Seriously misguided

By Thad Titze

Guest Writer

A Tea Party member recently told his local school board, "If you don't starve the system, you won't make it change." No, sir. You'll just have a malnourished, weak system.

The Tea Party movement prides itself in its mission of fiscal conservatism and reducing our national debt.

While their ultimate goal of debt reduction is shared by many, the tactics and policies they promote to achieve this are seriously misguided.

To clarify, the Tea Party lacks a clear identity. The vast majority of "Tea Party candidates" run as Republicans, although others may run as Libertarians, or another minor party on the national scene. Our own Congresswoman Kristi Noem shied away from being dubbed a "Tea Party candidate."

Others, such as Sarah Palin, are not welcomed into the club with open arms. Former Senate-candidate Christine O'Donnell and Congresswoman Michele Bachmann are examples of Tea Party members. Both are well-known for their disregard for facts and odd historical interpretations.

The Tea Party made headlines a few weeks ago when Congress was in the middle of a heated budget battle that was resolved with hours to spare. The Tea Party was adamant that the government ought to shut down. Why? To prove a point.

These Tea Partiers had no regard for the effects of a shut down on children and families, our military women and men and the overall economic vitality of our country.

Perhaps the single most destructive force to policy-making and compromise is to draw a line in the sand and refuse to engage in serious problem-solving and negotiation.

I fear there are some Tea Partiers who would rather set a match to the federal government than see some of their "political enemies" walk away from the table with a share of the compromise.

Lines in the sand and political enemies have never, and will never, be the tools to advance society and solve problems we face. While I feel this resembles the conduct of the Tea Party, they still must be recognized as a movement of determined and vocal constituents.

When we engage in meaningful dialogue with facts, we all win. And as Charlie Sheen says, "Why would you be losing when you could be winning?"

 

An actual contender

By Hal Thompson

Forum Editor

For my own benefit, I should mention that I am not a member of the Tea Party. However, the nice thing about America is that you don't necessarily have to be a member of a certain group to have an opinion about that group.

It has become all but impossible to ignore the Tea Party as their numbers have done nothing but grow in the last year. There are some tenets of the Tea Party that I think deserve careful consideration, regardless of political affiliation.

For example, most in the Tea Party would probably agree that America wasn't created to solve all the world's problems. True, as an influential country, we do need to be mindful of our global image. However, that doesn't mean getting bogged down in other countries and spending money and lives trying to support countries that didn't want our help to begin with.

There is no question that America has fallen on hard times, and we need to worry about ourselves and each other before we try to fix other nations.

The Tea Party has also been known to champion the Constitution. To most members, it is a document that is as sacred as the Bible. They believe that tampering with it is a crime and an act of anti-patriotism.

And while I may not agree with Tea Party members in the absolute infallibility of the Constitution, I do believe that some of its statements are absolutely essential to the preservation of America.

For example, the idea that all humans are created equal should definitely be a defining rule of American society. Whether you're a Tea Party member, or a far-left socialist, your rights should never be called into question. I think that as Americans, we can all agree on that.

Clearly, it would be ignorant to simply label members of the Tea Party "crazy." A group that has grown so quickly across America is also probably not going to disappear any time soon.

In other words, the Tea Party should not be ignored as a fringe element.

Instead, those who don't support the Tea Party should be ready to treat it as another political party with influence in elections, as evidenced in the recent national and state elections.

Of course, this doesn't mean that the Tea Party is correct or better than the Democratic or Republican parties.

It does mean, though, that they should be subjected to the same scrutiny and analysis as their competitors and not merely laughed at.