January 21, 2010
Tea Party Principles -- Populist?
When friends of mine started up the "tea party" protests last year, I wondered:
Could large numbers of American take the common-sense, freedom point of view
and really run with it?
I had hopes.
But for Democrat congressional leaders, and some in the media, there was mostly
fear and loathing -- along with red-herring charges of racism against Tea
Partyers.
Now, David Brooks, writing in the New York Times, focuses on something a bit
different. Noticing that 41 percent of Americans have a favorable attitude
towards the Tea Party movement -- far higher levels of support than for either
major party -- Brooks interprets that tendency in terms of what we oppose: "The
concentrated power of the educated class."
Brooks insists that "Every single idea associated with the educated class has
grown more unpopular over the past year." And he's not cheering.
Michael Barone, in The Washington Examiner, clarifies this new class divide,
writing, "The Obama enthusiasts who dominated so much of the 2008 campaign
cycle were motivated by style. The tea party protesters who dominated so much
of 2009 were motivated by substance."
There is an ancient truth: Being smart doesn't make you wise. In fact,
flaunting your schooling and lording over others with your cleverness makes you
a de facto fool.
And wrapping up fantasies and hopes in stylish, we're-smarter-than-you
packaging doesn't make them any more intellectually defensible.
This is Common Sense. I'm Paul Jacob.
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Paul Jacob is President of Citizens in Charge and the Citizens in Charge
Foundation, which sponsors both Common Sense and Paul's weekly Townhall Column.
The opinions expressed in Common Sense are Paul Jacob's and do not necessarily
reflect the opinions of Citizens in Charge or the Citizens in Charge Foundation.
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