How the Tea Party became an anti-war movement

[jct74]

How the Tea Party became an anti-war movement
Liberals aren't the only ones — or even necessarily the loudest — arguing against attacking Syria

By Peter Weber | 11:36am EST

http://media.theweek.com/img/dir_0104/52472_article_full/sen-rand-paul-r-ky-the-voice-of-the-libertarian-republicans.jpg?186


The Tea Party movement formed in early 2009 to protest an Obama administration housing and bank bailout proposal, gathered strength opposing ObamaCare and taxes, and evolved into a reliably Republican voting and advocacy force. There has always been some tension between the Tea Party and GOP leadership — especially in Speaker John Boehner's (R-Ohio) House. But it's always been the Tea Party trying to pull the GOP to the right.

Now, the Tea Party is linking arms with bearded leftist peaceniks — literally — at rallies opposing U.S. intervention in Syria, says Trip Gabriel in The New York Times. The first time Clark County (Indiana) Tea Party Patriots leader Kelly Khuri found herself protesting alongside progressive anti-war activists, she tells The Times, "it kind of freaked me out."

But Khuri's Tea Party group appears to be the rule rather than the exception on Syria. "I haven't seen grass-roots response this huge since that first opposition to TARP," says Matt Kibbe, the president of FreedomWorks, which recently urged lawmakers to oppose intervention in Syria. How did we get here?

In Congress, the libertarian faction of the GOP has been gaining ground since George W. Bush left office and former Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) became a prominent voice, now represented most vocally by Paul's son, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.). Along with opposing taxes, regulation, and government generally, the libertarian Republicans tend to be wary about intervening abroad.

The first sign that a real alliance of "progressive anti-war Democrats and isolationist Tea Party libertarians" was actually materializing, says Greg Sargent at The Washington Post, was the narrow defeat of a proposal by conservative Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.) and liberal stalwart Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) to restrict NSA domestic phone surveillance.

...

read more:
http://theweek.com/article/index/249551/how-the-tea-party-became-an-anti-war-movement

[jct74]

Tea Party Extends Focus to Include Rallying Against a Syria Strike

By TRIP GABRIEL
Published: September 11, 2013

At the regular Peace Vigil in Louisville, Ky., on Sunday, some unusual newcomers joined the bearded, longtime war protesters waving signs with doves and “War Is Not the Answer”: a contingent from Indiana’s Clark County Tea Party Patriots, who came to oppose military intervention in Syria.

“Our bombs aren’t any better than the chemical weapons the Syrians are lobbing,” said Kelly Khuri, a leader of the Tea Party group, who was nonplused at the first protest she attended a week earlier to be linking arms with the progressive left. “It kind of freaked me out,” she said.

In Florida, Tea Party supporters are organizing to pressure Congress not to support the airstrike that President Obama has called for, in the event of a breakdown in the diplomatic efforts involving Russia. “We are calling our representatives and demanding they vote no on this,” said Billie Tucker, a founder of the First Coast Tea Party in Jacksonville, Fla.

And a Washington-based Tea Party group, FreedomWorks, organized its first-ever lobbying campaign on a foreign policy issue last week when it urged members to call Congress to reject Mr. Obama’s resolution to attack Syria.

The conservative movement has always had factions opposing American intervention in foreign conflicts, most recently led by Ron Paul, the two-time Republican presidential candidate and a Tea Party favorite. But the rallying of conservatives on Syria suggests a new political development: the emergence of organizing by the Tea Party to oppose American military action.

...

read more:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/12/us/politics/tea-party-extends-focus-to-include-rallying-against-a-syria-strike.html

[A Son of Liberty]

I'll consider the ground sufficiently fertilized when they oppose their first GOP war, mkay?

[jkr]

"The Tea Party movement formed in early 2009 ..."

GRRRRRRR

[paulbot24]

"The Tea Party movement formed in early 2009 ..."

GRRRRRRR

Exactly. The Tea Party has always been anti-war because it was founded by a certain man that believes we should mind our own business and stop policing the world with freedom bombs. Before I discovered Dr. Paul, I used to think that man was Glenn Beck! Yep. It's true. I read his Arguing with Idiots book. Not one mention of Ron. Damn, that seems like a lifetime ago now.:)

[matt0611]

I'll consider the ground sufficiently fertilized when they oppose their first GOP war, mkay?

True, but hey, its a start. Its better than being FOR dem AND GOP wars like McCain and Graham are...

Time will tell...

[A Son of Liberty]

True, but hey, its a start. Its better than being FOR dem AND GOP wars like McCain and Graham are...

Time will tell...

I agree most heartily indeed, it is a start. And I will become comfortable with their consistency when they find GOP wars just as objectionable as they find this politically convenient war of Obama's objectionable.

The political operative can very readily contort himself into adopting all manner of logically inconsistent positions for the sake of gamesmanship.

Just ask Collins.

ETA - strike that last comment. There are plenty enough of that sort here to make singling out Collins very unfair.

[AuH20]

"The Tea Party movement formed in early 2009 ..."

GRRRRRRR

The Tea Party was formed during the TARP deliberations. You need to relax. I don't think anyone went out of their way to steal something from Ron Paul or demonize him.

[cajuncocoa]

I'll consider the ground sufficiently fertilized when they oppose their first GOP war, mkay?

Beat me to it. The TP is only antiwar now because Team Blue is in control of the Executive Branch.

[AuH20]

Beat me to it. The TP is only antiwar now because Team Blue is in control of the Executive Branch.

Polls going back three years showed that half the tea party is very skeptical of overseas activities. It's not as simple as stating that the tea party is for republican interventionism.

[mosquitobite]

read more:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/12/us/politics/tea-party-extends-focus-to-include-rallying-against-a-syria-strike.html

Just want to note that Mrs Khuri is a liberty candidate who won her office for county council. :)

[mosquitobite]

"The Tea Party movement formed in early 2009 ..."

GRRRRRRR

I love how the media feels the need to constantly push that narrative. :rolleyes:

No... it started on the anniversary of the tea party in Dec 2007! Suck it to anyone else who believes otherwise!

[cajuncocoa]

Polls going back three years showed that half the tea party is very skeptical of overseas activities. It's not as simple as stating that the tea party is for republican interventionism.

And who was president 3 years ago? Oh, that's right......

[A Son of Liberty]

Polls going back three years showed that half the tea party is very skeptical of overseas activities. It's not as simple as stating that the tea party is for republican interventionism.

Polls going all the way back to the middle of Obama's first term?

Again, even if we trace the Tea Party back to Nov 2007 as we should, it hasn't had the opportunity to stand opposed to GOP wars. If they do, I'll consider it a victory, and a credit to the movement. But not until then.

[jkr]

The Tea Party was formed during the TARP deliberations. You need to relax. I don't think anyone went out of their way to steal something from Ron Paul or demonize him.

oh, i dont quite agree...
they did steal it, marginalize, & ridicule it, Ron & "us"-for a time
i am more than willing to share, they are totally welcome!

but, i am completely UNWILLING to forget this:
http://www.ronpaul.com/images/ron-paul-tea-party-2007.jpg

remember remember the 16th of December...2007


i just want the record to be straight...

[HOLLYWOOD]

Be careful because WAR/NEOCON/MIC/SIC/ money has infiltrated and Co-opted many TEA PARTY organizations and are phony fronts bankrolled by Billionaire Sheldon Adelson and the USUAL Suspects.

PHONY Backed TEA PARTY organizations like: RESISTNET and Patriot Action Network beware of phony mouthpieces like; Scottie Nell Hughes and Darla Dawald

http://www.chicagonow.com/steve-dales-pet-world/files/2012/07/caution-radioactive-150x150.jpg http://www.patriotactionnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/social-headersmall.jpg (http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&docid=583W9cXEy2A-nM&tbnid=-c2a-QpcYDwIVM:&ved=0CAUQjRw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.patriotactionnetwork.com%2F&ei=ZwQyUue8E6H-iwKUzID4DQ&bvm=bv.52164340,d.cGE&psig=AFQjCNFQHG9POljw6yseeIU0kSLDMwdedg&ust=1379095975725909)http://www.tpnn.com/tpnn_avatar.jpg (http://www.google.com/imgres?client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&biw=1067&bih=694&tbm=isch&tbnid=xAo8FOSt0ODNUM:&imgrefurl=https://www.facebook.com/TeaPartyNewsNetwork&docid=8UVquG7GJf_RxM&imgurl=https://fbcdn-profile-a.akamaihd.net/hprofile-ak-frc3/c97.0.767.767/s160x160/285365_532029103495837_415210502_n.jpg&w=160&h=160&ei=RgcyUvqjDoOoiQLe6YDIDg&zoom=1&ved=1t:3588,r:3,s:0,i:88&iact=rc&page=1&tbnh=128&tbnw=128&start=0&ndsp=13&tx=91&ty=83) http://www.chicagonow.com/steve-dales-pet-world/files/2012/07/caution-radioactive-150x150.jpg

http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?394280-NEOCON-24-7-Tea-Party-News-Network-%28TPNN%29-Hosted-from-Sheldon-Adelson-s-Venetian-Casino&p=4711370&viewfull=1#post4711370


Well,

If you needed a text book example how 1984 works read-on... The poor clueless souls in Tea Parties across America won't realize how they are being played like a grand piano(SCAMMED) by the political and power elite. So it appears the NEOCON/PACs list is long and distinguished filled with Warmongers, Fascists, & Zionists. POLITICO reporting on it. Here's a quick breakdown of some of those running the show:

TPNN Chief Anchor: Radio political shock-jock Israeli-Firster, Rusty Humphries
TPNN PR firm headed by: Keith Urbahn, former secretary of defense Donald Rumsfield's chief of staff
TPNN Location Hosted: The Venetian Hotel & Casino resort, Las Vegas, NV. (Owned by Billionaire Sheldon Adelson)
Chief Editor of TPNN: Todd Cefaratti, who registered 'JoinTheTeaParty.us' took $469K in donations, spent none of it on GOP candidates

TPNN Special mention of hosting: particular focus on Tea Party-backed candidates like; Ted Cruz, Allen West, Michelle Bachmann, and Mia Love


The Tea Party gets a NEWS Site

By DYLAN BYERS (http://www.politico.com/reporters/DylanByers.html) | 10/31/12 3:38 PM EDT

Tea Party (http://wwww.politico.com/tag/tea-party) conservatives are getting their very own news site.
The Tea Party News Network, self-described as "the only trusted news source and the antidote to mainstream media bias," is already live (http://www.tpnn.com/) but will announce its launch tomorrow morning, with plans to start live video on election day. TPNN claims to have a "war room of 40-plus volunteers" who will operate out of the Venetian Resort in Las Vegas, and has established partnerships with the Talk Radio Network and radio host Rusty Humphries, who will be co-anchoring the election night coverage (http://www.politico.com/2012-election).

(Also on POLITICO: Media stumped by 2012 outcome (http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1012/83107.html?hp=f1))
"There are plenty of news websites out there, but there isn’t one that caters directly to Tea Party conservatives, providing activists with coverage and opinion that matters to them. The Tea Party News Network changes that," Todd Cefaratti, editor of the Tea Party News Network, said in a statement for the forthcoming press release.

As with many right-wing news sites, TPNN puts heavy emphasis on the anti-mainstream media message: "We don’t need our supposed betters in the mainstream media telling us which stories matter or what we should think. We don’t mindlessly mimic the talking points of Washington leaders. The Tea Party movement now has a home for news it can trust."
(Also on POLITICO: Tight race? Avoid tea party label (http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1012/82496.html))
Truth be told, it's not as though Tea Party conservatives have been homeless on the web. Most right-wing news and opinion sites, including the Media Research Center and the Breitbart network, cater to those who would label themselves members of the Tea Party. But this is the first site of its scope to apply the branding and assert itself as "the voice of the Tea Party." Cefaratti is also promising to be "a vigilant watchdog on Washington’s leaders regardless of the outcome of the November election."
"TPNN is not going to be just any other conservative backwater on the Internet," said Keith Urbahn, who heads the PR firm promoting the site and recently served as chief of staff to former Sec. of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.

Election coverage will be co-hosted by Humphries and TPNN News Director Scottie Nell Hughes, with a particular focus on Tea Party-backed candidates like Ted Cruz, Allen West, Michelle Bachmann, and Mia Love.

Tea Party news site: mission or marketing scam? (http://paidcontent.org/2012/11/01/tea-party-news-site-mission-or-marketing-scam/)

http://paidcontent.org/2012/11/01/tea-party-news-site-mission-or-marketing-scam/



By Jeff John Roberts (http://paidcontent.org/author/jeffjohnroberts/)
1 Comment (http://paidcontent.org/2012/11/01/tea-party-news-site-mission-or-marketing-scam/#comments)

A week before the Presidential election, a news site is branding itself as the real voice of Tea Party conservatives. The site’s editor, however, may not be a bona fide political activist.

http://gigaompaidcontent.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/shutterstock_106145462.jpg?w=300&h=200&crop=1

A new conservative news site may give you cause for concern, whatever your political persuasion. As Politico reports (http://www.politico.com/blogs/media/2012/10/the-tea-party-gets-a-news-site-147862.html), the Tea Party News Network (http://tpnn.com/) announced its formal launch today as the only site “that caters directly to Tea Party conservatives.”
The site, which appears to have been online for awhile, offers little more than links to anti-Obama screeds from right-wing standard-bearers like Red State (http://www.redstate.com/) and Michelle Malkin. There is also a smattering of original content from “volunteers.”
While liberals will cringe at headlines like “Would it surprise you to know that Barack Obama used to deal?”, Tea Party types may not be thrilled by the site either. For them, the issue will not be the site’s content but rather its editor, Todd Cefaratti.
Cefaratti, you see, appears to be more hustler than true believer. According to news items (http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/10/29/arizona-tea-party-group-469000-donations-spent-politics-report/), he used a Tea Party-branded website before the 2010 midterms to rake in $469,000 in donations, but did not spend any of it on conservative candidates or causes. Instead, half the funds went to marketing and the other half went to non-political activity.
Worse, Cefaratti works in direct marketing. Various Tea Party discussion blogs (see here (http://teapartyorganizers.ning.com/forum/topics/todd-cefaratti-formerly-with-tp-us-is-currently-the-the-head-honc), here (http://www.mightyrighty.com/archive/index.php/t-281.html?) and here (http://therealrevo.com/blog/?p=78331)) have accused him of data mining the faithful in order to sell mailing lists to third-party companies. This may explain why the new Tea Party News Network so prominently asks readers to supply not just an email address, but their names and zip codes too:


Gadsden Gurl (http://gadsdengurl) Friday, November 2 2012 (http://paidcontent.org/2012/11/01/tea-party-news-site-mission-or-marketing-scam/#comment-168649)
This is a marketing scam just like the rest of the fake GOP TEA PARTY groups started as PACs in 2009.
The real tea party started in 2007 and doesn’t endorse candidates, or collect money, or give money to campaigns.
SCAM SCAM SCAM.
Just like that David Webb guy in NY — he’s an agent of Israel.

[JK/SEA]

Fixed.


The TEA-O-CON Party was formed during the TARP deliberations. You need to relax. I don't think anyone went out of their way to steal something from Ron Paul or demonize him.



http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=tea-o-con

[jct74]

The War Party No Longer? Neoconservative Influence on Republicans Declining

September 12, 2013
by Zaid Jilani

In December 2009, at the very end of the first year of the Obama administration, neoconservative Bill Kristol – the Weekly Standard editor who was chief organizer of the Project for A New American Century, which drum beat for the war in Iraq and the massive post-9/11 military build-up – appeared on Fox News Sunday to bat down the idea that Republicans were mindlessly obstructing Obama. “Republicans have been bipartisan. What have they supported the president on? On Afghanistan, one of his toughest decisions, increasing troops there. And Republicans, to their credit, have not played politics with that and have supported him,” he boasted.

Indeed, during year one of the new presidency, Republicans, despite their campaign to sink the Obama agenda in every other area, still sided with the Kristol camp when it came to foreign policy. In July 2010, the House of Representatives voted to approve funding for Obama’s troop surge in Afghanistan, with 102 Democratic defectors and only 12 Republicans voting against. In fact, more Republicans supported Obama’s policy (160) than Democrats (148). By all indications, the neoconservative hold on the Republican Party was strong.

In 2011, that started to change, when dovish Republicans like Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) and Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI) took office. In his foreign policy coming-out speech at Johns Hopkins University, Paul said he would “rather send some…professors around the world than I would our soldiers” and would “rather do that than go to war with Iran.” In May, 26 Republicans voted for an amendment by Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA) to implement a timetable for withdrawal from Afghanistan that only narrowly failed. Later that year, 225 House Republicans joined 70 Democrats to reject authorizing military action in Libya after hostilities began.

Two years later, Paul took to the floor of the Senate to conduct a talking filibuster to protest the expanding use of drones. While he started virtually alone, his act of protest eventually drew enough popularity to culminate in 34 votes against the nomination of John Brennan for CIA director – with the majority of the Republican caucus, 31 senators, standing with Paul.

...

read more:
http://billmoyers.com/2013/09/12/the-war-party-no-longer-neoconservative-influence-on-republicans-declining/

[mosquitobite]

I wish we could get true conservatives to realize that the neo-cons are just liberals who love war. There is very little conservative about them. Liberals like to spend, neo-cons just like to spend it on war and "compassionate" (*cough cough*) conservatism.