The Tea Party has hardly cornered the market on grassroots activism. There’s a new party in town, the Teapot Party, and they put the “grass” back into grassroots. The idea for the new movement was launched by singer Willie Nelson, after he got busted for possession last month. At the time, he asked: “There is the tea party. How about the teapot party?”

A small group of local supporters of the new movement met in San Jose’s Calabasas Park to talk about the goals. Their message couldn’t be farther from the Tea Party’s. “Tax it, regulate it, legalize it,” they said, though “tax” and “regulate” are anathema to the original, Dick Armey folks at Tea Central. On the other hand, the Teapotters are like the Teabaggers in that they believe in supporting local candidates who share their goals.

Although he is not a member of the party, at least one City Councilman expressed some understanding of their efforts. “If it’s going to be here, then there might as well be regulation, taxation,” said Pierluigi Oliverio, who was behind City Council’s decision to impose a 7 percent tax on medical marijuana sold in the city.

Not everyone supports that though. Oliverio’s City Council colleague Pete Constant, who is sometimes associated with the original Tea Party,  said, “I don’t think it has a lot of popular support and I really don’t think the mainstream politicians will be attracted to it.” That could, however, be yet another example of the kettle calling the pot black.
Read More at ABC 7.