This is a fairly readable book, with impressive analysis.
The authors show that the Tea Party is not an independent, spontaneous, grassroots movement of ordinary Americans but an astroturf operation managed by Republican operatives and funded by corporate titans like the Koch brothers. The authors conclude that Tea Party chapters across the nation are mostly inactive, with relatively few of them holding any regular meetings. It seems that Tea Party rallies and meetings can only draw significant crowds when media stars like Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin show up. If a certain portion of Americans express sympathy with the Tea party in polls, then that is merely an exhibition of general sympathy with the Tea Party's anger at how bad things are and not sympathy with the specific ultra-right and paranoid ideas embraced by the Teabaggers. The authors cite an in-depth CBS/New York Times poll of April 2010, along with other polling, that shows that Americans in general hold significantly more progressive views than the Teabaggers. For example, according to the CBS/NYT poll, 20 percent of Tea Partiers blamed Bush and Wall Street for the financial crisis, compared to 54 percent of the general public. 80 percent of Teabaggers expressed opposition to tax increases on those making over $250,000 to provide health insurance to the uninsured, compared to 39 percent of the general public. 54 percent of Teabaggers expressed opposition to Roe V. Wade, compared to 34 percent of the general public. The authors cite other polling from the last decade indicating that strong majorities of Americans believe taxes on corporations and the wealthy are too low and that the government should increase social spending.
Issues revolving around race seem to be where the Tea Partiers and the general public are most in sync. However, according to the authors, Tea Partiers hold, even more than the general white public, a "color blind" racism. The authors note that the Tea Partiers provide a strong constituency for Islamophobic currents in this country. The Tea Party has provided a friendly audience for the disgusting cretin demagogue Pamela Geller. Geller, it is mentioned in this book, is an admirer of the English Defense League, the fascist hooligan anti-Muslim organization.
The authors argue that the Tea Party is the latest manifestation of Richard Hofstadter's "paranoid style." The authors note the craziness of the views echoed in Tea Party circles that Obama is a socialist. In fact, Obama is a corporate friendly centrist. They point out that his health care bill kept the private sector firmly in charge of the distribution of health care in this country. It even forces Americans to buy insurance from private insurers. Thus his health care bill strengthened the rapacious private sector health care industry. Obama's health care legislation is very similar to the alternative plan proposed by the Republicans to President Clinton's health care proposal in 1993. The authors note another piece of evidence cited by Tea Party activists about Obama's socialist plotting. This involved the bailout of the auto industry. Obama's government temporarily took over GM, and gave partial ownership of it to the UAW but there was no interference with traditional management prerogatives or operating philosophy. Quoting New York Times business columnist Floyd Norris, the authors note that the Obama administration subjected GM to lessons in strong capitalist principles. Faced with the opposition of the UAW, GM had been reluctant to cut jobs and outsource to the extent that it needed to become profitable. However, under Obama's oversight, GM moved the equivalent of four assembly plants from American shores to Mexico, South Korea and China. Many union jobs were destroyed but GM's profitability was enhanced by moving to lower wage business climates. The Obama administration also allowed GM to raid its worker pension funds to pay its debts to Wall Street banks.
The authors argue that the founding fathers did not intend for the constitution to be interpreted in the rigidly constructionist manner that Teabaggers view it. While the Tea Partiers worship the unfettered free market, they are ignorant of the fact that Jefferson and Madison both warned against economic inequality. The authors note that both greatly feared the rise of corporations and banks that set out to accumulate the bulk of the wealth of the country and erode American democracy. Jefferson even called for a progressive income tax at one point.
The Tea Party's success in the 2010 mid-term elections was based not on establishing any real connection with the general American population. The authors note that that election went to the Republicans because the Democratic Party's base was too demoralized to turn out to vote.The authors, in their afterword, discuss the movement that started in Wisconsin, noting that 61 percent of the American public opposed the imposition of the Wisconsin style anti-union law in their state. The authors note the misinformation pushed by corporate funded think tanks and other groups about public workers. The authors quote a New York Times article to the effect that Obama's White House became enraged when it learned that the Democratic National Committee tried to provide some assistance to the Wisconsin protestors.
The authors portray Teabaggers as ignorant, credulous, bigoted, racist, authoritarian, virtually all white, heavily rural and exurban, and generally very stupid people tending toward the more extreme varieties of Christianity. They do not see any possibility of left movements aligning with the Tea Party on anti-war issues (Ron Paul has a low approval rating amongst the Teabaggers). They disagree with the sentimental critique of the Tea Partiers offered at one point by Noam Chomsky.
While the authors dismiss the idea that the Tea Party is a genuine social movement, they warn that our political and social climate is favorable for the Teabaggers. To the vast majority of Americans, there is no visible progressive alternative to the system of corporate tyranny represented by both Republicans and Democrats. In the absence of serious left wing alternatives, Americans might increasingly be hospitable to the Tea Party or worse movements.
ISBN-13: 978-1594519451
ISBN-10: 1594519455
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