Check out this class act, the Tea Partier in the tie, that mocks a man (by making it rain?!?!?!) suffering from Parkinson's disease, also notice the Tea Partier on the left of the shot with the baby in the baby carrier appearing noticably uncomfortable:
And I know some will say that the above is just one bad apple. There are a multitude of examples of Tea Party gatherings being supposedly marred by a few "bad apples" that don't reflect the true views of their movement. I wonder why the Tea Party movement attracts so many "bad apples"? The answer to that question probably says a lot about the Tea Party movement.
Here's my answer to why the Tea Party movement attracts so many "bad apples": the Tea Party movement, at least in part, preaches a politics of fear of change, fear of the different, and just plain fear. If, in part, the Tea Party continues to preach fear, other fear-preaching groups and individuals will continue to be attacted to the Tea Party. Exactly how many bad apples have to be caught on video or photographed before it's decided that maybe the whole barrel is tainted?
Have you seen Leonard Pitts's most recent columns on the subject?
ReplyDeleteIf not, check out
http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/03/27/1550273/challenge-to-gop-condemn-the-violence.html
and
http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/03/24/1544302/tea-partiers-proved-that-i-was.html
Frank Rich also has a few choice words for the Tea Partiers:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/28/opinion/28rich.html
These are hateful, hateful people.