Last February, following the takeover of the House of Representatives by the GOP, I wrote an article entitled, “Is the Tea Party Losing Momentum?”
At the time, I made the prediction that, “Over the next two years, as we head into the next presidential election, look for the liberals to apply a full court press against the Tea Party in order to discredit them. Undoubtedly, the Tea Party will be blamed for anything and everything that may go wrong in the country.” Although it was correct, I hardly consider it prophetic as we all saw this coming, at least I hope so.
Since then, the Tea Party has been called “terrorists” by Vice President Joe Biden, “SOB’s” by Teamster President Jimmy Hoffa, Rep. Andre Carson (D-IN) compared their policies to those of “Jim Crow,” and Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) made it clear they “can go straight to hell.”
Jason Tomcsi, a spokesman for Rep. Carson made the observation, “The Tea Party is protecting its millionaire and oil company friends while gutting critical services that they know protect the livelihood of African-Americans, as well as Latinos and other disadvantaged minorities.” This comment alone denotes the real issue at hand, class warfare whereby the Democrats are trying to align minorities and labor unions against big business and upper and middle income Americans. This is a dangerous tightrope they are walking which will undoubtedly divide the country.
I have met and corresponded with many people in the Tea Party since its inception, both locally and nationally. Whereas I have some liberal friends who adamantly believe the Tea Partiers are racist, I have yet to meet such a person. They may be stubbornly committed to the Constitution and are deeply concerned about the direction of the country, but I have not witnessed any racial slurs, publicly or privately. True, they are adamant about their position, but I have only seen respectable behavior. In fact, my contacts in the Tea Party tell me they are very sensitive to this and police themselves accordingly in order to avoid negative publicity.
When I hear comments such as those by the Vice President, Democratic Congressmen, and the head of the Teamsters, I have to wonder what provokes such outbursts. Frankly, I believe it is the rhetoric of desperation, that they resent losing the control they once held. Civility in discourse, as the President pleaded for following the assassination attempt of Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, seems to work only in a unidirectional manner. However, the fact remains, if anyone but a Democrat uses objectionable language, they will be crucified by the main street media.
As I have written in the past, moderate voters are quickly disappearing as the left is forcing a showdown between the haves and the have-nots, a true referendum on class and social issues. An historic amount of money will be spent on the 2012 elections, easily dwarfing that spent in 2008. To the victor goes the spoils, and the losing party will be forced underground to either lick its wounds or plot havoc (I suspect the latter unfortunately).
The language we will hear from now until November 2012 will not be just clever or whimsical barbs, but rather viscous attacks and slander. It is Class Warfare in every sense of the word; a down and dirty knockdown, drag-out fight over ideology.
As I look back on my earlier Tea Party article, I am struck by another comment I made at the time:
“Ironically, the more the left attacks the Tea Party, the greater the party’s influence will grow.”
Maybe I am prophetic after all.
Keep the Faith!
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Tim Bryce is a writer and the Managing Director of M. Bryce & Associates (MBA) of Palm Harbor, Florida and has over 30 years of experience in the management consulting field. He can be reached at [email protected]
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Copyright © 2011 by Tim Bryce. All rights reserved.