Origin of the Tea Party

an American folk song


Eric LaMont Gregory

they opened their blinds and they began to speak, and in the process woke a nation from a long and troubled sleep

It has been said that all the secrets of the universe are to be found in movies.  A technique, the suspension of
disbelief, allows the makers of films to entertain us while we explore ideas across an otherwise unimaginable expanse of space and time in a matter of 90 minutes or so.

But, I believe that it is the songs that we have heard, those often simple verses that are so engrained in our minds that we often think of them, and yet the reason why a particular song finds its way into the inner recesses of our thoughts at any particular moment is unclear.

For example, the western homily; Oh give me a home where the buffalo roam and the deer and the antelope play.  Where seldom is heard a discouraging word, and the skies are not cloudy all day.  

A hauntingly simple tune yet ripe with meaning.  One cannot think of the buffalo without thinking of the Natives of this great land and how the west was won, actually.  And, in this year of severe drought, the notion of cloudless skies is less than, well, ideal.

Popular in the late sixties was a folk song about a mining disaster; In the town of Springhill, Nova Scotia, down in the heart of the Cumberland mine.  There’s blood on the coal and the miner’s light.  On the roads that never saw sun nor sky, roads that never saw sun nor sky.  

There is much talk and debate these days about the role coal should play in America’s energy future.  With coal comes the inevitable sad days when our noble miners are trapped on the ... roads that never saw sun nor sky. 
 
And, we are brought to contemplate recent mining and other energy exploration disasters.   We are made to confront the fact that a much too cozy relationship existed between government regulators and energy company operators which left workers, the public and the environment at risk.

And as the presidential election grows ever closer, surely both contenders must be humming that tune; What do I have to do to make you love me.

Not too long ago ordinary citizens across America, perhaps awakened by an Alaskan maverick and the idea proposed by some that we can exchange liberty for a little more security, rose to confront the very idea that our Constitution could so easily be ignored. 
 
It’s a sad sad situation and its getting more absurd, are the words that rang out from homes and communities from our southern frontier to our northern border and from sea to shining sea.

And again, a simple yet powerful verse could be heard; I can no longer keep my blinds drawn, and I can’t keep myself from talking.  

And, they opened their blinds and they began to speak, and in the process woke a nation from a long and troubled sleep. 

 Tea Party supporter voting patterns over the last few election cycles.  
Facts are always convincing, it is the conclusions drawn from facts that are frequently in error. 

An analysis of recent elections shows that unemployment and housing price declines contributed to Republican gains, 
and a significant drop in the number of voters that usually vote for Democratic candidates contributed to their loses.