Whatever Happened To The TEA Party?

 I'll begin by answering my rhetorical question.  Nothing really "happened to" the TEA Party, but rather, things are happening with and for the TEA Party. And, let me clear up a couple of misconceptions about the TEA Party:

1. The "tea" in TEA Party should always be capitalized, because it is an acronym of Taxed Enough Already. The party was - initially, anyway - founded by fiscal conservatives, and their goal was to let the government know that no nation ever taxed it's way to prosperity.
2. The TEA Party has, of late, been relatively quiet in public (i.e. - no huge rallies covered and distorted by the lamestream media), but that does not mean they are no longer with us. The media only wants to report the negative side of the TEA Party, with accusations of racism, bigotry, and big money. Being unable to prove those unfounded claims, the media have chosen to ignore the TEA Party - that same TEA Party which has gained the recognition of conservatives in both houses of Congress as a show of force by "We the People". TEA Party leadership(s) work busily behind the scenes today. They have expanded their primary charter from strictly taxation issues, to most (if not all) conservative issues.

The mainly left-wing media are concerned that, with any nationally recognized name in their numbers, the TEA Party itself could become a political force with which to be reckoned. The "Rock Star", as opposed to the backup group.

We do need a strong third political party, but it will have to come from a coalition of lesser, scattered parties with highly divergent political philosophies. These are the larger existing 3rd parties (in no particular order):

1. The Green Party -- The informal US-affiliate of the leftist, environmentalist European Greens movement -- is one of the two largest third parties in the nation with 305,000 US registered.
2. The Libertarian Party -- with slightly over 312,000 registered Libertarians, the party bills itself as "America's largest third party" (and, along with the Greens, are definitely among the two largest third parties in the nation). The Libertarians are neither left nor right: they believe in total individual liberty (pro-drug legalization, pro-choice, pro-gay marriage, pro-home schooling, pro-gun rights, etc.) and total economic freedom (anti-welfare, anti-government regulation of business, anti-minimum wage, anti-income tax, pro-free trade). The LP espouses a classical laissez faire ideology which, they argue, means "more freedom, less government and lower taxes."            They have something for everybody, so what's not to like about them? Perhaps a few too many "freedoms" for many voters. And, last but not least we have... 
3. The Constitution Party -- created in 1999 as a splinter group from the (now inconsequential) US Taxpayers Party. The 367,000 strong party is strongly pro-life, anti-gun control, anti-tax, anti-immigration, trade protectionist, "anti-New World Order," anti-United Nations, anti-gay rights, anti-welfare, and pro-school prayer. That's a party that I could get behind in 99% of their philosophy! Personally, I have a slight issue with "gay rights". I believe that gays, lesbians, transgenders, etc., should not have any special consideration beyond a fair and equal opportunity in the workplace. In fact, nobody deserves preferential consideration over anybody else when a job is truly based upon the job candidate's perceived qualifications (i.e. - how well do we think they can do the job, and how good a "fit" do they seem to be for our workplace culture?). I believe in the tradition of marriage as it has been practiced in Judeo-Christian beliefs for 2,000 years. "One man, one woman" is what insures the continuation of the human race. Same-sex alternatives to this arrangement are incapable of procreation without going outside the "relationship" in a parasitical and selfish way. (But, on the other hand, they would help to minimize the problem of overpopulation.) Further, I believe that school prayer should be permitted, but not compulsory. Simply the recognition of beliefs - something like a minute of silence for individual religious/moral/philosophical reflection/contemplation - at the beginning of the school day would be my suggestion (if anybody asked me). Religious education is the responsibility of the family and the church, not the taxpayer-funded public school system.

The combined strength of the three above "alternative parties", is currently (and roughly) 984,000±. This certainly isn't enough strength to form a viable Third Party at this time, but the numbers are large enough when combined to have a significant influence on any presidential election - IF they could all get behind a single candidate. (Notice that is a big "IF"). However, without a single, viable Third Party, "We the People" are at the mercy of the two party system. Many people blindly vote for a candidate with no real knowledge of what that candidate is about! But, he/she is a member of the party of their father and his father before him, so they get those votes. They don't know enough about the political process, nor do they care enough about it to do any research, so they vote the "straight party ticket". Occasionally, we are given crap choices from each the two parties, which leaves us in a philosophical and moral quandary - so we vote for the piece of crap that stinks the least. Or... we throw our vote away, by voting for a Third Party candidate that doesn't stand a chance of winning the popular vote, let alone the Electoral College vote (which is the one that really counts anyway). The big question in my mind is, "WHY do people vote like that?" If they aren't familiar with the issues, and their potential impact upon our country, WHY DO THEY VOTE AT ALL? And the answer to that question is, "Because they can."

There are lesser "alternative political parties" (3rd parties) that are barely worth mentioning, much less going into great detail about, so here's the very short list of those with any forward momentum at all:

1. America First Party -- Although the name sounds inviting to those with a strong sense of patriotism, this group is basically composed of ultra-conservative, "Religious Right" types. Similar in many ways to a Christian version of the Taliban.
2. American Party -- another tempting name, but the AP is a very small, very conservative, Christian splinter party formed after a break from the American Independent Party in 1972.
3. American Independent Party -- Governor George C. Wallace (D-AL), a notorious segregationist of the 1960s, founded the AIP and ran as the its first Presidential nominee in 1968. Running on a fiery populist, right-wing, anti-Washington, anti-racial integration, anti-communist platform, Wallace was basically a non-competitor.
4.  American Nazi Party -- Exactly what the name implies ... these are a bunch of uniformed, swastika-wearing neo-Nazis! This party is a combination of fascists, Aryan Nations-type folks, "White Power" racist skinheads and others on the ultra-radical political fringe. As a political party, the American Nazi Party has not fielded a Presidential candidate since Lincoln Rockwell ran as a write-in candidate in 1964 (he was murdered in 1967 by a disgruntled ANP member) -- nor any other candidate for other offices since the mid-1970s. Non-starters.

There are about two dozen other no-chance "political parties"... Google them if you are so inclined.

What really scares the media and is the primary reason why they are willing to go to the extremes of defending the GOP over and against the Tea Party? The media has much to lose if the two parties drift back to hard left and hard right, rather than where they currently reside at left-of-center and center-right. As it stands today, their party platforms are so similarly vague as to be almost indistinguishable from one another.
"American politics in the 21^st century has become little more than a battle of semantics and this is precisely why the media is able to control it. If, as the Tea Party wants, American politics gets back to issues rather than sound bites, the media will instantly lose the upper hand. The internet made the Tea Party a reality, not the media. The media knows this, and they don’t like the prospects of it and they will do everything in their power to keep it from happening. Don’t believe the hype: the Tea Party is far from over. There is too much yet to do."

A closing  prayer - 
Dear God,
Please save our nation from a recurrence of liberal, Marxist/Communist, Socialist-"Progressive", white-guilt voting in the upcoming election, and guide their spirits to VOTE FOR AMERICA, rather than a lying politician. Thanks a bunch... AMEN.