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31 July 2010 By Keith Johnson
What’s going on with the Tea Party? Remember the
good old days when TEA was an acronym for “Taxed
Enough Already?” Today, it’s starting to sound more
like “Terminate Every Arab!”
It could be argued that the once noble Tea Party
has been thrown to the wolves. In its place is a
political machine that has hijacked the Tea party name
and is using it to stage a NeoCon-Republican comeback.
Last week, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) spoke at a
press conference in Washington D.C. to announce the
formation of a 44-member Tea party caucus in the House
of Representatives. All of the members are mainstream
NeoCon Republicans with an allegiance to the state of
Israel and an insatiable appetite for war. As a
matter of fact, of the 44 members, almost half of them
have recently signed on to HR 1553, which endorses
Israeli military action against Iran. The resolution
states that Israel should be allowed, "to use all
means necessary to confront and eliminate nuclear
threats posed by the Islamic Republic of Iran,
including the use of military force."
Bachmann is a frightening woman who recently
stated—at a Republican Jewish Coalition event—that
“I am convinced in my heart and in my mind that if the
United States fails to stand with Israel, that is the
end of the United States . . . [W]e have to show that
we are inextricably entwined, that as a nation we have
been blessed because of our relationship with Israel,
and if we reject Israel, then there is a curse that
comes into play.”
Sure, we all got excited when anti-incumbent fever
swept the nation and wrangled to unseat many longtime
Senators and career Congressmen. But what did we get
in return? Let’s take a look at some of the big
primary winners—who have been dubbed “Tea Party
candidates”—and hear what their position is on foreign
policy issues like Israel, Afghanistan, Iran and the
“so-called” war on terror:
Robert Hurt (R-VA)
‘On September 11th thousands of innocent
Americans were attacked by Osama Bin Laden and his
terrorist regime known as Al Qaeda. This terrorist
regime has only one goal--destroy America and end our
free and prosperous way of life.’
‘We need to ensure that fully funding our
anti-terrorism efforts at home and abroad is the top
priority for our government. As we wage this effort
for freedom and security of the American people, we
need to stand behind our brave soldiers who are
fighting and dying for us. The United States needs to
remain vigilant and do everything in our power to
monitor, track and defeat these terrorists at home and
abroad.’
Mike Lee (R-UT)
“The government currently ruling in Iran
presents a threat to the security of both the United
States and Israel. I will therefore support efforts to
place pressure on the government of Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad, with an eye toward persuading Iran to
abandon its nuclear weapons ambitions. Should those
efforts prove unsuccessful, military action would be
justified.”
“I support direct talks between Israel and the
Palestinian Authority based on the fundamental
principals that Israel should remain (and be
recognized by the Palestinians as) a Jewish state,
Israel must have safe and secure borders and the
ability to monitor and protect those borders, and any
peace treaty must bring a permanent end to any and all
claims of the Palestinians.”
Sharron Angel (R-NV)
‘Israel, a democratic nation, is the United
States’ strongest ally in the Middle East. Israel’s
sovereignty, stability and security are in the best
interests of the United States, especially when
dealing with radical Islamic terrorism.’
Tom Graves (R-GA)
In reference to H.R. 5501, the “America Stands With
Israel Act” that he helped co-sponsor:
‘Our alliance with Israel is of great
importance and I strongly support their right to
defend their interests. America’s commitment to Israel
must be solid, and I am proud to join Rep. King and
co-sponsor this important legislation.’
Jon Runyan (R-NJ)
‘The special bond between the United States of
America and Israel must never be broken, and believe
strongly that the first step to peace in the Middle
East is ensuring that Israelis and their Democratic
way of life is secure. First and foremost that means
that Israel’s neighbors must recognize their right to
exist.
The United States must stand with Israel in
preventing Iran from achieving nuclear capabilities
that can threaten Israel and further de-stabilize the
region, and continue cooperative efforts both
militarily and economically. As a member of Congress,
I will strongly support continued foreign aid to
Israel to ensure they have the tools necessary to
stand strong in the face of hostilities by their
enemies.’
Scott Rigell (R-VA)
From a press release reprimanding Congressman Nye
for being one of 54 Democratic representatives who
called upon Israel in a signed letter to lift travel
restrictions in Gaza:
“Having just returned from a fact-finding visit
to Israel, where I met with senior Israel leadership
and saw firsthand the rockets that have terrorized the
city of Sderot and neighboring cities in the south of
Israel, I am stunned by our freshman congressman’s
decision to sign this letter. By signing the letter
and aligning himself with the most liberal members of
our Congress, including John Conyer, Jim McGovern and
Barbara Lee, Congressman Nye seems more concerned
about the rights of Hamas than innocent Israeli
citizens. Our freshman congressman fails to fully
understand that Hamas is an organization that openly
calls for the destruction of the State of Israel and
has used Israel’s voluntary withdrawal from Gaza to
turn schools into terrorist bases, homes into rocket
launch pads, and market places into battlefields. The
travel restrictions on Gaza are reasonable given
Israel’s right, indeed its duty, to protect its
citizens. Our freshman congressman has made clear
that he has a naïve world view and a fundamental
misunderstanding of the nature and scope of the threat
posed by Hamas to the citizens of our ally, Israel.”
And let’s not forget the darling of the Neo-Tea
Party movement, Sarah Palin, whose positions on Israel
and foreign policy are well known to us all.
Jane Fryer of the Daily Mail has been
touring the American mid-west on the trail of the tea
party movement. Jane is an ardent left-winger, but
nonetheless prudent in her reporting on things I’ve
witnessed myself.
During a visit to a small town in Kansas, Jane ran
into a burly fellow at a Tea Party rally who spoke to
her through a cheek full of tobacco:
'I love Sarah Palin, I just LOVE her. She's
bright, she's clever and she thinks like we do, she
acts like we do and she lives like we do. She listens
to the people, and she has a proven track record. She
talks the talk and walks the walk and she'd make a
wonderful president.'
And he’s not the only fan. The big guy’s neighbor
couldn’t wait to throw his two cents in:
'What's more, she's got good old common horse
sense, as we call it round here. She tells it like it
is. And she can shoot and skin a moose! Not many world
leaders can do that.'
O.K., I admit, that was only two out of the 26
attendees. You’re probably thinking there were at
least a few who had a less than favorable opinion
about the good ship Mrs. Palin, right?
Let’s hear from 63-year-old Dee Sadler, the
organizer of this humble Tea Party event:
'I just hope she runs for president. She's the
only person who can unite the Tea Party movement and
the Republican Party. Sarah Palin is America's last
hope!'
To which the entire groupof 26 chimed in with a
chorus of:
‘Amen.”
‘Sarah Palin for President.’
Think about that.
If you took this woman’s brain and transplanted it
into the body of a middle aged homeless man, you’d
have a disheveled vagrant standing on the corner—somewhere
in Anchorage, Alaska—hoisting a cardboard sign
over his head that reads: ‘Jesus is coming…and
he’s pissed!’
I guess a Sarah Palin-style theocray is precisely
what some people want. It certainly is in this sleepy
little Kansas town.
But I know—you’re going to tell me that this is
only one small group of people who don’t really
represent the majority of Tea Party activists, right?
Maybe it is—but I’m not finding evidence of real
anti-war sentiment among the ranks of the Tea Party
members I’ve run into! Could it be that the only
reason the Tea Party has any press at all is because
the Tea Party movement is now predominantly comprised
of war loving, Arab hating NeoCons who reminisce about
the good old Bush-Cheney days?
For those infiltrators who are now emerging as Tea
Party leaders, it’s no longer about taxes. It’s about
where those taxes go. Government run health care,
Wall Street bailouts and cap-and-trade schemes are
just things that are competing for that precious war
dollar. Is this the same Tea Party that you and I
enthusiastically put our endorsement behind?
The Tea Party began as a suggestion by CNBC’s Rick
Santelli, who called for a “Chicago Tea Party” to
revolt against the Obama Administration's mortgage
bailout plan. That suggestion became a reality when
Ron Paul supporters adopted the Tea Party moniker to
advance the ideals of their great statesman.
If you want to know what the Tea Party was all
about, just follow the career of Ron Paul. Ron Paul
is about limited government,
abolishing the Fed and bringing an end to these
never-ending—needless wars.
But that’s not what it has become.
Today, the Tea Party has become a branch of the
GOP. And whose fault is that? Mine…yours, and
everyone else who didn’t step up to the plate and take
an aggressive stand against the warmongering
infiltrators who came to silence our message of peace.
What did we expect would happen when we let
Israel’s favorite shiksa, Sarah Palin, feel welcome at
our Tea Party functions? We should have been there
from day one calling her out and sending her home! We
should have stepped in front of news cameras and made
it nice and sparkling clear that these hijackers were
only here to poison the well and stake a claim on a
movement they had no part in creating.
Now I fear that it just may be too late to get it
back. The problem now is that public perception of
what the Tea Party is about is relegated to this
faction of NeoCons, who are the only ones whose voices
are being heard.
Do we really want to spend our time defending
ourselves against the missteps of others or trying to
explain that our Tea Party is not the same Tea Party
that everyone is used to hearing about? That’s
exactly what they want us to do.
Maybe it’s about time we just started identifying
ourselves as Americans. What’s wrong with that?
I submit that we should distance ourselves from
parties and affiliations. We’re not part of a
movement, a rebellion or a revolution. Our war was
won over 200 years ago and we emerged victorious.
The GOP, the Democrats and many of those who now
identify themselves as Tea Party activists are the
real rebels and revolutionaries. They have rebelled
against the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the
Declaration of Independence and everything else
America stands for.
I’m an American, plain and simple—and from now on,
that’s the only thing I’m going to identify myself as.
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