What Do You Think the Tea Party Movement is About?

[Da6s]

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2010/02/09/think-tea-party-movement/

Yes, there is an option for "Fruitless mix of racism, conspiracy theories"

[Muir]

A friend of mine just linked me to this poll.  If I didn't know any better, I'd say the Tea Party Movement is an elaborate hoax.  However, knowing how a lot of conservatives think, I'm not surprised by it.  Is there anyway we can inject any more chaos into the mix?   A group like this is just begging to be taken advantage of.

[Template]

Americans. What's all this I hear about Tea Partys? Are you fuckers wasting tea again? RECREATING WASTE. OF. FUCKING. TEA? TEA? Do you underestimate how important tea is to me being English?

To put it into terms you can understand: Do you see me throwing boxes of freedom, bald eagles, apple pie, & liberty into the fucking dock. No do you fuck. Knock off this waste of tea or you may see different.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

BALD EAGLES! 

I love that "Fruitless mix of racism, conspiracy theories" is at 68%.

[The Wizard]

I love that "Fruitless mix of racism, conspiracy theories" is at 68%.

Ahem. Exhibit A:

[Rumckle]

 

Quote fail, or am I missing something?

[The Wizard]

Oh shit. Yeah, that was a quote fail.

[The Wizard]

Fixed. Now this makes more sense.

[Cain]

Teabagging news!

http://rawstory.com/2010/02/tea-partiers-fighting-against-ron-paul/

There is more than a little irony in the fact that congressman Ron Paul is facing three primary challengers this year, all of them linked in some way to the Tea Party movement.

Many observers give the libertarian from Texas credit for having sparked the Tea Party movement in 2007 when he held a "money bomb" fundraiser on the anniversary of the Boston Tea Party, raking in some $6 million for his presidential run in one day.

But, as the Dallas Morning News reported earlier this week, Paul is facing three primary challengers -- more than he has faced in the past six primaries combined. And every one of the challengers is linked to the Tea Party movement.

Washington Independent contributor David Weigel told MSNBC's Rachel Maddow Monday night that the Tea Party movement of today has little in common with that fundraiser in 2007.

"Those libertarian ideas [may be] popular at the Cato Institute, [but] they're not really popular with Tea Party activists," Weigel said.
Story continues below...

As the Morning News put it, Tea Partiers say Paul is "too focused on his national ambitions; that his views are too extreme; that he doesn't support the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; that he votes 'no' on everything, including federal aid for his district after Hurricane Ike."

By comparison, "the Sarah Palin version of Tea Party conservatism is a little bit less specific," Weigel said. "It's more slogany. You can write the talking points on your hand if you want to."

And Europe needs Teabaggers

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/10/AR2010021002453.html

At the risk of taking contrarianism to extremes, let me offer this suggestion: The global economy needs a "Tea Party" movement in Europe to lobby for fiscal conservatism there.

Many "mainstream" analysts deride the Tea Party agitators as a right-wing fringe group, and in many respects, that label is deserved. I wouldn't want them running the Treasury Department or the Federal Reserve.

But these conservative populists do perform the useful function of focusing American political attention on the need for fiscal responsibility. They make a good point, for example, in arguing that we shouldn't add a major new entitlement program for health care until we've figured out how to pay for the entitlement programs we've already got.

Europe, by contrast, lacks this sort of potent conservative movement to constrain government spending. Given Europe's experience last century with virulent right-wing populism, its wariness of extremism is understandable. But it means that Europe lacks a strong voice for reducing public-sector spending and debt.

[Bebek Sincap Ratatosk]

If you want to argue for 'No government in my government' kind of libertarianism, there isn't a better, more eloquent representative than Ron Paul. Now, I'm not saying he should be President... just that for the TP people to be against him really seems to show how completely incompetent they are. The one shlub that's actually pushing their supposed agenda and they're trying to take him down...

[Doktor Howl]

If you want to argue for 'No government in my government' kind of libertarianism, there isn't a better, more eloquent representative than Ron Paul.

Well, except for that annual $400,000,000 in pork he sends home.

But that's different.

[Doktor Howl]

But I get your point.

Also,  at Teabaggers wanting fiscal responsibility AND two wars.

[Cain]

Yeah, you'd think if the Tea Party actually meant any of its rhetoric, then Ron Paul would be, like, their standard-bearer or something.  Of course, given the most Neoconish Republicans became self-appointed speakers for the movement, it would make sense they would try and bring Ron Paul down.  They hate him like poison.  Some of the vitriol directed his way by his own party during the election in 08 was amazing.

[LMNO]

"WE WANT FIZKAL REZPONZIBILTY, BUT ONLY WHEN IT SUITS US."
    \

[Bebek Sincap Ratatosk]

If you want to argue for 'No government in my government' kind of libertarianism, there isn't a better, more eloquent representative than Ron Paul.

Well, except for that annual $400,000,000 in pork he sends home.

But that's different.

Of course, he is after all a politician