Tea Party and Occupy reps find common ground

Representatives of the Baton Rouge Tea Party and Occupy Louisiana agreed today on their opposition to a provision of the recently enacted National Defense Authorization Act that would allow the military to indefinitely detain terror suspects, including American citizens, without charge. That was one of the few points of agreement expressed in a luncheon hosted by the League of Women Voters of Baton Rouge. Mike Thibodeaux, president of the Baton Rouge Tea Party, says members of both groups have met informally in the past, and the discussions are always cordial. “We have some commonalities in identifying problems,” he says. “On solutions, we tend to diverge markedly.” Thibodeaux, a retired doctor, also agreed that the public should have easier access to alternative medicine, such as herbal remedies. Occupy representative Alison McCrary says supporters of both sides agree the two-party system isn’t working. She says both groups agree on the importance of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, even if they have different interpretations of the nation’s founding documents. During the luncheon, which also featured Occupy supporter Delia Labarre and Tea Party vice president Rebecca Favre Lipe, speakers from both groups made similar statements about the negative impact of corporate money on the political process and the need to reduce American intervention overseas. —David Jacobs