The Grassroots Tea Party Revolt

Paul Krugman's always an interesting character on the political left. As I've noted a few times here, throughout the market downturn, he's been the biggest economic fearmonger in American politics (for example, see Krugman, "What Obama Must Do: A Letter to the New President"). The scale of Krugman's proposed big-government interventionism is truly breathtaking. It's thus no wonder why he's a rock star to the hardline secular collectivists of the extreme left-wing of the Democratic Party.

Krugman's latest column at the New York Times goes after the conservative tea party movement. The piece is worth a good read as an indication of how truly clueless leftists are about what's really brewing among everyday Americans today. Beyond the boilerplate attacks on conservatives as "crazy people," Krugman's conspiratorial view of the Tea Party movement is worth highlighting: " ... it turns out that the tea parties don’t represent a spontaneous outpouring of public sentiment. They’re AstroTurf (fake grass roots) events, manufactured by the usual suspects ... "

Man, that is some kind of denialism! Krugman's "AstroTurfing" is on par with Jane Hamsher's circus performance last weekend, where she made a fool of herself claiming that Fox News was orchestrating the nationwide Tea Party revolt - and that's on top of the 12 people who showed up for Hamsher's Washington "New Way Forward" demonstration. Krugman and Hamsher are no different from the idiot left-wing activists declaring that "The typical American is not a good citizen."

I tell you what: In my experience of 25 years of political participation and scholarship in political science, I can't really recall quite the phenomenon as this buildup for the April 15th Nationwide Tax Day Tea Party Rallies. Oh sure, Fox News has been cheerleading from the sidelines, but whatever influence the Fox personalities have had is nothing compared to the genuine outpouring of grassroots patriotism that we're seeing today. This is the best I've felt about conservative politics since the Democrats won power last November.

For a flavor of what I'm taking about, check out this website I found yesterday, "The New Tea Party and Revolution." The front page of the site lists hundreds of scheduled Tea Party events all around the country. I counted at least 150 and that's before I scrolled even halfway down. This is the kind of interest and spontaneity that cannot be manufactured by a few conservative cable TV shock jocks. This is the Real McCoy! It's history in the making!

According to Glenn Reynolds, who discusses the grassroots nature of the movement in an essay today at the New York Post:

These aren't the usual semiprofessional protesters who attend antiwar and pro-union marches. These are people with real jobs; most have never attended a protest march before. They represent a kind of energy that our politics hasn't seen lately, and an influx of new activists.

And I think this is what's so frightening to those on the political left. As William Jacobson notes in his post today:

The disparate groups involved, the great variation from location-to-location, and the sometimes disorganized nature of the protests demonstrate the genuine nature of the movement. The fact that some have lent a promotional hand doesn't take away from this. The mainstream media practically elected Obama through its over-the-top cheerleading coverage and refusal to ask hard questions. And Media Matters and other liberal organizations are extremely well funded in their efforts, far more so than the Tea Party movement. Nothing any conservative organization is doing to help the Tea Parties even comes close.

But check out the description of the events at "Michigan Taxes Too Much":

There are many reasons why millions of Americans will take to the streets on April 15....

If you want to know more about us, look to the national figures, personalities and famous people who [are] leaders and organizers of this protest. Unfortunately, you won’t find any famous, rich or recognizable people. They don’t exist. Instead you will find the “Joe, the plumbers” and the millions of no-name people who are indeed, mad as hell.

Organizers are the guy who lives around the corner and you didn’t even know his name before. They are the secretaries, computer technicians, clerks, businessmen, salesmen and any other occupation you can think of. There are also retired people who remember what this country once stood for.

Notice the speakers are not politicians. In fact, party representatives and elected officials offering to take the podium at most tea parties are being rejected. Instead, the everyday Joe’s of this world will speak. There will be no teleprompter with carefully worded speeches that don’t say anything or words chosen to be interpreted differently by different groups.

Probably the best explanation for Krugman and Hamsher's frustration is pure jealousy, even panic. Leftists were the opposition for the last eight years. They had their run at power. What's interesting to me is that today's grassroots activism is not particularly partisan. Over and over again, on blogs and message boards, I see folks saying "we are not political." Many folks confess that this is the first time they've gotten involved politically. And that has to be the most frightening thing about this for the secular collectivists on the left. If you're a Democratic big-government backer of the current administration, a real movement of real people modeling themselves on the "Spirit of 1776" is just something that's too much to believe.

I can't wait for Wednesday, April 15th!