The Tea Party isn't backing down
Is the GOP ready to end the shutdown? Not if Sarah Palin can help it.
![Sarah Palin](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/Prnc9LPGp9YGqmgXLkxrze-415-80.jpg)
On Sunday, Sarah Palin helped Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Ohio) lead the "Million Vet March," a protest against the closure of the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C., which was shuttered as part of the larger government shutdown.
"We are here to honor our vets," she said to protesters who had moved metal barriers outside of the memorial. "You look around, though, and you see these barricades and you have to ask yourself: Is this any way that a commander in chief would show his respect, his gratitude to our military?"
Palin, as she has mentioned several times on Fox News, wants the Republicans to stand firm on the shutdown. This protest wasn't so much about reopening memorials, argues Slate's David Weigel, but rather pushing the narrative that the "shutdown was Obama's fault — why wouldn't he compromise? — and the most visible pain of the shutdown, the closure of parks and memorials, was engineered spitefully by the president."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
![https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516-320-80.jpg)
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The anger didn't stop at the memorial. The protest then moved on to the White House, where the Tea Party rallied like it was 2009. Larry Klayman of Freedom Watch called for President Barack Obama to "put the Koran down" and "figuratively come out with his hands up." Signs calling for Obama's impeachment mixed with more controversial symbols.
This comes at a time when only 24 percent of the American public has a favorable view of the GOP, and even less, 21 percent, look favorably on the Tea Party. Most people blame the Republicans for the first government shutdown in 17 years, and will likely do the same if the United States hits the debt ceiling later this week.
Looking at those poll numbers, it seems reasonable that Tea Party Republicans would feel defeated and maybe, just maybe, take some pressure off of House Speaker John Bohner (R-Ohio) so that he could bring a continuing resolution and debt ceiling raise up for a vote on the House floor, where they would have a decent chance of passing.
But the Tea Party isn't feeling defeated. In fact, the Million Vet March — which, according to most counts, only included a few hundred people — is giving them hope that the public is behind them. That is the news coming from the National Review's Robert Costa, who has displayed an uncanny ability to keep his fingers on the pulse of the GOP during this shutdown.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
As Costa points out, the conservative media embraced the story wholeheartedly. The Blaze led with the triumphant headline, "We are marching to the White House: Million Vet March descends on Washington, barricades torn down." The Daily Caller took a similar approach:
All of them condemned the mainstream media for focusing on things like the Confederate flag. For example, Dana Loesch at Red State took on CNN specifically, saying the network's write-up of the protest aimed to "disenfranchise veterans (once again) by omitting their participation in the event and cast it as a hateful Tea Party rally."
Liberals disagree with conservatives' charges of media bias. Salon columnist Brian Beutler argues that a conservative echo chamber is simply trying to make a mountain out of a molehill:
Conservatives see Sarah Palin and Ted Cruz and imagine a national groundswell — not the two widely loathed politicians who bespeak the House GOP’s total isolation so exquisitely. They believe the latest small crowd of white conservatives protesting the closure of war monuments (which would be open had they not shut down the government) will upend the whole debate and reverse the tide of public opinion against them. [Salon]
As long as Boehner cares what Tea Party Republicans think, the battle over the budget and the debt ceiling is going nowhere. And if this latest rally is any indication, the Tea Party is doubling down, debt ceiling be damned.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Keith Wagstaff is a staff writer at TheWeek.com covering politics and current events. He has previously written for such publications as TIME, Details, VICE, and the Village Voice.
-
Big Tech's answer for AI-driven job loss: universal basic income
In The Spotlight A new study reveals the strengths and limitations
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
'I will not be silent' on Gaza, says Kamala Harris
Speed Read In a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Harris supported Israel's right to defend itself while expressing a desire to end Palestinian suffering
By Arion McNicoll, The Week UK Published
-
'How long can TikTok dominate as a social network?'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
How could J.D. Vance impact the special relationship?
Today's Big Question Trump's hawkish pick for VP said UK is the first 'truly Islamist country' with a nuclear weapon
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Biden, Trump urge calm after assassination attempt
Speed Reads A 20-year-old gunman grazed Trump's ear and fatally shot a rally attendee on Saturday
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Supreme Court rejects challenge to CFPB
Speed Read The court rejected a conservative-backed challenge to the way the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is funded
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Arizona court reinstates 1864 abortion ban
Speed Read The law makes all abortions illegal in the state except to save the mother's life
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Trump, billions richer, is selling Bibles
Speed Read The former president is hawking a $60 "God Bless the USA Bible"
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
The debate about Biden's age and mental fitness
In Depth Some critics argue Biden is too old to run again. Does the argument have merit?
By Grayson Quay Published
-
How would a second Trump presidency affect Britain?
Today's Big Question Re-election of Republican frontrunner could threaten UK security, warns former head of secret service
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
'Rwanda plan is less a deterrent and more a bluff'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By The Week UK Published