Let the Tea Party Begin - Again

I can finally say I am proud to have been born in Massachusetts...for reasons related to politics. Sure there were all those sports titles in the 2000's but this is different. When talking about politics and Massachusetts, I could not really hold my head up. Tonight with the election of Scott Brown to the Senate I am quite pleased and I can hold my head up.

Original Boston Tea Party - For those who don't know, this election is filled with irony. Here in the US many point to the Boston Tea Party as the beginning of the American Revolution. At that 'party' a group of citizen decided to protest the taxes levied by the British on tea. Lead by such men as Samuel Adams, they protested by boarding ships in the harbor and throwing the tea into the ocean. They took special care not to destroy property or steal the tea and profit from it. They were sending a message back to the King of England...we don't want your taxes.

Republican Senator from Massachusetts - Fast forward to 2010. In the very same commonwealth where the Tea Party was held , they elect a senator, Scott Brown, from the opposition party in essence to prevent socialized medicine from becoming the law of the land. This in a state where they have not elected a senator from the Republican party for almost 40 years to a seat held by one man for almost a half century. It was in a very real sense a modern Boston Tea Party.

Why Now? - I have a theory about why this happened but for now it is funny to watch all the finger pointing going on. All the Washington elites are saying what a terrible candidate Martha Coakley was and how she blew the election. I say rubbish. As the current attorney general she won statewide elections. She ran in a primary to run as the democratic nominee for this seat. Up until a couple of weeks ago she had a 20 point lead. She knows how to play politics and she has shown she can win.

The problem is what she represents. She represents the establishment in Washington who t listen to the people. They think they can give politicians hundreds of millions of dollars for their votes (Louisiana and Nebraska) and political payoffs to unions in the form of exemptions from taxes paid on health care plans that others have to pay. When Mr. Brown was out campaigning for votes listening to the people. Ms. Coakley was playing the Washington elitist part of hosting a fundraiser with a bunch of health care lobbyists.

Ms. Coakly was an honest democrat. She paid the political price for being honest about who she was and who she represents. She represents a party who wants more government, socialized medicine, more debt, higher taxes. The people of Massachusetts were tired of the arrogance of politicians who practice back room deals. Tired of elitists who don't want to listen to the people. Tired of the condescension toward the ordinary average American.

Why Politicians Need to Listen to The People - The big lesson here is not to make fun of people who elect you. The best and simplest example of this goes back to the tea party movement. Those who don't want more debt, they don't want health care run by the government, in fact they want less government and they are trying to make their voices heard. Instead they are being called radicals or nut cases. They are being made fun of by elitists who call them 'tea baggers'...which requires a side not all unto itself.

Side Note on the term 'Tea Baggers' - For those who don't know "tea bagging" is a deviant sexual practice where the male uses a part of his appendage that could remind one of bags of tea in close approximation to the face of another. This term has been co-opted and misused to describe those involved in the Tea Party Movement. This means those who use the term are either ignorant or malicious.

Back to the main point.  History is full of examples where politician did not listen to the people.  In a tyranny, this is not a problem because the people have difficulty in exerting power. In a democracy, it is a different story.  This is just another example of when politicians think they are smarter and better than the people who elect them and the people struck back.  Like the Boston Tea Party that marked the beginning of the American Revolution, if the politicians of today don't start listening to the people, the people will find and elect others who will.  Let the Tea Party Begin!