When the disbanded far-left rock group Rage Against the Machine held protests outside the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis back in 2008, many of us in the center-left/moderate Democratic side of the political aisle, were horrified when those attending the band's protest/concert started turning over cars.
We were concerned that these radicals would cause us the same political problems that the hippie movement of the late 1960s (which occured shortly before I was born) created which all but assured the reelection of Richard Nixon in 1968.
But, that horror has subsided as it is now far right-wing extremists which are causing political qualms for the Republican Party. Centrist conservative commentator David Brooks told NPR last week that such actions could potentially doom the party's hopes of capturing seats in both houses of Congress.
This new radical raight-wing populism has a name; it's the Tea Party, which '80s action movie star Chuck Norris hailed as 'the true voice of the American people' in a recent column. But, one has to wonder if the American people are completely in sync with the Tea Partiers such as the one pictured above (who is holding a swashtika under his ObamaCare banner).
And, the group members have taken very extreme actions in both Washington, DC, and in the heartland of America. According to thinkprogress.org, the glass front door of Cong. Gabrielle Giffords' (D-Ariz.) was completely smashed out.
Similarly, a brick was thrown through the window of Cong. Louise Slaughter's (D-NY) office in Niagara Falls, NY. And, someone spray-painted the word "DORKS" in red on the front window of the Knox County Democratic headquarters in Mount Vernon, Ohio.
Closer to home, Lynchburg (Va.) Tea Party member Mike Troxel posted the home address of Bo Perriello, a Charlottesville-area resident who is the brother of Cong. Tom Perriello (D-Va) who was one of the last Democratic Congress members to vote yes for health care reform.
According to "The Roanoke Times," a threatening note was sent to Bo Perriello's home and a gas line from a propane tank was cut to his house.
Today, on its web site, The Lynchburg Tea Party hardly seems to be expressing any remorse for this incident as its lead posting states "Perriello Go Home." The LTP goes on to state that Perriello, who defeated the far-right Virgil Goode (ironically a former Democrat) in a huge 2008 political upset, should be voted out because of his votes on "ObamaCare, Cap and Trade and the other items on the Pellosi, Reid/Obama agenda that have destroyed the hopes of future generations to live in a nation that resembles the one envisioned by the founders."
(In its statement, the LTP did not spell House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (D-Calif.) name correctly.)
But, a larger questions that looms over this radical movement is if there are Republican Party operatives supporting their cause, and the answer to that seems to be a very apparent 'yes.'
On their web site, The Roanoke (Va) Tea Party stated they were either sponsoring or co-sponsoring debates and forums involving potential opponents for both Perriello and Cong. Rick Boucher (D-Va), who actually voted against the controversial health care bill.
The RTP is also encouraging letter-writing campaigns to Virginia's recently elected Republican state officials, Gov. Bob McDonnell and Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, both of whom are evangelicals who have shown far-right leanings, especially in the areas of civil rights, abortion rights, education and health care, early into their tenure.
Nationwide, the trend seems to be on the same fringe Yosemite Sam stratosphere as the Minnesota Tea Party, based in St. Paul, said on its Twitter page that: "America is on YOU to save the Republic; please inconveience yourself so as to save the Republic."
The Jersey Tea Party, based in NJ, took threatening aims at Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.), who ironically when he was a Republican senator greatly assisted the nomination process of the current far-right Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, on their Twitter page:
"Arlen Spectre swithced parties. Soon, I promise you, he's gonna be switching addresses."
This lunacy has lead the liberal journal "The Nation" to write its lead story this week on the Tea Party, which it is calling 'The Mad Tea Party' in reference to "Alice in Wonderland."
Richard Kim of "The Nation" quipped:
"Leftists like to say another world is possible, but I was never quite sure of that until I started reading tea party websites."
Michelle Cottle of the more centrist "The New Republic" said Sarah Palin, whom 72 percent of Tea Partiers approve of, should go ahead and start her own far-right third party. But, as Cottle added, the former Alaska governor would have a lot of work in 'unionizing' these dittoheads:
"Pretty much everyone gets that Tea Partiers are mad as hell, it's just increasingly hard to tell about what."
Perriello's seat is one that Palin has targeted as one of the 20 Congressional districts which her ticket won in 2008 that are held by Democrats. Former Democratic presidential candidate Wes Clark said that it was important for party activists to counter these Glenn Beck followers by contributing to the funds of those representatives Palin is aiming at.
As a Turkish-American, I am concerned that the Tea Party movement might be the early stages of a very radical evangelical movement which aims to unite church and state. And, in this sense there are direct parallels with their Muslim counterparts.
Islamic fundamentalists took similar measures in Turkey in 1993 when they allegedly murdered secular journalist Ugur Mumcu by placing a bomb in his car. Muslim extresmists also set fire to a hotel in the eastern city of Sivas where an intellectual forum was being held. The gathering, which included key note speaker Aziz Nesin, (1915-1995) Turkish writer and political activisit who escaped the fire, killed 37 people and is today known as "The Sivas Massacre." Nesin had translated Salman Rushdie's controversial novel "The Satanic Verses."
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