Anti-Tax Tea Parties Held Across U.S.

[BVS]

Next they'll be telling us they're smart and informed...

 

[HBK-79]

Today my pro-war, Jesus-fearing neighbor wore this-

What else will they think of?

 

[PhilsFan]

That's clever, I'll give them that.

 

[Moonlit_Angel]

Despite her intense fear of the connection between Islam and terrorism, however, she does say, "To my great relief, I have learned that there are moderate, America loving, Constitution supporting Muslims."

I know, it's such a shocking concept, huh?

Good god .

"I know that some don't share my political views. This is OK. In America, we cherish our diversity of views. But an American's religion is their own business and no one should be excluded based on considerations like religion, race, sex, etc."

This. Can we send this message out to every single person in the country and get them to read it a few dozen times to let it sink in? Please?

Angela

 

[kramwest1]

So...

Teehee, Tea Party.

 

[BEAL]

Tea Party?

All i keep hearing about is the GOP. Brilliant move on their part.

They overtook the Tea Party, used that base to vote GOP, and got themselves elected. All the bat shit crazy tea partiers lost, minus Rand Paul.

So congrats Republicans.

 

[kramwest1]

Tea Party?

All i keep hearing about is the GOP. Brilliant move on their part.

They overtook the Tea Party, used that base to vote GOP, and got themselves elected. All the bat shit crazy tea partiers lost, minus Rand Paul.

So congrats Republicans.

And now we get to watch the unholy marriage of Republicans and Tea Partiers as the try to legislate.
Rand Paul in the Senate?

 

[2861U2]

So...

Teehee, Tea Party.

I disagree. I'm fine with the results. Strong candidates won, like Rubio, Paul, and Haley, and the weaker candidates like Angle (who wasn't my preference), O'Donnell, and Paladino (not my preference), lost. That's just the opposite of what Democrats wanted. This Nevada outcome may actually be a blessing for our side.

 

[Canadiens1131]

Excellent article on where we're headed now.

Slate Magazine

Faking Right
How the Republican Congress will abandon Tea Party ideas and legislate toward the center.

By Jacob Weisberg
Posted Saturday, Oct. 30, 2010, at 6:54 AM ET

In the likely event that Republicans capture control of one or both houses of Congress next week, the new leaders will face a strategic question. Should they pursue the agenda of the Tea Party movement that brought them to power? Or should they try to mollify their party's base with gestures and symbols, without taking its radical ideology too seriously? While they'll never discuss this problem honestly, indications point in the latter direction. That is, the GOP's congressional leadership will feint right while legislating closer to the center.

The choice is between a Ronald Reagan strategy and a Newt Gingrich strategy. Reagan, who first rode a new conservative movement to the presidency in 1980, was a master of the right fake. After one brief and disastrous attempt to reduce Social Security spending in 1981, Reagan never seriously challenged federal spending again. But Reagan sounded so convincing in his rhetorical flights that most conservatives and liberals walk around today thinking that he cut government. Reagan was just as slippery with the religious right, embracing them while wasting little political capital on issues like abortion or school prayer. President George W. Bush followed this same model, humoring the base while letting government expand.

After Gingrich became speaker of the House in 1994, he was much more literal-minded. He and the Contract with America Republicans made the terrible mistake of taking their own anti-government rhetoric seriously and thinking they had a mandate to implement it. They proposed a budget that really would have slashed federal spending on Medicare, Medicaid, education, and the environment. And when Bill Clinton wouldn't roll over for them, they were willing to shut down the government, which they had convinced themselves everyone hated.

A recent Wall Street Journal article suggested that the future leaders of a Republican House remember Gingrich's mistake and intend to avoid repeating it. The House candidates most likely to win are experienced politicians who understand they're being handed a gift, not a mandate. They don't think working with Democrats is evil. On the big picture tax and budget issues, they plan compromise with President Obama.

What makes this plausible is that the House leaders-in-waiting are, by and large, not an ideological group. John Boehner, the speaker-in-the-wings, could have replaced Monty Hall on Let's Make a Deal. Kevin McCarthy, who will probably become the House whip, is less pickled-looking but similarly pragmatic. Even Eric Cantor, the more ideological majority leader in waiting, says he has no interest in another government shutdown. By contrast, Mike Pence of Indiana, who advocates a "no compromise" strategy, is considering resigning from the leadership ranks to run for president in 2012.

In practice, it may be difficult to discern which tactic congressional Republicans are pursuing. "Repealing" health care reform, for instance, sounds like a radical step. In fact, voting for repeal would be little more than a gesture, since Obama would veto any such measure. Refusing to fund parts of the health care bill in the 2012 budget, on the other hand, would count as a meaningful effort at rollback—and would be likely to provoke a high-stakes showdown. If the new leaders make a big deal about banning "earmarks"—which amount to less than 1 percent of federal spending—count it as a feint. If they propose means-testing Medicare or raising the retirement age, count them as serious.

One can already see antagonism emerging between the congressional and presidential wings of the party. The congressional wing, seeking to retain swing seats it picks up this year in 2012, will incline toward symbolic action. The presidential wing, trying to capture the Tea Party activists in a primary season, will argue for a frontal challenge to spending. If the congressional leaders show moderation and flexibility, they should expect to be accused of selling out by Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin, Mitt Romney, et al. But they are likely to back off anyway, because making draconian cuts in spending, especially against the backdrop of an anemic economy, would be politically suicidal.

Why does anti-government ideology work as an electoral strategy but fail as a governing one? In a recent essay in the New York Review of Books, Michael Tomasky offers a persuasive explanation. By and large, the American public likes Republican themes of more liberty and less government better than it likes Democratic themes of compassion and fairness. But when it comes to the specifics, the situation is reversed. Democratic programs like Social Security and Medicare retain broad popular support, whereas Republican cuts in programs provoke antagonism. Thus conservatives prefer to debate philosophy while liberals would rather argue about programs.

Tomasky argues that this conundrum makes it difficult for Democrats to connect their policies to their beliefs. Conversely, it makes it hard for Republicans ever to follow through on their ideas. We will see what they do with another opportunity to put them into practice.

 

[BVS]

After one brief and disastrous attempt to reduce Social Security spending in 1981, Reagan never seriously challenged federal spending again. But Reagan sounded so convincing in his rhetorical flights that most conservatives and liberals walk around today thinking that he cut government.

I'm amazed by how many conservatives are clueless of this.

After Gingrich became speaker of the House in 1994, he was much more literal-minded. He and the Contract with America Republicans made the terrible mistake of taking their own anti-government rhetoric seriously and thinking they had a mandate to implement it.

The truth is a poll shows that the overwhelming majority of voters thought the priority of the government should have been spending in order to create more jobs. And most want Obama's plan to keep Bush's tax cuts for those making under 250,000.

Both of these conflict with the Tea Party movement and the anti-government mood, when it comes down to it, very very few actually believe that anti-government is the way. This election was won by ignorance and fear, a dangerous combination.

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

The Tea Party is also successfully keeping Bristol Palin (teen activist Bristol Palin) on Dancing With The Stars. She'll probably win it.

 

[BVS]

Is she any good?

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

She's not horrible but last night Rick Fox was voted off and I think he was a better dancer. She's much better than Kate Gosselin was but that's not saying much. The Tea Party was not going to let her be voted off on election night. She's still just too stiff and awkward for my taste, especially compared to the others who are left.

A few of her older videos

YouTube - Bristol Palin Dancing with the Stars

YouTube - Bristol Palin Dancing with the Stars Week 2

This one was like..um, yeah..with her parents there. Not very abstinencey

YouTube - Bristol Palin's 'Dancing With The Stars' Week 4 Sexy Rumba

 

[Canadiens1131]

She's a bit of a butterface.

Oh well, Chelsea Clinton looks a lot better these days, maybe Bristol will grow into something more refined-looking.

 

[Golightly Grrl]

She's a bit of a butterface.

Oh well, Chelsea Clinton looks a lot better these days, maybe Bristol will grow into something more refined-looking.

Palin and refined should never be uttered in the same sentence. The Palin family is where refinement, dignity and good manners go to die.

 

[Moonlit_Angel]

Fascinating article, Canadiens1131, thanks for sharing it. Seems about accurate in its analysis.

In fact, voting for repeal would be little more than a gesture, since Obama would veto any such measure.

This is the thing that's so funny about all this. They can bang their cages and throw their tantrums all they want, but ultimately Obama's going to be the deciding vote, and the chances of him backing off of any of the things he's fought for are pretty slim, if not entirely non-existent. Even if they propose some serious action, they still have to battle Obama. Good luck.

Why does anti-government ideology work as an electoral strategy but fail as a governing one?

Because it doesn't make any sort of sense? If you're anti-government, it's going to be hard for you to, um, govern.

In a recent essay in the New York Review of Books, Michael Tomasky offers a persuasive explanation. By and large, the American public likes Republican themes of more liberty and less government better than it likes Democratic themes of compassion and fairness.

I find this incredibly strange. Can't we have a healthy, decent mix of both? Why do they have to be mutually exclusive?

Angela

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Bristol Palin has been so busy practicing her moves for "Dancing With the Stars," she apparently forgot to send in her absentee ballot.

The 20-year-old daughter of former Gov. Sarah Palin, who campaigned for candidates across the nation in this election, told the syndicated TV show "Inside Edition" after Tuesday's night show, "I did not send in my absentee ballot in Alaska. I'm going to be in trouble. Sorry, Mom!"

Bristol Palin also voiced her opinion on whether she thinks her mom should run for president in 2012.

"Of course I do. I know that she's great and she'd be great for our country," she said.

Palin will be one of five people returning to dance Monday on "Dancing With the Stars."

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

The Palin family is where refinement, dignity and good manners go to die.

 

[kramwest1]

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Bristol Palin has been so busy practicing her moves for "Dancing With the Stars," she apparently forgot to send in her absentee ballot.

The 20-year-old daughter of former Gov. Sarah Palin, who campaigned for candidates across the nation in this election, told the syndicated TV show "Inside Edition" after Tuesday's night show, "I did not send in my absentee ballot in Alaska. I'm going to be in trouble. Sorry, Mom!"

Well, one vote hardly matters...



Oh wait!

It sure as hell might in Alaska!

 

[yolland]

How the international media is covering the Tea Party

by ELIZABETH DICKINSON and JOSHUA E. KEATING
Foreign Policy (Oct. 26 issue)


GERMANY

Narrative: The Tea Party is about fear of American decline

Coverage: In a broad survey article on the history and national reach of the Tea Party movement, Der Spiegel's Marc Hujer and Thomas Schulz argue that, "For the first time since the global economic crisis more than 80 years ago, questions are being raised about America's success model, the principle that this country without a welfare state has always been more successful than Europe."

They take particular note of Beck's warnings against European-style socialism and allusions to Hitler and Stalin, making the case that the Tea Party is a movement of "blue-collar workers with posters of pin-up girls in their lockers." They are reacting, the article argues, against what they perceive to be a shift toward a European social model in which they would lose their privileged position...



CHINA

Narrative: The Tea Party will lead to U.S.-China conflict

Coverage: The government controlled China Daily describes the Tea Party as a "polarizing groundswell...based largely on suspicion of Obama's background, policies and motives." The movement is blamed for the high level of vitriol directed at incumbents in this election cycle.

But beyond the anti-Obama backlash, the newspaper sees the movement as a sign of the "US' inability to find political solutions" to economic problems. China's role as "the major engine of global economic recovery," according to this view, "embarrasses and threatens the US." In response, movements like the Tea Party promote a zero-sum view of the international economy in which only one country can be prosperous. If this worldview is followed to its logical conclusion, war between the two powers over influence or resources may be inevitable. According to China Daily, "China's greatest danger is that US policymakers face economic and national security crises they cannot solve."



FRANCE

Narrative: The Tea Party is a movement of conspiracy theorists, reactionaries, and anti-elitists

Coverage: In the French media, the Tea Party has become the pinnacle of American stereotypes--a movement of libertarian, Anglo-Saxon, conspiracy-theory-driven voters who are, more than anything else, angry that the United States is losing its place in the world. "The Tea Party is the party of no," Le Monde wrote in an editorial on Oct. 20. "The Tea Party is also...a libertarian movement...In the Tea Party, they wish to be left alone, to live as before when everything was going well, when America embodied the Anglo-Saxon status quo, when the Taliban were on the CIA payroll, and when neither the Chinese nor al Qaeda opposed the hegemony of Uncle Sam. Those in the Tea Party are typically white, and 'ok' financially and hence in something of a panic ever since the world began to change as the times changed. They don't worry about climate change, because they cannot imagine how mankind could have in its power to mess up what God created." An earlier blog post from Le Monde placed the summer's conservative rallies, including Glenn Beck's Restore Honor gathering in Washington, as "a chance to feed the rumors and conspiracy theories that have shaken the White House through the summer"--for example, Obama's secret Muslim faith or his supposed lack of U.S. birth certificate....


PAKISTAN

Narrative: The Tea Party is an Islam-bashing political front

Coverage: While the Tea Party may have begun primarily as an economic movement opposed to the expanded role of the federal government in the U.S. economy, in the Pakistani media it is often described a synonymous with the anti-Islam backlash surrounding the "Ground Zero mosque" and proposed Quran-burning in Florida. Pakistan's Dawn newspaper has described American Muslims as "living on the edge" ever since the Tea Party and other "right wing zealots" ganged up on the proposed Cordoba Center in lower Manhattan, releasing "venomous discourse" into the national conversation. The rhetoric targeted at American Muslims has been called a "reminder of the treatment meted out to other scapegoats in American history."

In Dawn's telling, the Tea Party has risen in tandem with the "Ground-Zero-inspired Muslim baiting frenzy" and is driven largely by the "bigoted rabble-rouser" Glenn Beck who attacks President Barack Obama as a "closet Muslim." According to Dawn, the same "predatory instinct" that led Americans to enslave Africans and wipe out Native Americans is "gathering mass, once again," this time with Muslims as the primary target.



SPANISH-SPEAKING WORLD

Narrative: An ultra-radical right-wing movement in the mold of authoritarians of another era

Coverage: When the Argentinian newspaper Clarin dispatched its correspondent to cover Christine O'Donnell's campaign in Delaware, they were clearly flabbergasted by what was taking place in the United States. Their correspondent wrote about hoping to figure out how someone who is "uneducated, unemployed, having a history of tax evasion, who used to practice witchcraft when she was young, who militantly fought masturbation, and who now defends creationism, could unseat the incumbent Republican."

The Spanish are less mystified and more alarmed. "We don't know if we feel more profound horror or more profound pity," El Pais wrote. The author refers to the Tea Party as an extremist movement and notes that O'Donnell (for example) is "proudly extremist." From there, the newspaper warns that "sometimes totalitarianism results from the best intentions and fanaticism grows in the most benign and public settings. The United States is living in one of these moments...in which its values are in conflict with one another."

 

[financeguy]

^ And another view from overseas, thoughts from my favourite UK journalist on the left:

The laws and policies of the legislature of the United States of America are now effectively on e-Bay, for sale to the highest bidder. Are you a Wall Street boss who wants to party like it’s 2007? Are you a Big Coal baron who wants to burn, baby, burn? Are you an insurance company that wants to be able to kick sick people off your rolls? Meet John Boehner, the most powerful Republican and soon-to-be Speaker of the House. But – of course! – you already have.


Here’s an example of how you have worked together. In 1995, the House was going to finally repeal subsidies for growing tobacco, because an addictive cancer-causing drug didn’t seem like the most deserving recipient of tax-payers’ cash – until Boehner walked the floor of the House handing out checks from tobacco lobbyists to his fellow elected representatives. They changed their minds. The subsidy stayed. Explaining his check-dispensing, Boehner says: “It’s gone on here for a long time.” So get your bids in: the House is open for business.

To understand what has happened in the mid-term elections, the best guide lies in an unexpected place – the dusty vaults of Hollywood. In 1957, Elia Kazan directed a film called ‘A Face In The Crowd’ that read the tea-leaves of the Tea Party back when Sarah Palin was merely a frosty zygote. One morning a poor wandering Arkansas chancer named Larry ‘Lonesome’ Rhodes is lying passed out on a jail cell where the local sheriff has detained him overnight. A pretty young radio producer arrives and asks if he’d like to tell her a story to be played on her show where ordinary folks speak to ordinary folks. He sings and rambles and offers corn-poke homilies. The clip is a huge hit – and he is soon given his own show, filled with country music and country wisdom which then shoots off into the stratosphere.


When Lonesome Rhodes becomes one of the biggest stars on US television, he starts receiving offers. Advertisers say that if he endorses their lousy products, they’ll shower him with millions. He knows how to sell to ordinary people – and he is pushed to go further. They ask him to sell the political causes that will make them richer too. He starts railing against social security and the old age pension and anything that taxes the rich to help the rest. He uses the tunes and slanguage of working class Americans to get them to emotionally identify with the people who are screwing them over. He’s brilliant at it – a gurning hyperactive huckster, saying that support and security for ordinary Americans is a betrayal of America. He makes himself rich by lying to the people he came from.

The essence of the Tea Party – and the relevance of ‘A Face In The Crowd’ – can be seen most plainly in Glenn Beck. Just over a decade ago, he was a drug-taking, pro-abortion, perpetually drunk DJ on morning radio. One of his famous “pranks” was to ring up the wife of a radio-show rival a few days after she had a miscarriage and taunt her about her loss. But then he stumbled into political commentary. After 9/11, Beck began to articulate a blubbery, blubbering hysteria, calling for the shooting of Michael Moore and the poisoning of Nancy Pelosi. He announced that any government program helping ordinary Americans was a step towards “communism”, and prophesied: “The country may not survive Barack Obama? If he does fundamentally transform America, we’re done. You don’t have to worry about a 2012.” He shot up to be the second highest rated show in cable news, and assembled hundreds of thousands to a rally on the Mall. At times seems quite conscious of the manipulation: “They’re getting so tired of me saying there’s a Marxist in the White House, I gotta take it up a notch,” he reportedly said to one private audience.


But a few years ago, he began to do something stranger still. He announced that the US was going to experience hyperinflation and savings would be rendered worthless – so his viewers should transfer their cash into gold. But not just any gold. No: Obama was probably going to seize gold bullion and nationalize it, he warned, so they should buy gold coins. “I think people are running out of options on what, you know, could be worth something at all. You have to think like a German Jew, 1934,” he said.


Meanwhile, Beck’s program on Fox News is sponsored by a company called Goldline that sells gold coins. As it turned out there is no hyperinflation and no Obama plan to seize bullion

There is, however, one significant difference from ‘A Face In The Crowd’. At the end of the film – spoiler alert – Lonesome Rhodes is finishing a show and, as the end credits roll and the music swells, he rants against his viewers, believing they can’t hear him. But in the control box, a producer deliberately flips a switch. Suddenly millions hear him say: “Those morons out there. I’d give ‘em dog food and make ‘em think it’s steak. Good night you stupid idiots. Good night you miserable slobs. They’re like a bunch of trained seals – I toss ‘em a fish and they lap it up.” John Boehner and Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck are ridiculing their followers just as crudely. Can’t somebody at Fox flip the switch?

Johann Hari: America is now officially for sale - Johann Hari, Commentators - The Independent

 

[Moonlit_Angel]

Oh, please tell me there's a switch... Please.

One of his famous “pranks” was to ring up the wife of a radio-show rival a few days after she had a miscarriage and taunt her about her loss.

After 9/11, Beck began to articulate a blubbery, blubbering hysteria, calling for the shooting of Michael Moore and the poisoning of Nancy Pelosi.

Yeah, this is a fantastic guy to follow, people . I felt bad before for a discussion in which I called Beck followers morons because of Pac_Mule mentioning their grandmother, and I do genuinely apologize for any offense there . But at the same time, in regards to the general public, if you listen to any of this and don't immediately shut off the station in disgust, be prepared to hear such words thrown your way, because I fail to see how anyone can willingly support such insane words/actions.

Those in the Tea Party are typically white

Case in point: on the CBS coverage of election results the other night, they mentioned the percentage of voters for Tea Party-related stuff.

They were overwhelmingly white. The percentages of white vs. non-white weren't even REMOTELY close.

They don't worry about climate change, because they cannot imagine how mankind could have in its power to mess up what God created.

Which makes it all the more curious that they then turn around and think they can try and fix all these other things that are supposedly "ruining" this supposedly beautiful world that God and God alone created.

Fantastic analysis from various parts of the world. Depressing as hell to read, though-way to drag our standing back down into the dirt, Tea Party . Really, I love seeing everyone else laugh at us and our ignorance, it's just wonderful.

Angela

 

[PhilsFan]

Seriously. Glenn Beck called a woman who had a miscarriage to make fun of her.

The only reason I hope Glenn Beck doesn't go blind is so that he can't beg people for sympathy.

 

[Canadiens1131]

I think the Tea Party is an interesting devil spawn of the economic crisis and a black president, but I think they have peaked with these midterms.

 

[PhilsFan]

I think the Tea Party is an interesting devil spawn of the economic crisis and a black president, but I think they have peaked with these midterms.

The Koch Brothers should sell their Tea Party stock pretty soon.

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

Tea Party Nation Names DHS, NAACP Among 2010's 'Liberal Hate Groups' | TPMDC

Tea Party Nation founder Judson Phillips put out a list yesterday of the "top five liberal hate groups," because "while the Left loves to accuse the Tea Party and Conservatives to be members of hate groups [sic], the simple fact is, there are a lot of liberal hate groups." And who made the cut for the top five? The NAACP, the Department of Homeland Security, the ACLU, the SEIU, and of course, the Southern Poverty Law Center.

If you recall, for the first time about a month ago, the SPLC included anti-gay groups like the Family Research Council and the American Family Association on its list of "hate groups." Republicans, and other conservative groups were predictably outraged that a social conservative group like the FRC was listed alongside the likes of the KKK.

Which might be why the SPLC topped out the Tea Party Nation list, because "this group has made a cottage industry labeling any group to the right of Karl Marx a hate group."

"The SPLC smeared as hate groups, respectable groups such as the Family Research Center, American Family Association, Concerned Women for America, Liberty Counsel and others as hate groups for opposing repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell and Homosexual Marriage. That makes the SPLC our number one liberal hate group," Phillips writes.

The number two spot went to the DHS for taking part in "silly political posturing from the most corrupt regime in the history of this country." Referring to Secretary Janet Napolitano as "the DHS Clown in Chief," the list says that the "DHS will not enforce border security. It makes Americans go through a joke of a security system when they want to fly. It invades their privacy while not going after terrorists."

The ACLU landed at three for being "a hate group with a law license. A lot of law licenses. If you hate America, the ACLU loves you and if you love America, the ACLU hates you." And four is the SEIU, which "has not been shy in using violence against companies who refused their efforts to unionize and have not been shy about using violence against Tea Party members."

And, finally, number five is the NAACP, who had unanimously passed a resolution this year calling on the Tea Party to "repudiate the racist elements and activities" from its members in the past. Tea Party leaders defended themselves by calling the NAACP itself racist, and the Tea Party Nation now refers to the report on the Tea Party "hilariously inaccurate."

"To the NAACP, anyone to the right of Karl Marx is a racist," Phillips wrote today (yes, he used that description twice).

Phillips himself has previously called it "a wise idea" to only let property owners vote, and argued that the U.S. should get rid of the "socialist" Methodist church.

 

[Moonlit_Angel]

"The SPLC smeared as hate groups, respectable groups such as the Family Research Center, American Family Association, Concerned Women for America, Liberty Counsel and others as hate groups for opposing repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell and Homosexual Marriage.

Yeah, 'cause there's no examples of hatred from anyone in those groups at ALL in regards to gay rights .

Family Research Council, American Family Association, and Concerned Women For America (that last one, oh, please all the way up to the sky) aren't anything close to respectable. Their names sound friendly enough, but their actions have tended to speak otherwise. They're places for the extreme religious right to gather and freak out over supposed threats to their ways of life.

The ACLU landed at three for being "a hate group with a law license. A lot of law licenses. If you hate America, the ACLU loves you and if you love America, the ACLU hates you."

WTF?

Sounds like nothing more than immature mudslinging to me. "You called us names, so we're gonna call you names back! Waah!"

Angela

 

[Pearl]

I really do think a good portion of America has lost its mind, and its getting worse by the day.

 

[Moonlit_Angel]

I think you're right, Pearl. Which, if that's the case, depresses me on so many levels . I just don't know what's going on in some people's heads sometimes, it's a real mystery to me.

Angela

 

[PhilsFan]

Can we set the forum to auto-replace "Koch Industries" for "Tea Party"?