A symptom of modern times

These tea-baggers I am intimately acquainted with. My father is THE quintessential tea-bagger – it is his picture you will find next to the definition in the dictionary. Frightened, confused, paranoid and angry as regards modern times it is not completely clear even to him why he reacts so strongly or feels the way he does about these ever changing times. Gone are the black and white days of good guy-bad guy – clear lines of conflict against an enemy you could see. Gone are the days of Walter Cronkite – a newsman you could trust to provide truthful information about a government you could place reasonable trust in. Gone is the need or even possibility of true nationalism – where things made in American were really made in America - and it was us against the world. Gone are the days that despite all the shenanigans and political game playing – the government worked – the system worked - there was an honest dialogue and a concern to do the right thing in congress across party lines – not one corporate interest chasing another or one extreme ideology dominating a dozen other extreme ideologies. Oh how confusing these modern times have become – and on top of it all now throw an Afro-American into the role of President of the United States? This is an in your face reminder to these people as to just how confusing and frightening it has all become. It isn’t just racism, it is also that  it goes against all they’ve ever known. A black man in the white house? Sadly you have pieces of garbage like Sarah Palin willing to exploit these fears and confusion – seemingly helping to unite them and give them direction and purpose while in fact all she’s really doing is cashing in. The movement rings true in so many hearts but it is unfocused – really more of an emotional reaction than an organized political force – and will not last. But let’s just not dismiss them as racists or hate mongers or malcontents. In fact at the center of all their confusion lies an angst that many of us are feeling towards our government and the state of world affairs in general. Tea-baggers are a symptom of a dangerously broken government and media in a scary, scary time in history.