The Tea Party's Crashing Us Now

Two different blog entries at LRC, here and here, complain about the Tea Party movement. Ostrowsky says more or less that Palin's an embicile with no real program, and Rockwell says the movement looks like it still really really really likes the government's little wars.

I myself didn't watch very much of the Tea Party convention on C-SPAN. I became immediately uninterested when they started by pledging allegiance to the flag. They pick a name for themselves that harks back to a time when "patriotism" meant rebellion against political authority, and here they are saying "One Nation...Indivisible". If these guys were in the original Tea Party then we'd have pictures of the Queen on our money today.

I really can't say I know every single reason I dislike them. That would require examining them closely, and I can't stomach that. Judging off the general impression they give, though, I can say that they don't impress me. Here's something from some Facebook comments I made earlier.

"My criticisms of the Tea Partygoers are out of principle and out of practicality. I think a non-interventionist foreign policy is more important than conservative economic policy (mass theft is less horrendous than mass murder). The Tea Partygoers are all the rage about the words "fiscal conservatism", but as a movement they don't seem to be particularly against reductions in US military commitments abroad. After all, fiscal conservatism doesn't make much sense without reductions in military adventurism. And, if they had a mass conversion to belief in individual rights against the security state, I haven't noticed it. There's nothing wrong with fiscal conservatism, but it has to be consistent, and it is not the end-all-be-all of right reform.

"The movement won't be able to make any dents unless they offer something that would appeal to left-of-center voters and which isn't offered by the Obama regime. That can (and should) include calls to reduce military action and spending, and calls to repeal the "Patriot" Act. The Tea Party movement isn't perceived as doing either of these, and so it's thought of as just a bunch of right-wing extremists. Fiscal conservatism is fine and good; but voters won't buy it if it doesn't look digestible.

"I'm also a little resentful because there already is a political party called Boston Tea.

"But maybe some good will result from this, and through the efforts of libertarian conservatives more and more Tea Partygoers would be drawn to a more pro-peace and pro-freedom platform.
"True, there's no such thing as a perfect movement. But the Tea Party movement isn't even adequate - yet. As it is, their platform is something I can't put my name behind in good conscience, and their platform and image are not going to get their candidates the primaries *and* get swing voters *and* keep party loyalty in the districts where we need them. Maybe they'll get better, but I don't think they're even good enough yet."