Maxine, a career politician, will be up for re-election for a 12th term in the U.S. Congress in 2012, and she’s hot on the campaign trail. In a “town-hall” style meeting in her district, Waters gave a rousing speech before a group that the Daily Caller referred to as: “attendees sporting purple SEIU T-shirts.” (See video from Daily Caller)
Maxine and her peer Charles Rangel (NY15) both faced ethics charges in Augsut of 2010.
Water’s remarks most likely stem from comments made by Col. Allen West, a Republican representing
. (Real Clear Politics with video)
"You have this 21st century plantation that has been out there where the Democrat party has forever taken the black vote for granted. And you have established certain black leaders who are nothing more than overseers over the plantation. And now the people on that plantation are upset because they’ve been disregarded, disrespected, and their concerns are not cared about," Rep. Allen West (R-FL) said on FOX News. “
Water’s appears to have taken offense, however, when one looks at the statistics, Water’s has a point, African American’s as a U.S. tracked “Class”, appear to have higher rates of unemployment. It is not so much that African American’s are on West’s virtual plantation, other “classes”, women, Catholics, union employees (11% of the U.S. Workforce), and college students, are considered Democrat by virtue of “perceived ownership” by the DNC. West was merely pointing this “ownership” in language that was clear and to the point. (Much like Comedian Bill Cosby has been known to do, and has been largely criticized, again by the professional west, for his conservative leaning comments.
The Tea Party appears to have replaced the “Red Menace” (also known as Republicans) as the “political party of choice” when it comes to DNC rhetoric as of late. This phenomenon clearly gives the Tea Party equal status in the eyes of a public, increasingly wary off “politics as usual” from the two main Political Parties’ in the U.S. and it is growing.
Maxine, and others of her “ilk” (i.e. Progressive Democrats), most likely do not have time to watch pollsters – a recent NBC Wall Street Journal (Talk about strange bedfellows), poll where 21% of the Public approve of the job Congress is doing, 33% either highly or somewhat approve of the Democrat Party, with the Republican Party faring less well at 24% (combined), and the Tea Party being the main competition at 30% (combined). (Data from August 2011). Apparently, Maxine does not approve of the Peoples Movement to bring fiscal sanity to the nation. The shot she made at the Tea Party was most likely a generalization and directed to Alan West, who was elected to Congress in 2010, as part of the Tea Party movement.
The beauty of this whole schematic, is that Waters, and other Progressives, will have a difficult time using the much overused “race card” with West for obvious reasons. What is most hypocritical of Maxine is that these same sentiments have been echoed in past elections by other professional leftist, who looked to the Republican Party to provide leadership that was lacking in the DN and inclusion lacking in the DNC (Google News Archives, the Vindicator)
The problem for both major parties, from a moderate (independent) point of view, is that ownership of certain “classes” (this is derived from the Progressive school of thought, there are elites, and then there are “classes” underneath them), belong to certain parties ideologically and this “myth” is perpetuated by the media. The last time anyone checked, no political party “owned” any specific group, the notion of categorizing the American Citizen as a specific “ethnic, racial, or gender based “minority", is ludicrous, simply to the fact that all American’s have equal treatment under the Constitution as well as oversight by several government agencies, tonsure that every “class be treated” equally.
Are there racists, sexists, bigots, and the like still residing in the U.S. – of course, and that will always be the case, ignorance, as they say, is bills. However, how much different is the “bigotry” of individuals like Maxine, when painting the Tea Party (specifically Col West.) with such a broad brush? There simply is no difference.
The Tea Party is comprised of individuals from all political affiliations who are mainly fiscal conservatives, at first, loosely organized into groups, now having gained power within a short span of less than two years, placing sixty members in Congress. Should they organize by precinct/ward, state and become fully chartered as a national party, it would come as no surprise, if they eclipsed enrollment in both national political parties. That’s at least a year away, however, it is possible that this strictly grassroots, fiscal conservative, constitutional “people’s party” will do just that.
Which is why those on the Left are fearful, and those on the right, embracing the Tea Party in instances where elections are at stake, and they share a similar ideology. (Note: Tea Party candidates, as well as Libertarians, tend to run as a Major Party candidate, due to numbers, not unlike Green Party, or Progressive Socialist running as Democrats, due to shared ideology and numbers – it is the lack of foundation to those who hold ideals from smaller parties, that allows them to pair with a political party that is closer in ideology than another.) Should the American Public have to choose between three parties, or even four, would not our elections become more diverse, and would not the outcome be more true to the nature of our Constitution?
One fact that cannot be disputed: The Tea Party had nothing to do with the Debt Ceiling Fiasco. Democrats controlled Congress for two years prior to Obama being elected President, and for two years with Obama in control of the White House, for those four years, the Democrats failed to pass a balanced budget, reduce spending, or attempt to get deficits under control. The Tea Party was merely stating the obvious. Apparently the general public concurs.
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