Courtesy of the Coffee Party's YouTube page, this is Alan P. Alborn of Manassas, a U.S. Army veterna (served for 22 years), an Eagle Scout, a self-described "free-market capitalist" and a recipient of a letter of commendation from George W. Bush. All of which makes his comments so striking. Check it out.
So my favorite amendment's the 10th amendment...we believe in a small government...reformed libertarian, I am a free market capitalist...believe the only rules we need are don't hurt other people and don't take their stuff...along the way these large companies lost the moral responsibility that is an underpinning of a free market. That's why I'm chatting with you today, I'm watching the various political movements, the Tea Party movement, the Coffee Party movement, and trying to figure out where I fit. On the surface, the Tea Party says a lot of good things - free market, small government, lower taxes - but that's yesterday's story...
...To me the Tea Party's a fringe organization, it's people who don't really understand the issues being exploited by people who really don't care about the issues but have some economic or political gain by standing up and providing leadership...The dynamic of the tea party bothers me, particularly back when they had the townhalls for the health care debate, and rather than going there to ask questions or to discuss things, the Tea Partiers went to prevent dialogue and discussion, you may remember that. And that has been, in my opinion, their operating model, not to communicate, discuss, or to look for common ground, but to polarize and prevent achieving common ground...
Tea Party's a risk to the Republic to me, because they're preventing us having the discussion, like for example health care...until we get to the middle, we won't get to a solution. And the Tea Party's not going to get us there. It frightens me that [Michael] Steele is talking to the Tea Party, perhaps attempting to partner with them. And I can only hope that the fact that most Americans, I believe, are independent voters like myself, I hope that makes more room for independent voters to seek out and find new candidates. The fringe may bring certain issues to the public's attention, but it's the middle that actually solves those issues.
P.S. To join the Coffee Party movement, click here.
