A March 1 article in The New York Times was my first introduction to the Coffee Party. Over the next six weeks, I spent multiple hours attempting to learn more about this movement, with a focus on its manifestation in my back yard. I summarized what I learned in my latest commentary for KWMU, St. Louis Public Radio, an NPR affiliate.
Three-and-a-half minutes of air time … derived from about a dozen pages of handwritten notes and twice that many pages of related news reports. Net: There’s a lot more I could write and say.
For instance, at the Coffee Party event I attended in St. Louis’ Central West End, I discovered a smattering of Republican-inclined individuals, reminding me of recent reports that the other caffeinated movement counts some Democrats among its ranks. At the same meeting, I encountered a few who were just as prone to conspiracy talk as their Tea Party kin, expressing (with knowing glances and nods) their fear of the “military-industrial complex.”
I’m not suggesting these beverage-monikered movements are identical. Far from it. So far, I have not seen the Coffee Partiers engage in the same aggresive, hysterical demonstration tactics for which their counterparts are widely known. At the Coffee gatherings, the spirit and tone seems far more calm and restrained.
At least for now.
But as I note in the radio commentary, the temptation to start screaming is a powerful one and the jury’s still out on whether or not the Coffee Party will be able to resist that temptation.
—————
Do you have a reaction or related information to share? Send an email to [email protected]. Please write “TMV Comment” in the subject line, and please include a link back to this post in the text of your message. I won’t respond to all emails, but I will occasionally publish follow-up posts, featuring the reader feedback that I find the most germane, compelling and/or persuasive.