What’s What in the Tea Party

The many factions that comprise the Tea Party movement are not particularly diverse.  It should be no surprise that the movement’s “big tent” leans decidedly to the right.

The Tea Party broadly espouses only the fiscal and budgetary conservatism that attends upon its “Taxed Enough Already” anagram.  However, the “astroturf” factions of the movement have ensured that the movement embraces conservative Republican values – lower taxes cure everything, Government should be as small and unobtrusive as possible, and business and capital markets should be unfettered by regulation.  For most Tea Partiers, these values are a natural fit in any event, since they are (a) consistent with their reading of the Constitution, and (b) relatively inexpensive. 

Almost all of the Tea Party factions embrace a commitment to a predominantly, if not exclusively, Christian America and to the notion of “American Exceptionalism” (requiring a massively strong and well-financed military).  The Tea Partiers’ Christianity opposes abortion, stem cell research, gay rights, women’s rights, religious tolerance, and, in some cases, racial equality.  As Christians, many Tea Partiers support local school systems that teach creationism and/or intelligent design, either exclusively or with evolution (a "theory" of equal weight).   Many Tea Partiers and their candidates believe that he Constitution doesn’t actually mandate the separation of church and state.  Some go so far as to assert that this separation is “unconstitutional.”

Most Tea Partiers profess to be governed absolutely by the Constitution, but they tend to read that document – and particularly its Amendments - quite selectively.   They ignore the First Amendment’s mandated separation of church and state, but hold sacred a Second Amendment right to unfettered gun ownership.  They invoke the Tenth Amendment’s “state’s rights” language to justify dismantling Federal agencies like the Department of Education and maintaining local control of many governmental functions, but believe that Civil Rights legislation and programs that enforce the 13^th, 14^th and 15^th Amendments are “unconstitutional.”  They advocate repeal of the 16^th and 17^th Amendments, thereby eliminating the Federal income tax and the popular election of US Senators.  However, they generally support adding amendments that would define “marriage” and require a legislative super-majority to impose any tax.

Many Tea Partiers, especially at the local level, espouse the nativist views of the Minuteman movement, the John Birch Society, and even the Klan.  Moreover, they are astoundingly anti-intellectual.  They despise the “liberal elite” and deny that there is any scientific evidence for evolution or anthropogenic global warming.   All but one of their Senate candidates believe that global warming is a hoax of liberal pseudo-science. 

The Tea Partiers’ belief in free markets and “financial freedom” would leave the unsuccessful to starve.  They bemoan the high unemployment rate, but believe that unemployment benefits are unconstitutional   Their candidates are, to a man (and woman), committed to repeal or block funding of health care reform.  They advocate cutting welfare, and privatizing Social Security.  They appear to trust business (big and small) as much as they distrust government.

OMG - What kind of country will we have if these folks are in control?  I fear that we are about to find out. . .