Tomorrow, the first meeting of the Coffee Party chapter of Central Virginia will be gathering downtown at Rapture, Wednesday, 2 March 2010 at 7:30pm. The guest speaker will be Eric Byler who heads up the greater Virginia Coffee Party movement.
If you’re unaware, the Coffee Party is a nationwide group that seeks a higher level of dialog that acknowledges that the government is not the enemy, but that we, the people, are the government. Their mission statement is. . .
MISSION: The Coffee Party Movement gives voice to Americans who want to see cooperation in government. We recognize that the federal government is not the enemy of the people, but the expression of our collective will, and that we must participate in the democratic process in order to address the challenges that we face as Americans. As voters and grassroots volunteers, we will support leaders who work toward positive solutions, and hold accountable those who obstruct them.
Both the NYTimes (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/02/us/politics/02coffee.html) and the Washington Post (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/25/AR2010022505517.html) have covered the on-going phenomenon. Going from 9,000 Facebook fans on Friday to around 52,000 today, it’s quickly picking up momentum.
Anyone may attend and everyone is encouraged to do so. [Info]
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Lame. Pure “astroturf.” The call for “cooperation in government” is a plainly partisan call for support of the Obama agenda (which in and of itself is not wrong, but deceptively labeled. Isn’t “Organizing for America” enough of a pro-Obama grassroots organization?)
The Coffee party founder in the video above, Annabel Park, has produced dozens of pro-Obama campaign videos and is as partisan for Obama as any obstructionist Republican is against Obama.
(Details here: http://legalinsurrection.blogspot.com/2010/03/coffee-party-parasite.html)
I’m not saying the Tea Party is the answer, but at least their agenda is organic and their passion real while the Coffee Party is a repackaged version of the Democratic platform.
Actually, I’ve heard nothing about agreeing with Obama’s agenda from these guys. From what I’m hearing, they’re just as pissed at Obama as the Tea Baggers. They’re just pissed that he hasn’t done shit since his inauguration.
As far as the tea baggers go, their ‘agenda’ such as it is, is apparently to be as loud and stupid as they can be. As far as ‘organic’ goes, being supported by Fox News and Rush Limbaugh is about as far from grassroots as you can get.
As far as repackaging goes, if this iteration is more successful than any of the previous ones, well, that’s all to the good.
So they don’t agree with Obama’s agenda because they are mad he hasn’t accomplished any of his goals yet? What? I think it’s pretty clear what she’s referencing when she talks about “obstructing progress”.
This group is a nice statement against the tea party’s claim to being representative of the average citizen, but considering it seems to exist solely as a counter-movement, it’s potential for growth and development into anything meaningful seems pretty limited.
If we wanna talk about the tea party movement itself, I don’t see too many differences between it’s (clearly defined) values and the Republican Party’s current platform either. It seems like the only reason they haven’t allowed themselves to be absorbed is because their rejection of current partisan politics is the only think keeping them energized or noticed, really. It helps that they can vocalize fiscally conservative complaints without having the democrats countering by blaming them for the current situation. Hopefully they’ll help safeguard against a decision to continue spending at current levels, though.
wednesday is March 3.
DO THE MATH
Come and help package a Charlottesville Coffee Party agenda yourself. A follow-up meeting to the one held at Rapture on March 3 will take place on Saturday, March 13, 1 pm, at Greenberry’s in the middle of Barracks Road shopping center. Nothing will get off the ground unless the people who show up make it so.