The Billionaires' Tea Party - A Must See!! Film

Wasilla Tea Party rally April 15, 2009 - Tae Party Patriot family - PA

I've been covering the Tea Party Movement for as long and as thoroughly as anyone in Alaska.  In 2009 and 2010, I went to every one of their rallies I could fit into my schedule.  I polled four of their rallies, looking for information and answers to my questions.  I published the results here.  At more than one, I was the only openly liberal person there.

Wasilla Tea Party rally April 15, 2009 -Don Young addressing crowd - PA

I wasn't looking for confrontation, though.  From the beginning of its open Alaska presence, April 15th, 2009, in Wasilla and Anchorage, it struck me that there was more going on in the way things were being organized than could be explained as some sort of "grassroots" movement.

Wasilla Tea Party rally - April 20th, 2009 - PA

Many people attending, and almost all the Alaska media and bloggers seemed unaware that there isn't a "Tea Party."  There are several groups that identify themselves as being part of the Tea Party or affiliated with it.  They are quite different from one another.  Some come close to being "grassroots."  Others are mostly backed by behind-the-scenes GOP or right-wing interests, including the billionaire Koch Brothers.

Wasilla Tea Party rally - April 20th, 2009: Senators  Huggins and Menard deciding not to address crowd - PA

During 2010, the Alaska and Outside press continued to cover the movement as if it were inspired by local activists.

April 15, 2010 Anchorage Tea Party demonstration outside Federal Building - PA

April 15, 2010 Tea Party demonstration - Wasilla - PA

Some of the most insidious aspects of Americans for Prosperity and the Koch Brothers financed Joe Miller's primary victory against Sen. Lisa Murkowski.  He was just one of many they backed who were propelled into the national spotlight, many of them actually being elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, state legislatures and other local governing bodies.

Joe Miller and close friend yelling at me and my sign at the Alaska State Fair - August 2010 - PA

Miller was one of the biggest losers from the Koch-financed coterie of fake spokespeople for  the interests of Americans pissed off at government excesses.  But he's still sucking up to the money out there available to people willing to shill for a few powerful, behind-the-scenes billionaires, who want to reshape American public life back into somewhere between the 11th and 19th centuries.

I've written a lot about my feelings of what the Tea Party fake movement really is.  I've been frustrated that I haven't been able to do the subject justice.  Others have done better.

Perhaps the best documentary on how fake the Tea Party movement actually is, that retains sympathy for the honest aspirations of frustrated people drawn into that web, is The Billionaires' Tea Party, by Australian documentarian,  Taki Oldham.  Here he is, being interviewed by David Pakman about his work on fake grassroots movements:


And here is his hour-long documentary in HD video. It is very well done.

I recommend that you give it time to load in full screen, as the HD quality and superb editing shows and plays best that way:


Oldham's prediction that the Tea Party's billionaires will be at least a big a force in 2012 as they were in 2010 warrants close scrutiny.

Will our media be on the Koch Brothers' side or yours?

I'm not optimistic.

all images - Progressive Alaska


hat tip - Politicalgates