The Liberal 'Tea Party Conspiracy Theory' That Wasn't

In an effort to discredit the national Tax Day Tea Party movement, liberal bloggers and pundits are arguing these protests are not spontaneous, but rather, the product of an organized effort by "evil rich conservatives".

In short, liberals bloggers and pundits are advocating a conspiracy theory.

For various reasons (mostly good ), conservative leaders, think tanks, and organizations are not capable of organizing an event of this magnitude -- even if they tried. In that regard, liberals are actually giving conservative leaders too much credit.

To use a simple analogy, to the extent this as a "show," the liberals want you to believe this is the WWE, and that the all-knowing Vince McMahon (or, in this case, Charles Koch) is pulling the strings on a well-scripted, nationally televised production.

In reality, this is more like professional wrestling was in the 1970s -- where various leaders carved up their territory, and nobody was really sure what the story line would be from night to night.

It's also interesting to note that the same liberal bloggers and pundits -- who have long mocked conservatives for being disorganized and divided -- now want us to believe that conservatives are suddenly capable of such a Machiavelian feat. They are not.

We've also been asked to believe that Newt Gingrich and Dick Armey -- two men who by all accounts loathe each other -- are, as David Shuster implied, working together to organize these events. (To be sure, Gingrich and Armey will both be involved in the Tea Party movement, but the notion that they are plotting together on this is absurd).

Let's be frank, conservatives couldn't even decide on which primary candidate to back in 2008. But now, we're supposed to believe conservative leaders are capable of pulling the strings of thousands of mind-numbed robots who are passively taking marching orders?

... Isn't it easier to believe that some patriotic Americans are legitimately outraged by the direction of this nation -- than it is to believe people are taking a day off work to stand in the rain -- all because Newt and Dick told them to??? (And, by the way, if these events were being organized by professionals, do you really think Alan Keyes would be allowed to speak at one of the DC Tea Parties?)

As the DC Examiner described yesterday, the Tea Party idea has actually been around for a while:

The movement started with a "Porkulus" protest organized by Keli Carender, a blogger-mom in Seattle getting her first taste of political activism, three days before the now-famous Feb. 19 television news rant by CNBC reporter Rick Santelli from the floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. Carender was concerned about Obama's $787 billion economic stimulus package. Blogger Michelle Malkin got wind of Carender's activity and touted it, which led to similar protests in Colorado, Arizona, and Kansas.

... It may have actually started before that. This blogger, for example, contacted me in late January about the idea.

In truth, these events are organic grassroots manifestations based on moral outrage. Conservative leaders have attempted to help facilitate these events (in some cases for noble reasons, in other cases for self-serving reasons).

But the fact that conservative leaders and organizations are helping spread the word -- or even helping organize some of these events -- does not mean they started this phenomenon -- or that they have the power to control it (for good or bad).

Liberals must decide whether conservatives are bumbling idiots -- or shrewd political operatives capable of generating tremendous buzz and organizing thousands of activists in a national movement.

In the mean time, these Tea Party deniers appear to be paranoid conspiracy theorists...