polifrog
Have you ever wanted to take a peek at your life through the eyes of another? When it comes to national politics, that is possible. We have a variety of nations and fortunately many speak our language; fewer ideas are lost in translation, while cultural differences can highlight interesting differences.
If you have a moment this Saturday, take a peek at your country from outside the window; below are some excerpts from
an article by the UK's MailOnline:
It was clear from the start of our conversation that BJ Lawson was no Tea Party lunatic. A youthful looking 36-year-old, he studied medicine and then started his own medical software company. What, I asked, had brought a businessman into politics?
...
Lawson has the kind of anti-establishment attitude that the Tea Party cherishes. He is a libertarian who seeks to rekindle the values of the American Revolution, and has already handed out 50,000 copies of the Declaration of Independence and of the American Constitution.
Crucially, BJ struck me as the kind of Tea Party Republican who does not frighten the horses and can make inroads into the vital centre ground of uncommitted voters. If others in his movement can project themselves as well has he does, then the Tea Party could become a lasting force.
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What really sticks in their craw is that, while Middle America struggles to make ends meet, profligate and incompetent banks, insurance companies and car manufacturers have all been rescued from their folly and greed with taxpayers’ money.
The U.S. is built on the power of ideas: the Land of the Free, the Shining City on the Hill, the Beacon of Liberty. Undermine these ideas, and you undermine the country itself.
For the Tea Partiers, the bankers and politicians have committed the most heinous crime of all. They have besmirched America’s cherished idea that each generation should be able to pass onto the next a legacy more prosperous than the one it inherited.
But then there is nonsense like this:
But some Tea Party candidates have brought with them a whole battery of extreme religious, cultural and social beliefs. It is these which give the movement its reputation for weirdness and eccentricity.
Witchcraft, anti-masturbation views, denial of evolution, opposition to gays and ‘sexually active single women’ becoming teachers — all have been injected into political debate by Tea Partiers.
There is more than a hint of racism in their hostility to Obama and his expensive healthcare reforms (aimed at helping the 40 million people without health insurance), which are seen as ‘European’ and ‘socialist’, two of the most damning adjectives that you can throw at an American politician.
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