The Korean was listening to this segment of NPR this morning about the Tea Party's victory. And he could not help but think how similar Tea Party is to candlelight protesters of Korea two years ago -- especially with respect to both movements' reliance on the Internet and their self-regard as a leaderless, social-networking type of movement.
About a year ago, the Korean theorized that the problems in Korean politics might be acting as a preview to the problems in American politics. The Korean is increasingly convinced that the theory might hold water.
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And of course, behind the scenes, the Tea Partyers are not really run by nobody, and neither are the candlelight vigilantes.
ReplyDeleteI think Kushibo directly states the most important point about both organizations: They might seem to have sprung from the grassroots and perhaps to some degree they did - but once they matured there was a definite power structure and significant funding behind both organizations.
ReplyDeleteInteresting - so what happened to the candle light protesters? Did they become a viable political entity? (Please say no.)
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I found the interviewee's comment that while Tea Partiers are nearly exclusively White, "they aren't racist". Clearly they aren't overtly racist, they just want everything to go back to the good old days (when people of color were systematically marginalized and didn't run this country) and they want to cut government spending (especially health and human service programs which they themselves may not benefit from but which the previously mentioned marginalized groups most certainly do).
Ms. Thrash wrote:
ReplyDeleteDid they become a viable political entity? (Please say no.)
See my link above for the answer.
Erik, I think there was a bit more of a grassroots origin in the Tea Party movement than in the candlelight vigilantes; with the latter it was people at the grassroots-level who responded to what was a clandestine organizational campaign to act against the administration.
Still, the power and theme of both groups bear a striking resemblance, which I think goes to The Korean's original point.
"How much longer until we see Fight Night in Congress?"
ReplyDeleteYou might want to study your U.S. history again. Things were much more contentious in the past. Hell, the first and third President of the Republic picked up the dueling pistol at least once, and he knew how to use it. The guy on the 10 Dollar Bill, not so much.
Spend forty-nine minutes
ReplyDeleteto see just how easy it was for the U.S. government, with the help of the media, to brainwash and mislead most Americans concerning the truth about "Randy Weaver and Ruby Ridge" and even you might find yourself thinking that normal folks joining the likes of the Sons of Liberty or the Tea Party might not be so far-fetched after all. Now, start thinking that if the government went this far out of their way to vilify Randy Weaver over something quite inconsequential in the grand scheme of things (selling two sawed off shotguns), just what are some of those Congressmen and Senators in the hallowed halls of Congress, and their alphabet soup law enforcement arms, really capable of?
I may not believe in a "New World Order" per se like many that us saner people call "nut jobs" out there, but watching how a boy and his mother were murdered in this “eye-opening” British documentary and the lengths that the U.S. government went to shift the blame away from itself did start the wheels turning in my mind that my government may be as dirty, and downright despicable, as some other world governments actually claim.
So, how exactly, should I (and countless other U.S. citizens) go about in trying to rehabilitate the image, and actions, of my government when it is obvious that the current out-dated institutions ruling the land of the free and home of the brave are not doing a satisfactory job of it?
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ReplyDeleteSeriously Ms. Thrash, do you have to go to the bigot card? It does sounds like a bit like going to calling the Koreans irrational. I'm sure most would say in light of that, "you just don't get it." There is a large chasm between current fiscal habits and cutting off all fiscal spending. After being disenchanted by the fiscal policy of the Bush administration and Republican controlled, the Democrats said they would be the party of fiscal responsibility. Did that happen? No. With respect to cutting back HHS programs, if the government continues to spend themselves into unsustainable positions, the marginalized are going to be worse off.
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