Tea Party vs. Coffee Party — Annabel Park
Mar 30th, 2010 by Coffee Lover
videography by Dewey Smith
See the entire panel discussion at: http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/id/221732
We did something unusual for a Coffee Party event. With two distinguished guests — Linda Killian, senior scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center, columnist for Politico and US World & News Report and the author of The Freshmen: What Happened To The Republican Revolution? and Darrell West, the vice president and director of Governance Studies at the Brookings Institute — we decided to do a panel discussion, moderated by Annabel Park, and then open it up to questions and comments. The result was a really productive town hall style discussion.
Busboys was nice enough to provide, not only free coffee, but free tea for participants! There were about 70 people here (we are writing from location before dashing off to Frederick, MD for a 4 PM film festival screening).
C-SPAN, CNN, Fox News, and Voice of America were all there, so look for the news reports. The panel discussion that opened the meeting is available at C-SPAN’s website: http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/id/221732
Darrell and Annabel about the broken political process: money in politics, Citizens United decision, campaign finance, Senate rules, redistricting reforms, etc. There was a consensus in the roo…m that Coffee Party USA must focus on finding ways of fixing our broken political process and Congress in particular. Linda and Darrell agreed that this is a nonpartisan issue with wide consensus among Americans.
The influence of corporate money on our democracy was a dominant topic of discussion. Issues discussed in break-out groups after the panel included:
* Coffee Party needs to narrow down to more specific initiatives as we move forward
* Can the Coffee Party make Campaign Finance reform an election issue by supporting candidates who support Campaign Finance Reform legislation?
* How can we limit the potential damage caused by the Supreme Court’s “corporate personhood” (Citizens United) decision?
Duration : 0:3:48
Trackbacks
- [WATCH]: Political Party Class Live …
- [WATCH VIDEO]: Obama reviving amnesty bill; Calling out Moveon.org; Tea Party elections; and the Academy Awards …
- Theme Park Survival Strategies …
The coffee party …
The coffee party was founded by Alex Jones, not this Obama campaigner and operative. Try realcoffeeparty(dot)com – it was hijacked almost as soon as he created it… much like the tea party movement and palin. Why don’t we just argue with one another until the country is gone… race pimps.
So therefore you …
So therefore you know what you know based on what you see on TV?
“There are liars, …
“There are liars, dammed liars, and then statisticans.” – Benjamin Franklin
The fruitcake party
The fruitcake party
I love the idea of …
I love the idea of a counter party to the teabaggers. But the coffee party will fail if it has speakers like this. I listened and switched off. I could care less about her rambling. If the coffee party is going to do real good it’s going to need to say things in a short, clear, and concise way. What this lady takes to say in 3 mins, the opposition could say in a sentence. The coffee party will fail if it seeks to fight irrational emotion with rational dialogue.
@ …
@1stAmendmentChannel what has he done that he promised? uh…healthcare reform? Leaving Iraq? Let’s not forget the big surprise economic meltdown bush handed him as a door prize when he walked in. People criticize him for doing too much and you say he is doing nothing?
Statistics are …
Statistics are worthless. They can be skewed very easily by what questions are asked, who asks them and how they are asked, not to mention who is asked the questions.Revolutions start because some one who is more dedicated to their cause than the next guy picks up a gun and starts shooting those of a differing opinion. Then the Moderates are left to join what ever side is closest to their personal beliefs or they bend them to suit those around them. Either way they are forced to choose a side.
Statistics are …
Statistics are worthless. They can be skewed very easily by what questions are asked, who asks them and how they are asked, not to mention who is asked the questions. Revolutions start because some one who is more dedicated to their cause than the next guy picks up a gun and starts shooting those of a differing opinion. Then the Moderates are left to join what ever side is closest to their personal beliefs or they bend them to suit those around them. Either way they are forced to choose a side.
How do you account …
How do you account for statistics that show there are more political independents and moderates in this country than there are members of the two major political parties? It breaks down precisely as it always has, in the shape of a bell curve with the middle being the largest.
The time for talk …
The time for talk has come and gone. Neither side is willing to admit that this is about Liberals vs Conservatives and that it is only a matter of time before the shooting starts and things will get out of hand from there. Everyone is gonna have to choose a side and good luck with that !
@ …
@1stAmendmentChannel I base my approval of Obama on what he does, not on what some poll says I should think.
@blueBlackpurple I …
@blueBlackpurple I agree…I am sorry I was up for 23 1/2 hrs putting together a coming home party for my MMA fighter…Peace…
@SuperKixxx Because …
@SuperKixxx Because too many people are not agreeing with him or how he is doing things, have you seen his approval rating… Don’t say that approval ratings don’t mean a thing because we will see how accurate they are in 2012… Maybe he can turn it around but I really don’t see him able to do it without doing something major or drastic for the Citizens and not the rich… But just my opinion… take care…
what if she did …
what if she did support Obama? I supported Obama and I still do.
@kababayanC2 A …
@kababayanC2 A republic is a form of democracy.
Here is the dictionary definition:
government by the people; a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral system.
2.
a state having such a form of government: The United States and Canada are democracies.
3.
a state of society characterized by formal equality of rights and privileges.
4.
political or social equality; democratic spirit.
A republic would …
A republic would trump a democracy any day
That’s not accurate …
That’s not accurate, and see there in lies the problem. We are spending way to much time discussing theories that could easily be dismissed with just a little bit of fact checking. Millions of Americans volunteered for Presidential candidates in 2008. This is not a disqualification for civic engagement, ON THE CONTRARY, it is a good qualification. Those who were informed and involved before Jan. 20, 2009 have more perspective, more context, and more awareness of past polices.
I could be mistaken …
I could be mistaken here but as a member of both coffee and tea parties I see them BOTH having elements that are necessary for changing the system from business not as usual but as it has become. Rational dialog is essential and the reason the tea party is being viewed as it currently is has to to with the element of time. Time vs. change vs. patience. vs fear of our own apathy / inaction and lack of involvement /participation thus far.
@ …
@1stAmendmentChannel,
Some people might be hesitant to join the Coffee Party because she campaigned for Obama, but I would argue to those people that it should not matter.
I’m sure she will get criticism from the right because of her personal politics and from the left for not starting a progressive movement. I think both sides are missing the point about what the Coffee Party is all about.
Its not about party affiliation or ideology.
It is about civil dialogue and involvement.
NIce thoughts, …
NIce thoughts, Annabel,
Democracy is the correct antidote to the totalitarian Anti-American Tea baggers.
@ …
@1stAmendmentChannel,
From what I’ve heard so far, the Coffee Party is about bringing people with different views together to have a civil and
productive conversation with themselves and their political representatives.
So far I support what they are trying to do
because that is a much better way to discuss issues than yelling and screaming at each other.
We will not agree with each other on all issues, and that is fine, but at least we can try to at least understand one another.
@blueBlackpurple I …
@blueBlackpurple I am not saying anything bad about her I am just saying that she was on Obamas campain and I have the video of her standing behind him… I am just saying for those who saw the video and the ones who may might think they are being fooled again that’s all… Might be a liability to the coffee movement…
@ …
@1stAmendmentChannel,
I don’t see her being an Obama supporter and the spokesperson for the Coffee Party being a problem.
From what she has said so far, the Coffee Party is not about promoting one ideology or political party over another.
It is more about engaging people to participate civilly in political discourse and to play a more active role in politics beyond voting.
Of course she has her own political view points, but so will everyone else who participates in this movement.
Well, let’s take …
Well, let’s take that logic a step further. If everyone who supported Barack Obama in 2008 is disqualified for any type of civic participation in 2010, that would be 53% of voters. In the spirit of bipartisanship, we should also disqualify the 47% of voters who supported John McCain. This would mean that the spirit of volunteerism and civic participation is restricted to Ralph Nader voters, Bob Bar voters, and those who did not vote at all. Not my idea of a democracy.
Good – stepping …
Good – stepping back and apart from the party system will be helpful IF all are mindful of speaking carefully, but more importantly listening carefully, to avoid the rhetoric presented by those parties. Then, all are welcome to participate; all are welcome to disagree-without-being-disagreeable; and, as a result, all are welcome to vote the issues, vote the parties, vote the candidates, or vote the ideologies as they will.