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Why I Became a Tea Party Activist

 

A few months ago I was asked to help someone with a paper they were writing by answering a questionnaire as to why I became a Tea Party activist. I was glad to help & it also helped me to crystallize how I got to where I am today. You may find it beneficial to go through the exercise for yourself.

IDENITY

How do you identify politically? Why do you label yourself this way? What labels do you NOT identify with that others might use for you?
I self identify as a Libertarian/Conservative. I hold mostly Libertarian views, believing government's only legitimate role is spelled out in the Declaration of Independence to secure our rights to Life, Liberty & Property. Where I differ from the pure Libertarian philosophy is on a very few areas such as Drugs, where I find inherent evil & think they should be kept illegal. I realize this is imposing my morality on others & I cringe at the thought, but I've seen the destruction drugs can cause & find nothing redeeming about them, so I want them kept illegal. The media & the Left have tried to paint us Tea Partiers as right-wing, racist, extremist radicals, when nothing could be further from the truth.

Who and what influenced you to become an activist?
I've always been against the ever expanding government & destruction of our individual rights that's been taking place in our country for a very long time. What got me up off the couch & into the streets was the unprecedented reckless spending & unparalleled radical destructive policies of the last 10 months. After reading Mark Levin's Liberty & Tyranny, I couldn't just throw things at the TV anymore. I had to do what ever I could to preserve what freedoms we have left, for the sake of my children's future.

Do you see yourself as part of (or influenced by) any historical or political traditions/movements? Why?
I'm a student of the founders, having read the Constitution, Federalist Papers, writings by Madison, Jefferson & Adams. I've also read their influencers, Adam Smith, John Locke & Montesquieu. More recently, I love Ayn Rand - Atlas Shrugged is a powerful influence. These are the traditions I believe in - Individual Rights & Individual Responsibilities. As to the movement, I think the fact that I consider myself a Tea Partyist says it all.

How do you stay informed about current events? What influences your choice of media outlets?
Internet, Blogs, video, radio & minimal TV. There's no point in watching the Government-contolled big media - they're just selling the government agenda. Occasionally I tune in just to see what the enemy is up to. The only place to get the real story is online.

RECENT HISTORY

What do you personally consider to be the defining events/moments of the last decade? What was your personal involvement with or reaction to these events?
Obviously 9/11 was the single biggest event in the last decade. Unfortunately, due to the country's lack of leadership at this critical time, instead of mobilizing us to confront our self-appointed mortal enemies, we were told to go shopping. Instead of doing whatever it took to become energy self-sufficient & make the oil in the Mideast that's financing the Jihadis irrelevant, they did nothing & now we're more dependent on the very people who hate us, than we were before. Personally, I watched it on TV from work & knew a few people who died in the attack. It affected me deeply & I was desperate to see what I could do to help.

What was your reaction to the events of September 11th? How do you feel about them now?
Aside from the above comments, I see it as a wake-up call. Prior to 9/11, we were able to delude ourselves that we were safe in the US. Now we know better. It's sad that my children & theirs will never know what it was like not to worry about terrorism on our own shores. My feelings haven't changed. These people are on a mission to destroy us & if we don't wake up, they will do exactly that.

How did you feel about Pres. Bush while he was in office? How do you feel about him/that time period now?
When first elected, he seemed like a spoiled little rich kid who got in because his daddy paid off the right people. There really was no choice but to vote for him since Al Gore & then John Kerry were major Liberal idiots. Right after 9/11 I supported him. I supported Afghanistan but thought he went into Iraq to vindicate his father. The last 4 years of Bush, however, was an unmitigated disaster. He increased government spending & power on a massive scale introducing a new Drug Entitlement program that we couldn't afford. I hold him responsible that the most radical, least qualified person ever seen is in the White House, since he threw away any remaining claim the Republicans may have held about being the party of limited government & individual rights. The country was ready to roll the dice on a complete unknown just as a change from what Bush became.

How did you feel about Pres. Obama during the 2008 election season? How do you feel about him/this time period now?
When I first heard him speak, I was intrigued. Here was a bright articulate guy who could be the leader I felt the country has needed since 9/11. Once I scratched the surface even a little bit, his extreme leftist voting record & all his radical associations became known, so I obviously turned more & more against him. His true intentions of fundamentally changing this country by re-distributing the wealth from those who produce it to those who need it, (right out of the Communist Manifesto), became crystal clear from the Joe the Plumber incident. Now I find that he's even worse than I had feared. He's on the wrong side of every issue, foreign & domestic & I fear he's destroying this country intentionally. Everything he does is right out of Saul Alinsky's Rules For Radicals.

AMERICAN HISTORY

What events/moments in American history mean the most to you? Why?
The founding. Never before in human history had a country been founded on the concept that the Individual was the sovereign & that the government was there to serve us. With all it's faults, (and the American system is clearly imperfect), a society based on freedom & equal opportunity led to the greatest standard of living & explosion of technology that humanity has ever experienced.

How do you feel your personal history relates to American history? Does your story (or your ancestors’ story) illustrate themes of American history?
My father wasn't born in this country. My family embodies the American dream. They came here in 1929, just in time for the Depression. My grandfather died in 1934, leaving my grandmother in the lower East Side of Manhattan with 4 kids, (my father was the eldest at 10). They went days without eating. They worked hard. My father did odd jobs. My grandmother took in sewing, etc., somehow they made it without ever giving a thought that anyone owed them food or housing or healthcare. The kids went to school - Education was paramount, & they grew up to be successful. My family's story is the same as every generation of immigrants to America, up until the last few decades. Come here for freedom & a chance for a better life. Learn the language, work hard, send your kids to school so they can have a better life than you did. Most immigrants do the same today & they are the backbone of this country as they appreciate the essence of America, knowing very well what they left behind & why. But the new attitude taking hold that the government owes us things simply because we're here & we need them is bankrupting & destroying this country.

What did you learn about American history from school? From the media? From your friends and family?
I was taught the traditional European-centric view of American history from the Pilgrims through the Revolution through WWI & II in school in the 60's. Media pretty much echoed this view. The media view started changing with the Woodstock generation of the late 60's & continued to morph into the politically correct, moral relativist garbage we see today. I learned most of the history I know from going back to the original sources, as I outlined previously.

How do you think liberals view American history?
They feel guilty for America's success & feel that we don't deserve the status & standard of living we have attained. They feel we're imperialistic rapists of the environment & there is nothing special about America. They feel that as oppressors, we owe the world a debt & they're determined to make sure we pay it in the name of Social Justice. That's what Copenhagen was all about.

What do you consider the successes of America? the failures?
The greatest success of America is the empowerment of the individual. Once people were unleashed to act in their own enlightened self-interest, the spirit of entrepreneurship lead to our greatness. Beyond the material, I do believe that America is still the "Beacon of light on the hill", the one place on Earth where freedom is paramount, which provides hope to oppressed peoples everywhere. If our light goes out, surely the whole world will plunge into darkness. I think our greatest failure is taking our freedoms for granted & losing sight of what it is that made us great. We're perilously close to losing it all. As John Adams said, "Liberty once lost, is lost forever."

TEA PARTY / 9-12 MOVEMENT
How did you become involved in the Tea Party / 9-12 movement?
I went to Mark Levin's book signing for Liberty & Tyranny in March. The place was a mob scene. 6,000 people showed up at a tiny bookstore in a sleepy little town of Huntington, Long Island. It took 8 hours to get my book signed, but I noticed something. Everyone there was well behaved & decent to each other. Everyone I spoke to - whether I agreed with them or not - had well educated opinions on whatever point they were making. When we left there wasn't as much as a piece of paper on the floor. I knew then that I was amongst my element. After reading the book, I got angry. It spelled out exactly what the Statist's agenda would be, even though the book was written before Obama was inaugurated. It ended with an action plan & I knew I couldn't sit back & do nothing while these radicals destroyed the country I loved. I had to get involved. On April 15th, I attended a Tea Party at City Hall in Manhattan with 12,500 other patriots. I went to another rally in early July in Times Square. Although I felt good about being there, I didn't feel we'd accomplish anything substantial by these feel-good rallies. The media & the politicians weren't listening. In early August I got involved with several Tea Party groups, some more active than others. I joined the Conservative Society for Action, the Tea Party group that started the Town Hall frenzy of the past summer when they ambushed their “representative”, Tim Bishop, back in June. I've been to over 50 events with them since then. We're starting to make a difference in local & national politics.

How would you characterize the Tea Party / 9-12 movement? Describe who you think the typical tea party activist is.
Most of the people I know are like me - people who've never been politically active before, but have become gravely concerned about the direction in which our country is headed. We feel compelled to do whatever we can to stop the relentless march to Socialism to try & preserve what freedoms we have left, for our posterity. We see ourselves as patriots, fighting against a creeping soft-tyranny, much as our forefathers fought the British over 230 years ago. They fought against taxation without representation. Our leaders don't represent us & are taxing us into oblivion.

How do you feel the movement has been characterized in the media? Is this accurate or inaccurate, and why?
The media paints us as right-wing racists, who are against Obama because he's black. Although groups like ours on both the left & the right, naturally attract kooks, we shun them & want no part of them. Interestingly enough, I feel it's the leftists who are racists. Look back at the campaign. Who brought in race & said we'd be against him because he didn't look like us? Obama, not us. Who consistently says that anyone that's against Health Care, etc, is racist? The media & the liberal politicians & celebrities. We're against the man's policies, not his race. If the Ku Klux Klan & every white supremicist group got together to devise a plan to subjugate those of color, they couldn't come up with a better one than the course the current administration is following. Make people dependent on the government & you've made a slave. Give them a job & the self respect & self determination that engenders, & you've created an empowered citizen.

What effect do you think the movement has so far had on American politics?
So far, we've had limited but growing success. We were able to slow down the Health care debacle, which Obama wanted passed before Congress had their August recess, for fear of what they would hear from their constituents when they went back to their districts. Through the town hall frenzy & other strategies, we've made previously untouchable incumbents weak & vulnerable - a strategy that should yield results in 2010. We've organized the previously silent majority & awakened a sleeping giant, and this can hopefully have far reaching effects in the years to come. Most of us were too busy working hard & providing for our families to be involved before. We've taken our freedoms for granted. No more. We're energized & prepared to fight for our country. We've got no choice.

What impact do you see the tea party movement having in the next year? by the 2010/2012 election cycle? ten years from now?
I think I answered this question with my previous response.