Don’t Confuse The Tea party With AIG Populism

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(Editor’s Note: This commentary was written by Chris Murray, organizer of the Ridgefield Tea Party. We are posting it in it’s entirety.)

Perhaps you noticed the “Tea Party” protest on Main Street in Ridgefield this past Saturday.  It is important to clarify how the Ridgefield Tea Party was distinct from the headline-grabbing bus tour of AIG executives’ homes that occurred in Fairfield County on the same day. Location was the only thing these events had in common.  The philosophies behind each protest could not be more distinct.

This past week, the Connecticut addresses of AIG executives were made public by the media.  A bus tour of their homes ensued, with angry “class warfare” protesters and over forty journalists hoping for a “made for TV”rtp-03-21-2009-02-js-150x150 confrontation.  In contrast, the participants in the Ridgefield event respect personal privacy and, while acknowledging the unique vulgarities of the AIG situation, remain champions of personal responsibility and reward.  They conducted a polite and responsible protest of a government they believe to be radical in behavior and intent. 

More specifically, our government incurs debt without restraint, aggressively devaluing our currency.  This is akin to stealing the savings of every hardworking American. Obama’s supporters never seem to concern themselves with such weighty issues, but they won’t be able to ignore this one.  Economists have issued dire warnings, expect hyperinflation.The public’s disgust with executive pay may be a popular issue, but it isn’t the salient one.  Nor is it the “Kabuki theater” of Congress’s handling of the AIG bailout, Senator Dodd’s tortured revelations, or the mainstream media’s McCarthyesque tactics in revealing the addresses of private citizens.  

The salient issue is our own Congress’s apparent eagerness to write a law targeting specific individuals for penalty.  In particular, Senator Charles Schumer shamelessly panders while blithely ignoring the protections afforded individuals from their government codified in our Constitution.  Americans are realizing it is their own government that should be feared.

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Jim Vicevich

Jim is a veteran broadcaster and conservative/libertarian blogger with more than 25 years experience in TV and radio. Jim's was the long-term host of The Jim Vicevich Show on WTIC 1080 in Hartford from 2004 through 2019. Prior to radio, Jim worked as a business and financial reporter for NBC30 - the NBC owned TV station in Hartford - and as business editor at WFSB-TV in Hartford for 14 years while earning six Emmy nominations and three Telly Awards.

3 Comments

  1. Anne-EH on March 22, 2009 at 1:28 pm

    It is not suprising that the msm has chosen to treat the AIG bonus bus tour as a "protest" rather then the real "protests" by the growing number of tea parties going on. The tea parties is where you see the real "populism" going on with the support of everyday Joe's and Mary's.



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