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White laced gloves, fancy hats, and fine china, the ever watchful and cutting Violet Crawley would have been pleased with the Windsor Public Library's 3rd annual Downton Abbey Tea Party on Jan. 22.

Though the revered British series ended last year, interest has not gone away, which was apparent at the tea party - held in the library's community room. Participants were encouraged to bring their own cup and saucer to the afternoon tea.

Freshly baked scones, delicate dessert, and chocolate truffles topped the menu, along with assorted teas. Many of the women wore hats and dressed in their finest. The tea included a Downton Abbey quiz and word jumble. The quiz asked the current roles of the former Downton cast members.

For six seasons, a worldwide audience followed the lives of the aristocratic Crawley family, led by Lord and Lady Crawley (Hugh Bonneville and Elizabeth McGovern).

The lives of the servants, integral to the narrative, provided the upstairs-downstairs conflict in a time when the help was barely seen or acknowledge, ghosts who created the illusion of stability for the fragile family.

The Sunday tea at the library was a reminder of more refined times when sipping tea, nibbling on cucumber sandwiches, and gentle conversation was the norm and a time to catch up on gossip.

Danielle Tapper, the adult reference librarian, played hostess along with her mother, Pat. The Tappers served tea from decorative ceramic kettles. No teabags allowed. The day was not limited to Downton fans, but to all who wished a quieter setting.

Though a mild January day, Tapper said the tea party provided a welcomed respite from the winter.

"I really think the tea and the treats, the socialization and the ambiance are why they come," Tapper said.

Dressing up was not a requirement at the tea, but Tapper welcomed the fancier attire.

"The more the merrier," she said. "It's something a lot of people don't do anymore. My mom and I do this thing all the time."

The Tappers have hosted tea themed bridal and baby showers for friends and family.

For this year's tea, cardboard cups were banished and replaced with fine china. A wide-assortment of china patterns were on display.

She added the tea sandwiches are not as popular as the sweets. The tasty scones and lemon lavender cookies were from Get Baked, a local bakery. The chocolate truffle is a tea time tradition.

"You always ended tea with chocolate," said Tapper.

Margie James, of Enfield, who wore white-laced gloves and a delicate brown hat, came to the series late. She caught up with past episodes online, which provided her the necessary context to fully enjoy the series.

"I started watching and that was it, I was hooked," she said.

James was drawn to the quality acting, the pre- and post-WWI era Downton Abbey took place, the "pomp and circumstance," and the ever present British class system, when the ruling class lorded over all.

"My grandmother used to have teas. Her church used to have teas. We both love teas now," James said.

She deemed Maggie Smith's character, Violet Crawley, her favorite on the show.

"She is the best," she said. "I just love her. Whatever she says is hysterical."

James has daily tea with friend, Karen Caron, who also wore a hat and white-laced gloves. Caron also entered the series late, but watched the first two seasons in a weekend. She was fully prepared for season three and beyond.

She found the servants enjoyable to watch, people at ease with themselves, not dictated so strictly by societal rules that governed the Crawley's lives day and night. However, Smith was "her girl," a woman who "said it like it was."

Caron brought a tea cup with a thatched-cottage motif. She bought her hat online, which has become her go to hat for teas.

"It's not my first tea," she said.

She and James hold tea daily at 4 p.m., often inviting a group of friends.

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Library Hosts Downton Abbey Tea Party - Hartford Courant

By Dennis Byrne, January 29, 2017 at 7:51 am

Comparing the Women's March from last week toTea Party social movement will make progressive heads spin right off their bodies and into orbit.

Hundreds of thousands of people march through the streets during the Women's March on Chicago on Jan. 21, 2017. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)

True, they'repolar opposites in their ideology. Among sponsors of theWomen's March was themost extreme pro-abortion advocates while the Tea Party, according to the master script promulgated by progressives, has been home to the most extreme, fanatical, right-wing nut jobs.

But as social movements they share much. The Tea Party was grass roots in the truest sense, just as was the Women's March. The Tea Party sprouted fromRick Santelli, theCNBC reporter who reports from the floor of the Chicago Mercantile. He passionately suggestedduring the house bubble crisis thatwe Americans might need another Tea Party to emphasize to the Obama administrationthat we're tired of the policies that unfairly redistributeincome. (Here and here.)

Of course, the left didn't consider the Tea Party movement to be a real social movement but an uprising of blockheads who weren't worth listening to. Until, of course, the movement coalesced behind Donald Trump and elected him president to the horror of the coastal elites. The Tea Party moved from the streets tothe ballot box to control the White House, Congress and many American statehouses.

The point here is that the Women's March has the potential to become the same kind of successful political movement that the Tea Party enjoyed.If it carries through, as did the Tea Party.

Let this be a lesson for Trump and Republicans who now are reveling in glory. Ignore budding social movements at your own risk.

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Women's March=Tea Party | The Barbershop: Dennis Byrne, Proprietor - ChicagoNow (blog)

AS A rule, populist insurgencies are rarely defeated with slogans in Latin. Yet there it was, swaying proudly over the protest march that filled the ceremonial heart of Washington, DC, a day after the inauguration of President Donald Trumpa handwritten sign reading: Primum Non Nocere. The cardboard sign, quoting the ancient medical principle First, Do No Harm, was held by Mike Gilbert, an epidemiologist from Boston, Massachusetts, who joined hundreds of thousands of others showing their disapproval of the new president. Mr Gilbert gave two reasons for attending what was officially the Womens March on Washington, part of an internet-organised global protest that saw sister marches in hundreds of cities. He marched to show solidarity with the women in my life and to rally support for sound science, which he fears will be undermined by ideologues chosen to oversee scientific funding and regulation.

Many marchers set out to shame Mr Trump for boorishly boasting, years ago, that fame allowed him to grab women by the pussy. They wore knitted pink pussy hats with pointy ears, or carried such signs as Viva La Vulva. Some youngsters mocked the new president as a short-fingered nativist, chanting: Cant Build A Wall, Hands Too Small. Still others said that they hoped their numbers would humiliate the president by dwarfing crowds that turned out for his inauguration. That gambit seemed to work, as Mr Trump spent his first days in office bragging implausibly about the size of his inaugural crowds.

Some leading Democrats enthuse that the moment is ripe for a Tea Party of the left (a Herbal Tea Party, some dub it), with a mission to resist the new president at every turn, challenging his legitimacy after he failed to win the popular vote. More thoughtful Democrats caution against reading too much into Hillary Clintons popular-vote advantage of 2.9m votes. Comparing raw-vote tallies in the 2016 and 2012 presidential elections, she did worse than Barack Obama in 34 states, notably in white, working-class and rural regions of 13 swing states that decided the election, while romping home in places that she was always going to win, such as California, New York and Massachusetts.

Republicans control 33 governors mansions and 32 state legislatures. Once a Supreme Court justice is confirmed, they will control, more or less, all three branches of the federal government. Democrats, in their deepest hole since the 1920s, need to work out how to win elections again. But before that they must agree on something more basic: whether they want to engage with voters who do not share their views on such issues as abortion or climate change, or are ready to write them off as a lost cause.

Some years ago David Wasserman, an analyst with the Cook Political Report, spotted a way to predict the political leanings of any given county: check whether it is home to a Whole Foods supermarket, purveyor of heirloom tomatoes and gluten-free dog biscuits to the Subaru-owning classes; or to a Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, a restaurant chain that offers chicken and dumplings and other comfort foods to mostly rural, often southern customers. Mr Trump won 76% of Cracker Barrel counties and 22% of Whole Foods counties, the Cook Political Report calculates. That 54 percentage-point gap is the widest ever: when George W. Bush was elected in 2000 it was 31 points. Eight years later when Barack Obama took office, it was 43.

Trump opponents must decide whether they can live with so wide a Whole Foods-Cracker Barrel gap. Alas, too many on the left and centre-left show little patience for the Americans who voted for Mr Trumpeven for Trump voters who voted for Mr Obama at least once, of whom there are millions. On inauguration day in Washington, Lexington watched Trump supporters from out of town, some with school-age children, ride the Metro next to hipster-protesters with lapel badges reading: Trump Has a Tiny Penis. That was not the start of an exercise in persuasion. A day later lots of marchers said the priority should be coaxing out what they are sure is the countrys natural Democratic majority, ideally by embracing left-wing populism. There was much implicit scolding of Trump voters for being stupid, with posters bearing such messages as: Make America Think Again.

Captatio benevolentiae

Actually, Democrats need to become less thoughtless about Trump voters. For instance, many disapprove of such oil pipelines as Keystone XL, which Mr Trump has moved to revive by executive order. Democrats grumble about possible leaks, and prefer investing in renewable energy. That is their right. But a common Democratic talking point involves scoffing that pipeline-building generates only a few temporary jobs. As Representative Marc Veasey, a Democrat from Dallas-Fort Worth, said at a post-election meeting in Congress, he represents pipe-fitters and ironworkers whose careers are built on temporary jobs. Such folk think Democrats are not listening to them, he told colleagues.

Another Texas Democrat, Representative Beto ORourke, from the border city of El Paso, recalls that his partys electoral strategy in 2016 revolved around trying to convince people that Mr Trump is a bad guy. However he cites Texan friends who agree with that description of Mr Trump, but still voted for him because they knew what he planned to dobuild a border wall, bring back factory jobsliked those plans, and could not say what Democrats wanted to achieve. Now Mr ORourke, an entrepreneur by background who is exploring a run in 2018 against Senator Ted Cruz, a doctrinaire Republican, worries that some colleagues are putting their faith in Tea Party-style obstructionism. But Democrats believe in making government work, he notes. Nor is he going to start making tiny-hand jokes about the president, he says: to mock the office is to show disrespect for his voters. To win an argument, Roman orators taught, first win the goodwill of your audience. Thats a Latin lesson with relevance.

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The rise of the Herbal Tea Party | The Economist

Conservative radio show host Joe Walsh was no apologist for President Donald Trump when he spoke to the La Salle County Tea Party this week. While he proclaimed enthusiasm with Trump's first days in the White House, he told his audience he is no "stupid cheerleader for Trump" like Fox News host Sean Hannity.

Here are my takeaways from Walsh's speech:

Walsh is right on the money with his political analysis. While many Republicans are declaring Trump's victory as huge, Walsh would have none of it. He noted Trump won just 46 percent of the popular vote. And he believes either ex-Vice President Joe Biden or Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders would have beaten Trump. The reason Trump won is largely because Democrat Hillary Clinton was such a bad candidate, Walsh said.

He disputed the idea the Democratic Party is on the decline. He's right about this. In many elections, you hear about the pending demise of a political party. When President Lyndon Johnson trounced GOP presidential candidate Barry Goldwater in 1964, many in the establishment predicted the death of Republicans. After President George W. Bush won re-election in 2004, many believed Republicans had achieved a "permanent" majority." After President Barack Obama's two victories, Democrats felt the demographics of the country forever precluded Republicans from winning the White House. Despite the fallacy of all these fantasies, people still fall for them.

Millennial voters are the challenge for tea party. Walsh correctly pointed out conservatives have little backing among millennials. Education, he said, is a way to counteract that. Still, he said limited-government conservatives have a steep hill to climb in convincing a majority to join their cause.

A man in the tea party audience told Walsh he often fights with his two college-educated kids about politics. He said he walks away in frustration.

Trump is no limited-government conservative. Walsh told the audience he doesn't believe Trump shares their views for smaller, constitutional government. He even said he fears Trump could become "a bit of a strongman."

Trump favors big; he doesn't go small. It's hard to imagine him scaling back presidential powers or reducing the size of the government he oversees. He promises to protect Social Security and Medicare from budget cuts and calls for increasing defense spending. These items comprise most of the federal budget, so I'm guessing the federal government will continue to expand.

To be fair, Trump vows to reduce regulations and pick a Supreme Court justice who would curtail government power. If he keeps these promises, he would align himself with small-government conservatives.

Walsh pledged to back only policies he sees as constitutional. He said he would oppose Trump if the president acts unconstitutionally.

Liberals and conservatives often are fair-weather constitutionalists, only calling out presidents of the opposite party for constitutional violations. This is hypocritical.

In my view, Obama abused his powers when he issued an executive order that exempted from deportation those adults known as dreamers, who were brought illegally into this country as children. I believe this even though I support the dreamers, who are in the United States through no fault of their own. The president cannot overturn a duly enacted law, which is exactly what Obama did in this case.

Walsh is no friend of Adam Kinzinger. In his speech, Walsh was unsparing in his criticism of our local Republican congressman, saying he wanted to "kick him in the ass." And he said Kinzinger is a bad fit for the 16th Congressional District, arguing voters here are more conservative than Kinzinger.

Walsh, elected to Congress in 2010, noted Kinzinger and more than 60 other Republicans joined Congress the same year, touting their tea party views. But most of them moderated their positions after that, Walsh said.

In the 2012 Republican primary, Kinzinger was pitted against longtime Rep. Don Manzullo. Each candidate tried to portray himself as the most conservative. I covered Kinzinger's speech to the Sauk Valley Tea Party in Dixon a few months before the 2012 primary.

Since then, the congressman's relations with the tea party have gotten frosty.

Walsh, a suburban Chicago resident, lost a re-election bid in 2012 to Tammy Duckworth, who in 2016 defeated Republican Mark Kirk to win a six-year U.S. Senate term. Tea party members asked Walsh if he would run in the 16th District, even offering to cover his moving costs. Walsh kept that door open, though he said it is hard to beat an incumbent.

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AS IT IS: 5 takeaways from tea party speech - MyWebTimes.com

Another bunch of useful idiots who believe that a government is "small" when it wastes squillions of dollars on wars but lets poor citizens croak instead of helping them with medicare.

Naive dreamers who think that capitalism is some kind of romantic exchange of goods between the farmer John Wayne and the horse breeder Gary Cooper, and the dominion of monopole corporations and banks is "socialism".

Hate-filled hyprocrites who call everyone Hitler!Hitler!Hitler! but when YOU only call them "right wing" they are screaming about "political correctness gone wild" and that they are just "concerned" citizens, looking for freedom.

Allegedly they don't want government involved with your everyday life - except when it comes to gay marriage (FORBID IT!) and all the other things that make baby Jesus cry.

Teabaggers: You want America to become islamic!

Normal Person: No, I...

Teabagger: Why do you hate America so much?

Normal Person? What? I don't hate...

Teabagger: And why don't you think of the children!? Think of the children!

Normal Person: The children!? Gosh, what's wrong with you guys!?

Teabagger: Well, well, Herr Hitler asks what's "wrong" with us! I guess you want to put everyone in a concetration camp who asks the "wrong" questions, hm?

Normal Person: Jesus Christ, you're fucking crazy.

Teabagger: See! Everyone who asks the "wrong" questions is "crazy" and has to be put in a gulag! Come on, kid, why do you hate freedom so much? Why don't you defend the freedom of speech!?

Normal speech: I defend the freedom of speech! I defend my right to call the Tea Party a bunch of lunatic crypto-fascist hypocrites who would deserve to get crippled in one of your stupid, unnecessary wars, to live on the street afterwards and then to work as a loo attendant for 1$ a week at the millionaire's villa of one of your stupid teaparty moms, who claims to defend the little guy against the "liberal elite".

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Urban Dictionary: Tea Party