When the "Tea Party" first started, it was up for grabs.

[Bonobo]

I believe that the Tea Party first started as a reaction against the bailout of Wall Street and the banks. It was a populist movement that started spontaneously.

At first, it seems to me, both parties tried to ignore it and it thus represented a vacuum waiting to be filled.

The Democrats SHOULD have embraced the populist ideas of it and disavowed the nastier ones that are now so famously put out there.

But in the end, it was the Republicans who bought it and co-opted it. In doing so, its nastier ideas came to the forefront and the Republicans tried to take advantage of the populist anger towards the rich.

Fortunately, Republicans can not easily claim such an "anti-1%" position and so they did not pull it off and the remaining anger which now had no proper outlet was re-expressed in the OWS movement we see now.

I think the Tea Party gets a somewhat bad rap because what you see when you look at it is largely due to the manipulations and machinations of the Republican scum who co-opted its original populist anger.

[FrenchieCat]

1. You believe wrong.....

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=433x781695

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x2048379

[rurallib]

3. way to be on top of it.

Tea Party was contrived by some San Francisco ad man. They had a carefully laid out plan and were owned by Dick Armey. And of course they had the propaganda arm of the GOP called Fox.
With nearly all media being RW, they were able to push their message quickly. Even they were found out quickly to be an astroturf group, the media still pretends they are real.

[Luminous Animal]

5. Thanks for being on top of this, yet again! It is remarkable how quickly the meanspririted

origins of the Tea Baggers have been obscured by populist rhetoric.

[slipslidingaway]

7. See reply #6 below or my reply to you back in October ...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=439&topic_id=2048379&mesg_id=2056944

Wrong.

"...Today, I have had to refute those who are trying to assert that the Tea Party was formed to protest Bank Bail outs. I say that the Tea Party was formed to protest the anger of some that Pres. Obama was proposing programs to provide families avoid foreclosures..."


Google "ron paul tea party 2007"

[Warpy]

2. The tea party was largely fueled by Glen Beck broadcasts

but the fact that it arose at all was a symptom of deeper discontent. It was Astroturfed from the first day but there's no way that could have lasted forever. The meetings have been dwindling and many groups have disbanded. The only place it remains strong is Dixie (of course).

[MarianJack]

4. Sorry, I can't agree.

The primary motivation behind most of the tea baggers was their fury at the thought of a black president. It's warmed over mcsame/palin(comparison) rallies with corporate backing.

PEACE!

[slipslidingaway]

6. Tea Party protests in 2007, there are videos and articles from 2007 ...

Ron Paul Tea Party 2007 Los Angeles,Ca
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGB8BeUWtwA

Additional links ...
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=439&topic_id=2048379&mesg_id=2056944

Tea Party 2007: Ron Paul Sets a New Campaign Fund-Raising Record

"...And just like before, this fund drive was not organized by the Ron Paul campaign offices but by Ron Paul's supporters themselves. And for those who might miss the significance in the date of the first fund raising drive since it was on a date more famous in Britain than in America (Guy Fawkes Night - Gunpowder Plot) today's drive should be more familiar to those familiar with American history because December 16th, 2007 is the 234th anniversary of the Boston Tea Party, an event that was emblematic of the then coming American Revolution..."

Ron Paul: The Tea Party Is Now Corporately Owned

http://freakoutnation.com/2011/02/24/ron-paul-the-tea-party-is-now-corporately-owned/

"When the man who is credited with the inception of the Tea Party, as a grassroots movement, says it’s now corporately owned, it’s worth hearing — but we already knew this..."


"...Sarah Palin may be the face of the Tea Party movement today, but it started with Ron Paul in 2007..."

http://www.alternet.org/news/145630/ron_paul_helped_inspire_the_tea_party_movement,_and_now_it_could_take_him_down