An opinion piece by Kate Zernike in Sunday’s New York Times reveals the true nature and motivation of many Tea Party activists. Surprisingly, they are better educated than the general public, more likely to be employed and more likely to describe their economic situation as very or fairly good.
So, why all the anger over healthcare, the economy and bailouts for these well-to-do malcontents?
Perhaps, because all the ostensible bleating over economic issues is, for many Tea Baggers, a cover for their real passions – race baiting, anti-immigrant sentiment, opposition to LGBT equality and promoting America as a fundamentalist Christian nation. Consider these facts reported in Zernike’s New York Times op-ed about the wonderful “patriots” whining and screaming across the land:
•They were almost unanimous in their dislike of President Obama
•Overwhelmingly, they said he does not share the values most Americans live by and does not understand the needs and problems of people like them.
•They are significantly more likely than Republicans or the general public to say that too much attention has been made of the problems facing black people, and that the policies of the Obama administration favor blacks over whites and the poor over the rich or the middle class.
•3 in 10 do not think Obama was born in this country
•They tend to be white and male, with a disproportionate number above 45, and above 65
•In the poll, 57 percent of them view Mr. Bush favorably — about the same percentage in the general population that has an unfavorable view
It is time for America and the media to get real.
The Tea Party has a large number of white guys (and Caucasian women) who are bitter because the old fashioned America they once thrived in is slipping away. Many of these folks are used to getting plum jobs and advantages simply because they belonged to the majority.
Now that America is changing into a religiously, ethnically and sexually diverse nation, these individuals are having to compete in a true meritocracy. The notion of the right person, rather than the white person, getting a job based on skills is driving many Tea Baggers bonkers.
A few of these seething, fringe activists are entertaining far out fantasies that they can return America to the 1950’s, or create a new Christian version of Iran in the U.S, through intimidation tactics or even outright violence.
They mindlessly attack the federal government, embrace the lost cause of the salve-loving confederacy and flirt with sedition. Such extremism must be stopped in its tracks, before America experiences another Oklahoma City – where domestic terrorists disguised as “patriots” caused death and destruction. (Fifteen years ago today, a delusional Timothy McVeigh blew up the Alfred P. Murrah Building, killing 168 innocent people.)
http://www.truthwinsout.org/blog/2010/04/8249/
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