Bitter and I were planning on going to the 4th of July Tea Party at Independence Mall, but I’m not thrilled about the list of invited speakers, among them are 2004 Libertarian Party Presidential Candidate Michael Badnarik, who is billed as a “constitutional expert” (I can assure you he is no such thing), and anti-smoking activist Dr. Robert Skalroff, who held up Pennsylvania’s settlement with the tobacco companies because he believes we ought to be able to keep suing the tobacco companies. Then you have the fact that they have invited “Pro-life Spokeswoman, Katie Fleming” and then you have Herb Dennenberg, who is mostly known for his writings on the Iraq War and the Global War on Terror.
Now, my objection to Badnarik is rooted on my personal disdain for the Libertarian Party, mostly for taking the legitimate idea of a smaller government and turning into a political joke — a three ring circus that’s never done a damned thing to advance the cause of smaller government.  I won’t argue that Badnarik doesn’t belong there. But the other speakers are mixing up issues that I don’t think have any place in a movement that I thought was supposed to be about reducing the government’s footprint in people’s lives, and channel people’s discontent with the current pace at which Government is expanding. How exactly is a physician who wants to ban tobacco even about smaller government at all?
If the Tea Party movement is just going to be some politically amorphous movement that is a conglomeration of right-wing hangers on, I don’t see any reason to waste my time with it.
It would be great if some of the more politically-active regulars made it to the Philly tea party and reported on the REACTION of the crowd to these activist speakers’ message. There have been more than one instance of politician-barnacles trying to co-opt the tea party movement as their platform, only to be BOOED by the partiers, who were having none of it!
I feel the same way.
Exactly – thank you.
Sorry to hear about that. While the local one I attended was no where near as large (we had about 300 people) the speakers were exactly what you would hope for. Even the few that might have fit your definition of “right wing hangers on” like the priest and the guy from the pro-life group concentrated on the big picture, not their core agendas. There was even a liberal speaker who was brave enough to defend the current administration’s policies. Most moving though were the 2 speakers who had both escaped the communist USSR and come to the USA for freedom. I’ve often said that some of the best Americans are those that had to fight to become one. They seem to appreciate what this country offers compared to the rest of the world.