Hopefully limited Maine hilarity

[AFK]

The Maine GOP was pretty much forced by the Tea Party types to throw out their platform and adopt a Tea Party-approved platform:

http://www.mainepolitics.net/content/maine-republicans-adopt-tea-party-platform

An overwhelming majority of delegates to the Maine Republican convention tonight voted to scrap the the proposed party platform and replace it with a document created by a group of Tea Party activists.

The official platform for the Republican Party of Maine is now a mix of right-wing fringe policies, libertarian buzzwords and outright conspiracy theories.

The document calls for the elimination of the Department of Education and the Federal Reserve, demands an investigation of "collusion between government and industry in the global warming myth," suggests the adoption of "Austrian Economics," declares that "'Freedom of Religion' does not mean 'freedom from religion'" (which I guess makes atheism illegal), insists that "healthcare is not a right," calls for the abrogation of the "UN Treaty on Rights of the Child" and the "Law Of The Sea Treaty" and declares that we must resist "efforts to create a one world government."

It also contains favorable mentions of both the Tea Party and Ron Paul. You can read the whole thing here.

Dan Billings, who has served as an attorney for the Maine GOP, called the new platform "wack job pablum" and "nutcase stuff."

Despite the document's crazy content, Maine Republican Party Chair Charlie Webster insisted to the AP that all of the elements in the platform are things that Republicans support. He claimed to the Press Herald that these issues reflect the values of working-class Mainers.

And then there is also this:

http://www.bangordailynews.com/detail/143328.html

Maine Republican officials apologized Wednesday for an incident last week in which party faithful attending the state convention removed a pro-labor poster from a Portland middle school classroom and left behind GOP materials.

The incident involved a group of Knox County Republicans who, like hundreds of others attending the Republican state convention at the Portland Expo, had gathered Friday at a nearby middle school for county caucuses.
...
But some Knox Republicans who gathered at King Middle School that Friday apparently were less than enthusiastic about the political overtones of some posters — some created by eighth-graders — and other materials they saw in the social studies classroom.

When the teacher, Paul Clifford, returned to his classroom Monday morning, he discovered that a collage depicting the history of the labor movement was missing. In its place, someone had left a bumper sticker reading: "Working People Vote Republican."
Caucus members also apparently looked inside a closed cardboard box near Clifford's desk that contained copies of the U.S. Constitution donated by the American Civil Liberties Union. Clifford later discovered a note left behind reading, "A Republican was here. What gives you the right to propagandize impressionable kids?" according to an account in the Portland Press Herald.

It's probably a good thing that neither Susan Collins or Olympia Snow are up for re-election this year.  I think Collins goes up in 2012.  My money is on her retiring if this Tea Party stuff is still brewing. 

[LMNO]

Caucus members also apparently looked inside a closed cardboard box near Clifford's desk that contained copies of the U.S. Constitution donated by the American Civil Liberties Union. Clifford later discovered a note left behind reading, "A Republican was here. What gives you the right to propagandize impressionable kids?" according to an account in the Portland Press Herald.

Please note that the Constitition is now Seditious.

[Doktor Howl]

I warned you.  I warned you all.   

[AFK]

This is the same state where one of our State Reps, Henry (obviously without) Joy introduced legislation to split Maine into two states.  Essentialy it would be split according to current voting districts with the larger, Northern portion retaining the name of Maine, and the rest of it dubbed Northern Massachussetts. 

[Doktor Howl]

This is the same state where one of our State Reps, Henry (obviously without) Joy introduced legislation to split Maine into two states.  Essentialy it would be split according to current voting districts with the larger, Northern portion retaining the name of Maine, and the rest of it dubbed Northern Massachussetts. 

Sort of like the Tucsonora movement, in reverse.

[Iason Ouabache]

Caucus members also apparently looked inside a closed cardboard box near Clifford's desk that contained copies of the U.S. Constitution donated by the American Civil Liberties Union. Clifford later discovered a note left behind reading, "A Republican was here. What gives you the right to propagandize impressionable kids?" according to an account in the Portland Press Herald.

Please note that the Constitition is now Seditious.

They were probably upset that the letters ACLU were on it, despite the fact that the ACLU is a conservative organization.

[Mangrove]

My (somewhat optimistic) prediction:

The Tea Party idiots are going to gain some traction.They will either influence existing candidates or become candidates themselves. Some, but not many will actually get elected. A number of things could happen:

a) They will get Scott Browned again. That is, they will back someone who makes all the right yummy noises and then immediately ignores them once they get into office. The TPers backed Brown because they wanted to break the historical Ted Kennedy pro-health care bill Democrat vibe only to replace him with a Republican who cosied up to Kennedy wannabe Chris Dodd and voted in favor of HCR.

b) Some TPer or their 'chosen one' will get elected. Trouble is, they are likely to have very little knowledge of how Washington actually works. Plus, they will probably be shunned by both Republicans & Democrats for being a wingnut voting aberration. Having gotten in, they will achieve absolutely nothing and everyone who supported that person will turn tail and support someone else.

In the UK, every so often there's an upsurge of extreme right leaning politics. Someone from the British National Party (formerly the National Front, formerly the British Union Of Fascists) will get elected onto a town council. Some even got into the European parliament recently. However, when the crunch came for the May election, the BNP pulled absolutely jack shit in the polls and presto, Gordon Brown gone and the Conservatives are back in government again.

So, my hope is that the TP idiots will have their 15 minutes of fame, achieve nothing and then slink back into the word work for a few more election cycles.

[Requia ☣]

Caucus members also apparently looked inside a closed cardboard box near Clifford's desk that contained copies of the U.S. Constitution donated by the American Civil Liberties Union. Clifford later discovered a note left behind reading, "A Republican was here. What gives you the right to propagandize impressionable kids?" according to an account in the Portland Press Herald.

Please note that the Constitition is now Seditious.

This needs to be repeated a few more times.  You would think laughing this hard would break something. 

[AFK]

My (somewhat optimistic) prediction:

The Tea Party idiots are going to gain some traction.They will either influence existing candidates or become candidates themselves. Some, but not many will actually get elected. A number of things could happen:

a) They will get Scott Browned again. That is, they will back someone who makes all the right yummy noises and then immediately ignores them once they get into office. The TPers backed Brown because they wanted to break the historical Ted Kennedy pro-health care bill Democrat vibe only to replace him with a Republican who cosied up to Kennedy wannabe Chris Dodd and voted in favor of HCR.

b) Some TPer or their 'chosen one' will get elected. Trouble is, they are likely to have very little knowledge of how Washington actually works. Plus, they will probably be shunned by both Republicans & Democrats for being a wingnut voting aberration. Having gotten in, they will achieve absolutely nothing and everyone who supported that person will turn tail and support someone else.

In the UK, every so often there's an upsurge of extreme right leaning politics. Someone from the British National Party (formerly the National Front, formerly the British Union Of Fascists) will get elected onto a town council. Some even got into the European parliament recently. However, when the crunch came for the May election, the BNP pulled absolutely jack shit in the polls and presto, Gordon Brown gone and the Conservatives are back in government again.

So, my hope is that the TP idiots will have their 15 minutes of fame, achieve nothing and then slink back into the word work for a few more election cycles.

I think they will get Scott Browned in a lot of areas that aren't in the deep South.  Republicans got culled big time in the North East in the previous election cycle.  It's hard to see how they would make gains back by running right-wing candidates.  The Collins, Snowes, Chaffees are the norm for North East Republicans.  The right-wingers get the marginal support and die in the primaries.  That's why I say, I think Snow or Collins would've been in jeopardy if they were running now. 

I think this Tea Party thing is really a one-shot deal.  And it will help Republicans, maybe they'll even win back the House.  But I think by 2012 the landscape will be different.  Not that everything will be magically better, but it really feels like a lot of people are latching onto the whole Tea Party idea like people latch on to other fads.  It's a "thing to do".  It's hard to see that these new-comers to civic engagement who are all hopped up on rage are going to sustain.  A lot of these people you see in the Tea Party crowds, who say they are new to politics, aren't exactly spring chickens.  There's a good bet that their motivation will be short-lived.  But hell if they aren't going to get in their licks while they are tuned in. 

Or maybe I'm being overly optimistic.  Or maybe 2012 will be what we're seeing now by a factor of 10. 

[Mangrove]

I was talking to Mrs Mang about this last night. I asked her if everyone had become more stupid because even in the 5 years that I've been living here, this last year or so  has been insufferably stupid. She said 'no, it's the same dumb people as before, they're just louder now.'

We had the whole discussion about Glenn Beck, O'Reilly etc in that we were trying to figure out if they were serious or whether they just call their accountants and when they learn that they're making obscene amounts of money for doing basically nothing, they leap in front of the cameras with renewed vigour as to how much more they can lower the bar (journalistically speaking)

I keep forgetting also, that I'm in a country with a much bigger population than the UK, so the likelihood of idiocy is that much greater.

We also discussed the fact that when you see Daily Show or Colbert, you know that it's satire. When I see Glenn Beck or Sean Hannity, I'm left unsure. Is this a gag? Is this real?  Is this an experiment in just how far the parameters of propaganda can be pushed?

I mentioned how Sarah Palin has now decided that the founding fathers were really all about the Church & State not being separate. I mean, FUCK. That's like me saying that Native Americans have subjugated European immigrants for centuries. And then I started to wonder if people are so into extreme historical revisionism, could I get a theory as dumb as that to fly?

What all the Fox zombies and the TPers don't seem to appreciate, expect perhaps those getting large paychecks is that Fox News is not news. It's not journalism of any kind. It's a current event themed chat show run by an absurdly rich Australian man who does not for a single second give a crap about any American politics whether it's of the left, the right or the centre. It's about creating a product that will guarantee him huge advertising revenue.

Not only does Murdoch own lost of TV stuff, he owns lots of newspapers too. For many years Murdoch owned papers were pro-Conservative in the UK. Always backed the Tories until he realized that was no longer in his interest and presto, the Murdoch papers went pro-Labour and backed Tony Blair. No doubt, with a new government in Britain the editorials under his regime will eventually side to whatever political party will get them the biggest dividend.

I feel that the latest batch of Tea Party nonsense is something of a safety valve for stupid people. It gives them something to do while they're being manipulated.

Some people I've talked to think that the GOP's inclusion of Sarah Palin was a deliberate pick to throw the election so they could stand at the side lines and go 'IT WAS BROKEN WHEN WE GOT HERE!' in order to vilify the Democrats. Chances are the same thing will happen again when the Tea Party bubble bursts and the two main parties reassert themselves. They'll both be like 'Look! You wanted grassroots change and it got you nowhere. Now let the big boys take care of things again.'

[Doktor Howl]

You guys are all missing the point.

The Teabaggers are discovering the fun of loud & angry know-nothingism.  That's happened before.  Hilarity ensued.

[Payne]

No doubt, with a new government in Britain the editorials under his regime will eventually side to whatever political party will get them the biggest dividend.

The Sun is waaaaay ahead of you. Link.

That is a fact Gordon Brown cannot escape, for all his rhetoric yesterday - his rewriting of history, his absurd caricature of the "heartless" Tories, his tired promises to solve problems he has had 12 years to solve.

Britain needs a brave and wise Government to restore our self-respect, our natural entrepreneurship and the will of every family to improve its lot through its own efforts, without depending on handouts.

We need a Government that will cut the red tape strangling businesses, that will make affordable tax cuts to stimulate growth, that will reform wasteful public services.

We need a Government with a genuine will to win the war in Afghanistan and the commitment to give our forces whatever they need to do it.

This will not be a Government that merely talks the talk, as Labour has. It will ACT.

We hope, and pray, that the next Government will have the guts and the determination to do these things. And we believe David Cameron should lead it.

Between now and the election Cameron's Conservatives must earn voters' trust by setting out their promising policies in detail.

If elected, Cameron must use the same energy and determination with which he reinvigorated the Tory Party to breathe new life into Britain.

That means genuine, radical change to encourage self-improvers, not wasting time on internal party wrangling or pandering to the forces of political correctness. It also means an honesty and transparency of Government that we have not seen for years.

We are still a great people and, put to the test, will respond to the challenges we face.

The Sun believes - and prays - that the Conservative leadership can put the great back into Great Britain.

That sound you're hearing is me chuckling and giggling the remains of my intestines up and out of my mouth.

[Mangrove]

You guys are all missing the point.

The Teabaggers are discovering the fun of loud & angry know-nothingism.  That's happened before.  Hilarity ensued.

As in 1950's McCarthyist hilarity or some other kind?

[Doktor Howl]

You guys are all missing the point.

The Teabaggers are discovering the fun of loud & angry know-nothingism.  That's happened before.  Hilarity ensued.

As in 1950's McCarthyist hilarity or some other kind?

Thinking about 20 years earlier, overseas.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Oh my god, tea partiers. Tea partiers. I can't get over how fucking hilarious they are! Jesus. Even the name. They named themselves after a little girl's birthday party. I want a My Little Pony party.