This morning I sat down and put pen to paper, well, fingers to keyboard anyway, and discussed my thoughts on the Tea Party meeting I attended last night. As well as sending it out to the regular readers of my articles, I posted it on the Tea Party webpage provided by the local chapter of Tea Party Patriots. You can view it, and all corresponding comments at: http://yubasutterteapartypatriots.ning.com/profiles/blogs/dont-get-me-wrong?xg_source=activity

So far, no one has responded to my blog post. On the other hand I was the recipient of numerous e-mails from those whose inbox  (my article) found its way to. Those who did comment were pretty much equally divided among two camps. There were those who had participated in their local Tea Party movement and felt that they ranged from being unorganized, to completely irrelevant.

Then there were those who criticized me for being harsh in my comments, saying at least the Tea Party movement has been doing something to bring awareness to the public about the miscreants in Washington D.C.

It is to this second group that I would like to take the time to explain why I said the things I did. In the process of doing so, I may use quotes from the e-mails I received, but I will not disclose your name or e-mail address.

One of the big gripes people seemed to take with my comments were in regards to my position that voting for a Republican candidate is no worse than voting for a Democrat.

One person explained that with only roughly one third of the registered voters actually voting, that the statistics show that third party candidates tend to pull votes away from conservative candidates, favoring the Democrats.

On paper that sounds good, but I find some fault with that concept when it comes to reality. First of all can anyone name one Republican, other than possibly Ron Paul, who is a true conservative? Can anyone name one Republican who repeatedly stands for limited government, who speaks out against the FED, or who is a true champion ala former Representative Tom Tancredo, for securing our nations borders?

I didn’t think so, so basically, a vote for a Republican is a vote for the lesser of two evils. A vote for a Republican is a vote for someone we know does not support our same core values solely because that candidate is the ONLY candidate that stands a chance against a Democrat.

I am sorry, that is not the kind of person I am. I cannot throw my lot in with any group, or individual, just because they are popular, or a winner. I have to stand by my principles, even if it means I never chose a winning candidate. Actions always speak louder than words. So when a group, such as the Tea Party movement, openly speaks about limited government, then the individual members say that they intend to vote for a Republican candidate because they stand a chance of winning, well to me that is a classic example of hypocrisy.

Then there were those who negatively responded to my article because they felt that the Tea Party movement was actually out doing something, while others, myself included I suppose, sat back and bitched about what is going on in this country.

One person in particular asked, “Who else is leading american and questioning the ideology that is taking place?” Not to be rude, but I have to ask myself why hasn’t this person taken a stand, made their voice heard, written articles to try to inform the public?

I am a relative newcomer to the political scene, yet I keep hard copies of all my articles and they go back to 2005. Prior to that I have copies of letters to my elected representatives going back to 1992.

Since becoming active in politics I have corresponded with people who have been so for decades. I have learned much from their tutelage, and from the vast amount of knowledge they have.

I would be curious to find out from those who criticized me for thinking that at least the Tea Party is doing something, where was the Tea Party movement prior to Ron Paul making his bid for the Presidency? Our nation’s problems go much further back than the recent election which placed Barack Obama into the Oval Office.

Just a few questions I would like to see answered by those who think that the Tea Party movement is the next best thing since sliced bread.

First, where has the Tea Party been since 1986? Why weren’t they demanding that our government act upon the laws enacted by the Simpson Mazzoli Act to once and for all put an end to our nation’s problem with illegal aliens?

Where was the Tea Party when president George W. Bush invaded Iraq and Afghanistan? After 911 President Bush declared war on terror, yet he invaded two countries, neither of which, produced the supposed terrorists who commandeered the airplanes used during the attacks upon the twin towers and the Pentagon.

Sure, maybe Iraq had a weapons of mass destruction program, then again maybe not. Sure, maybe Afghanistan was harboring terrorists, and had training camps within their borders. I bet you that Syria and Iran did too, yet we did not invade them. We did not go in and overthrow the existing governments of Syria or Iran, did we?

I don’t deny that there are radical groups out there who want to blow up buildings in America, or attack us abroad, but by our installing a democracy in those two countries, are we really going to be any safer here in America?

This so called war on terror should be thought of as a war against religious ideologies. Those who adhere to radical Islam are, in fact, our real enemies, and they are already among us. If this war were to be taken seriously, the border would have been sealed tight the day following 9/11.

Why isn’t the Tea Party movement calling for an end to our hostile invasion of two sovereign countries, and a return of our troops home to where they could be used to secure our nations borders?

Again, as I said in my first article, I am not knocking the Tea Party movement entirely, as they are bringing awareness to the public about the corruption in our nations capital.

However, they appear to have grown into a large, although disorganized, group that now fears taking a serious stand on the issues. They still speak in generalities without any real position upon any single issue. This could be due to the fact that their membership comes from a broad political spectrum. However that is both their strength, and their weakness.

As people continue to become disgruntled with their government, their numbers may continue to grow and awareness among the general public may continue to increase.

However, without taking a stand on the issues, speaking in generalities, they lose effectiveness, with their membership voting haphazardly across the political spectrum.

Our nation is at a tipping point, if it hasn’t crossed it already. I don’t think we can wait for the Tea Party movement to find its direction and become a force worthy of being reckoned with.

People look to the recent election in which the Tea Party had a large part in electing a Republican to the vacant office previously held by Senator Ted Kennedy. That may be true, the Tea Party may indeed have influenced voters in that election. But we still ended up with a Republican, another head of the two headed snake that has been destroying our liberties for decades.

So, being the loner, the individual that I am, I am going to stand firm upon my principles. I am going to vote for candidates who share the same values as I do. I may not make a difference, but I will go to sleep at night knowing that I did what was right.

In the meantime I will prepare myself for what lies on the horizon when, not if, but when, our government feels it is time to come after those of us who they feel are a threat to them. And you know, I don’t think the general membership of the Tea Party movement has much to worry about in that regards. It is those of us who are willing to stand up for what we believe in, win, lose, or die.

~ The Author ~
Neal Ross can be reached for comments at bonsai@syix.com. Visit Neal’s Blog at http://www.zombie-slayer.com/neal