Time for coffee, not tea

For many Americans, the Tea Party is seen as a fringe group.

These perceptions were solidified during the health care town hall debates last fall, where people repeatedly shouted down and drowned out any debate in an apparent attempt to stop legislation from moving forward.

After a non-profit organization — whose financier has yet to be named — bused many Tea Party groups to Washington, D.C., racist, unintelligible and downright ignorant signs and supporters appeared on many cable news channels.

Unfortunately for Americans who voted for change to come to Washington, the Tea Party has managed to justify the Republican Party’s derailing of the federal government.

As conspiratorial as that sounds, it’s true.

The recent use of the filibuster is a prime example.

The Senate rule of filibuster allows any one Senator to speak on or hold legislation as long as he or she chooses, or until 60 Senators can vote to invoke cloture to nullify this privilege. This supermajority requirement gives the minority huge leverage in the Senate.

In the 1960s, no Senate term had more than seven filibusters. But filibuster use is accelerating almost as quickly as Toyotas. From 2007 to 2009 alone, 139 cloture motions were filed.

It might be that a Facebook page changes all that.

A few months ago, one discouraged American woman sat down at her computer and vented her frustrations with the Tea Party and federal government on Facebook.

A volunteer for Barack Obama in 2008, Annabel Park was upset with the way the Tea Party movement had brought government to its knees by yelling and screaming its incoherent, often ill-informed views at lawmakers.

With a tinge of humor, she advocated for the creation of a new movement to counter the Tea Party, one that encourages civil debate and honest cooperation. Her single status update received a large response from friends, encouraging her to bring the idea to fruition.

After much prodding, Annabel created the Facebook page “Join the Coffee Party Movement.”

Thus, the Coffee Party was born.

Within a few weeks, the page garnered more than 100,000 fans. With cable news networks hungry for something new to talk about, the movement received instant recognition. Scores of local chapters sprung up out of thin air, the signs of a new grassroots movement becoming more apparent.

Perhaps most importantly, the group did not lose track of its cooperative goals.

Members of the Coffee Party are asked to sign a “Civility Pledge” that reads, “As a member or supporter of the Coffee Party, I pledge to conduct myself in a way that is civil, honest, and respectful toward people with whom I disagree. I value people from different cultures, I value people with different ideas, and I value and cherish the democratic process.”

Whether you fancy coffee or tea, this movement encouraging coherent and sincere debate among Americans is surely refreshing. After all, the problems our country faces are complex.

It’s time to move past bumper-sticker positions and come to the table to compromise.

Trenton Sperry is a political science sophomore.