MikeyRavioli wrote:Secondly, they are treated differently because they are different. Even disregarding the legality issues, one is a recognized movement adopted by one of the two major parties with a unified message and cadidates who try to get elected and work within the system to affect change.
That is another thing that you have said a few times, the tea party is either a sub-set of a political party, or it has been adopted by it. This of course is true, but if you were to ask a tea party person they would disagree. They like to consider themselves outsiders, free from any party labels and therefore uncorrupted by party politics, and there are a bunch of different groups without a single message either. Sure, a lot are similar, but not the same. Some focus more on gun issues, others more on tax issues or spending/bail out issues, or national security etc. Another criticism of OWS, not a single message. The tea party movement is much older than 2 months and still there are splinter groups all over the place all claiming the tea party label. So again, whether or not you are a supporter of anything or anyone or any group or movement, using the same criteria and critical eye for each would probably be the more rational approach, don't you think?
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