I wish I weren’t constrained by my bad leg and other things to my little routine here in Colorado. I would be organizing a movement to shut up and shut down the Tea Party.
If it isn’t obvious to every thinking person in this country that this organization is racist to the core, then read about it all– Mark Williams’ letter to the NAACP, and the fall-out since.
From Day 1 it has been glaringly apparent that this group is made up of paranoid wack-jobs, the dregs, from the figurative sticks, who parrot what they hear Limbaugh and Beck saying and can’t handle a brilliant and black President.
Let’s just hope they all continue to shoot themselves in the foot and erase themselves from the national scene.
America is every American’s country. Â The flag does not belong to the Tea Party. Â Caricaturing and smearing the President makes the person carrying the sign of Obama as the Joker look like a first-rate asshole.
Anyone aligning themselves with this movement suffers from IDS– Intellectual Deficiency Syndrome. Â When reasonable people think for themselves, good things happen. Â When people fall for rhetoric and bullshit, look forward to bad and terrible things.
Update: Â I took a look at Wikipedia on the Tea Party tonight. It’s very biased to the right, which means it is not balanced, which means that it is unreliable. Â In any event, in the photo above we have the Joker sign and to the left, Obama as chimpanzee. Â In the foreground, Limbaugh, Palin, and Brown. Â These three musketeers and others of their ilk ought to disassociate themselves immediately from the lunatic fringe of the TP Movement, or their credibility such as it is, will go into the shitter.
The Tea Party seeks to legitimize itself by constant talk of adherence to the Constitution. Â Very unfortunately, few members of the Tea Party appear to have the ability to support their arguments with facts, much less to demonstrate precisely–again with facts– how the Administration has behaved “unconstitutionally”. Â The Constitution is a fluid document in the sense that it is to be applied and interpreted. Â As far as I know, everyone believes in the importance of The Constitution. Â The Republicans in Congress may, however, be said to be violating the mandates of their constituents: Â to legislate, make policy, improve the quality of American life. Â Obstruction and partisanship have made it nearly impossible for Obama to lead.
While professing patriotism, the TP is anti-democracy in its perpetuation of division. Â It wants to be in charge and that we have a Democratic president and majority is the thorn in its side.
I agree and my summer home is in Tea Party country. I’m surrounded which gives me the impression that they are in the majority. I tell myself that, surely, all Americans don’t buy this crap.
Gerry
I do not belong to the Tea Party, but I can identify with it and understand why a lot of people are drawn to it. I just read a very lengthy but enlightening article that helped me understand what is going on in America.
http://spectator.org/archives/2010/07/16/americas-ruling-class-and-the/print
Thanks for commenting. I would say a few cautionary things; this is undocumented right wing opinion. The writer makes unsubstantiated assertions based on a host of logical fallacies. If this person were a student of mine he would be asked to rewrite the paper. It isn’t objective in any sense, much less sound rhetorical argument, and I am surprised that you had a favorable response to it. j
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Just curious, but what are some of the “logical fallacies” you mention?
sorry, Patti. The article bases the theory of a ruling class on speculation/assertion. He or she makes statements like the administration held closed-door sessions, believes itself to be above others…. these make the piece fall into the category of “opinion.” This is not a piece of journalism. The writer is clearly very far right and tries to build an argument toward a proof that does not succeed. The Spectator is a very right-wing publication and says on Google that it issues opinion among other things. So, basically, it’s a long editorial. My piece doesn’t offer standard proofs either. However, you are certainly entitled to your beliefs and to agree with the piece. I would just read these with a grain of salt. Specious reasoning pervades the piece. From Merriam-Webster online, “specious”– Function: adjectiveEtymology: Middle English, visually pleasing, from Latin speciosus beautiful, plausible, from speciesDate: 15131 obsolete : showy2 : having deceptive attraction or allure3 : having a false look of truth or genuineness :sophistic — spe·cious·ly adverb— spe·cious·ness noun
I read everything with a grain of salt. In fact lately I’ve taken to using buckets of salt, lol. Funny that I did not see her as being “very far right.” Right, yes, but she had plenty of unpleasant things to say about the Republicans as well. If she was “very far right” she wouldn’t have said anything negative to say about them or at least tried to cover up some of their blatant mistakes.
She is speaking here about this “Country Party” which is not (imo) to be confused with the Tea Party but certainly some people may think that’s what she’s describing. I would not consider myself an adherent of the Tea Party and have no desire to join, but I could relate to much of what she said as far as the frustrations of those who feel the government is out of control. This government is anything but transparent despite all the promises, and despite the wishes of most of the American people it pushes through what it thinks is best even while we head for financial ruin. Corruption is rampant, and the media is asleep at the wheel. Thank God for the internet 🙂
I didn’t address your initial post, but I wanted to comment on this: “Caricaturing and smearing the President makes the person carrying the sign of Obama as the Joker look like a first-rate asshole.” I agree. But if it’s not okay to do it to Obama, it’s also not okay to do it to Bush. The left calls the right racists. The right calls the left elitists. They both do what they accuse the other of, and meanwhile folks like me are standing in the middle trying to say TIME OUT!!!
I read an interesting article on civility that said: “In sports we have a referee. And that is what civility is. It doesn’t care who wins or loses. It wants whoever wins to win fairly and on merit. A referee ensures the integrity of the game and maintains the trust both players and fans have in the outcome. Are we moving in our society, from boxing to ultimate fighting? Have we, in our greed and our impatient lust for power, decided to forego the constraining nuisance of any referee at all?”
Another quote: “We have let our politicians warp us into grotesque habits of partisanship. Where wealth or power are at stake, nothing is too craven if it impedes you and advances me.”
And one more for good measure: “Life comes in at least two flavors. Mine is sweet, my adversary’s is just wrong, like grass-clipping ice cream. Funny thing is, he thinks mine tastes like pepper and house dust.”
Apologies– I do very much like your response and how you temper the extremes…!!!! Now for some grass-clipping ice cream…..xj