a few days ago, i said that i would sit down to watch the Tea Party Convention's headliner with Sarah Palin. alas, i didn't get to it last night so i'll have to trackback to the video on youtube or elsewhere.

in addition to watching Palin's speech from last night, i will also do some other political history videos on this superbowl Sunday:
1. Jesse Jackson at the '88 Democratic Convention,
2. Ted Kennedy on health care in 1971, and also in T.Kennedy's 1980 concession speech,
3. and then there's this fascinating list of 'the best 100 political speeches in US history'

*****

All those videos aside, i have genuine interest in the Tea Party scene because I think it is the most coordinated effort -- and yes, threat -- to the two party political system since Ross Perot in '92. that's significant. now in living history as it happens, there's no assurance that the Tea Partiers will even make it to the midterm elections in November. but, i fathom that the fringe simultaneously excites and terrifies the GOP establishment. to be honest, i wonder what would happen if there was a similarly coordinated front on the left. the Democrats need to be challenged, threatened, held accountable to the millions of US citizens and residents whose politics are not reflected in the current Capitol Hill/White House stagnation.

such a front could be composed of Blacks, Latin@s, Asian-Americans, Native Americans and progressive whites. the trick is that it would have to be multiracial.

the Tea Party has the distinction and the ease of being a largely white phenomenon. being white does not make it racist in and of itself. it makes it easier to communicate, state shared values and makes it something easier to rally around.

i am intrigued to see how it continues to roll out: largely as mobilizations and events reported on Fox News? running candidates and galvanizing candidates to run for office, either in Republican primaries or outside of them?

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