We can’t forget that the nascent Tea Party came into existence only a few weeks after our first black president was sworn into office. Its lack of specificity initially allowed for many voices to be heard, but the loudest ones focused on racism and fear-mongering (an extension of the Bush era) that disseminated offensive propaganda.
As the Tea Party's momentum increased, to gain respectability, it metamorphosed into a movement whose stated purpose was less government, less taxes. Sarah Palin, the defeated Republican vice presidential candidate, jumped on the bandwagon, gave it a modicum of credibility, and the TPP was reborn.
The initial TPP targets were Obama's stimulus, the GM and Wall Street bailouts, and the healthcare bill, all of which were labeled as extreme socialist measures. As each bill passed, the language from the right became more and more vitriolic calling for insurrection. When such powerful language is expressed, does it loose its effect or reenforce the image?
No candidate was safe during the summer of 2009. Every democrat and even moderate republicans were subject to name-calling and hateful, mean-spirited rhetoric from the TPP whose single-minded goal was to disrupt town hall meetings held by members of congress in their home districts. Obama, a frequent target, was denounced as a foreign-born interloper, who was not born in the U.S., therefore not a natural-citizen and thus not the president. The other target was the health care bill—the last of Obama's big initiatives before mid-term elections started.
Incendiary information about the proposed bill depicted it as a socialist agenda that would bring the country to economic collapse and kill senior citizens. Much of this information was unsupported by facts, but rather vituperative ideology driven by right-wing commentators and elected officials.
Many of these ideas were considered fringe in the 1950s and '60s when they were preposed by McCarthyism and the John Birch Society (their sworn enemy, the Communists), but these same ideas have gained a foot-hold in the 21st century through the internet and constant news coverage which gives voice to everyone and anyone.
(As and aside; I think it's an amazing coincidence that the judge who presided over the McCarthy hearings was named Joseph Welch and the man who was the prime mover of the John Birch Society was named (no relation, both residents of Massachusetts) Robert Welch.)
Guns, shooting, targets, and crosshairs were frequent images used to incite the Teapartyers to action. People carried loaded guns to political rallies. Because this country has had so many assassinations and near misses of political figures, this was an alarming precedent.
What will it take to stop this insanity? Why are progressives perceived as such a threat to the right — what are they afraid of? Their oft expressed argument, that if they make one concession—where will it stop? The NRA likes to point out that if they make any accommodations, such as banning assault weapons, the progression of their faulty logic—they will take all your guns.
