Coffee Party USA Continues To Percolate Nicely

Founded by Annabel Park, the Coffee Party Movement (CPM), is put simply a “democracy advocacy group.” The movement began with something we all are likely familiar with: the Facebook Status Update.

The CPM founded around these simple principles:

The slogan is “Wake Up and Stand Up.” The mission statement declares that the federal government is “not the enemy of the people, but the expression of our collective will, and that we must participate in the democratic process in order to address the challenges we face as Americans.”

When I first joined the Facebook Fan-page named “Join the Coffee Party Movement” roughly at the time of my first post the total number of users who “Fanned” the page was roughly 7,000. At last check, it is well above 70,000!

Take a look at this map, the closet chapter to me is the San Francisco Chapter of the CPM so I have joined that user group on the Official Webpage:

The Facebook Comment threads are back-logging with too many replies, the two domains at .org and .com are having trouble handling server traffic at peak hours so be patient if it’s not appearing if you attempt to link through.

Civil discussion, rational dialogue, non-hostile environments for ideas and opinions to be heard. The Coffee Party USA has come to bring civility to the U.S. and one of the strongest lessons that I must learn from these people is exactly that. Perhaps we all could do with a good lesson in civility here on the internet, I know for certain that I do.

They insist, and I agree it a wise point to make, that the movement is not the “Anti Tea Party” but the “alternative to” the Tea Party.

Talking with these activists makes me calm down, and want to do what they are doing: leading by example.

I’m seeing the only people serving any rational version of civic brew out of the choices of Coffee and Tea is without a doubt the Coffee!

The predictable Tea Party backlash of attempting reframe the debate by attacking the credibility of Annabel Park, and the more recent mantra of calling the CPM a “sham” over talk radio airwaves is only more proof that what Al Alborn

spoke of in regards to the Tea Party was altogether true.

I too believe the Tea Party Movement is founded around silencing debate and dividing people rather than bringing them together.

I support the Coffee Party USA with all my heart, and the revival of truth & reason shall not be denied!

Moonhowlings: Al Alborn Part 3 (Coffee Party)

U.S. Army veteran Alan P. Alborn expands upon his thoughts found on the Coffee Party USA YouTube channel:

Coffee Party USA

You might remember the two videos featuring me that Moon Howler posted on the anti-BVBL website earlier this week. I was approached by Annabel Park ant Eric Byler for the past couple of weeks asking to discuss my view of the world. There was no “set-up”, no “prompting”, no “feeling me out to see how I felt about the world”… frankly, they just wanted to learn what “an old white guy” thought about the state of our Government. I qualify. They conducted a straight and professional interview. It’s my opinion that they did a “fair and balanced” piece that accurately captured my thoughts about a variety of subjects. The first video is now all over the internet… so I’ve gotten my fifteen minutes of fame. I was humbled by the product.

To my surprise (because of the subject, not the Producers), they created a couple of pretty good videos and posted them on their youtube website http://www.youtube.com/user/coffeepartyusaand Facebook. That was followed by a get together with a Washington Post reporter who just watched us in action and an article in the Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/25/AR2010022505517.html After the article in the Washington Post appeared, something interesting happened… people started establishing local chapters and signing up on Facebook to learn more. The last time I checked http://www.facebook.com/coffeeparty?ref=ss , the number of people signed up was approaching 18,000 with chapters in well over half of the states (and growing by the minute).

So, here’s my question. Do you think we should start a Coffee Party here in Prince William County? I’m an “old soldier” who thought I had fought my last battle; however, I’m beginning to think that perhaps I have one more battle in me. This battle would be to try to go against the forces of the status quo, the Neocons from the last century, the groups who would like to turn personal religious beliefs into public policy, the people who don’t recognize the value of a multicultural society and the fact that America isn’t lily white any more (and that’s ok), and any other group who hasn’t quite made it across Midnight, 1 January 2001 to step into the twenty-first Century.

Any group is the sum of its parts. The Coffee Party is growing quickly and absorbing a variety of views and opinions. The one thing we all agree on is that Government has to change… and we would like it to change for the better instead of rolling back to the last Century. I would appreciate your thoughts. I’m not hiding behind an alias; however, I respect your privacy and will engage in any respectful conversation.

If I get a lot of positive response, I would propose that those of us interested get together and throw our first Coffee Party to decide what’s next. Ask your friends and tell them about this site. I am not happy with the way America is going and don’t plan to sit this one out. I think I’ll find the energy for one more battle… this could be the big one.

The Coffee Party Inspires Me

If you are anything like me then the recent lapse in any kind of reasonable or civil debate in our politics has you feeling frustrated and uncertain of what to do.

I fall back upon my classic standards of political partisanship and playing to the left-base, but in truth I am not satisfied by this in the least.

We don’t need word-wars over labeling and branding, we need solutions for America that work.

We don’t need more spin and more talking points, we need honest debate and informed decision making.

What Coffee Party USA offers is civility and a place for democracy to take place in a honest fashion.

I encourage any person who has formed an opinion of me that is one of “ultra-left” to understand I was most moved by U.S. Army veteran Alan P. Alborn’s words that anything I have seen in a very long time.

I understand far more about what motives are behind conservatives and libertarians than I let on and ultimately my views are no different from Alborn’s views in regards to the matter of the free market or the size of government.

This is one element that was always part of what makes me “independent,” and I am tired of being brought nearly to tears dealing with these Tea Party activists who seek to do nothing more than rewrite history and stop all rational debate while neglecting the more important issues of health care and insurance reform.

The Coffee Party is the answer we have been looking for to send the message to Washington that we sent them there to get something done, not just play procedural games while Americans suffer.

We’ll see if they even want me around, they have a statement about “no pundits and partisans and strategists” … that’s me three for three. But punditry can be declared, partisanship can be avoided and they will want my strategies if they ever give me a chance to share them … so maybe I am reading too much into that statement.

I encourage you to join the Coffee Party, too!

We are a group of concerned Americans who want government “that responds to the needs of the majority of its citizens as expressed by our votes and by our voices; NOT corporate interests as expressed by misleading advertisements and campaign contributions.”

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Official Websites:

http://www.coffeepartyUSA.org

http://facebook.com/coffeeparty

http://www.youtube.com/user/coffeepartyusa

(other “dupe” web-groups have already begun to spawn in response to the Coffee Party, only these websites are Coffee Party Movement)