Laurie Penny

Pop culture and radical politics with a feminist twist

Newt encounters a different kind of Tea Party

"To my astonishment, the audience applauds. Gingrich is in a spot."

By Laurie Penny Published 05 December 2011 12:19

"You're from Britain? You want to watch out," says the man with the Newt 2012 sticker plastered across his paunch. "If you don't do something soon, your country will be under Sharia law. And that won't be any good for you, miss. You know what I'm saying."

I have come to a meeting of the Staten Island Tea Party, where Newt Gingrich, currently the front-runner in the Republican presidential debate, is about to give a campaign speech.

My new friend, Kevin Coach, is a retired police officer in his early sixties. He was a supporter of Herman Cain, but as the former pizza-chain mogul's presidential bid recently collapsed in a welter of sexual assault allegations, Kevin has switched allegiance . "Anyone but Mitt Romney," he says.

We need to talk about Kevin, and the five hundred other overwhelmingly white, middle-aged Americans who have gathered to hear Gingrich speak today.

This man -- a former cop with fists like ham hocks that he thumps on his knees for emphasis, a libertarian blogger, a Tea Partier and, finally, a person wearing a baseball hat without a shred of irony -- is everything that people like me are supposed to loathe. But I don't.

When he informs me about the practical dangers of the burqa -- "no side vision. Those women are constantly getting run down by cars" -- he flashes a grandfatherly smile, and I suspect that the safety of young women on the roads of a notional Islamic Caliphate of Britain is, on some level, a genuine concern for him.

The basic emotional language Kevin Coach is speaking is one of fear, and I believe that this fear comes from a place that is chillingly familiar.

Suddenly, it's time for the Gingrich show.

The presidential hopeful takes the stage, surrounded by an entourage of security personnel, well-wishers from central casting and a terrifying fem-bot of a wife who is here to promote a children's book she has written about American exceptionalism, which stars Ellis the baby elephant on a journey of neoliberal indoctrination. The book is available in the lobby.

There is a call to stand, and the pledge of allegiance is chanted with hands on hearts and the veterans in the audience applauded with that peculiarly American cultish credence that is somehow less, rather than more, frightening when it's happening all around you rather than on the television.

We take our seats, and it takes Newt Gingrich -- a man with the aspect of a toad with expensive dental work and whose forced exit as Speaker in 1998, under a cloud of corruption, followed midterm election defeat-- roughly three minutes to lose the interest of half the audience.

The people gathered here are less rapt by Gingrich's clunky, high-school-debate-champ, pro-market propaganda than they are by praise for the idea of America as an "exceptional nation", which draws the largest cheer of the afternoon.

Stand-up fights nearly break out at two separate points in the speech, the first when a group of infiltrators from the Occupy movement stand up and attempt to disrupt the proceedings by shouting "Mic check!". As they are evicted, thick-necked men seated all around me stand and pump their fists in the air, chanting "Newt! Newt! Newt!"

This Tea Party gathering is a jumpy, anxious crowd, teetering between violence and implosion. It is a crowd that wants its prejudices pandered to, a crowd that is worried about jobs, a crowd that has allowed itself to be convinced of a wholescale, unfair confiscation of privilege from white, middle-aged, middle-class Americans; a crowd whose members want to believe that they are still special and powerful, as if they ever were.

It is not a crowd of monsters. If it were, it would be easy to dismiss. It is a crowd of frightened, angry human beings watching their lives get steadily worse, and that is a far scarier prospect.

These people could come from any state in America. They are parents and grandparents and teachers and small business owners, the core of the Republican vote, and they are swallowing hard lumps of rhetoric about dissolving the welfare state and cutting taxes for the rich washed down with bland Obama-bashing that always steers far enough away from overt racism to avoid headlines.

This is how the trick is done. This is how -- with the Eurozone is in crisis, with rioting and protest in the streets of major cities across the world and the Durban climate talks likely to signal the end of even the limited climate concessions offered by the Kyoto protocol -- a friend of big business like Gingrich persuades white-collar workers to vote in their millions to protect banks and corporations from regulation.

The trick, however, is wearing thin. During the question-and-answer session, a middle-aged man in a fleece jacket takes the microphone and tells the crowd, struggling to stop his soft voice from breaking, that he is at risk of having his home foreclosed, that he is fighting a bank that wants to take everything from him and his family. He wants to know, should Gingrich become president, "What would you do regarding the financial crisis and making the banks pay?"

To my astonishment, the audience applauds. Gingrich is in a spot. This man has obviously not been listening to the preceding hour of gentle tubthumping about giving banks even more freedom to do whatever the hell they like with public money. The candidate gives a mitigated statement in support of small, local banks, and the audience cheers.

"I'd just like to say," says the questioner, quietly repeating the mantra of the Occupy movement, "that I am one of the 99 per cent, and I appreciate this dialogue."

It's a dialogue of desperation and hope that answers the same concerns shared by many of the ordinary Americans gathered here, without resorting to co-optable xenophobia or cheap cultural prejudice. It's a dialogue that gets to the heart of injustice in the developed world.

And it's a dialogue with which, soon enough, even the Republican Party may find itself forced to engage.

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Tags: US Election 2012 Tea Party

More from Laurie Penny

112 comments

Mon, 2011-12-05 22:09 — Fraziel1

@Jon Anthony, Ron paul is a f*cking idiot! @Buckskins, i agree that this is laurie's best article in a while but do we really need anyone that makes Reagan look like a bleeding heart? I remember seeing images of the soup kitchens and utter despair in the US when he was in power. The last thing you need is someone who will create an even worse have and have not society.Anyway, he is unlikely to win as the republican candidates are all nuts, even by the partys usual high standards in that area.

Thu, 2011-12-08 01:29 — John Cheese (not verified)

@ Barry: You are seeing the exposure of the 40 year American leftist-redistributist plan die before your eyes. The internet has helped this. "Don't tread on me" is now. Never seen the country so split.

Mon, 2011-12-05 22:13 — Fraziel1

@Buckskins, what do you mean " finally" you will have a leader who will put America first? Are you only 4 years old and therefore missed the corrupt, lying, bigoted ,murdering nut job hypocrite with the iq of a high grade chimp you had for president in george W Bush? He certainly put America first.

Wed, 2011-12-07 09:01 — fairplay (not verified)

buckskins

the "im alright jack" mentality wont get you anywhere anymore. the ron paul revolution is on the march and that is despite the media aging an ongoing war against his campaign. as for the "ron paul would leave us defenseless" quote i am lmfao. tell that to whoever did 911. wink wink. we know you know who they are.

idiot
viva ron paul, putting american citizens and liberty first

newt gingrich is the archetypal globalist. no good for anyone but the 1%

Wed, 2011-12-07 10:30 — Stuart Eels (not verified)

Hers the thing Buckskins that I don't really understand about you is- How a Globe trotting International Businessman, Texas Rancher, employer of Illegal immigrants like yourself (yes you have boasted of all these things)manages to find time in your very busy life to read and post comments on a blog site in a different country to your own. You also seem able to live 24/7 without sleep judging by the times of your comments. Thats why I don't believe a word you say, I believe you live in a little world of your own, Mr Divine caught you out so long ago.

Get on your pony and drink your milk, you little old cow poker you but don't make the cows too jealous!

Sat, 2011-12-10 23:11 — Buckskins (not verified)

Hi Cloggy, so if I understand you correctly in Holland the lower the rent district, the uglier the women? Now that has the makings of an anthropological thesis for an inquiring post grad. May I presume you mean Canal St, or am I confusing that with your home address. C'mon Cloggy. You were doing fine for a while, but your not getting into the feel for this at all my little Dutch nomad.

Thu, 2011-12-08 07:29 — Stuart Eels (not verified)

Buckskins

Perhaps British humour is too grown up for you. I don't see why though given that you are playing on your computer while mums not around somewhere just north of Staines.

fairplay, good name good name.

Tue, 2011-12-06 01:17 — Dickie1

Praise the lord, I simply could not care less what goes on in America as it is usually mental. I expect it will make life here worse though, one way or another.

Tue, 2011-12-06 01:50 — Javier (not verified)

I completely agree with this article. The US has a terrible economic crisis, some analists say that the levels of industrial unemployment are at the level of the great depression. With this circumstances the right-wing is going to the power and destroy the welfare state that our grandparents fought for. This is really sad.

Tue, 2011-12-06 02:26 — ND4Ever (not verified)

"... the right wing is going to the power [sic]and destroy the welfare state that our grandparents fought for." What fairytale do you live in? What grandparents are you referring to? Not mine Bud. Who fights FOR the welfare state? If you want to fight for something, fight for economic FREEDOM. Not for FREEloaders. The welfare system (not State) is a necessary evil. People should not aspire to it, to be on welfare, to take the dole over and over and over again, until like heroin addicts every ounce of the will to work productively is breed out of you and all you can do is talk about, "Where's my check? to The Man (That's the government...) In case you have been living all your life on the dole, being on the dole is a term or derision. Of shame. http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/266900.html

Thu, 2011-12-08 08:57 — Al4

Too many trolls here, from all sides.

Tue, 2011-12-06 03:48 — helpless despair (not verified)

well, you've basically got two choices in large parts of england now: sign on, or die a slow, cold death of hunger

the people 60 years ago fighting the germans and the japanese would never have wanted this situation - the nation effectively as a fiscal lazar house

hopefully more people will turn to truthful, left leaning online news outlets, and positive outcomes can be realised before catastrophe

Tue, 2011-12-06 03:56 — helpless despair (not verified)

the hideous truth i should add, that big, greedy business and harsh right-wing politicians have selfishly squandered the resources that were available, that should enable all to have decent lives

Wed, 2011-12-07 11:36 — Ian5

Stuart, you stole my thunder, his parents made it big, but did not spend out on his education obviously.

buckskins, with a name like that you would expect a frontiers man/Lewis and Clarke ancestry, not first generation immigrant.

Newt was not a lobbyist, ah and GWB served in Vietnam.

Mon, 2011-12-12 14:17 — Ian5

Also fact term in use since at least 500 BC, good old Aristotle also referred to it... not to bad then, only then it was a lot larger in size. so I must assume that the peoples living within this area must be Palestinians , be they wandering Arab Tribes, or well even Jews.

Tue, 2011-12-06 07:37 — charlesfrith

Excellent article. It's all about the 24/7 media fear.

Tue, 2011-12-06 07:43 — Stuart Eels (not verified)

helpless despair

What a strange view you have of our country, you want to see a real slow death of hunger go and look anywhere in Africa. You've latched on to Ms Penny's first decent article for some time to spout babble.

Who made your computer that you use to write such rubbish or the house you live in or do you live in a cave?

Sun, 2011-12-11 01:35 — jankaas (not verified)

no you did not understand properly.

as ever you only read tiny morsels, rather than a complete sentence. i did not say 'the lower the rent district' in Holland, but, 'the low rent end of the Red Light district in Amsterdam'

because of your little adventure there, it is of course quite a natural thing to believe as you do that "Dutch women look like Gordon Ramsey in drag". they do tend to be male in that part of town. just standard market economics.

not that i sit in judgement of you. goodness no.

Tue, 2011-12-06 09:03 — Colin Sloss (not verified)

Stuart, I understand Africa is on the up with all that Chinese money. Yout info is a bit dated.

Tue, 2011-12-06 09:37 — Sean Jeddrie (not verified)

Wow...I have learned so much from this blog. I learned that because I believe the government shouldn't spend money it doesn't have and should spend wisely that which it does get, I am a racist and far-right wing evil shill for big corporations. Good to know. Sorry, but I missed the "must have" words like "cabal", "big-oil", "Haliburton" and "Bushitler" in the article...but you know, I'm really uneducated and all. In my simple, less-than-a-troglodite, neo-conservative mind, this article from this "great blogger" was nothing more than a steaming pile of horse-sh1t...much like the self-proclaimed 99%ers she's been hanging out with.

Sun, 2011-12-11 03:20 — Al4

@jankaas

Ignore them. DFTT. All you do is waste time and energy and do nothing to contribute to constructive debate. It's childish and futile. Just saying.

Sun, 2011-12-11 03:23 — Al4

Seriously, do you both go on NS threads just to pick fights? It's called 'trolling' and is in no way acceptable. If this were moderated I would hope to have you removed from this comment thread. (Along with all the absurd spam that keeps appearing.)

Fri, 2011-12-09 22:22 — Buckskins (not verified)

C'mon Cloggy. It a fair question. You must agree or you wouldn't be so wound up. Just admit it. Dutch women look like Gordon Ramsey in drag.

English girls are pretty, look at Laurie. She's pretty, intelligent, and a gifted writer. German girls are ok, although a bit hard faced some of them. The Scandinavians and North American girls, well yum yum. That still leaves the unfortunate Dutch women. I know you agree with me, it's not your fault Cloggy. What is it with them? Inbreeding perhaps? There must be a reason my dear friend.

Sun, 2011-12-11 09:53 — Stuart Eels (not verified)

Yes Buckskins is the worst kind of troll, jankaas has every right to defend himself against the idiot. The offensive slagging off of Dutch women is priceless, this, if he is a yank, from a country that considers pizza part of five a day!

Wed, 2011-12-07 13:37 — jankaas (not verified)

@Ian

"Newt was not a lobbyist, ah and GWB served in Vietnam."

well said.

i think one huge problem when debating (i use the word loosely here) politics with the more hysterical US right wingers, is that they appear to have a unique dictionary. words that we all know and use, and are found in the OD, take on bizarre definitions.

so Obama is a "socialist" and a "liberal", yet he would be located to well the right of Cameron on his policies.

then words like "pacifist" don't come close when used to describe someone they don't like.

and anyone who dares to question their evidence immediately is a "fascist".

does remind me of the times i worked in the US, and at times would be asked "What language do you guys speak in England?"

(not saying all Americans are like this, just that it seems disproportionately so for a Western nation)

Sun, 2011-12-11 10:57 — jankaas (not verified)

@Al

"DFTT."

i know, i know i know......but i is weak.

"do you both go on NS threads just to pick fights?"

nope. have only been posting about a month, and if you look at my approach it is to stick to the topic and try and discuss it. but when another responds with name calling etc i just get stuck in.

i learned many decades ago to stand up to bullies. i don't turn the other cheek either. by all means just skip my posts, just ignore me. i do understand how annoying it all is. soz.

Thu, 2011-12-08 13:32 — jankaas (not verified)

@Buckskins

"Jackass, once more I find you incapable of mature debate."

erm, you started the name calling not me. so i just join you in the gutter Suckshits.

"When referring to "your military" to a Brit, whose military did you think I was talking about? The Albanian Grenadiers?"

you poor love, i knew you had the wrong end of the stick. i am NOT British. any-one with half a brain could figure out from my username 'jankaas' where i am from. let's see if your less-than-half-a-brain can work it out. have another go then Suckshits, where am i from?

"How did Fox News get into our discussion?"

because you mirror the nonsense they spout verbatim. no mystery. you have not an original thought. Newt is a lobbyist, how so? because he does exactly what lobbyists do, and he repeatedly has worked with/for/alongside registered lobbyists;

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/30/us/politics/gingrich-gave-push-to-clie...

so i accept that Newt won't register and refuses to label himself a lobbyist. but that's not good enough to escape reality. good enough for you though Suckshits.

"Please quit with the silly name calling,"

you started this, not me. so don't get all precious when you can't handle what you dish out.

the rest of your post is just more of your pitiful griping and whining, where the only thing you get right is my gender. poor you.

Sun, 2011-12-11 11:07 — jankaas (not verified)

@Stuart

"Yes Buckskins is the worst kind of troll"

i've dealt with far better trolling when the Radio 4 blog was in its hay day. had to be more sophisticated as it was fiercely moderated. great craic.

"The offensive slagging off of Dutch women is priceless"

and perhaps it gives away that there is something fishy going on with our Texan farmer. of all the males to imagine dressing up in drag, why choose Gordon Ramsey, a D list celebrity in the UK? yes he did a show in the US, and has a restaurant in Hollywood, but why not go for a US male. like Donald Trump, Bill Clinton, Rush Limbaugh....?

beginning to think Buckskins is somewhere in the Milton Keynes area. time will tell....

Wed, 2011-12-07 13:47 — Maria111

A healthy community (the healthy and well educated children, the cared-for elderly, and the development of technology for the benefit of all) versus a clique of anti-social psychopaths for whom altruism is a disease and who would destroy (pollute/bankrupt) the world for the sake of their immediate comfort
We live in a world of a well-defined dichotomy. The squeakers against a strong and fair universal safety net are surprisingly blind to the banks’ communism which is devouring humanity. The monster of finances had bought the governments and legislature and is eating Western societies from within.

Sat, 2011-12-10 01:45 — jankaas (not verified)

"It a fair question."

eh?

"Dutch women look like Gordon Ramsey in drag."

clearly you went to the low rent end of the Red Light district in Amsterdam. ah well, takes all sorts. in Holland we are quite liberal about people's peccadilloes...

though your neighbours would probably just shoot you if they knew what floats your boat, so best keep it quiet? mum's the word.....

Wed, 2011-12-14 20:31 — jankaas (not verified)

"Bigotry= targeted violence towards a group"

you should ask Santa for a decent dictionary. you do know how to use one, no..?

Tue, 2011-12-06 13:47 — jankaas (not verified)

@John Cheese

"Violence, destruction of commercial property, drug use, public defecation, rapes- how awful! Oh wait, that's 0bama's Occupy gatherings."

what a rather transparent sequence of lies and distortions.

typical display of just how godamn awful what passes for adult political debate is on that side of the pond.

you should apologise for such lies, or at the very least change your username, as it soils mine by association.

Tue, 2011-12-06 13:55 — jankaas (not verified)

@Sean Jeddrie

"Wow...I have learned so much from this blog."

the rest of your post show that to be an outright lie. except perhaps for the bit where you describe yourself as a "simple, less-than-a-troglodite, neo-conservative" and of course being intimately familiar with "a steaming pile of horse-sh1t".

what is wrong with you people?

Wed, 2011-12-07 15:25 — Ian5

Jankaas, Mark Twain was spot on in regards our common language, I have several American friends and have spent many happy hours in their company, but sometimes I despair . I need a light on my head that flashes joke or sarcasm coming. In conversation they seem to take literally what a fellow Brit would take as a joke. I really pissed off a couple when I insisted a standing military must be a socialist concept ,that and major interstate road build programmes. done for the collective good... They are so polarised that any hint they may have characteristics of the opposition is an insult. Actually I quite like them.. Oh Buckskins you, rather America, went into WWII to save your own skins, the Axis attacked you and declared war. I don't for 1 second believe it was for our interests.

Sun, 2012-03-04 08:35 — Taggart

We live in a world of a well-defined dichotomy. The squeakers against a strong and fair universal safety net are surprisingly blind to the banks’ communism which is devouring humanity. The monster of finances had bought the governments and legislature and is eating Western societies from within. http://www.chancermusic.com/

Sat, 2011-12-10 09:32 — Al4

Why is there no moderation on NS threads?? Posters such as 'jankaas' and 'Bucksins' - please consider going elsewhere, your juvenile exchanges are tiresome for everybody.

Tue, 2011-12-06 14:49 — Stuart Eels (not verified)

Colin Sloss

Which parts? The Chinese are exploiting as much of Africa as they can and not leaving much behind them.

jankaas

What is wrong with you people? Whose blog are you on? I suggest if you are upset you go to the Spectator blog.

Thu, 2011-12-08 16:30 — Buckskins (not verified)

Jackass, I don't really give a rats ass where you are from. You're beyond help.

Stuart, another masterpiece from your keyboard sir.

Fairplay, indeed the Israeli lobby is at the head of the line. There they shall remain. A big Hi to all our Israeli brothers and sisters.

Sat, 2011-12-10 10:42 — jankaas (not verified)

@AI

listen matey, Buckskins is a nasty little WUM who starts things he can't finish. i just put him in his place.

don't believe me? fine, ask both of us a question related to the article in this thread and see who is the congenital moron.

or, god forbid, actually read my repeated attempts to drag him kicking and screaming on topic, and to defend his claims.

out of curiosity, what do you do when another poster tries to derail threads over and over and over?

Tue, 2011-12-06 15:02 — Thomas Devine

Freeman: Americans have the right of Self-Determination too. If we simply scorn or ignore the political process, we concede the whole thing to the Right-Wing. The Revolution came, it failed. Now we must work for our dreams. Revolution isn't going to show up as a blood-spattered good fairy to save us. Politics, no matter how distasteful you find it, is the only hope.

Ms. Penny, by trying to understand the Tea Partiers as humans, is making a bold step in the direction of winning political fights by understanding how to address the other side. Three cheers for Laurie Penny!

Tue, 2011-12-06 15:08 — Fraziel1

@ND4ever, noone thinks people should aspire to be on the dole and the recent increases in benefits are an outrage to all working people but the dole is necessary, or do you just want all the unemployed to starve? Sometimes when i read comments from the half mad right in the US i think that is exactly what they want.The sheer greed and selfishness is staggering.Some people are welfare dependent i agree but most people want a job.We just have to make sure they can't get more on benefits than they can in work, which currently is not the case.

Wed, 2011-12-07 16:53 — jankaas (not verified)

@Ian

"Actually I quite like them.. "

ditto. and the country itself, truely awesome.

"America, went into WWII to save your own skins, the Axis attacked you and declared war."

on this very date no less. the US seemd quite happy to watch Europe burn, but after Pearl Harbour.....well we all know how suddenly outraged and morally just those Yanks became.

and of course that the UK finally repaid the last of its WWII loans to the US in 2006 is yet more factual data that the likes of Bucksins probably never learned about. friends in need eh???

Sat, 2011-12-10 12:18 — Stuart Eels (not verified)

jankaas

Stick to your guns, you've every right to call this nasty little teenager just what want. You've earned it, some don't realise what a complete tosspot he is.

I've read a lot worse on here and I find this current exchange quite amusing.

Thu, 2011-12-08 17:42 — jankaas (not verified)

"Jackass"

yes my old friend Sucksdicks?

"I don't really give a rats ass where you are from."

so much ass in 1 short sentence, are you a bit of a bottom fan....? anyway, it seems that you are too stupid to work out where i am from, using the massive clue that is my username. poor little Sucksdicks.

and i can't help but notice that yet again you are absolutely unable to discuss the evidence i provided regarding Newt's lobbying. instead you just run for cover, making yourself look ever so cowardly.

bye then Sucksdicks, have a nice day.

Wed, 2011-12-07 17:29 — Buckskins (not verified)

Oh dear, I have upset the natives. Jackass, you make it sound as if we were supposed to come running to your shores and fight your war for you. Your wars are not our wars, and it's time you people started to understand that. We owe you nothing. There is no "Special Relationship" with the UK. Brits are the only ones than even utter such bullshit. We are not your Daddy. Our special relationship is with Israel, now that is what you call "Special" and will remain so. There are special allies like the Australians that have demonstrated true comradeship over the decades and will always be considered special. Frankly your military is third rate. This was clearly demonstrated when the Iraqis ran you out of Basra. In Helmand Province we politely asked you to get out as your performance was becoming an embarrassment to us.

Wed, 2011-12-07 17:40 — jankaas (not verified)

"Oh dear, I have upset the natives. Jackass"

have you now Suckshits? as ever you see some drama or other when others simply correct your infantile errors.

"Our special relationship is with Israel, now that is what you call "Special" and will remain so."

correction; is is a 'special needs' relationship between the US and Israel.

"Frankly your military is third rate."

just out of idle curiosity Suckshits, specifically which military are you talking about here?

"In Helmand Province we politely asked you to get out as your performance was becoming an embarrassment to us."

oh let me guess, you think the US have won in Afghanistan? excuse me while i laugh in your ignorant face Suckshits. you just have no idea, you can't 'win' in Afghanistan. no-one can. fact.

Tue, 2011-12-06 16:39 — CountMeIn (not verified)

Good article.
There's a lot less of the "me, me, me!" than one usually gets in La Penny's pieces and there's more reporting and thought.

Are the spider bites better?

Wed, 2011-12-07 17:44 — Buckskins (not verified)

Jackass, I must ask do you even know what a lobbyist is? It's a genuine question. If you have any comment on Ron Paul's commitment to our military or otherwise I would be quite interested. The point is mute anyway as he has about as much chance of being elected President as Ian does of getting a real job.

Do you consider your Civil Service worthy of the amount of tax payers money they take home? I put them right behind your Royal family in the realm of parasites.

Sun, 2011-12-11 18:28 — Ian5

@Jankaas, we have disagreed on many things, and traded the occasional insult, but I must ask as a resident of North Bucks that you withdraw the Milton Keynes comment, that is an association/insult too far.

Re: drag, must add Bill " I'm a catholic so I must be right" O'Reilly surely....