Fascinating piece in the New York Times today about the original Tea Party movement, which took place -- sacre bleu! -- in France in the 1950s, complete with angry small business owners, a chief executive who was accused by some of not being "a real Frenchman," and other interesting conspiracy theories. What's most relevant for our present condition is the question: How did it end?
The election, though, proved to be Poujade’s swan song. He had demanded the nation’s ear, but once he and his fellow deputies had it, they had nothing substantive to say. Slogans and placards were poor preparation for governance, and the group’s rank and file soon either retreated from the political arena or joined the traditional right.
By 1958, most Poujadists were ready to throw their support behind a far more impressive opponent of the Fourth Republic, Charles de Gaulle. When de Gaulle assumed power and held a referendum that replaced the parliamentary system with an authoritarian executive, Poujade’s former adherents overwhelmingly voted yes. As for Poujade himself, he had already become a footnote to French history.
Today in America, we're seeing this already play out to some degree even before the fall 2010 elections, thanks in part to the fulcrum shift between the 60 and now (technically, as of Feb. 11) 59 Democratic votes in the Senate. People wondered if and how Obama would "pivot" in the State of the Union and related events, and I think the pivot was trying to place more responsibility on the GOP to...do something, anything. The "Party of No" may be offering a tiny ray of hope to the Democrats by giving them a chance now to run in November against the "do-nothing 41." (Although voters can and should also ask the Dems why they did absolutely nothing during those months that they had a supermajority.)
The other interesting parallel: Who is the Tea Party/GOP deGaulle?...no doubt this mass movement would rather rally behind an authoritative leader than all the hard work of holding rallies, carrying signs, etc. But who is that person? Sarah Palin? I think she'd only run for the job if they raised the presidential salary to at least $5 mil, right?
Footnote: "Automation: More pay, more leisure"? Really?
The more you pay attention to the Tea Partiers, Will, the more it grows. If it's a dying movement as you say, then why do you post about it or refer to it three times a week? Personally, I've nothing wrong with groups of voters from either side getting involved in politics, protesting, carrying signs, and paying attention. It's about time, it seems like the country was asleep for four decades. How anyone could continue to denigrate political involvement like you do, Will, is beyond me.— General_Turgidson
Comment removed.- political involvement based upon nationalism, hate and half-truths is dangerously close to fascism.— jreese
- Bit repetitive without offering substance, jwad. Sounds like your party. I agree with you, General. I think people should be more involved, especially in local politics. I also agree with with, jreese. The only thing that will help this system is more political parties or getting rid of political parties.— HandNik
- The Tea Party movement is having it national rally tomorrow, Feb. 4 through the weekend in Nashville, TN. I don't get the impression from talking with its members that they think nationalism is something to apologize for, or that they are hateful or use only partial truth. I found the people I spoke with to have some idea about numbers, something I respect. They understand that the national debt is now $100,000 per person, and that Obama scored points, rightly so, on Bush for raising the debt so high that it helped sink the economy. Then Obama saw Bush's debt and raised it more than double. Obama closed Gimo, right? Got us out of Iraq? Lowered the debt? What half truths are we talking about here, or are we talking about only half truths and not outright lies?— CleanupPhilly
- "They had nothing substantive to say. Slogans and placards were poor preparation for governance." Sounds exactly like the BO presidential campaign - hope and change but no substance. And what little substance there was -- "I'll close GITMO" -- hasn't materialized.— pj katauskas
- Bill Clinton found himself in a similar predicament when he ran against Bush and criticized his policies. He then had to keep many of them. Clinton at least had the manliness to say to the public and to Bush, "I was in error on the ease with which we could withdraw our foreign commitments in my zeal to win office and transform the country's direction. I ask for your patience." He then apologized to Bush, and praised what Bush was able to do, because Clinton has always been a student of what works. Bush and he have a friendship as a result. They are old pals even, and Bush the younger commented on it wryly, how his dad spends more time with Bill than he did with his son.— CleanupPhilly
- Sometimes when the kids begin to run amok in the candy store, the adults have to say "No." Absolutely nothing wrong with that.— pj katauskas
- Obama's hard partisanship, like Bunch's, mars their analysis, limits it, circumscribes it, and c'est moin practique, moin utilisable au crises.— CleanupPhilly
"Slogans and placards were poor preparation for governance." Maybe if you posted this little nugget in 2008, we wouldn't have found this out the hard way.— jmc- Cleanup, I agree especially if "moin" means "less." (My French is a bit rusty.)— pj katauskas
- Will continues to pay more attention to the out-of-power than he does to the in-power party, engaging in such hijinks as Pelosi's taxpayer-paid jet shuttling her grown kids around while running up massive bills for food and booze.— db_cooper
- Comment removed.
- I agree that Will and Dick should ignore the Tea Parties, so that the ignorance can spread unababted and unchallenged.— furiousj
- Unabated I say. No idea what unababted is.— furiousj
Will Bunch, a senior writer at the Philadelphia Daily News, blogs about his obsessions, including national and local politics and world affairs, the media, pop music, the Philadelphia Phillies, soccer and other sports, not necessarily in that order.
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