There's a classic scene in TV's "Happy Days" in which The Fonz, wearing his trademark leather jacket, water skies over a shark, thus giving birth to the term "jumping the shark." It's come to mean a pivotal event which goes too far, thus destroying its own credibility.
This evening, I witnessed the Tea Party movement leap mightily over that sea creature.
At April's event, I was impressed with the enthusiasm and optimism of those attending, and found most of the speakers informative and inspiring. Perhaps it was the fact that we were all gathered in a relatively small space in downtown Dayton, almost all standing through the entire 2+ hour celebration of American values.
That Tea Party started (roughly) on time, and was over at a reasonable hour. There was a chemistry among those of us present, and the folks in charge seemed to understand that this was a key moment, when the nascent movement would begin to pick up steam and reach out to a broad range of fellow Americans.
Tonight's, by contrast, showed nothing but contempt for its own supporters, and destroyed any hope of a broader outreach to Democrats and Independents who may have begun to feel betrayed by the direction this Administration, and its enablers in Congress, are taking us.
Instead of choosing (again) a central location, the promoters booked the event at a very nice park some 20 miles or so from Dayton. Worse, they held off starting for a full half hour, effectively telling those of us who'd made the effort to be punctual that our time was worthless, certainly not as important as all the folks still driving in. At one point, I spoke directly with one of the organizers (whom I know slightly), and told him that the clear message that they were sending was that we weren't important. He thanked me for my input, but it was still another 15 minutes before the program got under way.
This is inexcusable; it says that the most ardent supporters are simply unimportant.
The venue itself was another problem: unlike the packed downtown location, this was a park complete with ice cream and soft pretzel vendors; folks spread out, many on blankets and stadium chairs, for an evening of entertainment, not enlightenment or inspiration.
There was no chemistry, no sense of urgency. It was simply a very pleasant evening in the park, with music and the occasional speaker.
And then, in what can only be described as one of the most stupendously ill-advised and movement-killing decisions I've ever witnessed, they brought on an Obama impersonator, who proceeded to make a complete fool of both himself and the organizers. If there had been any hope of reaching out to those on the left, indeed, to anyone with any respect for fellow citizens, this killed it.
It's a shame, really: "what could have been."
Needless to say, if there actually is a third Tea Party, I won't be attending. Nor, I daresay, will very many others. The right (often correctly) accuses the left of stifling bi-partisanship: Pot, meet (tea) kettle.
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