Welcome to the Tea Party

[Coondog]

I suppose I should be feeling nostalgic for the zany antics of the 1960's when likes of Abby Hoffman and Jerry Ruben elevated civil disobedience, anti government protest and pointless, petty criminality to an art form. But, I observe news coverage of the ongoing "Tea Party" movement with mixed emotions.

Organized public dissent is a good thing. It evidences the continuance of freedom of expression. It occasionally effects social change and, more rarely, influences governmental attitudes towards this issue or that.

Today's much touted indulgence into "teabagging" exemplifies a number of uniquely American characteristics.

We should not dwell on the fact that right wing extremists, along with Fox News and friends managed to hijack the Libertarian Party's long standing initiative. (a fact that the Libertarians don't seem to be too fond of)

We should, likewise, not dwell (beyond the obligatory snicker or two) on the fact that the "teabaggers" probably don't understand the connotations of that label.

We might dwell, briefly, on the diffuse message being bandied about as it appears unclear whether it's Taxes, Obama, Socialism, Selective Memory Loss or a combination of several perceived inequities which serve as the basis of the newly energized protest.

Having, today, neither the time or inclination to participate, I have had no opportunity to gauge the extent to which this phenomenon has prospered. Suffice to say, it is a healthy sign of democracy when people who have no idea exactly what they're talking about band together in a concerted effort to get that message across.

Hats off to the conservatives, though. They managed to take Libertarian Ideology, Democratic Methodology and Republican Negativism and combine them into a Three Ring Circus of historic proportion. The upper 1% must be very, very proud!

Coondog

You say you want a revolution..............

[Neck-aint-red]

I might have been sippin' tea with all those fools, but I did what I always do, crash all day to pay my !(&^%$*%^#@! Taxes.

barrel-pants.gif (8.64 KiB) Viewed 10384 times

Every April 15 America's literary geniuses, by the millions, write amazing fiction.

[Coondog]

Headline – April 22 – The News-Gazoo

Economic Policies Assailed at Rally

Local ’Tea Party’ Draws over 100

Yes, over 100 people turned out to protest taxes….in a public park presumably
Maintained by Tax Money.

But, taxes were not the only issue. Presumably we should abolish the Federal Reserve along with taxes. Posters expressing displeasure with anything Obama, ranging from his economic policies to, apparently, his mere existence. Something to do with respecting the constitution. A microcosm of right wing conservatism as organized and portrayed across the nation where 'Obama is Hitler' and 'Drill Baby Drill' or, simply ‘Secede’ embellished the profusion of slogans having much or little or nothing to do with taxes.

Meanwhile 43 people (nearly half as many) showed up for the annual Easter egg hunt on
Applebutter Lane. This inherently more interesting news item can be found at the top of page 8. No pictures. No interviews. The best that can be said is that these 43 people had, at least, some commonly defined, coherent purpose.

At a time when rational conservative input into national policy conversation is desperately needed, the right leaning citizenry has bound itself in cult like idol worship of divisive, radical crackpots with neurotic obsessions who offer nothing more than infantile dispersions cast over every subtle nuance relavent to Obama’s presidency.

Tea parties are for aristocrats and small children. If one wants to be taken seriously on adult issues, one might consider emulating neither.

Coondog

Any more.....tea?

[Juggler]

[youtube]tyv_Oqsr9f8[/youtube]

[Uji]

[Coondog]

[Frank Strickler]

Hello good people of Rockbridge County.

I just finished reading an excelent book about The United States of America. The title is "Liberty and Tyranny" by Mark R. Levin.

If any of you have not read this book I would recomend it to you.

If any of you have already read this book, I would be interested in reading your comments on it.

Frank Strickler

[Frank Strickler]

John J. Wall wrote "Here's a nugget of sophisticated wisdom circulating around the e-mail circut which I'm sure all rational thinkers can wrap their intellect around.

Bravo, Jphn J.

I'm in complete agreement with the e-mail, however since you aimed it at "rational thinkers" I believe it's wasted effort as there is very little intellect in liberals. The ratio is about an ounce of brains to 1 1/2 tons of liberal. If they really thought their positions out to the end they wouldn't be liberals in the first place.

Frank Strickler, construction worker, vetran, American.

[Wise One]

[Frank Strickler]

Wise one,

Your points are well taken.

You are right. My last post was way out of line. I was venting over my anger at what I feel the liberals have done to hurt my country and I had no right to be insulting. My apologies to all you liberals.

As for the book, I'm not sure how it got on this discussion. I intended it to be a new subject. I'm only asking for input from those who read it. It is about Americas founding and what has happened to America in the last 70 years. I think it's a good read for anyone who is interested in our countries history and well being.

Frank Strickler

[Coondog]

I wasn't around when the founding fathers hammered out the framework for what the country has evolved into, but from what I've read, they had some serious disagreements over issues which were not solved by adopting the viewpoints of extreme elements on either side.

Polarization, however, is nothing new. We did fight a Civil War. In some sectors, we are still fighting it. There is little evidence that liberals are stockpiling guns and ammunition in gleeful expectation of fighting another one. Chalk one up for the liberals.

The Jeffersonian conservative viewpoint that "that government is best which governs least" has many valid points, yet, the character and complxity of the country has (whether one believes in it or not) evolved. This requires being able to think beyond what the founders intended....or were able to imagine.

You can't say you're for health care reform while, after failing to initiate it, then demonizing someone else's attempts.

You can't say you're for limited government when you support the government pouring vast, needed resources into unnecessary military conflicts.

And, as I've said before, you cannot accomplish anything in government if you believe that government can't operate anything well. When you hear this from Republican congressmen, it might occure to one that maybe they're the reason for it.

Interestingly enough, when the question of government proficiency switches from the topic of health care to the military, those same voices are patronizingly singing a different song.

Nothing has been done by liberals to adversely affect the country. It suprises me that anyone who, by all rhetorical evidence, supported the Bush Administration's policies would have the gall to say such things in light of the ever developing evidence of prior constitutional depravities.

The really neat thing is, we can all say such things today with even less apprehension of ending up on some kind of watch list.

It is, however, good to see some good old right wing conservative input on this forum. I'd like to see some moderate conservitive input, but I don't believe there are any left out there. Maybe we can change that. Maybe not.

Coondog

[Sam]

According to Buddha, "Words have the power to both destroy and heal. When words are both true and kind, they can change our world."

Hey people, the way I see it is no one is listening to each other.

[Uji]

[Sam]

It appears that 57% of the people .

[lexingtonrick]

, Ron Paul......

[Wise One]

. The good news: scurrilous lies and insults from the right are not a horrible new thing. The bad news: it's just the same stuff they've dished out for decades, and always will.

[lexingtonrick]

Best comment about the absurdity of wing nuts actually attempting to dictate policy and effect change based on religious beliefs and the inability to understand American history.

Frank Schaeffer appearing on the Rachel Maddow show http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/hea ... -subcultur

"A village can not reorganize the village to suit the village idiot".

[Coondog]

[Wise One]

Jon Stewart does Glenn Beck, wonderfully sending up a most blatant tea party-er.

[Coondog]

February 5, 2010
Tancredo opens Tea Party Convention with a bang
Posted: February 5th, 2010 12:37 PM ET

From CNN Deputy Political Director Paul Steinhauser

Nashville, Tennessee (CNN) – Tom Tancredo opened what's being billed as the first Tea Party Convention with a bang.

The former congressman from Colorado and 2008 Republican presidential candidate blasted President Obama, saying "people who could not even spell the word 'vote', or say it in English, put a committed socialist ideologue in the White House. His name is Barack Hussein Obama."

Tancredo made his comments as he gave the kickoff speech for the convention, which is being held at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel and Convention Center in Nashville.

Tancredo's speech received polite applause among the 600 attendees at the convention.

"So the race for America is on right now. The president and his left-wing allies in Congress are going to look at every opportunity to destroy the Constitution before we have a chance to save it. So put your running shoes on. Because I'll tell you, I've heard we need a revolution. My friends, we already had it. We lost. I mean, what happened to us in that last election was a revolution," said Tancredo, discussing the 2008 presidential contest.

Tancredo also slammed that election's Republican presidential nominee, saying "thank God John McCain lost the election."

The former congressman known for his strong opposition to illegal immigration also attacked "the cult of multiculturalism, aided by leftists, liberals all over who don't have the same idea about America as we do."

I guess he IS glad McCain didn't win, cause the republicans would have him thrown in the basement at Guantanamo for remarks like that.

Coondog

600 attendees - I can buy a keg of beer and get more people than that to show up at Zollmans.......................