I like parties, but hold the tea, thank you.
Last week, the Tea Party movement, a series of far-right protests opposing the agenda of President Barack Obama, gathered in Nashville, Tenn. for its first national convention. You’d think the convention would promote “Limited Government, Free Speech, the 2nd Amendment, our Military, Secure Borders and our Country,” as specified on the website of convention organizer Judson Phillips. But that just wouldn’t be radical enough, would it?
The Tea Party Convention kicked off with opening speaker Tom Tancredo, a former Republican congressman from Colorado and 2008 presidential candidate. All was going well… until Tancredo opened his mouth. “People who could not even spell the word ‘vote’ or say it in English put a committed socialist ideologue in the White House,” blasted Tancredo. “His name is Barack Hussein Obama.”
Have you ever seen a better example of ignorance, xenophobia and racism all bound into one ugly package? And perhaps more striking is the fact that both of Tancredo’s grandparents were immigrants — I guess he must hate them too. To top it off, Phillips proceeded to remark that “Tom Tancredo gave a fantastic speech last night. I think he is an amazing politician.”
Phillips wasn’t the only one who endorsed Tancredo’s hateful rhetoric and the Tea Party’s xenophobic message. While delivering the keynote speech at the convention, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin referred to the Tea Party as a “beautiful movement.” When asked to comment further, Palin said, “I believe there are more of us than they (the media) want us to believe.” Isn’t that a pleasant thought?
In the end, it was beneficial for voters to have Tancredo and Palin speak so bluntly. Both speakers made it clear that behind the Tea Party movement’s supposed love for “our Country” is a hateful, xenophobic, racist ideology unfit for American democracy. The Tea Partiers love America, just not the 12.5 percent of the American population that recent U.S. Census Bureau statistics say is foreign-born. In the end, the Tea Party movement is not a manifestation of American independence. It is a disgrace.
We can’t expect the Tea Partiers to moderate their rhetoric — if they do, how else could they remain really ignorant and angry? But what we can, and should, expect is that our Michigan politicians denounce the movement, or at least refrain from associating with it.
Yet many of our local representatives seem to be doing the opposite. On Sunday, Michigan Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R–Holland), who is running for governor, attended a Tea Party gathering and reported on his Twitter that it was a “great group.” Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox, also a Republican running for governor, characterized the Tea Party movement as “remarkable.” Last, but certainly not least, is Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard, another Republican contender for Michigan’s governorship, who recently attended a Tea Party protest outside Cobo Expo Center in Detroit to “show his solidarity,” as the Detroit Free Press reported on Jan. 11.
We shouldn’t tolerate that our local elected officials endorse the Tea Party message. This is especially true of those seeking our state’s governorship. If we truly believe in freedom, human rights, civil rights and diversity, then we have a moral obligation to hold our representatives accountable when they endorse contradictory principles. While we can’t prevent the Tea Party movement from diffusing an ideology riddled with hatred, we can certainly question our elected officials if they endorse a xenophobic movement. I can’t imagine that most Michiganders share the Tea Party’s radical message, and since Michigan’s politicians are supposed to represent our views, neither should they.
It’s one thing to have differing political views. It’s quite another to endorse a movement that reveres Tancredo’s Tea Party convention speech. If Hoekstra, Cox and Bouchard are unable to understand this principle on their own, then perhaps we should remind them. By writing letters, perhaps. By calling their offices, most certainly. By voting for them? I’d have a cup of tea and think that over first.
Tommaso Pavone can be reached at tpavone@umich.edu.