Having closed the U.S. government with the expressed purpose of dismantling the Affordable Care Act, Tea Party Republicans lost that battle but it seems that this was just their opening salvo against the President and the Federal Government. If given the opportunity, they will curtail support for Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, close the Department of Education, abolish the Environmental Protection Agency and repeal the Civil Rights Act.
In effect, they want to be left alone in their white, Christian communities, free of Federal regulation and intervention. Under such circumstances, they can outlaw abortion, teach creationism, block immigration, expand gun rights, enact exclusive voting laws and reinstate discrimination against women, blacks and gays (among other groups). Reviving the simple life of the 1950s, they will bask in the glory of their Cold War mentality.
The Tea Party Agenda seeks freedom through intolerance and exclusion. Demonstrating little concern for the rights and welfare of other segments of American society, they push their demands by declaring war on the progress that we have made over the past half Century. Should they gain traction, minority rights, scientific education, conservation programs, international relationships and the U.S. economy will all suffer the consequences. As a naturalist, a physician, a father and a grandfather, I hope that their influence will soon fade from the political landscape.
