We all know of the excesses of the Tea Party crowd. In many respects we know that works against them and the more the Republican Party is driven to associate with the Tea Party, the farther it drifts away from the mainstream voter.
We know Tea Party organizations across the country are planning major events tomorrow on Tax Day. In Cincinnati, Sean Hannity will be taping his TV show as part of one of those events.
But now it appears that some folks think the way to discredit the Tea Party is to attend their events and try to out-do their wackiness. An organization calling itself Crash the Tea Party is soliciting people to infiltrate Tea Party events and intentionally mimic and exaggerate their less admirable traits. From the Crash the Tea Party web site we find:
Whenever possible, we will act on behalf of the Tea Party in ways which exaggerate their least appealing qualities (misspelled protest signs, wild claims in TV interviews etc.) to further distance them from the mainstream and damage the public’s opinion of them. We will also use the inside information that we have gained in order to disrupt and derail their plans.
Pardon me but this is a bad idea, a very bad one.
What it does is give the Tea Party an easy way off the hook. Whenever one of their own goes overboard and does something stupid, they can now simply claim is was an infiltrator trying to discredit them. They are doing a great job of that all on their own, they don’t need our help.
The sort of tactic will also provide the Tea Party a way to appeal for sympathy. Being deceptive this way is not a wise move.