tea party patriots | Rockin' On The Right Side

TedCruz_at_2015SCTPC The South Carolina Tea Party Coalition gathered last weekend in Myrtle Beach, and there was never a dull moment. All the leading right-wing organizations were there, including the Tea Party Patriots, Freedom Works, the Heritage Foundation, the Tea Party Leadership Fund, and Americans for Prosperity. Contenders for the 2016 presidential race made stump speeches. Senators and congressmen tossed red meat to the hungry throngs.

The event sold out, skewering the notion that the Tea Party is in decline. Conservative celebrities lined up to participate. I have been attending events like this for a long time, and let me tell you – these people are more fired up than ever.

Some things haven’t changed. Barack Obama remains the target of the Tea Party’s ire, and the conservative faithful are more baffled than ever that so many Americans are still oblivious to the damage he continues to inflict on our nation. And the Tea Party is still an army of mostly gray-haired, fair-skinned grandmas and grandpas.

Yet the Tea Party and the conservative movement continues to evolve.

Lately the grassroots conservatives are as angry at Republicans as they are at arch-rival liberal Democrats. They stood and cheered as speaker after speaker exhorted them to “hold the Republicans in DC accountable.” Congressmen Louie Gohmert, Jim Bridenstine and Jeff Duncan got standing O’s specifically to thank them for their anti-Boehner votes. Still, Rep. Mick Mulvaney came out guns blazing in defense of his vote for the Speaker, and scored some points.

Minorities continue to gain in numbers and in comfort level in Tea Party circles. While they have always been warmly welcomed by the Tea Party, African American and Hispanic conservatives no longer feel conspicuous and are taking a significant leadership role.

A fairly large contingent of young conservatives also attended. One of the most compelling presentations came from Lauren Cooley of Turning Point USA. Cooley, a striking and very hip young lady, is winning high school and college students over to the conservative side at a wholesale clip. She single-handedly shut down the gender-studies department and its series of obscene programs at Furman University, and handed attendees to a Jesse Jackson event a list of unflattering direct quotes by him, standing her ground in a confrontation with the embarrassed sponsors. Her charges carry the pithy message, “Big Government Sucks”, and in growing numbers they understand and articulate the abuses heaped on young Americans by their government in recent years.

But the biggest change in the conservative movement is more subtle, and significantly more important. Grassroots conservatives have learned that they must work within the system to accomplish real reform. The days of loud complaints but little action are history, as conservative activists now work to reorganize precincts, run for local offices, and learn policy issues in detail, making them formidable citizen leaders and constituents. And the top conservative organizations all have focused goals with serious action plans in place to accomplish them.

Two larger-than-life issues in South Carolina took center stage at the convention. A determined group of conservatives led by Greenville activist Diane Hardy contends that primary registration by party would prevent election perversions such as moderate Republican Lyndsey Graham’s narrow win over several conservative primary candidates. Graham’s name, by the way, was roundly booed whenever uttered at the event.

Another policy issue that caught a lot of attention is the failure of the state to honestly implement its new law that struck down the Common Core standards. A panel was assigned to write new state standards, but instead they merely copied the Common Core standards and gave it a new name. An aggressive campaign is underway by Shari Few and her group, South Carolina Parents Involved in Education, to rewrite the standards.

South Carolina is an early primary state, a fact not lost on presidential hopefuls. Dr. Ben Carson was soft-spoken, but his conservative convictions were rock-hard. He admitted a lack of experience and expertise in both foreign and domestic affairs, promising to surround himself with smart people. Senator Ted Cruz made a rock-star entrance and then machine-gunned his well-rehearsed talking points with precision and authority, if not much inspiration. Cruz knows exactly what buttons to push. Rick Santorum was sincere, but didn’t show much fire in the belly. Donald Trump was . . . well, you know. Arrogant and embarrassingly shallow. But he was warmly received.

In conversation and informal straw polls, most of the attendees seemed to favor Scott Walker and Dr. Carson for president.

Nobody went home from this event feeling cheated. I’m sure this group from South Carolina provides a good cross-section of the Tea Party nationwide. And while the grassroots conservative movement has been consistent over the years in its values and aims, one can’t help but sense the changes underway.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Sha la la la la la,
Live for today!
And don’t worry, ’bout tomorrow, hey
Live for today!

Live for Today – the Grass Roots

image courtesy of SodaHead.com

Bigotry and disinformation are alive and well in the USA.

In Washington, DC for a Tea Party Patriots leadership conference, my wife and I entered our hotel elevator and joined three black women, expecting a friendly conversation with some locals. Their eyes dropped to the prominent “Tea Party” ID badges we wore, and the reaction was stunning.

The youngest of them jumped back against the wall, her eyes wide with palpable fear. The other two also shrank back, hands over mouths, mumbling obvious displeasure. It was as if Count Dracula himself had appeared before them.

“Hmmph. Tea Party, huh? Mmm, mmm, mmm, not good, not good . . . ,” the older ladies lamented.

We were stunned speechless. Before we could come up with a response, the door opened at our floor and the younger one jumped past us to the hallway. We followed.

“You people are trying to take my job away from me!” she shouted over her shoulder, rushing away from us as quickly as possible.

My wife and I looked at each other, wondering what her job is, why we would want to “take it” from her, and what we would do with it if we got it. As the young lady fumbled for the key to her room, I blurted out, “Wow, if you are afraid of Tea Party grandmas and grandpas, you need a new source of information!” Her door slammed.

Back in our room we tried to make sense of what we had just seen and heard. While race wasn’t mentioned, I’m very sure it played a role, because the left and the media have so successfully branded the Tea Party as racists.

My mind went back to the speakers we had just enjoyed at our Tea Party Patriots 5-year celebration event. One was Sonnie Johnson of Breitbart News, a bright and beautiful young African-American woman who abandoned her prepared speech to talk instead about something that “hit her heart”. Miss Johnson decried the federal government’s quest to replace God and religion with government dependency. She passionately prayed for the success of the Tea Party and America.

I remembered the fiery words of Anita Moncrief, the hard-nosed little African-American woman who, as an ACORN official, finally had to blow the whistle on the corruption that oozed between that organization and the Democrat party during the Obama campaign. “That was not helping people,” she cried. “I got tired of the victimhood and the race card.” She now works with True the Vote.

K Carl Smith, black Tea Party leader, spoke eloquently of Frederick Douglas‘ respect for the constitution and belief in limited government. US Representative Raul Labrador joked about his status as a “Puerto Rican Mormon Tea Party Member”. George Rodriquez, Mexican-American radio host and president of the San Antonio Tea Party, observed that every family wants the same opportunities for prosperity, regardless of race.

These people, and so many like them, not only know the Tea Party, they ARE the Tea Party. Which raises the question: Would the black ladies in the elevator have feared Sonnie if she had entered the elevator instead of my wife and I?

The Tea Party Patriots want to ensure that the children and grandchildren of all Americans have a chance to enjoy the freedoms and economic opportunities that we did. Yet the hateful left and the mainstream media have demonized us so successfully that under-informed black women fear for their safety in the presence of white grandparents wearing Tea Party badges.

It’s sad. And it has to stop.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Rockin' On the Right Side

We can’t go on together
With suspicious minds
And we can’t build our dreams
On suspicious minds

Suspicious Minds – Elvis Presley