Tea Parties In Danger?

I am starting to have some very serious concerns; perhaps fears’ a better choice of word, regarding the Tea Parties and the shadows that I see slowly emerging from behind them. Up for grabs are an estimated 500,000 to 1,000,000+ voters nationwide crying out for leadership and guidance. This is a heart stopping number to operatives and their associated political organizations. This voting bloc is rapidly becoming completely disenfranchised from the system with a total disdain for politicians and political candidates across all party lines. Political organizations with fancy 4-color letterheads and matching corporate offices as well as your usual shadowy political operatives can hardly resist the pull of said vacuum formed by this chasm and are, I fear, rushing in to ride heard on this group of disgruntled citizens.

My specific concern lies with the sudden influx of ‘nonpartisan organizations’ that want to ‘help organize’ the Tea Parties in many parts of the country. I belong to numerous online nationwide Tea Party groups and am hearing talk of ‘sponsorships’, of shadowy organizers, some with not-so-subtle political agendas, the very things that, in Illinois, seem to lead to corruption and the typical political shenanigans we’ve seen time and time again. I believe that we need to keep the focus of the Tea Parties on the people as individuals and to avoid turning these events into an organized political group.

Allow me to focus, for a moment, on the concept of what a sponsor means and why it’s a bad idea for the Tea Party. I am an auto-racing enthusiast. For me it's normal to see racing vehicles plastered over in sponsorship stickers. In exchange for funding, parts and supplies, the owner of the vehicle has agreed to place small advertisements on the vehicle for the public to view. The driver, wrapped in similar cloth patches all over his fire suit will, in media interviews, typically be obligated to mention, in glowing terms, said sponsors name and product. Thus the public sees and buys the sponsors product.

In auto-racing I believe this to be an acceptable and much-needed practice, as a racing vehicle owner usually cannot afford to support their vehicle without outside assistance. Imagine now, if you will, a Tea Party with a sponsor. Who selected this sponsor? What does this sponsor receive in return for their cooperation or donation? Perhaps your organizing entity chose some sponsor that you don't like or one whose views you do not share. What then? And what next?

Aside from city issued rally permits and a public address system I'm not sure I even comprehend why we need an organizing entity or sponsor. I don't know about you but all I need is a simple cardboard sign on a stick or possibly a flag of some sort and the determination to make it to a given location at a given time, to talk to my fellow citizens, to interact with the media, if they'll refrain long enough from interrupting some of us during interviews, of which I can call and notify of the event all by myself, perhaps some flyers to hand out to passersby. What else is really needed?

A committee of citizens, as opposed to professional organizers, could be formed to obtain the minimum legal and logistical support necessary to stage an event. Expenses can be compensated for the committee members by taking up donations at the events. We are, as a group and by our very nature, generous. With enough notice requesting donations to compensate for expenses and costs I doubt very much the committee members would be left with even minimal incurred debt.

I don't know about you but I don't need, nor wish to represent, an organization whose motives I am unsure of, that’s not been clearly explained to me, who might want to advocate limits or themes to a particular event. The worst-case scenario as I see it would be with these organizers eventually 'suggesting' to us what we could display on our signs and what types of flags we could fly in an effort to "maintain an image of continuity and unity". By the very nature of the Tea Party we are not a congruent, even tempered group, we are all individuals, each with our own individual grievances, dreams and political beliefs. I worry about the 2nd Amendment, many worry about the economy, pretty much everyone agrees on taxes and the excessive size of government while others choose to focus on abortion related issues. All of the preceding are valid points of view and all deserving of strong protest and outcry as well as our group’s undivided support. That is the very essence of what makes the Tea Party event such a unique and truly American experience.

And that is what scares those in power, the thought that I pray keeps them up at night: Their lack of governance over us.

If you do not believe that there was behind scenes nonsense at more than a few Tea Parties around the country allow me to tell of what I know happened at the local April 15 tax Day Tea Party at Federal Plaza in Chicago. There were several issues involving who was going to speak at the event. In fact, at one point, the list was changing so often that it stopped being published on the Facebook event page. As an example a West Suburban individual who has very recently registered every conceivable combination of their name combined with the words ‘for governor.com, .net, .us. etc.,’ wanted very much to speak at the April 15 Chicago event however word leaked out and the general public consensus, right or wrong, was that this individual was going to announce their candidacy, or least the formation of a campaign exploratory group, for state governor during that speech. Rumor has it that the only reason they were removed from the speakers list was because of the subsequent public outcry regarding the potential or implied partisanship. What if these rumors had never surfaced thus preventing any public outcry, would the organizers still have allowed this person to proceed knowing of their intentions? The media would have had a field day!

Then there was the rancor of a pair of radio station talk-show hosts who were outraged because they were not allowed to speak at the event. I still don't have an answer as to why they were not allowed to speak while another competing radio talk show host was. Did you know that a hard-core conservative Republican publicly endorsed the April 15 Chicago event…I just found out on May 11th about that…

We, as citizens and voters, have been burned so many times in the past by those that we have elected with their false promises, hidden agendas, endless greed and ongoing corruption. I believe we need exercise extreme caution when requesting assistance or guidance from organized entities with regards to Tea Parties due to the consequences of overt or covert agendas that these relationships might entail.

In closing I suggest that any organization wishing to organize or ‘sponsor’ a Tea Party in the future be prepared for an unprecedented showing of transparency to, and ensuing due diligence by, the citizen attendees of these great Tea Parties. Only then can we keep the Tea Parties truly unique and nonpartisan. I know I'll be asking questions of and about these organizing entities and their ‘sponsors’.

Will you?

Readers of this post are strongly encouraged to post their comments and thoughts or you may contact the author directly via e-mail at illinoispatriot @ Hotmail.com.

Respectfully submitted,

H. K.