn, and a sub-prime mortgage crisis. The Democrats and the media gleefully reported these misgivings. Our distrust of government opened the door for the Democrats in the 2006 mid-term elections. The Republicans lost, and lost big. The American people had lost faith in the Republicans and gave control back to the Democrats and Speaker Nancy Pelosi.


Oddly though, the election of 2006 didn't change anything. In fact, things got worse. The anti-war rhetoric increased. Gasoline prices sky-rocketed, the housing market tumbled, jobs were lost, financial markets were failing, and the economy came to a stand still. Although the Democrats were in charge, they blamed Bush. The media blamed Bush. Never before had America been ruled by a President so powerful that he caused a Congress to be so inept. But was President Bush really that powerful, or was Congress simply laying the groundwork for the 2008 Presidental elections? History will tell.


2009 was supposed to be the year of hope of change. We the people were promised many things; transparency, ethics, the end of ear marks, no deficit spending, health care reform, lower energy costs through a green iniative, an improved economy, true bipartisanship, and jobs. Instead, we witnessed the implementation of a radical agenda, a total disregard for the Constitution, we watched as Obama, Pelosi, and Reid layed the groundwork for universal health care even as 76% of Americans said "start over", and we witnessed an all out assault on average American people.


The Tea Party Movement was born. Many joined without even knowing they had, for the Tea Party Movement was a state of mind, not a club or a political party. The Tea Party Movement is a common bond among average Americans that are concerned about the future of this great nation. The Tea Party Movement is not a third political party, nor should it be. Political parties are corruptible, but common sense is not. The Tea Party is, and forever will be, individuals united in the common cause of responsible government and sound, common sense government policy. We joined when we spoke out against outrageous government spending, or taxation without representation. We joined when we were critical of special interests being put ahead of jobs. We joined when we realized that our generation was going to leave the next generation a fiscal mess, the first time in our nation's history that one generation did not pass on a better future to the next. We joined when we realized that President Obama was implementating a radical progressive agenda, foresaking the history of our forefathers and of the Constitution. We joined when we realized that the America we once knew, was going to be lost forever. So we stood up and proudly proclaimed, don't tread on me.


The Tea Party Movement is a magnificant thing. A grassroots movement of average people, most having never been involved in politics before, were suddenly speaking out, writing, and standing up to their elected representatives. The Tea Party participants include men and women, young and old, different races and nationalities, rich and poor, and of all political ideologies; Republican (48%), Democrat (8%), and Independent (44%). The Tea Party Movement's largest unofficial membership is among middle class housewives; women concerned about the country we are leaving to our children. But you wouldn't know these facts if you simply listened the media, the Left, the White House, or our elected representatives. The Tea Party Movement, represented by average citizens, has been vilified by the media, the Democrat leadership, the White House, and even by President Obama himself. We have been labeled many things, from nit-wits to racists. The vitriol from the Left has been shocking, if not hypocritical. But our resolve is unwavering.

The common denominator among Tea Party members is a love for this great nation, and a general concern for the direction in which this country is headed. We support fiscal responsibility, smaller government, self-governance, strict adherence to the Constitution, energy independence, enforcement of immigration policy, lower taxes, and job creation. What we don't support is government becoming too large too sustain itself, and taxing it's way back to fiscal solvency. We don't support President Obama's progressive agenda that contradicts 230 years of American history. We don't support the arrogance of our elected representatives who vote against the will of their constituents. And we don't support bankrupting this nation in the name of Liberal ideology.

The Tea Party Movement is a campaign for a better America. It is a forum for ideas to help foster a prosperous economy, energy independence, lower taxes, responsible government, and community involvement. The Tea Party Movement is a tribute to our founders, and the generations that proceded us, that spent blood and treasure to make this the greatest nation free people have ever known. The Tea Party Movement recognizes, and respects, the center right bias of the American people; that the Judeo-Christian traditions that created this nation are needed to save it.

I am a proud member of the Tea Party Movement. I hold no membership card, nor do I pay any dues. I am a member in spirit. I believe in the greatness of the American people. I respect all those that speak out against a rouge government, and a media that endorses it. I am a proud Conservative Republican. My hope it that the Tea Party Movement remains true to its roots, never becoming too big to become corruptible but big enough to make a difference. I believe the Tea Party Movements best success is working in cooperation with the GOP, but I respect the Movement's independence. It is my opinion that if the GOP and the Tea Party movement unite, we can guarantee two things; HOPE in 2010, and real CHANGE in 2012. 

The Tea Party Movement should be respected, not vilified. It should be honored for bringing average American's together, in celebration of our founders, for a common good. It is a sad day when the opposition, the media, and our President, find it necessary to demean average citizens for standing up for values that were once honored and respected around the world.

God bless the Tea Party, and God bless America.

Ben LeJeune
theRightist