Grand Junction, Colorado (CNN) — They are not typical Tea Party activists: A woman who voted for President Obama and believes he’s a “phenomenal speaker.” Another who said she was a “knee-jerk, bleeding heart liberal.”…. These two women are not alone. Some Americans who say they have been sympathetic to Democratic causes in the past — some even voted for Democratic candidates — are angry with President Obama and his party. They say they are now supporting the Tea Party — a movement that champions less government, lower taxes and the defeat of Democrats even though it’s not formally aligned with the Republican Party. To be sure, the number of Democrats in the Tea Party movement is small. A recent CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll shows that while 96 percent of Tea Party activists identify themselves as either Republican or Independent, only 4 percent say they are Democrats.
I had to read the paragraph above a couple times to make sure it wasn’t some sort of leftover April Fools joke. Democrats? In the Tea Party, a movement that holds Democrats to be something akin to Satanists? Even as I’ve thought about it, the whole idea makes less and less sense. It’s like the Log Cabin Republicans, an organization for Gay Republicans, which has always impressed me as the ultimate in self-loathing. I mean, how much do you have to despise yourself in order to belong to a political party dedicated to your marginalization and oppression?
And how silly have things become when Democrats can honestly opine that the President, who’s become the very definition of centrism, has become too extreme? Who’s drinking the Kool-Aid now? Granted, we’re only talking about 4% of teabaggers, but still…have a little self-respect, willya? If you’re a Democrat, how could you possibly think that the Tea Party has anything positive to offer you? And how can you in good conscience buy into the propaganda that Barack Obama is a Socialist?
Roxanne Lewis expressed a similar point of view. A small business owner in Grand Junction, Lewis described herself as a lifelong Democrat and called the president a “phenomenal speaker.” She voted for him because she “believed in what he was saying: change.”
But, Lewis added, “I should’ve listened a lot closer when he talked about ‘spreading the wealth.’ “
Asked how she feels about having voted for the president, Lewis said “I feel lied to, cheated and raped.”
Raped? Really?? I don’t know Lewis’ background, but the idea that any woman could compare political disappointment to being raped is frankly offensive. I’ve never been sexually assaulted, but I’d have to believe that if you have, it’s nothing like being disappointed in your vote in the last Presidential election.
Come on, y’all. Get a grip, willya? If you honestly think that the Tea Party has ANYTHING positive to offer this country, you’re as much a Democrat as Glenn Beck. Put down the Kool-Aid and take a good look around you. These people are nuts…and you’re not far behind.
