Knowing is half the battle: Tea Party Radicals Edition

What's a Tea Party?

The Tea Party protests are a series of nationally coordinated protests across the United States since 2009. Participants say the events are part of a Tea Party movement opposing big government, President Barack Obama, the U.S. federal budget and, more specifically, the stimulus package, which the protesters argue are wasteful government spending and unnecessary government growth. They oppose the increase in the national debt as well. The protesters also objected to possible future tax increases. Protests have been held on April 15, 2009 to coincide with the annual U.S. deadline for submitting tax returns, known as Tax Day, over the weekend of July 4, 2009 to coincide with Independence Day, and on September 12, 2009 to coincide with the anniversary of the September 11 attacks.
The name "Tea Party" is a reference to the Boston Tea Party, and the protests have sought to evoke images, slogans, and themes from the American Revolution. The letters T, E, and A have been used by protesters to form the backronym "Taxed Enough Already."
Commentators promoted Tax Day events on blogs, Twitter, and Facebook, while the Fox News Channel regularly featured televised programming leading into and promoting various protest activities. Reaction to the tea parties included counter-protests expressing support for the Obama administration, and dismissive or mocking media coverage of both the events and its promoters.

Background

On January 27, 2009 radio talk-show host Rush Limbaugh criticized the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, commenting, "This 'porkulus' bill is designed to repair the Democratic Party's power losses from the 1990s forward, and to cement the party's majority power for decades." The term porkulus was coined as a portmanteau of "pork" and "stimulus," in reference to pork barrel spending or earmarks, proving popular with conservative politicians and commentators, who began to unify in opposition against stimulus spending after the 2008 General Election.
On February 10, FreedomWorks activist Mary Rakovich, who is also a leader in the conservative advocacy group "America Coast 2 Coast", led a protest outside President Barack Obama's townhall meeting in Fort Myers, Florida, displaying a sign with an image of a pig and the statement "$650,000,000 for DTV coupons".
On February 16, the day before President Obama signed into law the stimulus bill, blogger Keli Carender called for and organized a "porkulus" protest in Seattle, Washington. A protest was held in Denver on February 17 and a protest in Mesa, Arizona on February 18 brought 500 protesters.

Tactics

The New York Times reported on August 8, 2009 that organizations opposed to the health care reform legislation were urging opponents to be disruptive. It noted that the Tea Party Patriots web site circulated a memo instructing them to "Pack the hall. Yell out and challenge the Rep’s statements early. Get him off his prepared script and agenda. Stand up and shout and sit right back down." The memo continued, "The Rep [representative] should be made to feel that a majority, and if not, a significant portion of at least the audience, opposes the socialist agenda of Washington."
Some Tea party organizers have stated that they look to Saul Alinsky's Rules for Radicals for inspiration. Protesters have also appropriated left-wing imagery; the logo for the 9/12 March on Washington featured a raised fist design that was intended to resemble those used by pro-labor, anti-war, and black power movements of the 1960s. In addition, the slogan "Keep Your Laws Off My Body", usually associated with pro-choice activists, has been seen on signs at tea parties.