Mad Tea Party

As many of my friends know, I'm not a completely crazy liberal. I'm perfectly sane and look logically at politics and most things in general. I see faults with both the Democrats and the Republicans and will vote for whoever I think will do the job properly. I do tend to lean left, but for the most part, I'd consider myself a moderate. I'm pro-choice and pro-gay rights. I want universal healthcare, but only if it's done right. Obamacare is not universal healthcare done right. Look at the UK's system as a model and try to mirror that. I think a poor educational system and a lack of after-school programs for at-risk kids effects crime rates more than having access guns do. I think a moral war on drugs is a joke. Telling someone not to do something makes them want to do it even more. It's human nature. The same goes for sex education. You can't have an abstinence-only program. It just makes kids want to have sex even more. And if all they're taught about it is abstinence, it just increases their chances of contracting an STD or getting pregnant. Surprisingly enough, I'm also pro-death penalty. I don't want my tax money to go towards keeping certain criminals alive. If we were to, again, have a better educational system and after-school programs, I think we wouldn't have so many criminals to begin with.

As an aside, here's what I think of the rise of Christine O'Donnell. By now, many jokes have been made about her being anti-masturbation and having "dabbled" in witchcraft. I think the focus on her masturbation comments is ridiculous, personally. But are the left-wing bloggers that desperate to discredit her that they are stooping to this level? The fact that she's a Tea Party candidate should be enough! Attack her on policies, not crazy comments she's made on MTV and Bill Maher. For that matter, don't bring up the witchcraft thing at all. It's a religion just like every other, so making fun of her for this is the equivalent of making fun of someone who's Jewish but dabbled in Buddhism. And don't bring it up if you're arguing about how she's anti-Muslim. It just makes you look stupid and a hypocrite. This isn't Rand Paul. You can't call him out for saying he'd vote in favor of the Civil Rights Act and then saying he supports a private business' right to segregate and discrminate. Find some dirt like that and then go after her.

That being said, I can partly sympathize with the Tea Party. I 100% agree that there should be term limits on all politicians in Congress. Both parties are guilty of taking money and gifts from lobbyists. They are more concerned with lining their own pockets and getting re-elected to keep the money and gifts coming to really do the will of the people. I still cannot believe that the Supreme Court sided with corporations earlier this year when they said corporations can unlimitly donate to political campaigns. At this point, We The People don't really matter. It's asinine for me to donate anything to my candidate if a company can donate millions to the other candidate just so the company can have that candidate in their back pocket. I 100% agree that the government shouldn't be spending money they don't have. They are spending away my future and the future of any children I may have down the line. However, that's where the sympathy ends.

I cannot get behind a movement that is filled to the brim with neo-cons. If they are fighting for the people to "take back America," why are they alienating the sane, sensible moderates who are the majority of the American people? Anyone who has a basic understanding of statistics knows what a bell curve is. The Tea Party is the fringe on the far right side of the bell curve (-2 SD in the image on the right). The otherside of the spectrum is inhabited by the crazy hippy liberals (+2 SD). Statistically speaking, the overwhelming majority of people reside somewhere in the happy middle and lean to the left or right.

I do not see the Tea Party as an answer to the collective woes of our nation that they are fighting for. I see it as a cycle we are now in. It goes back for generations, I'm sure. But I think it's recently become hyperbolic and polarizing. One side will win control of the White House and Congress. The other side refuses to cooperate with those in power because they are sore losers. The other side will then spin the fact that those in power didn't accomplish anything or weren't acting with the values of the people in mind. They will then win back the White House and/or Congress and the cycle will begin anew. Is this really the way to govern? Do you really think that if the Tea Party makes any headway in the political system that they would change things and break this cycle? I'd say definitely not. They are firmly on the extreme right of the political spectrum at the moment. However, if they were to lay off the crazy pills and try to start appealing to some sort of middle ground and not pander to the extremists on either sides, they may be onto something that I could agree with. If they can gain ground with the people in the middle and those in the middle that lean to the left, they may actually do what they want, and if term limits get imposed, they will get America back to being ruled by the people, for the people.