HA! The major criticism seems to be the absence of blacks, so let's address that, shall we? Blacks make up roughly 20% or less of the total population. That fact seems to be often overlooked, but let's keep going. Among the black population, I would hazard a guess the percentage of conservatives or strict constitutionalists is quite small, so now maybe we're talking less than 10% maybe even way lower than 5% of the total population as potentially lining up as attendees. But let's not stop. The pundits on the left have done a really good job of framing the movement as a racist movement. As such we've seen stories from black conservatives who feel pressure to not attend, even though they agree with the philosophy the movement presents, and this drives the number even lower. What does that take us down to, less that 1%? Well, if thats the case, and 500 people showed up, would it be reasonable to expect 5 or less of them to be black? I, for one, think it unfortunately might be so. So should / does the Tea Party hope for a large turnout from the black community? Im sure they do. Should / do I expect one? Nope not even close.
Here's my beef with the Tea Party, and why I will never be able to take them seriously.
Their beef is with Obama, due to his political and fiscal decisions that are contributing to our messed up economic situation, right?
Then my question is this - where the hell was the Tea Party during the 8 years of Bush that were ACTUALLY screwing up this country? They didn't turn out until Obama, a Liberal Democrat, took office. Then they march in force, protesting Obama and his policies, throwing around scare terms like "Socialist" every opportunity they can get.
But let's be clear - Obama didn't CAUSE this problem. It's not his fault. George Bush did. The same George Bush that this very same Tea Party didn't come out to protest against. Obama merely inherited this jacked up economy, and granted, it's not his job to fix it, he can only play the Bush card for so long and he's NOT fixing it, but it's not his problem.
The Tea Party just screams "Sour grapes" to me, because their party isn't in office, so now they are going to cry and stamp their feet. And you know what? Dare I say that some of this foot stamping comes due to the fact that Obama is black?
The other thing that I hate about the Tea Party, and another reason why they have ZERO credibility in my eyes is their name. The "Tea Party"?! Seriously?! Are you REALLY trying to compare what is happening today to the colonial days, when we were TAXED WITHOUT REPRESENTATION by an oppressive regime?
The parallel that they are trying to draw is completely ridiculous, and as an American I find it rather offensive. The Tea Party has absolutely ZERO credibility in my eyes. It's nothing but a bunch of politically spoiled brats who can't accept the fact that a non-conservative won the election. Even as someone who voted for Obama I'm not going to proclaim that he is doing an amazing job, and doing all the things that I voted for him for. But he is far from the political anti-Christ that the right, and the Tea Party in particular, make him out to be.
