I realize that sounds quite delusional to many people, particularly here in Washington. But it makes total, absolute sense.
The muttering class Inside the Beltway is very pleased with itself: The doomed Tea Party strategy is foundering on the shoals of idiocy, just like they said it would. The Republican “brand” has been downgraded yet again. America looks foolish abroad: “The world has reacted mostly with disbelief that a superpower could fall into such dysfunction,” wrote the New York Times today. Reasonable people will soon be back in charge so they can do reasonable things in a reasonable way without all these Tea Party lunatics stirring up trouble.
Let me tell all of you something:
THIS COUNTRY IS ALREADY IN A STATE OF TOTAL DYSFUNCTION, AND HAS BEEN FOR YEARS.
A state of dysfunction, mind you, brought to you by the “reasonable” people who have been striking deals for years that have created $17 trillion in debt and a possibly irreversible degree of Socialism that is lobotomizing our tradition of independent thinking and creativity, crippling free enterprise, and carving the soul out of the moral, God-fearing ethic that has made this nation the greatest on earth.
You’ll see them all on the Sunday talk shows, concurring solemnly with each other about the need to avoid such shenanigans again so our system can resume functioning in a normal manner.
But as you and I know, “normal” has become a state of somnolence in which our leaders steadily sleepwalk us into the abyss.
We are adding new entitlements, even as the old ones are tens of trillions of dollars in debt. That’s right, tens of trillions. That’s what it will cost to make sure our children get the same Medicare and Social Security benefits their grandparents are enjoying.
We have begun a vast new economic arrangement, Obamacare, imposed by one ruling Party on the entire nation, that will ensure our children will one day die needlessly from a ruined health care delivery system and that will invite the federal government into countless aspects of our lives.
The “crisis” that would ensue if we breach the debt ceiling is not something caused by the Tea Party. It is a manifestation of the crisis that already exists. WE ARE ALREADY UNABLE TO PAY OUR BILLS WITHOUT THE HELP OF COMMUNIST CHINESE BUREAUCRATS. WAKE UP AMERICA!
That’s all the Tea Party is saying to people. That’s all that’s happening here. The economic chaos and harm that might ensue if there is breach of the debt ceiling is no more than a preview of the meltdown that is on the way once all the bills catch up with us and once the U.S. has declined to the point that the savages replace us as the world’s preeminent economic and military power.
Man’s ability to ignore uncomfortable truths and live in a preferred reality is remarkable. People spend years avoiding problems they know will cause them great harm down the road. But when it’s the government, this tendency is multiplied. No one really is responsible, and everyone will simply point the finger at someone else when things collapse and then go out and campaign for reelection as the only ones who can “fix” things.
The Tea Party, with its willingness to demand a stop to this freak show by shuttering the government and halting debt payments, is revolutionary, but not radical. Because sometimes revolutionary action is the reasonable course. The Tea Party is no more radical than were our Founding Fathers, who also staged a revolution when there was no other choice.
Summarizing some polling data, the Wall Street Journal today presents a picture of who the Tea Party regulars are:
Many frustrated liberals, and not a few pundits, think that people who share these beliefs must be downscale and poorly educated. The New York Times survey found the opposite. Only 26% of tea-party supporters regard themselves as working class, versus 34% of the general population; 50% identify as middle class (versus 40% nationally); and 15% consider themselves upper-middle class (versus 10% nationally). Twenty-three percent are college graduates, and an additional 14% have postgraduate training, versus 15% and 10%, respectively, for the overall population. Conversely, only 29% of tea-party supporters have just a high-school education or less, versus 47% for all adults.
Many tea-party supporters are small businessmen who see taxes and regulations as direct threats to their livelihood. Unlike establishment Republicans who see potential gains from government programs such as infrastructure funding, these tea partiers regard most government spending as a deadweight loss. Because many of them run low-wage businesses on narrow margins, they believe that they have no choice but to fight measures, such as ObamaCare, that reduce their flexibility and raise their costs—measures to which large corporations with deeper pockets can adjust.
In other words, the Tea Party is comprised of SENSIBLE PEOPLE hoping to restore some sense to the nonsense prevailing in Washington. They have come to the conclusion that, faced with a president who wants nothing but to expand government and a Congress unable to impose the thorough restructuring necessary to save the union, extraordinary measures are needed.
And, with tears in my eyes as I write this, I tell you, I don’t know if they will ever succeed. I don’t know if good people with the values that would save this country can withstand the monumental, grinding combined force of a government that sucks the life from the nation so it can itself live and a population that has grown habituated to the guarantee that other people’s money will be – and must be – provided to them.
But the people comprising this movement are right to give it a try. Surprising things do happen. And what other alternative is there?
The Tea Party is making a stand. The pundits will say, if legislation reopening the government and raising the debt limit passes, that the Tea Party has been defeated today. But to the extent conservatives have revived a movement, drawn attention to the problem, and even forced a president with his eye on the next deadline into negotiations, there will be victory in defeat.
119 thoughts on “The Tea Party is Both Sensible and Victorious”
Keith: STANDING OVATION!!!
!
I agree!
The truth. Bravo, Keith. And I have never seen the ‘establishment’ of both parties and the media running so scared.
Facts never interested a liberal unless it’s one they can make up.
They are like a cornered animal Julie.
Long term success requires short term failures…
So if the sensible people in the form of The Tea Party and other Conservatives are always going to be considered as intemperate lunatics, even by their own party, how will anything ever change?
As the budget grows, as national debt grows, as Obamacare grows, I assume the Tea Party will grow. Obama has won, but I don’t think the RINOs have at all.
I have never read or heard a finer explanation of the goals of tea party americans. This needs to be an article shared with everyone.
I can’t think of enough ways to say Thank You.
BRAVO!
No guts, no glory.
Well said!
I am printing and framing for daily reference,
Thank you for such wise words!
Excellent post, Keith
This is sooo true. I’m glad someone has their head out of their ass in Washington.
Very well-done piece, Keith.
But save the tears until after the mid-terms, will you? I believe there may be hope for America yet.
Average citizens who have never been involved in politics are already doing quite well at the local levels across the land, and it’s only a matter of time until this Agent Smith batch of me-me-me congresscritters will be gone. If the voters don’t remove them from office, old age will at some point–those clowns can’t live forever.
And once that happens, once a new generation of liberty-loving patriots takes over from the foul clutches of the Me Generation, America WILL be America again.
This event has served to put the conservatives on alert to what the RINOs have in store for them in 2014. The last thing the Tea Party should do is acquiesce.
Keith, yes keep this post and these thoughts going
Julie, you are right. Changing minds take time.
This is outstanding!
Perfect! Very nicely done. Agree, agree, agree!
The bottom line for the Tea Party:
Go win more elections. And unelect the status quo.
Without it, well…I don’t want to consider the alternative.
This is it.
Thank you Keith for putting this into words.
Could not agree more Keith! Thank you for articulating what so many of us feel out here in fly over country!
I was just discussing those exact sentiments! These “So Called” Representatives are anything but. They play the same role every time an Obama Crisis “occurs” ! I am so SICK of the DEMS and the RINOs that I don’t believe ANYTHING any of them say. We , the People have been SOLD down the river by DC as a WHOLE. We hear every day “Impeach Obama” and they all ask for donations and NOTHING is done to rid us of him and his THUGS!
If I weren’t in my 80’s I Really think I’d look at leaving this MESS we call a COUNTRY!
Thank you, Mr. Koffler! Excellent perspective! Being a Libertarian, I don’t align myself with the Tea Party completely, but at least they’re doing something.
Keith Koffler 2020 – A man with vision.
Bravo Keith.
Outstanding rant Keith !!!
If they think that they can put the Tea Party away, they are sorely mistaken.
Nor can they prevent us from speaking the common sense truth as to what is happening to this Country under the Obama administration.
Every attack on us only makes us stronger.
“This” – Observation – by “Keith Koffler” of -> https://www.whitehousedossier.com No Matter The Value of The “Dollar”……. Things & People Are About To -> CHANGE <- For The Better – Thank God thru the Christ via The Spirit of God – In Man {wo-man "IS" man, too}……. – "Be It So" –
No, the Tea Party has not been defeated, the hard-working men and women of America have been defeated. All at the hands of elitist, power hungry individuals who care little about the good of the collective and care about securing their perks and privileges for life.
It’s not even about kicking the can down the road any longer. They have reverted to hands around the throats of every tax-paying American. They are choking the very life out of us and daring to call it “fairness” and “equality”.
Bravo to the few brave who stood up and tried to stop the insanity. The very definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over expecting different results. Who cares if you are vilified today? One day you will be vindicated for doing what is right. Eighty and ninety year old veterans showed this nation the kind of substance each and every one of us should embrace. Time will tell if we are really desirous of a difference in this country. It’s one thing to say we want change; it’s another to actually be willing to make the hard choices and sacrifices to ensure it does change.
Lock arms and stand your ground. We either fight the fight now, or we will fight it another day when it will be even more difficult. With all the extra weight implosion is just around the corner. Righteous anger should propel us to motion in order to extinguish the bad and negative influences that harm ourselves and others. Onward to victory my fellow Americans! Not a victory for a political party or a political ideology, but a victory for all freedom loving individuals.
One of your best articles. I agree with every word.
The Tea Party is the solution to our problems in the USA. Dems
hate them, but I think the Tea Party will prevail thoughout the land.
Now, if only it happens in my lifetime that would be wonderful. I am not getting any younger, pushing 83 now. One can only hope and pray.
Well said.
If anything the last three weeks of debate have shed some light on the country’s current march to oblivion. It is a mystery why the American people who don’t like Obamacare will not even support limited efforts to delay its implementation or to correct some of its inequities. It is a mystery that the America people know the government spends much more than it brings in but will not demand the government live within its means. It is a mystery that so many American’s support Obama’s goal to “fundamentally change America”, the greatest county in the history of the world, without understanding what Obama means by that. Why would you want to “fundamentally” change something that is more successful and exceptional than any other form of government planet has ever seen unless you don’t believe that? And if you don’t believe that how did you become qualified to be President?
Excellent article , Keith ! One of your best ! It almost brought tears to my eyes too……
Thank you for the excellent recap. Sadly, the majority of Democrats prefer to think of the TP people as terrorist, bomb carriers and ignorant people. All because they care about their children, their grandchildren and their Country.
Beautifully said, Mr. Keith!
Perhaps We the People can now take the next step in the revolution: complete passive resistance to the federal government a le Gandhi.
We can shut down the federal government in our own way: by refusing to supply the federal government with EVERYTHING from from jury duty to income tax.
The federal government has shown us all its greatest vulnerability: its utter dependence on the working people of this nation for its sustenance– and so, with extreme aggressiveness and even more arrogance, the federal government and both major parties have declared the federal government’s ‘right’ to everything the middle class has and will ever have– even our dreams of modest prosperity for ourselves, our children, and all our generations to come.
Well said. I grieve for a nation so far adrift, blinded and ignorant both of the truth. God help us.
I see Obama is going to full charge on immigration after this is over. The Republicans should insist on budget cut talks first, but will they? I doubt it.
Even Krauthammer could not have said it any better. Well done!
that is high praise indeed!
100 percent correct. The notion of the Tea Party as a bunch of ignorant, reckless, reactionary loons is as far from the facts as any mischaracterization could possibly be.
A few years ago, Reid and Obama were both saying it was reckless and irresponsible to keep piling debt onto the next generation. Now, they and their allies paint anyone saying the same thing as arsonists, anarchists, radical extremists crazies. The hypocrisy is sickening — though completely expected from the left.
It isn’t surprising that leftists (aka Democrats) would ridicule and demonize anyone who stands in the way of their power-mad totalitarian agenda. But it’s dismaying when people who should be expected to have more sense do the same thing, if in less inflammatory but equally condescending terms.
well said radegunda. thanks to the lapdog media, most Americans think that “the tea party” is made up of morons who don’t believe in birth control, evolution, or dental hygiene. and Mr. Civility Barack Obama has been adding fuel to the fire since the beginning, even using the derogatory ‘bagger’ term.
Well said Keith.
I need to go order a DTOM flag.
Nicely stated, Keith.
I want to see folks (especially the politicians we elected) stand up and speak up, even if they’re voted down and shouted down. It may not reach some people, but you definitely won’t reach ANYONE if you don’t ever present the case.
Bravo, Keith. Very well said, and from the heart. Just have to let you know that the Tea Party never planned on “shuttering the government and halting debt payments”. That was Prez ValJar’s plan according to Ed Klein. The only issues the Tea Party was fighting for was the defunding of Obama-Boehnercare, and the opportunity to make DC listen to us. Thank God for Patriot leaders like Ted Cruz, Mike Lee, and Louie Gohmert who are finally giving us a voice in Washington, D.C.
I can’t type this without getting a little teary-eyed as well. But since the 2012 elections, this Army combat veteran of 12 years (Captain, retired), husband and father of three, and self-described moderate libertarian has lived with the forboding feeling that his children will not enjoy the same opportunities as he, his wife, and their families.
Furthermore, I feel my family will be financially treading water from here on out as deductions, taxes, and inheritence are drained from our dilligent earning, savings, and investments. We have banked on not being able to look forward to social security and medicare upon retirement since the results of the 1992 elections (yes, we were still in college at that time!), and this prediction keeps ringing more true with every election cycle. (I sure wish we are proven wrong because this would be quite a windfall of savings if not needed.)
But here we are, treading water, paying our fair share, making career and financial decisions that we hope will benefit our kids, and watching (knowing) folks who cash in our “charity” and buy TVs, cars, drugs, houses, and concert tickets with it.
Expanding entitlements to included freeloaders unfocuses it on those who so truly deserve it. For this reason, returning from combat in Iraq unhurt, I choose not to even register with the VA knowing that less folks on their rolls will ensure help gets to those more deserving than I. Can we expect citizens who haven’t served to have the same views on welfare? Observing the actions of EBT card-holders while shopping with limitless abandon, not likely.
I know someone who is severely disabled and always think that’s where I want a part of my tax dollars to go — not to the young woman in expensive-looking clothes and boots (in summer) who pulled out her EBT card behind me at Whole Paycheck. (She could have found a place to shop where the taxpayers’ money would go further.)
ObamaDon’tCare is essentially a massive new tax on the great majority of Americans. Dems have compelled insurance companies (for now) to be their instruments to squeeze money out of an already struggling and shrinking middle class — the people they’re always claiming to care about — to funnel it to their preferred demographics, soon to include foreign nationals who entered the country in defiance of our laws — who obviously, in the Dems’ view, have more rights than citizens.
I have yet to hear one Democrat politician express any concern or remorse about the harm they’re doing to non-wealthy people with their hideous law. Are there no Democrats, anywhere, with a shred of decency?
Thank you for your service and, well said!
I hope to see a similar title from Keith on November 5th, 2014.
Amen to that!
“like”!
*floundering i think is what you meant. Love the piece. Very awesome.
Keith, you are clearly on a rampage and it is about time! Disaster is looming, and we can only prepare for it and / or try to avert it.
This could be the turning point when all that was predicted for Obamacare’s failure comes to pass and the Jerry Springer watchers see how it hurts them too. Term Limits are the best solution as described by Mark Levin.
Great article Keith
Actually, I think that The Great One believes that our only hope is a Constitutional Convention and that within that framework term limits become a part of our great Constitution. Check out The Liberty Amendments.
Keith, I missed this first go around. Excellent. Just excellent. Thank you for this opinion and for this blog. And I don’t think this is going to stay isolated. Sometimes, out of suffering comes strength, out of failure, success. There is much to be said for those who fall, and get up again, and fall and get up again.
Brett Hume has a tweet which I link here of similar notice .http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/10/16/hume-tea-party-pushed-budget-confrontation-because-gop-utterly-failed-to/ And AOS has picked it up for discussion as well.
I say this, because hopefully, this is a reawakening. Strength gathering. Personally I always thought that if Cruz et al did anything they brought Ocare to the fore. Perhaps if not for that, the difficulties and inequities might be buried by the mighty Obama media. And I always remember that had it not been for the Tea Party Nancy Pelosi might be Speaker.
Absolutely right on, excellent piece!
Thank you, Keith, for getting the word out there that Tea Party conservatives are not a bunch of poorly educated, backwoods buffoons. And, yes, we must try to redeem this nation and pull it back from the brink of extinction. Great movements and successes have come from small beginnings.
Superb article Mr.Koffler.
With Americans marching on Washington to tear down the barrycades and doing the same at OUR National Monuments, perhaps, maybe, just maybe, what the career politicians have done is “… to awaken a sleeping giant and filled him with a terrible resolve…”
I used Admiral Yamamotos quote because it sounded better than Americans are pissed off.
Like others have already said: HEAR HEAR! Standing Ovation! BRAVO!! Out-Freeking-Standing!! I wish I could paste in my copy of an eagle, with the American Flag just below his eye, and the words “Lets Roll” beneath it!
God Bless You, Mr. Koffler!
I hate the Tea Party label, but I fit the profile. And we have no choice but to continue the fight, against not only the libs but the RINOs. The heart of this country is conservative still, and maybe if we rattle enough cages, we might get enough people to get off their dead butts and actually vote for candidates who would make a difference. We had, what, less than 40% turn-out in 2012? What if even 45% of the cons had shown up? We’d have had a different (not perfect, but leagues better) president, and maybe we would have flipped the Senate. It would be a different world.
And though we can’t flip the White House next year, maybe we can take the Senate and hold the House, and maybe Hillary is not a foregone conclusion in 2016.
That’s my hope for real change.
“I hate the Tea Party label, but I fit the profile.”
me too, and isn’t that sad that we feel that way?
“…maybe we can take the Senate and hold the House…”
let’s see how the midterms go after We The People get a snootful of Obamacare. I predict that the Party of Shutdown won’t be looking so bad in November 2014.
“And maybe Hillary is not a foregone conclusion in 2016.”
one word: Benghazi. keep hope alive, DmcG!
I take pride in the Tea Party label. Perhaps you feel the way you do because you are allowing yourself to feel the pressure from parties that want to take down the Tea Party. This can result one to feel like high school intimidation of not being one of the cool kids. Be confident in yourself and your choice. Take pride that you are NOT one of the many sheep that are following the D or R parties off a cliff but that you are trying to save the country for future generations. Don’t ever allow others that slander the Tea Party make you feel it is inferior to belong to the TP.
They might as well change the National Anthem to “FASHION” by David Bowie because that’s what drives America. Not work ethic, pride and our once famous FU attitude to obstacles. We were once unafraid to lead the world. Today we’re so f’ng worried about how we look we walk around w/ toilet paper stuck to our shoe nd the world says “you’re not drunk you’re just a great dancer!”
Brilliant piece KK. F’ing BRILLIANT!
Comments are closed.