Dear Tea Party

"Mr. Rubio, Mr. Scott, Mr. Paul… I Have A Message For The Tea Party… BRING IT ONNNNN!!!" by v. johns

I’d like to congratulate Mr. Kendrick Meek and Mrs. Alex Sink, both whom I voted for, and Mr. Charlie Crist, on their courageous bids to serve their state on a grander level. While you may have all lost, we still need you on our side, here in Florida, to eventually win the battle we are faced with now. Don’t go far.

In the meantime, while holding my nose, I’d like to congratulate Mr. Marco Rubio on his win in last night’s “historic” election. The people have spoken and he is it. While I disagree with Rubio’s politics and feel that his party’s positions inspire nothing short of racial animus and hate, his clean-cut demeanor and on-point presentation of himself and his goals cannot be argued. He’s got talent. I just hope he put’s his talent to use to frame Florida, and ALL of its people, not just the “values” crowd, first in his world view.

Mr. Scott? No congrats, there. I don’t trust politicians who buy their way into “public service.” I also don’t trust those who sell themselves as trying to “change Washington” or “change Tallahassee.” While they’re allegedly trying to “change government,” to suit their own needs, I presume, their own home locales continually suffer… and the very same hucksters that the people elect to “limit” (or in some cases destroy) government, end up becoming an established limb on bad government’s twisted body of sordid agendas and pathological praises unto itself. Nonetheless, Mr. Scott, one way or the other, justice WILL prevail… And you know exactly what I mean…

Mr. Rubio, I want you to know that as a member of a historically discriminated-against ethnicity in this country (African-American… not Haitian, not Jamaican… African-American), I’m tired of the finger being pointed squarely at my darkened skin as the reason for our country’s failures and lack of moral values. I’m tired of having to pay a personal price for your harmful wink-and-a-nod, finger-pointing politics, just so you and your cohorts can win elections, hoard power and redistribute our nation’s wealth towards the wealthiest among us. But even more so than this, I’m tired of seeing people far worse off than I am having to suffer, needlessly, at the hands of harmful policies and laws that stem from flawed political ideologies. 

As it stands, at this point, we now have – quite possibly - three distinct political parties that are about to begin sharing the governing power of this nation: The Tea Party, the Republican Party and the Democratic Party. The Tea Party is merely, but rightfully so, the “poor man’s Republican Party.” They are the folks with the big ol’ trucks that Howard Dean warned the Dems not to ignore. The Republican’s are, sadly and unabashedly, the Party of corporate power and intrusion. Simply, shameless. The Democrats? I really don’t know what the hell they are, these days, but historically speaking, they’ve traditionally been the Party of the working folk of America. People like myself… “Takin’ what I’m given, ‘cause I’m workin’ for a livin’.”

Despite the Tea Party’s intimidating grass-roots powered sweep into potential power and dominance, with 113 out of 129 wins, according to one cable news pundit, they don’t frighten me one bit, because in the end, once the American electorate gets tired of them, they’ll be bum-rushed and shown the door, along with the countless other Democrats and Republicans before them.

As much as I’d like to see the Tea Party live on, in a more refined, inclusive form, and become a reasonable third-party balancing agent against government waste and establishment politics, the truth is… Now is simply just not the time for their foolishness. Whether people appreciate it or not, catalytic government investment is precisely what has prevented a total collapse of our economy. According to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, printed on election day, the federal stimulus “helped add 61,000 jobs” to Florida’s economy “in the third quarter” of this year.

But besides the obvious, the worst thing any so-called “movement” can do is establish itself in the cesspool of wasted dreams that has become Washington, D.C. This is where the Tea Party might ultimately fail. Once they become poisoned by the same twistedness that seduces every public servant into becoming a “politician,” and once they realize that they can’t realistically keep all their misguided promises, they’ll be lumped into the same loser-loaded boat as the rest of them. As imperfect as it is, Mr. Rubio, Mr. Scott, Mr. Paul, as long as we have this thing called “elections,” my fear of you shall not exist and my faith in God and Country shall, at once, persist!

So, bring it on, bitches! I’ll be in the ring waitin’ on ya!