Sarah Palin, Populism, and Tea Parties

Aerial shot of the 9/12 tea party

This past Saturday, thousands upon thousands descended up Washington D.C. to party it up! That is, to attend a TEA (Taxed Enough Already) party. There were no tea cups, fancy white gloves, crumpets, or scones. Instead, there were crowds of Americans who are fed up with the dizzying debt, the power grab, and massive amounts of spending and control that the federal government has become involved in. These crowds of ordinary Americans want to ensure that we stay true to our Constitution; we remain a democratic republic rather than become a socialist democracy; and we have representatives actually represent us.

As I've surfed around the past several months, I've noticed that a lot of the principles that the Tea Partyers espouse are the same principles that Madame espouses. In fact, a lot of people see Madame as the leader of such a movement. Many people have called Madame a conservative populist. I, personally, see her more as Ronald Reagan in a skirt more than William Jennings Bryan in a skirt, but I think there is something to the idea. William Jennings Bryan strove to speak for the American people to ensure that government would intervene on their behalf. Madame's populism is centered around the idea that government should get out of the way, and the people should be allowed to pave their own way and make their own decisions using the American values of self-determination and rugged individualism.

Madame is a big fan of the tea parties. While she was governor, she even tweeted about it. She also stopped by a tea party in Wasilla during the Spring.

Madame with some Tea Partyers in Wasilla

The original tea party in Boston in 1773 was due to a culmination of a lot of events. However, it is interesting that one of the possible contributing factors to the Bostonians' knowledge of unrepresented taxation were likely articles written by John Adams in the Boston Gazette attacking the British authorities. Adams even wrote a piece entitled A Dissertation on the Canon and Feudal Law where he argued that taxes levied against the settlers were unconstitutional. Hmm, I wonder who else has had their writings have informed people and has helped to influence people to get involved? None other than Madame 45 herself. Madame has used me, the LOTUS, to share her message to the American people. Perhaps, John Adams used the QPOB (Quill Pen of Boston) to get his message out to the people. John Adams and Madame 45 were not attendees of either of the tea parties. In fact, John Adams was not particularly in favor of the mob like action of the tea party, but had this to say about the tea party, "[t]here is a dignity, a majesty, a sublimity, in this last effort of the patriots that I greatly admire."

When all is said and done, I don't know what Madame will have to say about the tea party event this past weekend, but she does encourage people to not sit down and shut up. She certainly isn't going to! After all, she is truly a patriot!