[The Independent, U.K.]

 

 

Le Monde, France

Charting the Tortured Path of the Tea Party

 

"In the Tea Party, they want to be left alone, to be free to live as before, when everything was going well, when America lived under an Anglo-Saxon status quo, when the Taliban was in the pay of the CIA, and neither the Chinese nor al-Qaeda opposed the hegemony of Uncle Sam. ... Isn't it telling that the 'tea baggers' want to eliminate the Department of Education in a country where educational standards are already lamentable?"

 

By Jean-Christian Rostagn

 

Translated By Andrea Rouse

 

October 21, 2010

 

France - Le Monde - Original Article (French)

On the road across Virginia, here and there, rather large signs proclaim, “November is Coming.” They were white on black and elegant, but still, it was rather disconcerting to see advertisements about the otherwise predictable arrival of November. It took me a minute to realize that it wasn’t about the next rock concert in the sticks. It hit me on the turn of a corner, as the bottom of the sign became readable: “Americans for Prosperity.”

 

Soon, another crop of signs appeared that seemed out of tune: “Hurt U.S. Congress.” Not “Hurt for U.S. Congress” let alone “Hurt for Congress,” which would suggest that one is pining away for the Congress. Typically one writes “Machin for Congress,” but the absence of “for” here implies the idea of hurting the Congress. A well-named Robert Hurt actually does exist, and stands in the Congressional elections in a southern district of Virginia. With the multitudes seeking to force Congress to atone for its supposedly ruinous sins, this critter has made brilliant use of his surname.

 

These people, the Tea Party, hold a grudge against the entire country; firstly with President Obama, but also with his policies in general, and with Congress, among others. Even traditional Republicans, who have done everything possible to keep their seats, are considered part of the problem. The solution: replace them. In such an environment, Robert Hurt is the man for the job - a gift from the Lord in a region that is entirely devoted to him. But despite the power of the phrase “Hurt U.S. Congress,” isn't it surprising that his signs are found beyond the constituency he covets?

 

A sign seeking votes for Robert Hurt, Congressman-elect

of Virginia's 19th Congressional District.

 

The Tea Party is the party of cons. Cons like “I'm against anything that raises taxes.” Hence the name, which is the acronym “Taxed Enough Already.” This is rooted mostly in the War for Independence, before which in Boston, during the “Tea Party,” the English were thrown into the sea along with their tea - tea that the King of England taxed the way King Louis XIV taxed salt.

 

The Tea Party is also, and probably most of all, a libertarian movement - although it's a cushy kind of libertarianism: freedoms of course, but especially those that suit them. In the Tea Party, they want to protect American liberties while Washington seems to want to regulate everything, as in the hell of socialist Europe. In the Tea Party, they want to be left alone, to be free to live as before, when everything was going well, when America lived under an Anglo-Saxon status quo, when the Taliban was in the pay of the CIA, and neither the Chinese nor al-Qaeda opposed the hegemony of Uncle Sam.

 

In the Tea Party, one is typically White, financially OK, and the kind of person who panics a bit when the world suddenly changes, as in times like these. On the other hand, they don’t worry too much about the atmosphere, because man can't conceive of having the power to undo what God has created.

 

As sort of grand finale, I stumbled on one sign prophesying the arrival of November at the foot of three crosses erected at the end of a field along “Swing Bridge Road,” which dropped steeply so as to, in effect, change the vote (as in swing voter). The three crosses announce unambiguously that this is, if not holy ground, at least Evangelical ground, where this branch of Jesus crazies stands to the right of Protestant Christianity. There are 60 million Evangelists in the United States, one in five Americans, which is also, coincidentally, the number of Americans convinced that Barack Hussein Obama is in fact a Muslim. News reports don't say how many think he's the cousin of Saddam Hussein.

 

OBSTRUCTIONISTS

 

The Tea Party isn't Evangelical, nor are all Evangelicals in the Tea Party, but there's a lot of overlap. Sarah Palin understood this from the beginning, and she's been joined by Newt Gingrich, the old hero of the “1994 Revolution” and former “Speaker of the House,” the third most important person in the constitutional hierarchy and aspirant to replace Obama.

 

Newt Gingrich and the Tea Party appeal to the fear of government held by many Americans. This would be like original sin - the very incarnation of all inefficiencies and obstructions to freedom. Hence the stigma of the current policy of increasing the deficit and passing health care reforms that put the United States on the same path to ruin already plaguing a Europe considered Socialist, hear “Bolshevik.” Newt has even given in to "Islamophobia." He recently spoke of the underlying danger represented by certain Muslims who have never given up conquering the world - and America along the way. According to him, some are already working to insinuate Sharia law to replace good American law.

 

“Fear has always provided the power to blackmail,” proclaimed [singer] Bernard Lavilliers over 25 years ago. Before him, Joe McCarthy undoutedly understood this, then George Bush and his imitator Nicolas Sarkozy, and now Newt Gringrich is trying to teach his predecessors a few things. In any case, the goal is to preserve the influence of the establishment in the world.

 

 

SEE ALSO ON THIS:

Le Figaro, France: Tea Party: An 'American Fever' that Will Quicky Pass

Wen Wei Po, Hong Kong: Blaming China Led Obama to Midterm Defeat

Le Temps, Switzerland: Obama Pays Big for Anemic Growth

News, Switzerland: Obama: Don't Bargain with Your 'Political Assassins'

La Jornada, Mexico: Obama 'Bit Off More than He Could Chew'

Le Temps, Switzerland: Cheap Advice for President Obama

Tageblatt, Luxembourg: Prepare for 'Tea Time' in America

El Pais, Spain: As U.S. Exposes its Divisions, China Powers Ahead

Global Times, China: The West is Forming an 'Axis of Evil Ideology'

Hispanidad, Spain: How Spain Can Build its Own Tea Party: Copy Palin

El Universal, Mexico: Immigration Reform: Obama's Ace in the Hole

Le Temps, Switzerland: America's 'Cry of Agony' Through the Tea Party

Izvestia, Russia: Evil Obama and China's Yuan: It's About the Midterms

Liberation, France: Christine O’Donnell at the 'Oral Stage'

Financial Times Deutschland, Germany: West Must Halt Slide Since 9-11

El Mercurio, Spain: The 'Neo-Nazi' Campaign Against President Obama

El Mundo, Spain: Beck and Palin Search for Mythical 'Paradise Lost'

Der Standard, Austria: In Despair Over Democracy - Both America's and Ours

National Post, Canada: U.S. Democracy Suffers 'Death By Talk-Show Host'

La Jornada, Mexico: Beck and the New U.S.-Right: 'Like a Horror Movie'

Iraq News Agency, Iraq: Sarah Palin: The 'Seductress' of the American Election

 

 

It’s interesting that the Tea Party program includes the disappearance of the Department of Education - this of course to reduce the deficit. But where was the Tea Party when George W. Bush exploded the deficit to finance his foolish wars while cutting taxes, especially those of wealthiest people? Isn't it telling that the “tea baggers” want to eliminate the Department of Education in a country where educational standards are already lamentable? This is to say nothing about the “Defense Department,” which alone has a budget equaling that of the next thirteen most militarized nations?   

Posted by WORLDMEETS.US

 

This demonstrates that these obstructionists are obsessed with the explosion of the deficit only because it's a convenient vehicle to expressing their resentment against a president who they suspect of being guilty of the worst sins, including: wanting to eliminate some of the privileges of the establishment; maintaining the legality of abortion; or restricting the sale of firearms to citizens, whether they're poisoned with testosterone or not.

 

*Jean-Christian Rostagn is a photographer

 

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[Posted by WORLDMEETS.US November 4, 7:09pm]