In Review: Give Us Liberty

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A Tea Party Manifesto

In 2008, grassroots networks across America thrust Barack Obama ahead in the polls and secured his election as the first black president in American history. In 2009 the American grassroot network cam alive again, but this time they railed against the very democratic agenda they had previously propelled into power. With massive protests such as the 9/12 March in Washington D.C. and the media frenzy that escalated the healthcare town hall debacles, America ha awoken from its long slumber, and America was fighting back. In the book Give us Liberty by Dick Armey and Matt Kibbe attempt to capture the history and energy of the Tea Party Movement and try to illustrate for the readers the necessity of this movement and the true power that we as voters and citizens truly hold.

The Power of Tea

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A Modern Day Tea Party

During the political maelstrom that gripped the nation in 2009, raging over issues like the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (The Bailout) to the proposed health care legislation, the Tea Party was born. Taking the name in reference to Boston Tea Party of Colonial times and creatively using it as an acronym for the slogan 'Taxed Enough Already,' the Tea party hit the national stage holding local protests and even convening the first National Tea Party Convention, headlined by the 'Conservative Darling' herself, former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin (R-AK). Although more conservatively aligned, the Tea Party covers every spectrum of the Republican Ticket, supporting the anti-military policies of Ron Paul (R-TX) while chanting Sarah Palin's slogan of "Drill Baby, Drill." With new Gallup Polls indicting that 1 in 5 Americans either somewhat or strongly support the Tea Party Movement, one would assume that it would have a large impact on the 2010 Midterm Elections. Let's take a look and see just how powerful this grass roots organization really is.