Monday, October 4, 2010

clarity on the tight rope

There have been countless articles trying to describe what the Tea Party is, who is a part of it, and what it represents.  And yet, the best analysis so far comes from the guy in the cross hairs, Pres. Obama: 

In the interview, Obama also said he thinks the Tea Party movement, which has received ample coverage on Fox, is a "mixed bag" that is still "defining itself."

It includes, he said, libertarians opposed to government involvement in markets or social issues, along with social conservatives and others troubled by "what they saw as a series of instances in which middle-class and working-class people have been abused or hurt by special interests, but their anger is misdirected.

"And then there are probably some aspects of the Tea Party that are a little darker, that have to do with anti-immigrant sentiment or are troubled by what I represent as the president. So I think it's hard to characterize the Tea Party as a whole," he said. 
That is a very nice crystallization of 3 distinct strands of the Tea Party movement, and described in such an analytical style that he doesn't even villify the subgroups, even the last one (the "darker" sentiment).

I'm most impressed that he has retained lucidity even though he is at the center of the storm. Really impressive.

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