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Have you heard about the Coffee Party? If you haven’t yet, you will. The Coffee Party is, as you might have gathered from the name, a counter-motion to the Tea Party. While the Coffee Party’s stated goals are not in opposition to the Tea Party’s, it is clearly designed as an attack on the Tea Party and its ideals.

The Coffee Party claims to have no agenda. If you believe that, then I’ve got a vacant Illinois Senate seat that I’d like to sell you. Making the members of the Tea Party out to be a bunch of angry bigoted white racists who are just mad that a black man became President of the United States of America IS an agenda.  It’s a silly, childish agenda, but it’s an agenda.

In the way of disclaimer – I’m not a member of the Tea Party.  I do agree with their raison d’etre, which is that taxes are too high and getting higher.  But I’ve never been to a rally and I am in no way affiliated with the Tea Party.  As for the Coffee Party, I don’t know anyone who is involved, and I’d never even heard of them before the major media outlets started fauning over them this weekend.

Yes, shockingly enough the media, who suddenly found themselves opposed to freedom of speech, peaceful protests, and civil disobedience when the Tea Parties started popping up, are absolutely in love with the Coffee Party – the enemy of my enemy and all that.  Honestly, when I read the first glowing stories about the Coffee Party, I almost fell for it.  The whole “Can’t we all just be civil” thing works for me.  Just some good, honest people from all walks of life getting together to let their voices be heard.

Then I read a little farther.  Every statement about the Coffee Party was set in contrast to the Tea Party.  The continued theme of diversity in the Coffee Party was used to reinforce the stereotype of the Tea Party as angry white men.  The call to civility was nothing more than a most un-civil slap at the Tea Party.

In other words, the Coffee Party is just more of the same - angry partisan politics dressed up as change.