First off, let me say this; I do not believe that the Tea Party movement itself was racist at all. In fact, it never was a centralized movement. In most movements, like the Tea Party movement; there will be people who do things that do not represent the movement as a whole.
So, when I see Michelle Malkin blatantly denying the fact that there were racists in the Tea Party movement, I have to say, “oh really?”
A quick search of Google Images brings up quite a few racist signs and images:
and this is not racist Michelle? (even though it is misspelled...)
And this is not racist?
Here is the one that really bothered me, and this dude ended up in jail for this too:
A "Death to Obama" sign... But, that's not racist, so says Michelle Malkin
Nope, No racism here! Only thing missing here is the N-word and that makes okay, according to Michelle Malkin
This image was used on signs and passed around in e-mails, by Tea Party supporters. (I know, I used to see it on facebook and in e-mails I would get from other Tea Party supporters. That until I told the idiots to quit sending me racist crap like that….)
But this is not racist according to Michelle Malkin (Willful blindness much Michelle?)
There is more, much more to see, just click this link to look at the results of a Google Images search.
Again, let me be clear; I am not calling the entire Tea Party movement racist as a whole, that is collectivism and this blogger is not a collectivist. In other words, I do not dismiss the movement in it’s entirety, as racist; but I will say that there were people who were carrying racist signs, not to mention doing stuff like this:
This is Chris Broughton, and yes, he is black, and he is a Ron Paul fan and yes, he was carry an assault rifle at a Obama event. My question is why? I think I know the reason and I think you do too. But, the Tea Party is just peaceful people... Most of them anyhow...
My point to this posting is this; The OWS crowd are a violent group and yes it does include anarchists, who do try and blow up bridges. However, the Tea Party is not without its own individual nuts and looney tunes, who did bring a tarnish to the good name of the Party. Not to mention all of the infighting that went on with various groups.
However, my more intellectual point is this; to what end was all of this even done? I mean, the Republican Party did not change one wit. Oh sure, there were a few Senators who were elected as result of the grassroots surge. However, the Republican Party’s coronation of a Mormon George W. Bush is telling; and let me tell you something, if you think for one second that Mitt Romney is going to rip out Obamacare, you are crazy. Oh sure, he will remove the mandate and anything else that seems to infringe on basic American rights. However, I do not believe that he will remove the entire package.
Which makes me have to really wonder aloud, what exactly did the Tea Party accomplish; outside of the rhetorical flourishes? Absolutely nothing. Government is still there and it is still imposing upon our basic human rights. All of those borderline racist signs, all of the verbal clashes, all of the excitement were for naught.
This was not to hurt Michelle Malkin herself; but it was to point out the Republican/Conservative/Fox News/Sean Hannity right’s willful blindness to the racism of the Tea Party — which was, and is still there very much so, to this very day.
