Althouse: "There is certainly enough anger in the Democratic Party to create its own Tea Party. Democrats loathe Republicans..."

March 20, 2025

"There is certainly enough anger in the Democratic Party to create its own Tea Party. Democrats loathe Republicans..."

"... just as much as Republicans loathe Democrats, but there are important cultural differences between the parties that make a Democratic Tea Party less practical. For one thing, the Democratic turn toward more-educated voters means that the Tea Party’s anti-elitism and anti-intellectualism would be a poor fit for millions of Democrats.... Do Democrats think embracing Tea Party rage is the path back to power? Do they believe they can control that intense anger, once it’s unleashed?.... The Tea Party became a slave to its own rage. No fury was too great — no contempt was too deep — for the Democratic foe. And now we endure a presidency motivated by vengeance and spite. Opposition is necessary. Anger is natural. Courage is indispensable. But under no circumstances will we be better off if another Tea Party takes the political field."

Writes David French, in "The Last Thing Democrats Need Is Their Own Tea Party" (NYT).

111 comments:

MadisonMan said...: And now we endure a presidency motivated by vengeance and spite.
Projection. Writer is remembering what Biden did.; 3/20/25, 9:53 AM
rehajm said...: Tea Party? Is it 2007 again already?; 3/20/25, 9:55 AM
Gusty Winds said...: The Tea Party became a slave to its own rage. DOGE has proven the Tea Party "rage" 100% justifiable. We know the gov't was weaponized against the Tea Party, and then against MAGA. David French is a douchebag.; 3/20/25, 9:56 AM
Peachy said...: Soviet-democratic authoritarian permission structure allows and promotes deviant and illegal rage-behavior to expand and flourish.
Soros paid activists + insane rage-filled Soviet-democratic loyalist lunatic who read Sludge and watch MicroSoft NBC. .. are torching Teslas as an ultimate act of intimidation. It's domestic Terrorism - straight up.
Tim Walz (A-hole) whose state is heavily invested in Tesla stock... is celebrating the destruction of Tesla.
The democrat party is a sewer. This is full on communist behavior.; 3/20/25, 9:57 AM
Aggie said...: Now that firearms have entered the picture at the Tesla dealership Direct Actions - torching cars and shooting up storefronts - I am waiting patiently for the roof Koreans to join the party. It's likely to happen, although I hope it doesn't.

Progressives seem to understand that some violence is a helpful device, as long as it's done 'ambush style', a la mostly peaceful rioting and burning, or mob attacks on red hat wearers. But firearms - that's opening a different box, and it's on a different field of play.; 3/20/25, 9:57 AM
Jaq said...: "Democratic turn toward more-educated voters means that the Tea Party’s anti-elitism and anti-intellectualism would be a poor fit for millions of Democrats..."

How much longer are they going to be able to convince themselves that they are the true representatives of the working class?

The Labor Party in the UK is cutting pensions in order to fund military adventurism in Ukraine. Let that sink in.

But here is some free advice, Democrats, chuck the neocons overboard, that's what we did. You don't need them, they have taken your party down a dead end.; 3/20/25, 9:57 AM
Shouting Thomas said...: Fake news, fake opinion based on nothing.; 3/20/25, 9:58 AM
Bushman of the Kohlrabi said...: LOL, the last eight years have been nothing but a low intelligence rage fest for Democrats.; 3/20/25, 9:58 AM
Peachy said...: Tea Parties were calm and respectful. After Tea party events, everyone gathered up all the trash and left the area perfectly clean.
It's the left who are perpetually aggrieved and rage-filled.; 3/20/25, 9:59 AM
Achilles said...: The TEA Party was betrayed by the Romney/Desantis wing of the Republican Party. It was Republicans like McConnell and McCain that provided the most cover for government attacks on the TEA party.

The TEA Party did not go away and it didn't lose.

It became the Trump party and we have run the globalist scum out.; 3/20/25, 9:59 AM
Jaq said...: "Projection. Writer is remembering what Biden did."

It's all projection. They use it because it works. "He who smelt it, dealt it" is wisdom for the ages.; 3/20/25, 9:59 AM
Gusty Winds said...: No fury was too great — no contempt was too deep — for the Democratic foe. The Tea Party "raged" against GOPe RINO establishment politicians AND Democrats. We were right. Can't David French see the Tea Party and MAGA see him as a beta male turncoat? He's just a blathering Mitt Romney or Paul Ryan. Occupying a pretend moral high ground.

David French is a douchebag.; 3/20/25, 10:00 AM
Peachy said...: I suspect David French(D) has not one word about the DOMESTIC TERROR happening right now against Elon Musk.; 3/20/25, 10:01 AM
Achilles said...: David French used to represent the laptop Republicans and is a life long republican. All the smart republicans used to agree with him. You can still see the vestiges of the "smart" republicans arguing for free trade.

It is all those Deplorable Republicans that noticed they were not being represented by political/laptop class republicans that threw the douchebags like French out.; 3/20/25, 10:02 AM
Jaq said...: "we have run the globalist scum out."

They are still fighting. Half of Canada's parliament are members of the WEF and "take classes" from Klaus Schwab the Bond villain type cult leader. France is planning to queer any cease fire that Trump negotiates in Ukraine by immediately marching troops in, triggering an attack on them by Russia, of course, and either dragging the US into the war, or painting Trump as a traitor to the West.

They still have cards to play.; 3/20/25, 10:03 AM
Jaq said...: I used to enjoy having a soak in the hot tub and looking at the stars before heading to bed, but the neighbor now has MSNBC cranked on their TV on their deck, it's kind of ruined it for me, but it has made it plain that the idea that the Tea Party has some kind of monopoly on loathing is kind of ridiculous.

If you think that "populism" is a bad thing, basically you hate little 'd' democracy.; 3/20/25, 10:08 AM
mindnumbrobot said...: Anything from David French gets the Vinny Gambini “Uh, everything that guy just said is bullshit" Award.; 3/20/25, 10:09 AM
Joe Bar said...: I don't remember much "Rage" from the Tea Party. I recall peaceful demonstrations, that left the venues cleaner than when they started. I remember a lot of rhetoric about "RINOs" and taxes. But "Rage?"; 3/20/25, 10:09 AM
Howard said...: As long as the Democrats prioritize gimmick and messaging strategies rather than accomplishment, they will continue to lose bigly to Republicans.; 3/20/25, 10:10 AM
Art in LA said...: David French, doth protest too much. I have no memory of TEA partiers raging. There's a lot of rage right now ... I hope things don't boil over.; 3/20/25, 10:12 AM
Iman said...: “Tea Party’s anti-elitism and anti-intellectualism…”

That’s French’s pansy characterization of smaller, more efficient government.; 3/20/25, 10:14 AM
Old and slow said...: They really missed the point of the tea party, didn't they?; 3/20/25, 10:14 AM
Leland said...: David French continues to not understand the people, Republicans, and most especially the genesis of the TEA Party. For starters, the Taxed Enough Already wasn't about making the federal government smaller because taxes were getting absurd. Progressives don't want a smaller central government. It is anti-Marxist, so they won't support it.

The TEA Party wasn't necessarily against elitism, and in fact many of the organizers were leaders in their communities. The difference is earned leadership vs assumed elitism because one came from the right family, went to the right school, or held the approved cultural opinions. French is from the latter.

What the Progressives are doing is what Marxists around the world have done throughout history. They turn to violence to push their agenda, whether in power or not. Don't agree with Trump or Musk, then burn their property and call it "backlash". Say it is inevitable. Assume the population will become fearful and will join the Marxist movement to avoid violence. This strategy routinely fails in the US.; 3/20/25, 10:16 AM
Eric the Fruit Bat said...: "Good, good, let the hate flow through you."; 3/20/25, 10:16 AM
FullMoon said...: Right wing does not hate people because they voted for a democrat. Left wing hates everybody who voted republican.
Right wing sees Biden bumper sticker, shakes head in bewilderment.
Left wing sees Trump bumper sticker, keys car, smashes windows, murders owner.
Same thing, only different
Left is definitely the party of hatred.; 3/20/25, 10:18 AM
Jaq said...: "I don't remember much "Rage" from the Tea Party"

Oh there was plenty of rage, it's just that it was directed at the Tea Party, not coming from it. That's why projection is a necessary tool of propagandists, whatever bad thing is out there, it's critical to pin it on the other side. So if somebody is feeling a negative emotion, like rage at the people who want tax money to be accounted for, it's very important to convince that person that it's really the other side who are expressing rage, not their perfect self. Almost all propaganda is directed towards allowing the targets to feel that little frisson of superiority they get from believing bad things about the other side. So it's not them feeling rage, it's the other guys!

Most normies can't untangle their emotions and are easily manipulated by such tricks.; 3/20/25, 10:19 AM
Jaq said...: Democrats have a lot of accomplishments. Millions of migrants are now in America "fighting inflation" by breaking the "wage price spiral." Trillions have been spent trying to bootstrap a technology that's not ready yet and doesn't work for large numbers of people, EVs, into being, in order to replace a tech, ICEs, which works for nearly everybody, that's an accomplishment!
Hundreds of billions have been spent on rural high speed internet in order to avoid paying Musk, who has already made it available everywhere, a subsidy that would be far less to make it affordable for the rural poor.
We have a hot war in Ukraine going with Russia.

Democrats have lots of "accomplishments" their "messaging problem" is that nobody really wanted them to do the stuff they actually did outside of a small group of people who got fantastically rich off of their actions.; 3/20/25, 10:27 AM
Shouting Thomas said...: Dems keep imagining that their problem is theatrical presentation. Their problem is shitty policies.; 3/20/25, 10:29 AM
Peachy said...: The Tea Party is/was for Government accountability, Fiscal responsibility, and fair taxation.

The Collective Soviet Left HATE those things.; 3/20/25, 10:29 AM
Peachy said...: The definition of anti-intellectual and pro-elitism = David French types writing for the NYT(D); 3/20/25, 10:33 AM
Skeptical Voter said...: French lives in his own reality. Most of the Tea Party types I knew were well educated middle class Americans--certainly true in my suburb. They weren't anti-intellectual. They were however against the swamp critters on the Potomac.; 3/20/25, 10:34 AM
Mike (MJB Wolf) said...: Isn't all this hand-wringing over what the fucking Democrat party should do just precious! David French: the house rethuglican that has no idea what real Republicans think feel or want.; 3/20/25, 10:35 AM
RideSpaceMountain said...: “The Democratic Party is the world's most successful hate group. It attracts poor people who hate rich people, black people who hate white people, gay people who hate straight people, feminists who hate men, environmentalists who hate the internal combustion engine and anyone owning one, and a lot of fucked up college kids who hate their parents. However, the real secret of the party’s success is that it attracts support of journalists who hate Republicans, and who therefore work tirelessly to convince the rest of us that we should vote for democrats.”; 3/20/25, 10:35 AM
Kate said...: French needs to find his inner queer.; 3/20/25, 10:36 AM
RCOCEAN II said...: Amazing how "Life Long Republican" "True conservative" "Mr. christian holier then thou" has turned into a leftwing Democrat.

The reason that you'll never have a Democrat "tea party" isn't because Democrats are too "smart" and "reasonable" LOL. Its because the current crop of D voters are the biggest sheep in the country. They are low infomation, they follow the party line, and despite all the hoopla in the media, don't seem upset at their current crop of leaders.

In the D party, someone in the elite chooses the leaders. And the D voters just follow. The fake "Bernie Bros" just fell in line and voted for Hilllary. Nobody in the D party was upset at no primaries in 2024, or everybody just dropping out after SC in 2020 and coronating biden.; 3/20/25, 10:36 AM
Mr. D said...: 2009 was about tea. 2025 is about rice bowls.; 3/20/25, 10:36 AM
RCOCEAN II said...: IRC, French as a "True Conservative" always disliked anyone who wanted to fight the Democrats, or pushed a popular agenda, whether it was the tea party or MAGA. He was always demanding the R's be "pragmatic" and have a "Big Tent" because....drum roll....the only thing that mattered was keeping those Goddamn democrats out of power.

A total lie, of course. The real reason was that French was a liberal democrat and wanted the R's to be as harmless and moderate as possible.

If we find out he's really an atheist, or converted to Judaism, I wouldn't be shocked.; 3/20/25, 10:40 AM
Magilla Gorilla said...: Achilles, why do you and so many others lump DeSantis in with Romney and other RINOs? He seemed pretty well aligned with Trump on most things, just with less drama.; 3/20/25, 10:41 AM
OldManRick said...: Tea party was an anacronym for Taxed Enough Already. What would the Democrat anacronym be? Raise All Taxes (RAT)?; 3/20/25, 10:42 AM
Big Mike said...: Do Democrats think embracing Tea Party rage is the path back to power? Do they believe they can control that intense anger, once it’s unleashed?.... The Tea Party became a slave to its own rage. No fury was too great — no contempt was too deep — for the Democratic foe. [My emphasis]

Wow. “Rage,” “intense anger,” and even “fury.” Who knew? Certainly not Peachy (9:59), who accurately remembers the TEA Party the way that I do. I also have vivd memories of the contempt directed by elitists towards the normal people at the TEA Party demonstrations (remember “Tea Bagging”?) and figured (correctly) that someday the elitists would have reason to regret that. However I also believed (equally correctly) that the Democrats and RINOS would not regret their contempt towards the normal people, because they (Democrats and RINOS) will not, cannot stop their disparagement long enough to look at the honest concerns raised by the TEA Party demonstrators.

And yes, I do view Democrats and RINOS with contempt, disdain, and distrust. What idiots thought that by making the TEA Party go away you could make the issues and concerns that led to the rise of the TEA Party go away. And I’m not alone in thinking this.; 3/20/25, 10:43 AM
Bob Boyd said...: DEI is the Dem Tea Party.; 3/20/25, 10:44 AM
RCOCEAN II said...: I can remember Mitch McConnnell and GOPe trying to destroy the tea party. Also, black congressment accusing the tea party of using the "n" word without proof. And Erick Erickson insulting Palin and calling her swear words. The whole Establishment and uniparty hated the tea party. A warm up for TRump.; 3/20/25, 10:44 AM
RCOCEAN II said...: Mitch McConnell not only tried to stop tea party candidates in the primaries, he sabotaged the ones that got nominated. In the current bio which is full of 2022 interviews with Mitch, McConnell brags about how he stopped the tea party.; 3/20/25, 10:48 AM
Bob Boyd said...: French just always wanted to get invited to the best parties, but he never did and now they aren't even having them anymore. It's a very sad story. He should be on suicide watch, but nobody will do it.; 3/20/25, 10:55 AM
mindnumbrobot said...: There is a Democrat Tea Party of sorts. They're vandalizing Tesla's and firebombing their dealership, doxxing conservative voices and DOGE employees, sabotage town halls, and occupying college buildings while terrorizing Jews.; 3/20/25, 10:56 AM
RideSpaceMountain said...: Bob Boyd said, "He should be on suicide watch, but nobody will do it."

I volunteer. After chatting with me, the watch shouldn't take that long.; 3/20/25, 11:00 AM
narciso said...: their resistance wing, was loudly kicked off the stage,
I know French's mustard is such easy bait,; 3/20/25, 11:08 AM
Lazarus said...: WTF? They had BLM and Antifa. They had Occupy this and Occupy that. They were more left than DNC groups, but they were the shock troops. They had the Pink Hat and Shout Your Abortion crowds. Upscale suburban professional college-educated sensitive males weren't going to take to the streets, but their wives and daughters certainly were, and if Act Up is still acting up, there could be an LGBTQ+ brigade as well.; 3/20/25, 11:08 AM
Bob Boyd said...: French's doctor: Weren't you on David's suicide watch?

Ride: That's right.

French's doctor: He's dead. He killed himself.

Ride: Yup.

French's doctor: (checks watch) Well anyway...; 3/20/25, 11:08 AM
MartyH said...: Antifa is the Democrats’ version of the Tea Party; 3/20/25, 11:08 AM
Political Junkie said...: David French has never impressed me.; 3/20/25, 11:09 AM
BUMBLE BEE said...: Listen to Frenchie here! Please keep it up!
Put macho man Timmy Walz in charge.; 3/20/25, 11:09 AM
TaeJohnDo said...: "The Tea Party became a slave to its own rage." We went to a Tea Party rally in IL because my then 15 year old son was curious. We saw folks of all sorts - Blacks, Whites, farmers, students, and most striking, two 18ish girls in full goth garb, one with a Ronald Regan T-shirt as an angel.; 3/20/25, 11:10 AM
Lazarus said...: Was the Tea Party really that angry or enraged? Compared to the groups that were burning down cities in 2020? The Party seemed very mild and moderate by comparison. "Anger" in their case meant disapproval of those in power, and "rage" wasn't very much in evidence.; 3/20/25, 11:11 AM
PM said...: Huh? The Dems already have quite a few Tea Parties: NYT, Washbag, Drudge, The NYer, CBS, NBC, ABC, PBS, etc etc etc.; 3/20/25, 11:12 AM
phantommut said...: A huge rally of "Rage" doesn't leave the Mall in Washington D.C. cleaner than when it started.; 3/20/25, 11:14 AM
Mary Beth said...: There were people who glommed on to the Tea Party movement who went online or on TV to express rage. I don't think the regular people who went to the rallies expressed any rage. They went to talk about taxes and school choice. Smaller government stuff.; 3/20/25, 11:17 AM
Peachy said...: I went to a Tea party in Denver. It was just speakers - talking about freedom and liberty. oh no!; 3/20/25, 11:18 AM
narciso said...: they chalk it up to Tucson, which happened because of wacko released by sheriff Dupnik, there was no Tea Party generated violence,; 3/20/25, 11:18 AM
Bob Boyd said...: French loves America but hates Americans.; 3/20/25, 11:20 AM
Keith said...: I know he's billed as a conservative but he seems to advocate for everything liberal and is opposed to nearly everything conservative. For this particular excerpt he is simply wrong. Clearly he does not understand the Tea Party or know anyone who considers himself a member. The Tea Party began and largely consists of "we are bankrupt. We cannot afford this much government and much of it is waste and corruption." That's it. Add in we are opposed to racism (DEI) and government oppression of individuals (parents concerned about education, Catholics, etc) and you've largely completed the pictures. I never saw anything hateful in all the images and videos of the Tea Party. I think this is projection. He sees all the hate on the left and thinks it must also be there on the right.; 3/20/25, 11:23 AM
Peachy said...: OMG - at the 3:18 mark Tampon Tim makes Newsom look palatable. Was that the point?
Tampon Tim is a total nazi.; 3/20/25, 11:27 AM
Achilles said...: Magilla Gorilla said...
Achilles, why do you and so many others lump DeSantis in with Romney and other RINOs? He seemed pretty well aligned with Trump on most things, just with less drama.

When in congress 2017-2018 as a congressman he did everything he could to stop Trump. He was solidly with Paul Ryan. Desantis was one of many Republicans that kept Trump from building the wall.

Then he got record amounts of campaign cash from the globalist republicans and was supported by Paul Ryan, Mitch McConnell and all of the other traitor wing Republicans.

Then he ran against Trump in 2024 for no apparent reason and was suspiciously silent when they tried to put Trump in jail. He did nothing as Governor when Federal agents raided Maralago.

It was clear all through 2024 that Desantis was working with the Regime to be the "replacement" to Trump when they took Trump out.; 3/20/25, 11:27 AM
FullMoon said...: Tea party rallies consisting mainly of boomers were physically attacked by the left. Some were actually chased down and beat.
And, naturally, TEA party was "racist".
Tensions surrounded the Fort Lauderdale protest even before it began. A Florida chapter of ANSWER sent out an e-mail in the days leading up to the event, saying the Tea Partiers were racists:
“Racism is like anything else in this world: in order to make it fall, you must smash it!” the e-mail notice read. “That is why we are calling on all people to come out tomorrow, to organize a militant confrontation with the so-called ‘tea baggers.’ Beating back these forces will require us to organize together, take the streets, fight the racists wherever they show their faces, and drive them out of every community.”
.; 3/20/25, 11:27 AM
RideSpaceMountain said...: @Bob Boyd, you missed the part where French's doctor checks his watch and says, "Well anyway...you want to come with me to grab a beer and check out the girls at the Kitty Club?"

RSM: "Yup."; 3/20/25, 11:29 AM
narciso said...: of course they went to the most perverse connotation of the movement, those who would sanction vandalism and terrorism,; 3/20/25, 11:30 AM
john mosby said...: Peachy: “ I went to a Tea party in Denver.”

Cuz you look just like Tea Party and you might just be a member,
Baby get out of Denver! Baby, go-oh-oh-oh….

https://youtu.be/6j9Tvd8sWhs?si=gRwIamfWDPYgzqIz

JSM; 3/20/25, 11:33 AM
Keith said...: Bushman of the Kohlrabi said...

LOL, the last eight years have been nothing but a low intelligence rage fest for Democrats.
3/20/25, 9:58 AM
...
I know we know but ... when he says educated what he means is "credentialed." I think a college diploma in the 1950's was a legitimate signifier of an educated person. Certainly by the 1980's it no longer meant that a person was truly educated, able to find and process information correctly and conclude correctly. In the 1980's I think most people believed that credential was an indicator of being educated. Now it is so abundantly clear that a college diploma is no indication that someone is educated, rather that someone spent a few years and a lot of money for college certification.

I suspect on balance, any group of mechanics and contractors are better educated (ie able to find information and process it correctly to come to correct conclusions) than any random group of liberal arts graduates.; 3/20/25, 11:34 AM
Iman said...: Nice one, Mosby…

You people in Denver
Will know what I mean.
Yeah, the things I'm gonna tell ya.
Yeah, you've all heard and seen.
You remember when a cop on the beat
Used to rob and steal.
Today they're gone, but the others get it on,
So you know just how I feel.
'Cause the police in Denver,
Lord, they don't want none of them long hairs hanging around.
And that's the reason why
They try to tear Canned Heat's reputation down.
Yeah, they try to tear it down, boy.
They ain't gonna do it though.
Let me tell you this, just one more time.
Just one more thing I want to tell ya
Before I go.
It's a shame, the Man in Denver
Has to lie and mistreat people so.
Now, six months ain't no sentence,
One year ain't no time.
When I hear from one to ten,
It worries my troubled mind.
'Cause the police in Denver,
Lord, don't want no long hairs around.
And that's the reason why
They try to tear Canned Heat's reputation down.; 3/20/25, 11:38 AM
Iman said...: Marty H@11:08am… SPOT ON!!!; 3/20/25, 11:40 AM
gilbar said...: the TEA in the tea party stood for:
Taxed Enough Already

What would the Democrat tea party stand for?
Taxes Elevated Again?
Taxes Even (more) Astronomical?
Tax EVERYTHING Again?

i'm not sure these are Winning plans; 3/20/25, 11:42 AM
Patentlee said...: While Democrats do loathe Republicans, Republicans don’t loathe Democrats, they just think that they are wrong and possibly stupid. Big difference; 3/20/25, 11:43 AM
mccullough said...: The strategy is to isolate Dems in their enclaves and let them destroy each other; 3/20/25, 11:44 AM
Leland said...: Keith said...
I know he's billed as a conservative but he seems to advocate for everything liberal

I suspect you mean "liberal" in terms of a general label, but I don't think French has advocated for even liberal viewpoints. When French belies that Trump is acting in vengeance, he exposes that an act happened to Trump first and that act wasn't in support of freedom and liberty or anything a classical liberal would support.; 3/20/25, 11:45 AM
Iman said...: “Tampon Tim is a total nazi.”

Wrong, Peachy!

Tampon Tim is a jazz-handed, pansy’s buttplug.; 3/20/25, 11:46 AM
john mosby said...: Iman (still autocorrecting as I AM): thanks! Nice Canned Heat deep cut!

JSM; 3/20/25, 11:51 AM
Jaq said...: Oh yeah, I remember Moby, wasn't he the guy who suggested that people pretend to be Republicans and say and do outrageous things? Like "agent provocateur" is a new idea.

This is kind of an interesting old read, about how the CIA got Moby to spread the Trump-Russia lies. "The dossier is 100% real! The CIA told me so!"

https://pitchfork.com/news/moby-says-cia-agents-asked-him-to-spread-the-word-about-trump-and-russia/; 3/20/25, 11:52 AM
MadTownGuy said...: "The Tea Party became a slave to its own rage. No fury was too great — no contempt was too deep — for the Democratic foe."

It's already been said, but I'll add my voice to the Greek chorus
Rage? Facts not in evidence. Os David French projecting? Yes; it's Thursday, just another day in the universe that orbits his skull. (I borrowed that from a Mark Heard lyric.); 3/20/25, 11:53 AM
Jaq said...: "Over the next few days you’re going to see an organized progressional protest effort at Tesla stores put together by a group called Indivisible.

George Soros foundation has given Indivisible nearly $8 million dollars for their "activism"."

Of his own money? Or is it more USAID money? Choking off Soros from USAID money is why Georgie hates Elon. But remember, Democrats are the smart party for smart people who are smart.; 3/20/25, 11:56 AM
Peachy said...: I used to live in Denver in the early 1990's. I loved it.
Now - Denver is violent, over-crowded, with irritating and dangerous scooters and drug transients all over the place.
A few months ago - a 70 year old flight attendant was on long lay-over and went to Denver to explore. She was slashed dead by a nutter let out of the jail by the democrat party.; 3/20/25, 11:57 AM
FullMoon said...: "It's a shame, the Man in Denver
Has to lie and mistreat people so.
Now, six months ain't no sentence,
One year ain't no time.
When I hear from one to ten,
It worries my troubled mind."

Wasn't the basis of the arrest for marijuana possession?; 3/20/25, 12:03 PM
wendybar said...: But instead of less government, less taxes, they would be fighting for MORE government and MORE taxes?? That isn't a tea party...that is COMMUNISM. They only WISH they could have an actual grass roots movement. All they have is lies, hate and violence. Who would WANT to join that besides crazy assholes??; 3/20/25, 12:03 PM
wendybar said...: MartyH said...
Antifa is the Democrats’ version of the Tea Party

3/20/25, 11:08 AM

THIS^^^^^; 3/20/25, 12:08 PM
Lewis said...: Did he just call people who have common sense dumb-ass hillibillies?; 3/20/25, 12:13 PM
Charlie Eklund said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 3/20/25, 12:23 PM
Charlie Eklund said...: David French, Bret Stephens and the neo-cons, et al; such a wise and successful bunch. Trump’s greatest gift to the GOP was to convince the nitwits in the Democrat Party to adopt those schmucks as soul brothers. Good riddance.; 3/20/25, 12:26 PM
Kevin said...: Antifa is the Democrats’ version of the Tea Party

AnTEAfa.; 3/20/25, 12:33 PM
chuck said...: Tea Party’s anti-elitism and anti-intellectualism
Look on my degrees, ye Mighty, and despair.; 3/20/25, 12:50 PM
Real American said...: The Tea Party was genuine grassroots movement by regular people that eventually got co-opted by activists, but they did get a number of people elected at nearly-all levels of government who echoed their concerns. It was remarkable because for the most part the Right in this country does not have protest movements. Trump is an heir to that movement, but was not part of it necessarily.

The Left can't do a genuine Tea Party because all it does is top-down protest movements, and frankly isn't genuine (i.e., wants to copy the Tea Party) It is a ideology completely run by its activists, largely government unions and race-baiters, who organize everything already. There's a reason every leftist protest has pre-printed signs at the ready.

While the Tea Party fought for less government, the Left wants as much government as possible, so long as they are charge of it. That's why they are panicking. They aren't in charge.; 3/20/25, 12:55 PM
Rabel said...: David Brooks is probably thinking that David French should man-up a little bit.; 3/20/25, 1:02 PM
Earnest Prole said...: If the Bernie Sanders movement wasn’t the Democrats’ Tea Party I don’t know what would be — and if it weren’t for the ShrilldeBeast’s dark-arts machinations it likely would have succeeded.; 3/20/25, 1:06 PM
Mike (MJB Wolf) said...: Marty H@11:08am… SPOT ON!!!

See, days like this I miss the REPLY function, just so I could add +++++ under Marty's post.; 3/20/25, 1:07 PM
Temujin said...: David French thinks the left creating their own 'tea party' would lead to them becoming enraged and out of control? Just where does Mr. French live? Has he not looked out his window over the past 5 years?

Democrats literally sponsored and supplied the BLM/Antifa riots of 2020 that burned down hundreds of businesses, blocks of major cities, and murdered or injured dozens of people.

Democrats are out in the streets for over a year now, protesting in favor of Hamas, screaming for the end of Jews, while tearing down posters of Israeli hostages.

Democrats are out in force today calling for the murder of Elon Musk, pushing for terrorist actions on Teslas, Tesla dealers, and perhaps Tesla owners. They are literally pasting "Who is going to kill Elon Musk" posters around.

I'd say the elite thinkers on the left are doing pretty much what the great thinkers on the left have done since the early 20th century. Nothing has changed but the address. They are who they are. No matter how you dress up the ideas, no matter how many degrees you bestow upon them, if the thinking is wrong, it's wrong.

They don't need a Tea Party. They need a lobotomy. Or perhaps something a little less extreme; they need to have a generation of students hear the other side. Perhaps some actual diversity of thought among the faculty at our failed universities?; 3/20/25, 1:24 PM
Original Mike said...: "The Tea Party became a slave to its own rage. No fury was too great — no contempt was too deep — for the Democratic foe."

"The Tea Party" may take the prize for the most mis-reported story of my lifetime. Purposefully, I have no doubt.; 3/20/25, 2:05 PM
Original Mike said...: "David French continues to not understand the people, Republicans, and most especially the genesis of the TEA Party."

Or, he's just a liar.; 3/20/25, 2:23 PM
rhhardin said...: The position on the right is bemusement about the left. Only the modern clickbait-based right sites are angry about the left, for the audience attraction.; 3/20/25, 3:02 PM
JIM said...: I'm still trying to figure out what the "principled" Conservatives like D French conserved, other than board seats on Conservative think tanks. Where was he, and what did he do during the culture war of 2009-2025?
Is the Education system more Progressive or more Conservative now?
How does he even walk through a door with that Halo on his head?; 3/20/25, 3:37 PM
Drago said...: "There is certainly enough anger in the Democratic Party to create its own Tea Party."

LOL

There isn't a single New Soviet Democratical that has demonstrated the capacity for independent thought which is a prerequisite for the establishment of a democrat "tea party", so that is NEVER going to happen.

These little NPC automatons are only capable of doing what they are told and to parrot what they are told to repeat.; 3/20/25, 3:38 PM
hombre said...: More stupid shit from French and the NYT. The Tea Party was focused on policy not Democrats. For the most part it is Democrats who are the “loathers.” Narcissistic lefties are so caught up in themselves that projection is a defining characteristic of their interaction with the “other” - along with hatred and delusion.; 3/20/25, 3:42 PM
Leora said...: I find it astounding that people can watch the news and not realize that unbalanced rage is coming from the left, not the right. I can't think of a right winger who has flung a Molotov cocktail or swatted a podcaster in the last 5 years.; 3/20/25, 3:44 PM
mikee said...: I remember the Steve Santelli rant in 2009 from the floor of the CME that is now taken as the start of the Tea Party movement.
https://www.cnbc.com/video/2015/02/06/santellis-tea-party-rant-february-19-2009.html

The outrage was about government overreach and overspending, not party affiliation, and was initially expressed by members of both parties, until both the out of power Reps and the Dems in power decided they had more to lose, funding-wise, and left the push for sanity in spending by the feds to a fringe of the Republican party. Good times.; 3/20/25, 3:55 PM
mikee said...: And if that link is dead, here's another: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEZB4taSEoA; 3/20/25, 3:59 PM
Rocco said...: "There is certainly enough anger in the Democratic Party to create its own Tea Party.”

Maybe they can call it #MeToo.; 3/20/25, 4:29 PM
Jim at said...: FDF; 3/20/25, 4:36 PM
friscoda said...: David French has become a parody. Most Tea Partiers know more about the foundational documents of our country than many graduates of the top law schools. (Believe me, I worked with many T5 law school grads who were not familiar with the concept of jury nullification, the 14th A Priv or Imm issues that our courts have avoided (or pretended the words are not there), the real source of the right to privacy (9th and 10th AA).) There was no rage in the Tea Party and by this column, French beclowns himself further. What a joke.; 3/20/25, 4:50 PM
Iman said...: Full Moon @12:03pm… yes, I believe it was. Especially considering the source, lol.; 3/20/25, 5:40 PM
boatbuilder said...: mikee at 3:55 is 100% correct.; 3/20/25, 6:13 PM
Iman said...: Limited government and fiscal responsibility.; 3/20/25, 9:59 PM
Ampersand said...: I'm never surprised by D French's rhetorical gymnastics, always culminating in a perfect anti-Trump landing. What astounds me is Jonah Goldberg's decision to be French's Siamese twin.; 3/21/25, 12:01 AM
The Genius Savant said...: David French is a total clown; 3/21/25, 5:32 AM
stlcdr said...: Complete and utter cluelessness.; 3/21/25, 7:14 AM