Tea Party protests

Tea Party protesters mingle in Hartford, Connecticut on 15 April 2009

Remember: Dissent is Patriotic. A protester holds her sign at the Nashville Tea Party on February 27, 2009.

The Tea Party protests are a series of nationally coordinated, locally organized protests by conservatives and libertarians across the United States in 2009. The protesters are in opposition to President Barack Obama, to various aspects of government spending, including the Homeowners Affordability and Stability Plan, the Troubled Assets Relief Program, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, and the Omnibus Appropriations Act of 2009. The name "Tea Party" is a reference to the Boston Tea Party, and the protests have sought to evoke images, slogans, and themes from the American Revolution.

Many of the protests were held on April 15, 2009 to coincide with the annual U.S. deadline for submitting tax returns. A number of counter-protests were held on the same day to show support for the economic plans and actions of President Obama.

History

On January 27, 2009 conservative radio talk-show host Rush Limbaugh criticized the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, saying "This 'porkulus' bill is designed to repair the Democratic Party's power losses from the 1990s forward, and to cement the party's majority power for decades." While the term Porculus is not a new term, typically in reference to pork barrel spending or otherwise known as Earmarks, it proved popular with conservative politicians and commentators, who began to unify in opposition against "stimulus spending" after the 2008 General Election.

A blogger known as "Liberty Belle" called for and organized a "porculus" protest of 2009 which took place on February 16 in Seattle, Washington and attracted "dozens" of people.

A protest was held in Denver on February 17 and a protest in Mesa, Arizona on February 18 brought 500 protesters.

By February 19, 2009, in a broadcast from the floor of the Chicago Board of Trade, CNBC conservative market commentator Rick Santelli, criticized the government plan to refinance mortgages as "promoting bad behavior", and raised the possibility of a "Chicago Tea Party". In response to Santelli's comments, websites sprung up to organize "Tea Party" protests. ChicagoTeaParty.com, registered in August 2008 by conservative Chicago radio producer Zack Christenson, was live within twelve hours. About 10 hours after Santelli's remarks, reTeaParty.com was bought to coordinate Tea Parties scheduled for July 4, and as of March 4, was reported to be receiving 11,000 visitors a day. Bob Basso's portrayal of Thomas Paine on Glenn Beck's Fox News show and on YouTube calling for a Second American Revolution also played a role in spreading the protests.

Several sources contend that the 2009 Tea Party protest phenomenon shares several characteristics of flash mobs -- namely technology-enabled coordination of a group of otherwise unaffiliated people to converge on a single place for a unified purpose. Participants also typically use social-networking platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. Libertarian Glenn Reynolds has referred to the protests as a viral phenomenon. The protests were extensively publicized beforehand by Fox News Channel, which, during an episode of Beck's show, displayed an on-air graphic with the legend "FNC Tax Day Tea Parties" over a map identifying four of them that would be attended by Fox News Channel personalities.

Positions and goals

According to USA Today, most protesters have the overall goal of pressuring Congress and state governments to "reject government spending as a way out of the recession" and to "build an anti-spending coalition around regular taxpayers". Aside from spending by the Obama administration, the paper claims that the activists also oppose the spending the Bush administration set in place. Support for the Federal Reserve Transparency Act of 2009 is also an issue raised in the Tea Parties.

Conservative protest organizer and co-creator of dontGo Eric Odom has argued that "This is a protest that has been in government the last few years... Bush himself was guilty of socialist policies." He also said of the Republican Party that "It’s obvious they’re trying to ride on the brand that we created... It’s somewhat insulting." His group has turned down a request from Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele to speak at its Chicago protest. After the denial, the Republican National Committee released a statement saying that "They're just having a little fun."

Events

Timeline

Date	Location	Event
2009
February 16	Seattle, Westlake Park	The very first anti-spending protest happened in Seattle on February 16, 2009, organized by Liberty Belle.
February 27	East steps of the capitol, Denver	Tea Party organized by Brian Thomas Campbell, Sr., addressed by Jenny Hatch, a libertarian from the Home Rule Municipality of Louisville, who read from Atlas Shrugged and made a speech promoting self-sufficiency.
February 27	Outside state capitol, Nashville	Nashville Tea Party to protest the stimulus spending.
February 27	Gateway Arch, St. Louis	Protesters threw tea bags into the Mississippi and heard speeches including one by local pro-Football Hall-of-Famer Jackie Smith.
February 27	Steps of the Federal courthouse, Tampa	Tampa Tea Party against stimulus spending organized by Tampa-based consultant, John Hendricks.
February 27	Hall of Justice, Omaha	Tea Party organized by David West, Northwest Regional organizer of the dontGo movement and addressed by Pete Ricketts, former Ameritrade executive and former Republican candidate for the Senate.
February 27	The White House	Tea Party addressed by Michelle Malkin outside the White House.
February 27	State Capitol, Lansing	Tea Party organized by Americans for Prosperity.
February 27	Camp Bowie West Boulevard, Fort Worth	Tea Party protesting the stimulus, organized by Mark Frimmel, a local resident inspired by Rick Santelli.
February 28	Harbor Drive, San Diego	San Diego Tea Party, "organized as part of the nationwide Chicago Tea Party" to protest stimulus spending plans.
March 5	Main Plaza, New Braunfels, Texas	Texas Tea Party. Protest against the Obama stimulus, organized by the Comal County Republican Party.
March 6	Capitol Hill, Salt Lake City	Salt Lake Tea Party, anti-stimulus protest organized by David Kirkham, a small business owner based in Provo.
March 6	Veterans Park, Tulsa; State Capitol, Oklahoma City	Taxpayer’s Tea Party Rally organized in Tulsa by Jay Blevins, addressed by State senator Randy Brogdon. A similar rally was reported in Oklahoma City.
March 7	Steps of the Capitol, Harrisburg	Harrisburg Tea Party organized by the Harrisburg-based Commonwealth Foundation and two local radio hosts. Speakers denounced politicians of both parties.
March 8	Kanaha Park, Kahului	Maui Tea Party and Obama Keep Your Change Rally. First Hawaii tea party. Organized by Marc Hodges to communicate the "No New Taxes" message to Hawaii gubernatorial candidate Neil Abercrombie who was at the location to announce his candidacy.
March 12	Flat Branch Park, Columbia, Missouri	Tea Party to protest the Stimulus Bill, addressed by former state Representative Ed Robb (R, 24th District) and, by phone, Lt. Governor Peter Kinder. A local talk radio host from KSSZ closed the ceremony by dropping tea bags into the creek.
March 13	Downtown Monroe, Monroe	Monroe Tea Party organized by a local business woman, Julie Martinoli.
March 15	Fountain Square, Cincinnati	Tea Party on the Square hosted by Cincinnati Tea Party, with a number of speakers, including 550 AM’s Brian Thomas and Cincinnati Council member Chris Monzel.
March 21	Outside State Capitol, Raleigh	New American Tea Party organized by Daniel Martinez to protest "taxes, corporate bailouts and all manner of federal and state spending".
March 22	Lake Eola Park, Orlando	Talk radio host Bud Hedinger presided over a Tea Party in Florida. In addition to the event's speakers, Lloyd Marcus, a Florida-based singer and Political activist premiered an "American Tea Party Anthem"; it was subsequently performed at other protests and played widely on the radio and online.
April 1	Jaycee Park, Cape Coral	Cape Coral tea party organized by FreedomWorks Foundation, protesting against the policies of President Obama, addressed by a handful of speakers including Lloyd Duhon, a local businessman.
April 2	W Hotel, Scottsdale, Arizona	Members of the Arizona-based networking group Republican Professionals gathered to protest public spending. They were addressed by a number of speakers including Barry Goldwater, Jr.
April 11	Roberto Clemente Bridge, Pittsburgh	Tea party addressed by Alan Keyes, threw tea bags into the Allegheny.
April 11	The College of William and Mary, Williamsburg	Colonial Area Tea Party to protest taxation and government spending, addressed by Rep. Rob Wittman.
April 11	Yakima, Washington	Tea party protesting bailouts. Loudspeakers blasted out "We're mad as hell and we're not going to take it any more" and some wore teabags as earrings.
April 15	nationwide	750 Tax Day Tea Parties occurred in cities across the United States.

Turnout

A crowd of protestors mingle at the Louisville TEA Party on April 15.

April 15 was the largest of all the tea parties to date with demonstrations that occurred in hundreds of cities. Actual numbers of protesters varied from location to location. Liberal statistician and President Obama supporter Nate Silver calculated a cumulative attendance estimate of 311,460 at 346 of the protests. Pajamas TV attendance data based on readers accounts currently stands at more than 551,000.

A protest by several hundred people outside the White House was moved after a box of tea bags was hurled over its fence. Police sealed off the area and evacuated some people.

Responses

Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich speaking at the New York City Tea Party.

President Obama made a speech to the nation on April 15 in which he did not expressly mention the "tea party" critics of his program. He pointed out that he had already achieved enactment of an economic-recovery package with tax cuts that included "the most American workers ever to get a tax cut".

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Georgia)'s political activist group American Solutions supports the protests, saying on its website that they are "our chance to communicate our anger and opposition to the irresponsible policies of politicians in Washington who have failed to solve problems." Gingrich spoke at the New York City protest on April 15. Republican Governor of Texas Rick Perry attended a rally in Austin, Texas. He fielded a question about secession, answering:

There's a lot of different scenarios. We've got a great union. There's absolutely no reason to dissolve it. But if Washington continues to thumb their nose at the American people, you know, who knows what might come out of that? But Texas is a very unique place, and we're a pretty independent lot to boot.

He has also discussed the protests on YouTube.

Liberal talk show host Leslie Marshall has remarked, in reference to the original Boston Tea Party, that "You have to look at our history. The reason these people revolted is they didn't want to pay taxes that were not presented by elected officials... Last time I checked, Obama's not taxing you to death — he is spending to stimulate the economy and he is an elected official." Liberal political commentator Bob Cesca has commented that "your neighbor's mortgage is your problem. Just watch your property values plummet as soon as there's just one foreclosure on your block." Conservative historian Bruce Bartlett, a former treasury official in the Bush administration, argued in Forbes that higher taxes may not be as bad as they seem, writing that "Higher taxes may pay for services that people value and thus are not as burdensome as they might appear at first glance."

Conservative Rick Santelli has said, "I think that this tea party phenomenon is steeped in American culture and steeped in American notion to get involved with what’s going on with our government. I haven’t organized. I’m going to have to work to pay my taxes, so I’m not going to be able to get away today. But, I have to tell you — I’m pretty proud of this." Former Republican Governor of Arkansas Mike Huckabee said that the events were "mostly an honest spontaneous effort...to express their outrage at government hubris".

Media

Media Coverage of events

The protests have attracted support from and been promoted by conservative commentators such as Sean Hannity, Michelle Malkin, Glenn Beck, and Glenn Reynolds, former House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-Texas), rock guitarist and conservative political activist Ted Nugent, conservative country musician John Rich, former Republican Governor of Arkansas Mike Huckabee and libertarian syndicated radio host Neal Boortz, The protests have been derided by liberal commentators such as Anderson Cooper, Rachel Maddow, Keith Olbermann, and David Shuster, liberal talk show host Leslie Marshall, liberal political commentator Bob Cesca, liberal economist Paul Krugman, Andrew Sullivan, liberal public policy advocacy group MoveOn.org, and Thomas Frank.

Media Matters for America, a liberal media watchdog organization, claimed that the Fox News Network actively promoted the tea parties and encouraged viewers to get involved with them instead of neutrally covering them. The group pointed to an episode of conservative Glenn Beck's show in which he referred to some of them as "FNC Tax Day Tea Parties". Media Matters president, liberal Eric Burns, wrote an open letter to Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace asking him to "publicly address recent actions by Fox News personalities that unambiguously cross the line separating news and legitimate commentary from political activism and demagoguery." Media Matters claimed that Fox News "aired at least 107 commercial promotions for their coverage of the tea party protests" in the ten days leading up to the April 15 protests. Conservative Fox News commentator Bill O'Reilly dismissed accusations of promotion simply saying the network as a whole promoted coverage of the event which he felt was newsworthy while the other networks ignored. Liberal political commentator Rachel Maddow said "The unofficial Republican Party media outlet, Fox News Channel, has explicitly endorsed these events." and liberal political commentator Keith Olbermann said "Despite claiming neutrality on those policies and the teabag movement itself, FOX has whipped up excitement for the parties, recruiting viewers to come out, guaranteeing huge outdoor gatherings, spilling into the streets, choking off traffic with all their teabagging." On April 15, Howard Kurtz said on CNN "I don't think I've ever seen a news network throw its weight behind a protest like we are seeing in the past few weeks with FOX and these tea parties." On the same day Dan Harris said on ABC World News that the protests were "cheered on by Fox News."

Media Research Center, a conservative media watchdog organization, claimed that television networks CNN and MSNBC provided biased coverage of the tea parties. The MRC pointed to "juvenile jokes" about protesters made by Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow. It also argued that the networks paid little attention to the protests overall, which the MRC's vice president called "journalism by censorship". In an April 15 protest, CNN correspondent Susan Roesgen got into an argument with a protester and then suggested that that event was "anti-government," "anti-CNN," "promoted by the right-wing conservative Fox News" and "not really family viewing." The incident was criticized by the MRC's news blog, conservative Boston Herald columnist Michael Graham, as well as by other conservative blogs. In response, a Fox News spokesperson remarked that "Judging by their lack of ratings, everyone seems to be anti-CNN." A CNN spokesperson later said, "She was doing her job, and called it like she saw it." James Rainey of the Los Angeles Times also claimed that MSNBC commentators were overwhelming giving negative coverage of the protest. The Augusta Chronicle editorial staff described CNN and MSNBC's coverage as "disgusting", "profane", "reprehensible", and "sickening."

Satirists Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert both joked about the tea parties on their respective April 15 comedy show airings. Both of them poked fun at what they saw as ironies and hypocritical logic from the protests; in particular, they mocked protesters for buying a million bags of tea to protest wasteful spending. Both comedy segments mocked the Fox News coverage of the events.

In an interview with liberal political commentator Keith Olbermann, liberal celebrity Janeane Garofalo said of the protests, "It's not about bashing Democrats, it's not about taxes... This is about hating a black man in the White House. This is racism straight up." Noel Sheppard, writing for NewsBusters, argued that Garofalo had "defamed fellow citizens who attended the prior day's Tea Parties with ... vitriolic contempt" and carried out one of "the most vile, hate-filled attacks on average American citizens ever conveyed on national television."

Controversy

Allegations of "Astroturfing"

In early April 2009, the liberal blog Think Progress stated that most of the protests are conservative lobbyist created "astroturf" projects and not spontaneous grassroots protests as their participants say. Instead, an article stated that the protests are nationally coordinated and organized by the conservative lobbying groups Americans for Prosperity and FreedomWorks. Liberal economist Paul Krugman picked up the story in his April 12 New York Times column, writing that:

The tea parties don’t represent a spontaneous outpouring of public sentiment. They’re AstroTurf (fake grass roots) events, manufactured by the usual suspects. In particular, a key role is being played by FreedomWorks, an organization run by Richard Armey, the former House majority leader, and supported by the usual group of right-wing billionaires. And the parties are, of course, being promoted heavily by Fox News.

The Indypendent covered the story as well the following day. On April 14, liberal Steven Leser reported on the liberal website OpEdNews that the domain name "chicagoteaparty.com" was registered during the 2008 presidential campaign by "a right wing radio talk show host ... with ties to several major Republican think tanks". On April 15, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-California) leveled accusations of astroturfing as well, stating:

This initiative is funded by the high end... it's not really a grassroots movement. It's astroturf by some of the wealthiest people in America to keep the focus on tax cuts for the rich instead of for the great middle class.

On the same day, liberal MSNBC host Rachel Maddow said:

One of the controversies about the teabaggers is the fact that insider D.C. corporate-funded PR shops and lobbying groups have done a lot of the organizing and promotion for these events. That‘s controversial because it‘s astroturfing. It‘s disguising a formal top-down organized paid for things as if it‘s some spontaneous grassroots event.

She also claimed that some of these lobbying groups lobbied for some of the companies that received bailouts, saying:

It‘s also controversial because some of the insider D.C. corporate-funded PR shops and lobbying groups, astroturfing these protests, these protests against profligate government spending against the bailouts, the folks organizing the anti-bailout protests are also lobbyists for the bailout companies. Freedom Works, for example, a key protest organizer, is headed up by Dick Armey, who‘s lobbying firm in the past year has represented AIG, Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch, as well as other recipients of TARP funds. Organizing the protest against the bailout after lobbying for the firms that got the bailout, it‘s almost like Dick Armey is talking here out of both sides of the teabag.

Participants vehemently deny the astroturfing charge. According to Atlantic Monthly, the three main groups that provide guidance and organization for the protests—FreedomWorks, dontGo, and Americans for Prosperity—state that the demonstrations are an organic movement. Americans for Prosperity displays a set of "talking points" for participants. Libertarian organizer Glenn Reynolds has argued in The New York Post that:

These aren't the usual semiprofessional protesters who attend antiwar and pro-union marches. These are people with real jobs; most have never attended a protest march before. They represent a kind of energy that our politics hasn't seen lately, and an influx of new activists.

Conservative Bridgett Wagner of the Heritage Foundation has compared the protests to the tax revolts of the 1970s and 1980s.

Allegations of "Teabagging"

A counter-protester's sign at the 15 April Hartford, Connecticut event reads: "Teabag Washington? They have way too many NUTS Already!"

Some commentators have made jokes about the Tea Parties, referring to the protestors' use of the term "teabag" or "teabagging", a crude reference to the sexual practice.

On April 10, liberal political commentator David Shuster said that the protests were "fluffed repeatedly by FOX News" and that "limp or not ... more of these things are supposedly unfolding on or near Tax Day, April the 15th." On April 13 he offered "details of who is stimulating the movement and where the money is blowing in from" and described the movement as "short on outrage and long on Republican manufacturing." He said that the right wing is "going nuts for it" and that "thousands of them whipped out the festivities early." He continued, saying that "the teabaggers are full-throated about their goals" and "want to give President Obama a strong tongue-lashing and lick government spending." He then spoke about the source of the protests, saying "the tea bagging is not a spontaneous uprising. The people who came up with it are a familiar circle of Republicans, including former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former House Majority Leader Dick Armey, both of whom have firm support from right-wing financiers and lobbyists, as well as Washington prostitute patron, Senator David Vitter, who has issued statements in support of teabagging but is publicly tight-lipped." He then addressed Fox News, saying "Then there was the media, specifically the FOX News Channel, including Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity. Both are looking forward to an up close and personal taste of teabagging themselves at events this Wednesday." He concluded by saying, "If you are planning simultaneous teabagging all around the country, you‘re going to need a Dick Armey."

On April 13, liberal political commentator Rachel Maddow offered "a double entendre palooza." Her guest, liberal Ana Marie Cox, said "Well, there is a lot of love in teabagging." On April 14, she admitted that her approach to the protests was "to laugh at it, even while trying to report on it, which is the prurient, juvenile approach." On April 15, she said "the turnout today can probably best be characterized as a mixed bag" and said that protesters had "joy and the enthusiasm to teabag." Her guest, Ana Marie Cox, said "These people who turned out were truly dedicated to teabagging. And they really, they put a lot of muscle into it, but, hopefully, not too much. But I think that they were very, very excited to be there."

On April 14, liberal political commentator Keith Olbermann said "FOX has whipped up excitement for the parties, recruiting viewers to come out, guaranteeing huge outdoor gatherings, spilling into the streets, choking off traffic with all their teabagging." and "Nor is FOX alone. Republican talking-heads like former House Speaker Newt Gingrich have pushed their own version of teabagging—down the throats of teabaggers." He spoke about the source of the protests, saying "Dick Armey [is] at the head of it" and that "right-wing money bags... have blown lots of cash to make the movement look as if it's coming from the bottom-up and not the top-down." One the possibility of counter-protests, he said "if enough counter-protesters rear their head tomorrow, if things get too testy, teabagging might jut blow up in FOX‘s face." He suggested that the protests might have "had the news programs on FOX News going off half-cocked." On April 15, he said "After all the anticipation and buildup, the teabagging exploded all across America." and that "it is hard to change position right in the middle of a teabagging." On the origin of the protests, he said "In Washington, it climaxed at that grassroots organization, the Competitive Enterprise Institute, founded by “Mr. Grassroots” himself, Richard Mellon Scaife, funded by him anyway." He continued, saying "But this Dick Armey revolution only came out in dribs and drabs. At some spots outside the beltway, in crowds that numbered at least one dip, teabaggers hoping to get at least two dip, got some help from FOX News, sending its big guns all over the country." On the motivations of the protesters, he said "oddly, teabaggers oppose stimulus, even the stimulus package. Dick Armey hates inflation." and "these teabaggers claim high taxes have brought them to their knees."

On April 15, CNN's Anderson Cooper said "It's hard to talk when you're tea-bagging."

On April 17, political scientist Melissa Harris-Lacewell wrote in The Nation that "I nearly choked on my inflight pretzels when I learned that the Right was calling for Americans to teabag Obama!"

Responses

In response, national organizer FreedomWorks issued a flyer stating

The term teabagging has strong sexual connotations. Beware of anyone with a camera asking you if you are a "teabagger" or enjoy "teabagging" or similar leading questions — they are trying to make a fool of you.

Fox News responded by calling the remarks "frat house humor" and accusing MSNBC's David Shuster of weaving "a tapestry of 'Animal House' humor." Fox News further compared MSNBC's Rachel Maddow and Air America's Ana Marie Cox to Beavis and Butt-head. Max Pappas, Public Policy Vice President of national organizer FreedomWorks, called the comments a "shame." Jeff Poor, writing for right-wing media watchdog NewsBusters, labeled the teabagging references as "dirty", "juvenile", and "low brow."

Conservative Media Research Center President Brent Bozell wrote that CNN and MSNBC had put on an "utterly embarrassing and crude display." He accused them of "vulgar attack-journalism", "lowly crassness", "slimy, smarmy attacks", and "sleaze-riddled condemnation". Conservative political commentator Joe Scarborough said "I'm not going to mention names of people on networks that made sexual jokes, childish sexual jokes."

External links

• Map showing location of April 15 protests at Google Maps