Is the "tea party" movement being hijacked?

I admit I haven't paid so much attention to the so-called "tea party" movement. So my impressions may be incorrect. My question in the thread title is a sincere one...not meant to be provcative or to incite "political madness."

It seems to me the "tea party" movement began more or less spontaneously as something that was neither conservative or liberal: Just Americans demanding a return to the constitutional values of the nation. People fed up with the big spending, erosion of civil liberties, foreign wars, and corporate pampering that took place under Bush and continues to take place under Obama. In other words, beyond left and right. Beyond the tired old partisan sniping.

Then I started seeing Ron Paul's name associated with it. Well, I thought, that's a change. I personally like Dr. Paul and most of what he says. I think he's one of the few relatively honest and principled American politicians, and although he is a Republican in name, I respect his stance for reaching beyond the bounds of traditional partisanship. But still it seemed a shift, because I thought the tea party movement was spontaneous, "bottom-up," grass-roots, and not defined by any sitting politician or political party.

Then, the other day I saw some kind of clips from a tea party "convention" of some sort which struck me as very different from the first citizen-based demonstrations. Instead of a wide selection of Americans standing up, leaderless, and taking matters into their own hands, I saw a podium, "official" speakers, and logos. I saw Sarah Palin's name as a speaker, which made me do a double-take...she strikes me as a Neocon more than anything, and I would think that any sincere movement would be as much against her as Obama. Then I listened to a few of the speakers and every other word out of their mouths was "liberal" this and "liberal" that...blah blah blah...in other words, back to the same old one-dimsional push-me-pull-you 2-party garbage I thought the tea party was meant to stand against.

It seems to me like a bunch of slick politicians are trying to get out in front of the "movement" and claim it as their own...and in the process, distorting the true nature of what it was and what it was meant to be. They are, it seems, trying to crush something vital and alive into a stale partisan discourse...the very same stale discourse the tea party seemed to be pushing against to begin with.

Or am I misunderstanding something?

I, too, like much of what Ron Paul is about. He's refreshing compared to the Bush and Obamas out there. So when we started hearing about the TPM, it seemed to reflect the things Ron Paul spoke of.

Then they got all glammed up for the cameras and bought Palin and such. Kind of like if Gandhi started getting popular and went out and bought some nice expensive clothes to give interviews in.

It was a message that started out good, but went sour with shallow media puppets to boost their image that, in the end, compromised what they were about.

I suspect that the original Tea Party movement that originated with the Libertarian groups and people like Ron Paul was a grass roots movement. However the sad reality of the modern political/corporate state is that anything that may provide leverage will be co-opted by those who seek power.

It seems to me that the lobby groups for those who see things like bank regulation as undesirable because they cut into profits, have bought their way into this movement and astro-turfed it so that can play it to their political tune.

I suspect that many of the people in the Tea Party movement are honestly trying to take some sort of action to correct what they see is wrong in the country (personally I disagree with with on those conclusions but I do commend them on taking actions according to their conscience -- I have more respect for that than the typical apathetic non-voter who would prefer to watch Family Guy non-stop and abrogate is responsibilities as a citizen). However, I believe that the movement itself has been taken over by special interest groups.

I find it interesting that those on the left are talking about the fragmentation of the Tea Party movement. Is suspect this is not so much a fragmentation but a push back against those that are trying to usurp the movement.

Now if they could just get rid of those silly hats with the tea bags dangling from them.

The Ron Paul version is the real Tea Party Movement. The one we see today is only a small scale version of what happened to our government over a shorter scale of time. Just like Washington, the Tea Party movement has become corrupted, becoming nothing more than a renaming of the Republican party in order for them to recover from Bush Era politics.

The worst part is that much like Washington, a lot of the people are going along with it instead of standing up and demanding what the Tea Party really stands for. Sadly, it is more than likely too late as the once venerable movement has been tainted badly.

I'll turn my faith for now to Dr. Paul as I see him as the last remaining hope in this fight.

Of course it's being hijacked. Considering it was out of the former Ron Paul for Pres 08 network that the tea party movement was mobilized to begin with.

We don't get over 100 years of the same two parties without the two absorbing populist movements.

It's like in business. Big Business has the ability to buy out local mom and pop shops, sell to a negative profit, and use the legal system to tie competition in knots. This is the same as the Big Two.

Paul/Perot 2012 anyone?

well as I stated in a long ago post. when politicians cant beat you - they join you and then corrupt you. its just the way they stay in power. My sources says both the Dems and the Repubs are going to stack the deck with false patriots this next election, as incumbents have a snowballs chance in hell of getting elected. so, anyone who has worked for any of these bastards should be avoided. if you havent been a farmer the last 20 years - you aint getting elected.

[edit on 7-2-2010 by Anti-Evil]

The Ron Paul Revolution was hijacked and mutated into the Tea Party Movement we see today, being mutated into the full-on FOX News Shadow Government Republican Party.

You gotta pick a party, dontcha know!