dhelix33

There's nothing quite like the alternate reality of the Tea Party. I have seen people in this tea bag laced forum whine about me off handedly referring to the Tea Party 'movement' as "teabaggers." What I find most amusing is the notion that calling Tea Partiers "teabaggers" is a horrendous, unforgivable slur. because Tea Partiers find it offensive now

The associated term for your 'movement' - "teabagger" - was introduced to the political lexicon by your Tea Party 'movement' leaders.

On your Tax Day rally, April 15, the Koch brother funded program pushed out an astro turf group of 'organizers' with a gimmick. They asked people to send a tea bag to the Oval Office. One of the exhortations was “Tea Bag the Fools in D.C.” A protester was spotted with a sign saying, “Tea Bag the Liberal Dems Before They Tea Bag You.”

So, you so-called "conservatives" started using the teabagging reference yourselves, in terms of your "identity" - and then others ran with it, and ran with it. The origin of the term is relevant in determining the relative size of the Tea Party’s violin being played. Furthermore, what needs to be pointed out is the fact that the Tea Partiers not only invented the term, they did so in order to inflict a similar double entendre onto the President, the Democrats, and progressives in general. Hence, it’s a violin being played so small, you'd need an electron microscope with a zoom lens to see it.

Now, you people in this forum (and you know who you are) have a hissy fit when I call you what you named yourselves, trying to re-cast the term as a slur, that I am somehow using a term hurtful to all the Tea Party members who are just ordinary moms, dads, sons, and daughters - I believe your dubious bigoted code word is "Real Americans". The latter point has some resonance, but the former is ridiculous in the extreme.

In emails, protest signs, t-shirts, and online, early Tea Party literature urged protesters to “Tea Bag the White House,” and to “Tea-bag the liberal Dems before they tea-bag you.” The suggestion is that the metaphoric “tea-bags” be shoved in the mouths of the President, Democratic members of Congress, and even ordinary citizens who identify as liberal Democrats. The idea that you all just didn’t know the term’s only (at that time) meaning is belied by the fact that you obviously knew it was negative (and non-consensual), since you didn’t want it done to you, and also because it only had one meaning.

It was only after MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow and David Shuster, and CNN’s Anderson Cooper, turned the tables on the term teabagger that you "Tea Partiers" objected. You were perfectly satisfied to advocate the metaphoric mouth-rape of liberal men, women, and children, but had the nerve to become indignant when the insult boomeranged on you.

For all you "Tea Party" members out there (who just make the world, less) - There is a way to distinguish the validity of a 'bias' or 'opinion' or 'belief'. It's called 'objective reality'.

The button displays these words, "PROUD TO BE A TEABAGGER"

bluejacket

I agree with your post and I would add that there is to much of the Us and Them attitude in out political discourse , we need to come together because when we do come together this nation does great things and we can come together if we just realize others have ideas worth looking at

dhelix33

That was my approach when I first joined this forum bluejacket. However, the level of stupidity by many of those who respond here with simplistic, ignorant "Tea Party" talking points - or just ugly rhetoric, is prolific. Have not seen any type of comprehension for 'dialogue' in this forum - unless it was another "Tea Party" member metaphorically patting the back of another "Tea Party" member for their simplistic, ignorant "Tea Party" talking points - or just ugly rhetoric.

bluejacket

The reason I continue is that I believe in the saying rail not against the dark but light a candle

dhelix33

:thumbup: :thumbup:

Constitutional libertarian Loc: St Croix National Scenic River Way

Really ????

Why is it every time I try to engage helix in a real conversation he/she it chooses to run away and wag their tongue on another thread instead of doing as you all keep requesting. Coming together to solve our problems e pluribus unem.

I really couldn't care less what you call fiscal conservatives just please I ask it again of both you and others before this leave race on the table outside.

dhelix33

You make no sense. And your incoherent thoughts precedes you in previous commentary!

Blade_Runner Loc: DARK SIDE OF THE MOON

I'm surprised you don't know where the term "teabagging" comes from. If you ever find out you'd probably enjoy it.

dhelix33

And furthermore, There is hall of fame stupidity and ignorance held in esteem by "Tea Baggers" in this forum.

I quote from Constitutional libertarian: "... really couldn't care less what you call fiscal conservatives just please I ask it again of both you and others before this leave race on the table outside?"

I have a a question to ask you 'Constitutional libertarian': What planet have you been on?

The "Tea Party" being the heir, both metaphorical and literal to those who opposed the Civil Rights Movement, is not empty rhetoric. In fact, there are direct connections between the language, organization, and political philosophy of those who opposed bringing down Jim and Jane Crow of years ago and today’s "Tea Party".

Fred Koch, the patriarch of the Koch family, was a founder of the white r****t organization known as the John Birch Society, which along with the White Citizens Councils (and other White reactionaries) actively opposed the civil rights of African-Americans.

His sons, Charles and David Koch, are carrying forward this work through their draconian opposition to school desegregation efforts. In keeping with their elder's politics, and the undeniable fact that these Koch brothers are behind the faux populist Astroturf Tea Party movement.

The "Tea Party", and the Republican Party in mass, have embraced the legacy of the Confederacy (and by implication, those who opposed the Civil Rights Movement) by using the rhetoric of “nullification”, “States’ Rights”, and “secession”, as well as advocating for a “Second Civil War” to combat President Barack Obama’s policies and (twice) e******n. It is no coincidence that racial tyranny of the Confederacy by the White Right are embraced by this lunatic "Tea Party" fringe.

dhelix33

And now the distraction and finger pointing away from my rational fact researched comments, to the altered reality delusion of "Tea Party" talking points begins.

"Tea Party" people are typically pathetic in their revisionist history commentary. As I wrote at the onset of this thread, "There's nothing quite like the alternate reality of the Tea Party."

Blade_Runner Loc: DARK SIDE OF THE MOON

How many times do you need to repeat this tripe before you have yourself convinced?

dhelix33

That is a completely stupid response - your foolishness is showing.

Blade_Runner Loc: DARK SIDE OF THE MOON

Not there yet, hey? OK, keep trying, one of these days you'll get it.

bluejacket

yes the teaparty has a lot of baggage from the legacy of the old Confederacy , because a lot of it's members are southern conservatives and racial bias is a problem here in our country , and it is extremely uncomfortable for the different groups in this country to discuss as there is a lot of issues that are VERBOTEN and until we as a country want to talk about race frankly and then correct the wrongs and I mean all the wrongs we will stay in this quagmire

dhelix33

Boehner to Tea Party: Shut Yourself Down
By Margaret Carlson
October 15, 2013

“Thank you, Mr. President. Signed, John Boehner.”

Deep beneath the year-round tan, the Camel Ultra Lights and the merlot, there beats a grateful heart. Somebody had to take on the Tea Party that has turned Boehner’s tenure as House speaker into a living hell.

Too bad for Republicans, that someone was a Democrat rather than one of their own, which would have signaled that the party is fit to govern. By calling the bluff of a tiny band of burn-the-place-down Tea Party activists leading their colleagues over domestic (the government shutdown) and global (the debt ceiling) cliffs, Barack Obama exposed the fact that they didn’t come to Washington to fix anything, only to tear everything but air-traffic control down.

The meltdown on Capitol Hill doesn’t mean the end of the Tea Party. In fact, most of those lawmakers accurately point out that they are doing what the constituents in their painfully drawn, one-sided, overwhelmingly white, aging, anti-gay, anti-immigrant, science-denying districts want. Still, there are emerging signs -- from declining poll numbers to the breach with the Republican Party’s traditional business allies -- that the act is getting old. Mess with Democratic totems such as Social Security and nutritional programs for pregnant mothers, send Sarah Palin to Washington periodically to pour salt on open wounds, but don’t mess with Treasury bills and the markets.

Brain Freeze

There was no convincing extremists ahead of time. Like excited children at the fair, the Tea Party had to eat too much ice cream and see the whole party get sick, and even then, they couldn’t stop themselves. But some of them had to be queasy when they saw an NBC News-Wall Street Journal poll last week: Only 24 percent of Americans had a favorable view of the Republican Party, the lowest ever. By eight points, the public said it preferred a Congress controlled by the Democrats over one in Republican hands. Positive feelings toward the Tea Party fell to an all-time low.

That would turn the stomach of the heartiest anarchist. Rather than be an enduring movement of concerned grass-roots activists, the Tea Party has become a well-financed faction of the Republican Party bankrolled by business interests such as the Koch brothers to push a narrow agenda of regressive taxes, opposition to unions and the rollback of regulations.

They went too far. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce sent a letter signed by about 250 business groups asking members of Congress to stop their shenanigans. Wall Street titans such as JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) Chairman Jamie Dimon and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Chief Executive Officer Lloyd Blankfein, alarmed that a small band of extremists is blithely considering bringing down the global economy, are pleading with the Republican leadership to rein in the renegades.
V**ers may do that for them. Evidence of a declining Tea Party is also apparent in a few of the movement’s strongholds. Take the prince of the Tea Party, Michigan Representative Justin Amash. He tried to depose Boehner as speaker and considered a measure to defund Planned Parenthood not draconian enough.

Rather than having to face a challenge from the far right, here comes one from a mainline conservative and pro-business investment adviser, Brian Ellis, who says the way Amash governs is “disruptive and chaotic” -- two words businessmen dislike more than taxes or regulation.

And look what has happened to Senator Mike Lee of Utah, a Tea Party darling since his surprising defeat in 2010 of Robert Bennett, a beloved conservative senator. He’s become sidekick to Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, chiming in during the recent filibuster about a childhood accident and his dream of being a pirate.

‘Wacko Birds’

Lee is one of the new lawmakers who have been dubbed “wacko birds” by Senator John McCain of Arizona. Karl Rove said Lee’s scorched-earth strategy was “the one tactic that might be able to guarantee that the Democrats pick up seats in the Congress in 2014.” Even Lee’s friend and Capitol Hill roommate, Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, refused to back his plan to defund the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

Lee’s favorable rating has dropped 10 percentage points since a June Brigham Young University poll, which doesn’t skew liberal. More than half of Utah v**ers see him unfavorably; 57 percent said he should be more willing to compromise. In a separate survey, a majority of Utah v**ers now disapprove of the Tea Party’s influence.

Like Amash, Lee will be challenged from his left. Josh Romney and Dan Liljenquist are waiting in the wings. If Lee survives that primary contest, there’s an excellent chance that Democratic Representative Jim Matheson -- who’s been gerrymandered into unwinnable districts twice but still wins -- could win a statewide race in the reddest state in the country.

Utah Republicans have been heading toward buyer’s remorse for some time. At last year’s convention in Salt Lake City, a robust 125,000 Republicans turned out. This was a reaction to the 2010 convention, when 50,000 Tea Party activists took over and eliminated Bennett in favor of Lee. By 2012, the establishment was back in charge, and Bennett got a long and loud standing ovation. At that same convention, Senator Orrin Hatch easily won the nomination and re-e******n.

Here’s another suggestion for thank-you notes: “Dear Senator Bennett, thank you for taking one for the establishment. Signed, Senator Hatch.”
And Senator Lee, watch out. Jim Matheson may have a note for you in 2016.

http://mobile.bloomberg.com/news/2013-10-15/boehner-to-tea-party-shut-yourself-down.html?cmpid=yhoo