[lbo-talk] Thoughts on the Tea Party

[c b]

michael perelman
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I was asked by our weekly paper to give some thoughts on the Tea Party
movement. Here is what I came up with:
The Tea Party movement combines ignorance, anger, and justifiable
indignation. For some, this ignorance reflects a degree of racism and
ethnic hostility.

^^^^^^^^

CB: Their racism is objective , not just a matter of opinion or "for
some". They are _really_ racist.

^^^^^^^^

The anger has been nurtured by the demise of journalism along with a
cynically crafted rhetoric of hate. Former Speaker of the House Newt
Gingrich was a master of this mode of communication. In 1990, four
years before Gingrich ascended to his leadership position, his
organization, GOPAC circulated a memo instructing Republicans about
the most effective method of communication in the political arena. The
memo recommended that his fellow travelers adopt a vocabulary built
upon confrontational words, such as "decay, sick, unionized
bureaucracy, greed, corruption, radical, permissive, and bizarre."
Without a responsible media, this strategy went largely unchallenged
until it became common practice.

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