What it really means to be tea (Tea Partier)

Don’t double check this is Misoir creating a favorable thread about the Tea Party Movement, I’m sure your jaw just dropped to the floor. Moving on…

What we hear now about the Tea Party Movement is that they are just Conservatives or Libertarians, mostly Republicans or Independent Republicans, and while demographically this is true it was not the original intention of the Tea Party Movement. The movement was started by 2008 US Presidential candidate Dr. Ron Paul (R-TX), he is a libertarian conservative, a torchbearer of the ‘Old Right’, alongside Pat Buchanan.

The Tea Party were his followers, his backers as he was kept out by the msm from their fear of him exposing the truth. They were grassroots political activists spanning the political spectrum while agreeing on one key principle, Liberty. His Campaign was for Liberty, that is why it was called the ‘Campaign for Liberty’.

A Tea Partier is a person who has several key beliefs; 1. Liberty, 2. Justice, 3. Peace, 4. Freedom, 5. Privacy, 6. Transparency, 7. Accountability, 8. Reform, 9. Smart government, 10. Patriotism.

I officially declare myself a Tea Partier! I am neither conservative, libertarian, authoritarian, centrist or liberal. I have my own blend, while statistically leaning toward libertarian with liberal viewpoints I prefer to agree with the views of the founding fathers applied to leftism in our modern world.

So, are you a Tea Partier? A person who agrees with them 10 key beliefs? Put aside what the majority of them may actually be, put aside who is their de facto leader, put aside some of the crazy people they may support for Congress. And just look at what it truly means to be a Tea Partier.

reply to post by Misoir

Sorry, but Pat Buchanan is not a libertarian and never professed to be one. He is a social-conservative demagogue.

As for your 10 "key beliefs," you would be better served if you re-thought them in terms of personal vs. government prescripts.

I've followed Dr. Paul's campaigns for many years, and he (and other Libertarians) would tell you that, with adherence to a few personal tenets, our political "leaders" would naturally slip into the "beliefs" that you ascribe to, or would prefer to see in, libertarian government.

To the point, a personal belief in liberty, privacy, patriotism and accountability will devolve into a political philosophy that reflects those other "key beliefs" that Libertarians ( and most of the Tea Party Movement) adhere to.

This philosophy is not "conservative" per se, as it does not seek to impose personal beliefs upon others through the political process. Most Libertarians will tell you that government has no business in abortion, "gay rights" or other "conservative" social issues.

Although not embodied in the Constitution, the "right to be left alone" was found by Justice Douglas, and later, Justice Blackmun, within the "penumbras and emanations" of the 9th and 14th Amendments. (Ironically, it was Blackmun's opinion supporting a woman's "right to choose" that conflicts so many "conservatives.")

Just as Douglas observed, most Libertarians will tell you that among the most valuable freedoms afforded to Americans is the freedom from government intervention into purely personal decisions.

Follow that, and you will inevitably find that the "key beliefs" naturally fall into place.

My government should be limited to that of the preamble and original language of the Constitution. Nothing more, or less.

reply to post by jdub297


Of course Pat Buchanan is not a libertarian, he is a Paleoconservative. Paleolibertarians and Paleoconservatives are what made up the 'Old Right'.

reply to post by Misoir


Mostly true but you do have one glaring error in your post. The tea party was not started by Ron Paul. However, Ron Paul does lead a faction of the libertarian movement, and his fans are mostly part of the tea party movement.
One day late in 2008, Rick Santelli, a cable news financial analyst on cnbc went off on an angry rant about our ever expanding government and their thirst for our money, and the subsequent waste there of. I remember seeing the post of the video on Drudge. During the rant, he suggested the Boston tea party was over a 3 percent tax, and that things are actually much worse now, with the government confiscating our wealth in some cases at a clip of 70 percent, to pay for peoples mortgages who bought irresponsibily, while those of us who worked hard to pay for our homes, often with two jobs, were left to twist in the wind. A selective, vote buying theft and reaalocation of our wealth. He suggested we needed to throw a new tea party on tax day and suggested a revolt. The tea party was born. While Ron Paul supporters joined in mass, Ron Paul actually had nothing to do with it.www.youtube.com...'s the video of the rant that started it all.

I have a problem with those "key beliefs". They are all things that one cannot justifiably be against; like saying I believe in 1. cute puppies 2. beautiful women 3. perfect weather 4. fresh air, etc.

Sounds like a set up. If you say you aren't a "tea-bagger" than you obviously are un-American.

Originally posted by 12GaugePermissionSlip
I have a problem with those "key beliefs". They are all things that one cannot justifiably be against; like saying I believe in 1. cute puppies 2. beautiful women 3. perfect weather 4. fresh air, etc.

Sounds like a set up. If you say you aren't a "tea-bagger" than you obviously are un-American.

If you don't think the government has violated many of these key beliefs you have more problems than your problem with these key beliefs.

A Tea Partier is a person who has several key beliefs; 1. Liberty, 2. Justice, 3. Peace, 4. Freedom, 5. Privacy, 6. Transparency, 7. Accountability, 8. Reform, 9. Smart government, 10. Patriotism.

I believe that pretty much everybody -certain totalitarian individuals excluded, of course-, regardless of political orientation, believes in 'liberty', 'justice', 'peace', 'freedom', 'privacy', 'transparency' and 'accountability'. To label these things are the 'key beliefs' of a Tea Partier kinda monopolizes the playing field, does it not? I am certainly not a Tea Partier, yet I believe in those things.

'Reform' is a vague term. Reform of what? Individuals like myself believe in the necessity of financial reform, yet the Tea Partiers disagree. I also believe in a government reform, but it may run in a different direction that the accepted Tea Party dogma, but of course we have our common grounds.

Also, I would like to point out that there is a difference between the Ron Paul Tea Party, which was simply a part of the Ron Paul campaign, and the astroturfed FreedomWorks/corporate sponsored/GOP puppet Tea Party that has risen to prominence.

Lastly, what do you think of the fact that Mr. Paul has willingly consorted with racists, neo-nazis, eugenics advocates and holocaust deniers by writing for the far-right, racist American Free Press, and appeared on the Stormfront/Klan linked Political Cesspool?

Cucumber sandwhiches is really what it means to be a tea partier. If you ever attend a tea party and there is NO cucumber sandwhiches you know something is terribly amiss.

The point is that most people pretty much are a believe in Tea Party beliefs, until it was hijacked by fanatics. This is not the real Tea Party, this is just some sick joke. There are only a few true Tea left in their own movement.