The Tea Party...Who are they?

[RobMoney$]

This is from a respected GOP pollster. (http://winstongroup.net/polldocs/new_models/pdf/TeaPartyMemoApril2010.pdf)


Who They Are

Some 17% of respondents to the three surveys say that they consider themselves “a part of the Tea Party movement.” Within each survey, the percentage ranged from 16% to 18%. They are more likely to be male, slightly older, middle income, and - they tend to be conservative and Republican.
Politically, it comes as no surprise that more Republicans and conservatives tend to be drawn to the Tea Party movement. However, independents make up a sizable portion of the Tea Party movement as well. While 57% of Tea Party members say they are Republican, another 28% say they are independent. Additionally, 13% identify themselves as Democrats.

Tea Party members tend to get their news about national issues from Fox News - some 47% of Tea Party members in the December - February surveys list Fox News as one of their top one or two sources of news, compared to 19% of the sample overall. However, only 10% say that talk
news is one of their top two sources, higher than the overall sample (3%) but still less than other sources like CNN, a news source for 14% of Tea Party members.
Tea Party members have an income breakdown that concentrates slightly around the middle class.
Fewer Tea Party members in the December - February surveys say they have household incomes under $50,000 a year than voters overall, 29% of Tea Party members compared to 34% of voters overall. More Tea Party members fall in the $50,000-$75,000 range - 23% compared to 17% of voters overall. Furthermore, slightly fewer Tea Party members report incomes over $75,000 - 32% compared to 34% among voters overall.


What Matters To Them

Put simply, the Tea Party movement espouses economic conservative values. This impacts their priorities in terms of policy. When asked to name their top issue, rather than prioritize a variety of items, Tea Party members again assert their economic conservatism. While voters overall are extremely concerned with the economy and jobs, Tea Party members are over twice as likely to name “national deficit/spending” as their top issue. The economy remains a top priority, but concern about the deficit is pronounced with this group, underscoring the unifying thread of economic conservatism that runs through the Tea Party movement. Additional questions illustrate that the Tea Party movement strongly links deficit with economic outcomes and as a result, the concern about the deficit/spending is a subset of concerns under economy and jobs.

When only offered two options and asked to choose between the two competing proposals for job creation, Tea Party members strongly favor economically conservative solutions rather than increased spending. Over 4 out of 5 Tea Party members (85%) say tax cuts for small businesses
would do more to create jobs than increased government spending on infrastructure, compared to 61% of voters overall.

Tea Party members also believe that cutting spending is key to job creation. Some 56% of Tea Party members believe that cutting spending will create jobs, while only 21% think increased government spending will create jobs. However, it is critical to note that 61% of Tea Party
members think infrastructure spending creates jobs. Given that strong belief, it makes it all the more revealing that they still prefer tax cuts for small businesses as a means of job creation.

The economic conservatism of the Tea Party movement, woven with its serious concern for the state of the economy, has lead Tea Party members to express serious dissatisfaction with the direction of the country and leaders in government. Only 15% think the nation is on the right track, a far more pessimistic assessment than voters overall.

In the end, the item that unites the Tea Party movement is its commitment to fiscal
conservatism.
Tea Party members prioritize job creation over deficit, spending, and tax issues.
However, they view these items as critical precisely they are seen as a means to reducing unemployment and improving the economy. Tea Party members are very dissatisfied with the current direction of the country, the policies of the administration, and those currently in office, and as a result the Tea Party movement is breaking heavily in favor of the Republican Party.
This is a movement defined by its focus not just on the policies of economic conservatism but on the desired economic outcomes.




Interesting that 41% identify themselves as Independent or Democrats.

I plan on citing this article everytime someone tries to stereotype Tea Partiers as "redneck Palin-ites" from now on.

[travesty]

Gee sounds to me like Tea Partiers are ...well...um....normal Americans. Fancy that!?!

[Documad]

I plan on citing this article everytime someone tries to stereotype Tea Partiers as "redneck Palin-ites" from now on.

I don't think the article debunks that stereotype, even if the survey is valid. 13 % of people who describe themselves as democrats in unidentified states isn't significant. It doesn't touch on the redneck issue.

I'm still not sure how you describe a redneck. I tend to think of them as middle class white guys who tend not to vote or read intellectual magazines for in depth coverage of current events. I assume that they like to hunt and listen to country music. I suspect that Palin tends to pull in a bunch of non voting so called independents (many of whom are too goofy to be in the republican party). That's why the vast majority of the crowd seems to leave after she's done speaking. They don't stick around for the rest of the event.

But I'm not sure that any of this matters -- the tea parties are being taken over by the republican operatives as I'm typing this. The republican operatives are trying to give up their Ron Paul loving ways and vote straight republican ticket. If we seen tea partiers challenging incumbent republicans this fall, I'll be surprised. I'd love to see the tea partiers be independent. But I think they will have been absorbed into the republican party long before fall.

[kaiser soze]

The Tea Party is a fabrication of FOX "News"

http://www.theonion.com/video/breaking-news-some-bullshit-happening-somewhere,16928/

[RobMoney$]

I don't think the article debunks that stereotype, even if the survey is valid. 13 % of people who describe themselves as democrats in unidentified states isn't significant. It doesn't touch on the redneck issue.

I'm still not sure how you describe a redneck. I tend to think of them as middle class white guys who tend not to vote or read intellectual magazines for in depth coverage of current events. I assume that they like to hunt and listen to country music. I suspect that Palin tends to pull in a bunch of non voting so called independents (many of whom are too goofy to be in the republican party). That's why the vast majority of the crowd seems to leave after she's done speaking. They don't stick around for the rest of the event.

But I'm not sure that any of this matters -- the tea parties are being taken over by the republican operatives as I'm typing this. The republican operatives are trying to give up their Ron Paul loving ways and vote straight republican ticket. If we seen tea partiers challenging incumbent republicans this fall, I'll be surprised. I'd love to see the tea partiers be independent. But I think they will have been absorbed into the republican party long before fall.

Republican Operatives?
Que?

[Documad]

I was missing a couple of words there. I meant to say that the republican operatives were trying to make the more independent/libertarian wing give up Ron Paul in favor of the republican candidates in governor and federal races this fall. Republican operatives ran the most recent tea party event that got national media coverage. (I didn't mean to say that republican operatives were giving up Ron Paul themselves, because that would be silly. They hate him. :p)

[RobMoney$]

I certainly think the Republican party are eager to court these folks. And why shouldn't they?
If fiscal conservatism is their issue I certainly think there a common ground there between the Tea Party and the GOP.
More in common than the Dems at least.

[Documad]

The republicans haven't stood for fiscal conservatism in decades. They just want to spend our money on different stuff.

[Dorothy Wood]

does the tea party actually have any ideas or are they just against things?

I haven't read or seen any indication of creativity or practical ideas coming from that group. It's all fervor and no substance. Frankly, I find it all quite pathetic.

[Drederick Tatum]

Dorothy, they're for freedom, liberty, and a host of other slogans.

[Bob]

the tea party is some nebulous garbage that stands for whatever is politically convenient to the person that's talking about them. sometimes they're real americans concerned about a balanced budget and limited government, sometimes they're crazy birthers trying to show how obama is a muslim kenyan socialist hitler stalin and every now and then they're real american patriots trying to show us how obama is a kenyan muslim commufascist who's probably responsible for 9/11 and hates white people and liberty

i don't think the tea party itself even knows what it is anymore but oh man i sure do hope we don't shut up about it anytime soon because it's always such a productive discussion and tossing the phrase "tea party" into a debate is such an awesome way to get somewhere

[yeahwho]

How come the Tea Party never takes the struggle down to the people in the hood?

[RobMoney$]

does the tea party actually have any ideas or are they just against things?

I haven't read or seen any indication of creativity or practical ideas coming from that group. It's all fervor and no substance. Frankly, I find it all quite pathetic.


Perhaps you missed this in the article, and again where I posted it in my opening post:


What Matters To Them

Put simply, the Tea Party movement espouses economic conservative values. This impacts their priorities in terms of policy. When asked to name their top issue, rather than prioritize a variety of items, Tea Party members again assert their economic conservatism. While voters overall are extremely concerned with the economy and jobs, Tea Party members are over twice as likely to name “national deficit/spending” as their top issue. The economy remains a top priority, but concern about the deficit is pronounced with this group, underscoring the unifying thread of economic conservatism that runs through the Tea Party movement. Additional questions illustrate that the Tea Party movement strongly links deficit with economic outcomes and as a result, the concern about the deficit/spending is a subset of concerns under economy and jobs.

When only offered two options and asked to choose between the two competing proposals for job creation, Tea Party members strongly favor economically conservative solutions rather than increased spending. Over 4 out of 5 Tea Party members (85%) say tax cuts for small businesses
would do more to create jobs than increased government spending on infrastructure, compared to 61% of voters overall.

Tea Party members also believe that cutting spending is key to job creation. Some 56% of Tea Party members believe that cutting spending will create jobs, while only 21% think increased government spending will create jobs. However, it is critical to note that 61% of Tea Party
members think infrastructure spending creates jobs. Given that strong belief, it makes it all the more revealing that they still prefer tax cuts for small businesses as a means of job creation.

The economic conservatism of the Tea Party movement, woven with its serious concern for the state of the economy, has lead Tea Party members to express serious dissatisfaction with the direction of the country and leaders in government. Only 15% think the nation is on the right track, a far more pessimistic assessment than voters overall.

In the end, the item that unites the Tea Party movement is its commitment to fiscal
conservatism.
Tea Party members prioritize job creation over deficit, spending, and tax issues.
However, they view these items as critical precisely they are seen as a means to reducing unemployment and improving the economy. Tea Party members are very dissatisfied with the current direction of the country, the policies of the administration, and those currently in office, and as a result the Tea Party movement is breaking heavily in favor of the Republican Party.
This is a movement defined by its focus not just on the policies of economic conservatism but on the desired economic outcomes.





I'm not here to advocate for or against the Tea Partiers.
But isn't a backlash to the massive amounts of money being paid out in the name of "bailouts" to be expected?
I mean is anyone really for being in debt to someone like China?

I'm not saying this is all Obama, because it was Bush too.
But combine Obama's trillion dollar bailout with a trillion dollar HCR bill and crap like "cash4clunkers" programs, and I think people being against that is valid.
They really shouldn't be expected to offer a different idea.
Perhaps find a way to actually raise that much money before spending it could be an alternative idea?
But their platform seems to be against spending the money, so they're probably not concerned with where the money comes from too much.

Their idea is to not spend trillions of dollars on stuff the government shouldn't be involved in, not offer alternative methods to implement trillions of dollars in spending.

[Documad]

I think that survey is kind of funny, but then I think polling is always funny.

If I'm reading it right, then the 511 tea partiers surveyed were asked to identify their most important issue, but the numbers don't add up to 100%. The five issues listed add up to 81%. What issues are in the missing 19%? Does that mean that 97 of the 511 people picked a top issue like building a wall on our southern border, investigating Obama's birth, etc? Maybe those 97 people are worried about urban sprawl. :p Or maybe those 97 people couldn't articulate an issue they care about.

[travesty]

the tea party is some nebulous garbage that stands for whatever is politically convenient to the person that's talking about them. sometimes they're real americans concerned about a balanced budget and limited government, sometimes they're crazy birthers trying to show how obama is a muslim kenyan socialist hitler stalin and every now and then they're real american patriots trying to show us how obama is a kenyan muslim commufascist who's probably responsible for 9/11 and hates white people and liberty

i don't think the tea party itself even knows what it is anymore but oh man i sure do hope we don't shut up about it anytime soon because it's always such a productive discussion and tossing the phrase "tea party" into a debate is such an awesome way to get somewhere

(y)(y)

[Dorothy Wood]

Perhaps you missed this in the article, and again where I posted it in my opening post:


What Matters To Them

Put simply, the Tea Party movement espouses economic conservative values. This impacts their priorities in terms of policy. When asked to name their top issue, rather than prioritize a variety of items, Tea Party members again assert their economic conservatism. While voters overall are extremely concerned with the economy and jobs, Tea Party members are over twice as likely to name “national deficit/spending” as their top issue. The economy remains a top priority, but concern about the deficit is pronounced with this group, underscoring the unifying thread of economic conservatism that runs through the Tea Party movement. Additional questions illustrate that the Tea Party movement strongly links deficit with economic outcomes and as a result, the concern about the deficit/spending is a subset of concerns under economy and jobs.

When only offered two options and asked to choose between the two competing proposals for job creation, Tea Party members strongly favor economically conservative solutions rather than increased spending. Over 4 out of 5 Tea Party members (85%) say tax cuts for small businesses
would do more to create jobs than increased government spending on infrastructure, compared to 61% of voters overall.

Tea Party members also believe that cutting spending is key to job creation. Some 56% of Tea Party members believe that cutting spending will create jobs, while only 21% think increased government spending will create jobs. However, it is critical to note that 61% of Tea Party
members think infrastructure spending creates jobs. Given that strong belief, it makes it all the more revealing that they still prefer tax cuts for small businesses as a means of job creation.

The economic conservatism of the Tea Party movement, woven with its serious concern for the state of the economy, has lead Tea Party members to express serious dissatisfaction with the direction of the country and leaders in government. Only 15% think the nation is on the right track, a far more pessimistic assessment than voters overall.

In the end, the item that unites the Tea Party movement is its commitment to fiscal
conservatism.
Tea Party members prioritize job creation over deficit, spending, and tax issues.
However, they view these items as critical precisely they are seen as a means to reducing unemployment and improving the economy. Tea Party members are very dissatisfied with the current direction of the country, the policies of the administration, and those currently in office, and as a result the Tea Party movement is breaking heavily in favor of the Republican Party.
This is a movement defined by its focus not just on the policies of economic conservatism but on the desired economic outcomes.





I'm not here to advocate for or against the Tea Partiers.
But isn't a backlash to the massive amounts of money being paid out in the name of "bailouts" to be expected?
I mean is anyone really for being in debt to someone like China?

I'm not saying this is all Obama, because it was Bush too.
But combine Obama's trillion dollar bailout with a trillion dollar HCR bill and crap like "cash4clunkers" programs, and I think people being against that is valid.
They really shouldn't be expected to offer a different idea.
Perhaps find a way to actually raise that much money before spending it could be an alternative idea?
But their platform seems to be against spending the money, so they're probably not concerned with where the money comes from too much.

Their idea is to not spend trillions of dollars on stuff the government shouldn't be involved in, not offer alternative methods to implement trillions of dollars in spending.



I understand fiscal conservatism, I don't understand fiscal conservatism that is not based in reality.

So, their single idea is "stop spending money". Ohhh, well, okaayyy, that'll work. too bad our government has been quasi-socialist since forever and you can't just put the brakes on and expect everything to work out.

this country needs solutions, and a few people are trying to come up with some. a whole hell of a lot of other people are spending their time making signs and yelling.

[kaiser soze]

Here's a Teabagger (http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/os-mount-dora-doctor-tells-patients-go-aw20100401,0,5593120.story)

[Echewta]

When I think of redneck, I often think of Padster.

[travesty]

this country needs solutions, and a few people are trying to come up with some. a whole hell of a lot of other people are spending their time making signs and yelling.

That's what worries me the most. Regardless of how optmistic I try and be it just seems like, as a country, we really ARE out of solutions to our problems. We haven't had a decent leader for a long, long time, we haven't done much to make things better around here for decades and now all we do is point fingers and blame each other and everyone seems to be OK with that. Niether party seems to be remotely interested in working with the other at all anymore and it's just going to get worse as they perpetually try and "even the score" when power swings their way. It's highly disturbing.

[travesty]

Here's a Teabagger (http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/os-mount-dora-doctor-tells-patients-go-aw20100401,0,5593120.story)

Classic.

[DroppinScience]

When I think of redneck, I often think of Padster.

A British teabagger?

[ToucanSpam]

the tea party is some nebulous garbage that stands for whatever is politically convenient to the person that's talking about them. sometimes they're real americans concerned about a balanced budget and limited government, sometimes they're crazy birthers trying to show how obama is a muslim kenyan socialist hitler stalin and every now and then they're real american patriots trying to show us how obama is a kenyan muslim commufascist who's probably responsible for 9/11 and hates white people and liberty

i don't think the tea party itself even knows what it is anymore but oh man i sure do hope we don't shut up about it anytime soon because it's always such a productive discussion and tossing the phrase "tea party" into a debate is such an awesome way to get somewhere

Best part of the thread.(y)


LOL @ Rob reposting the same shit twice, as though Dorothy can't read. That's two minutes in the box for trolling.

[kaiser soze]

Oh MY!

NY Gov candidate backed by Teaparty exposed as a scumbag.

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/04/tea_party_gov_candidates_racist_sexually_graphic_e .php?ref=fpa

An online news outlet in New York state has obtained dozens of emails, many of them racist and sexually graphic, which it reports were sent by Carl Paladino, the Tea-Party-backed Republican candidate for governor of New York, to a long list of political and business associates. One email shows a video of an African tribal dance, entitled "Obama Inauguration Rehearsal," while another depicts hardcore bestiality.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20002299-503544.html

A Tea Party darling, Paladino reportedly sent an e-mail depicting a horse having sex with a woman and another that included a pornographic video and the headline "Miss France 2008 F[***]ing."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yAy9XOAPCA

So....Who are they?

[DIGI]

Hey Rob, the Dude doesn't mind. He abides. Sorry, that's bothered me for quite some time.

[Turchinator]

Hey Rob, the Dude doesn't mind. He abides. Sorry, that's bothered me for quite some time.

you're out of your element, DIGI.

[Sir SkratchaLot]

This is from a respected GOP pollster. (http://winstongroup.net/polldocs/new_models/pdf/TeaPartyMemoApril2010.pdf)

Tea Party members tend to get their news about national issues from Fox News - some 47% of Tea Party members in the December - February surveys list Fox News as one of their top one or two sources of news, compared to 19% of the sample overall.

This is just really really sad. Anyone who's primary source of information is Fox News is seriously ill informed. I'd put more stock in the opinion of someone whose primary source of news was Sesame Street.

[RobMoney$]

He does mind.
The Dude minds.
This will not stand, ya know, this will not stand, man.

[travesty]

Both correct.
The Dude minds AND the Dude abides. Watch the movie.

[DIGI]

Both correct.
The Dude minds AND the Dude abides. Watch the movie.

Apologies. How could I forget the ever-prevalent 'The Dude Minds' bumper sticker.

[yeahwho]

The NYTimes has a series the past week examining the Tea Party. Multiple viewpoints and in depth interviews plus video statements from self professed Tea Part members.

What Tea Party Backers Want (http://roomfordebate.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/15/what-tea-party-backers-want/?hp)


Voices of the Party (http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/04/14/us/teaparty.html?hp)

You can postulate, pontificate, reiterate or just asseverate, in the end you will masturbate. Because joining the Tea Party is the equivalent of saying you will never get laid again.

[DroppinScience]

Arianna Huffington provides a useful historical context for what fuels Tea Parties and rage in general.

Worth a read:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/tea-and-empathy-the-conne_b_539445.html

While it's important that we take the threats and the rage seriously, it is just as important that we dig deeper by providing some historical context and understanding the underlying impact of economic distress. Despite the Dow 11,000 and a few scattered positive indicators, Americans are hurting. The real unemployment rate is still at 17 percent -- meaning over 26 million people are unemployed or underemployed. And the first three months of 2010 saw a record number of homes lost to foreclosure -- with over a million homes expected to be repossessed by the end of the year.

And in times of economic upheaval, when huge numbers of people are losing their jobs, losing their homes, and feeling powerless to do anything about it, it has always been the case that people look for scapegoats. We've seen this over and over again throughout America history.

[yeahwho]

Arianna Huffington provides a useful historical context for what fuels Tea Parties and rage in general.

Will we know hormones aren't fueling their rage.

[yeahwho]

A Mighty Pale Tea
By CHARLES M. BLOW
NYTimes, 4/16/10
Link (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/17/opinion/17blow.html)

"The Tea Party...Who are they?" From an educated successful black mans point of view,

GRAND PRAIRIE, Tex.

On Thursday, I came here outside Dallas for a Tea Party rally.

At first I thought, “Wow! This is much more diverse than the rallies I’ve seen on television.”

Then I realized that I was looking at stadium workers. I should have figured as much when I approached the gate. The greeter had asked, “Are you working tonight?”

I sat in the front row. But when the emcee asked, “Do we have any infiltrators?” and I almost raised my hand, I realized that sitting there might not be such a good idea.

I had specifically come to this rally because it was supposed to be especially diverse. And, on the stage at least, it was. The speakers included a black doctor who bashed Democrats for crying racism, a Hispanic immigrant who said that she had never received a single government entitlement and a Vietnamese immigrant who said that the Tea Party leader was God. It felt like a bizarre spoof of a 1980s Benetton ad.

The juxtaposition was striking: an abundance of diversity on the stage and a dearth of it in the crowd, with the exception of a few minorities like the young black man who carried a sign that read “Quit calling me a racist.”

They saved the best for last, however: Alfonzo “Zo” Rachel. According to his Web site, Zo, who is black and performs skits as “Zo-bama,” allowed drugs to cost him “his graduation.” Before ripping into the president for unconstitutional behavior, he cautioned, “I don’t have the education that our president has, so if I misinterpret some things in the founding documents I kind of have an excuse.” That was the understatement of the evening.

I found the imagery surreal and a bit sad: the minorities trying desperately to prove that they were “one of the good ones”; the organizers trying desperately to resolve any racial guilt among the crowd. The message was clear: How could we be intolerant if these multicolored faces feel the same way we do?

It was a farce. This Tea Party wanted to project a mainstream image of a group that is anything but. A New York Times/CBS News poll released on Wednesday found that only 1 percent of Tea Party supporters are black and only 1 percent are Hispanic. It’s almost all white.

And even when compared to other whites, their views are extreme and marginal. For instance, white Tea Party supporters are twice as likely as white independents and eight times as likely as white Democrats to believe that Barack Obama was born in another country.

Furthermore, they were more than eight times as likely as white independents and six times as likely as white Democrats to think that the Obama administration favors blacks over whites.

Thursday night I saw a political minstrel show devised for the entertainment of those on the rim of obliviousness and for those engaged in the subterfuge of intolerance. I was not amused.

[RobMoney$]

and the partisan hackerry continues...

[DroppinScience]

and the partisan hackerry continues...

Said the guy whose sources are a "well-respected GOP pollster."

[DroppinScience]

This Tea Party wanted to project a mainstream image of a group that is anything but. A New York Times/CBS News poll released on Wednesday found that only 1 percent of Tea Party supporters are black and only 1 percent are Hispanic. It’s almost all white.

Sounds like Rob's kind of hangout. Might be 2% too much for him though...

[yeahwho]

and the partisan hackerry continues...

exactly (http://www.thefreedictionary.com/partisan)

[RobMoney$]

Sounds like Rob's kind of hangout. Might be 2% too much for him though...

Once again, Lambert decides to stick his nose in the discussion with baseless attacks.

I imagine it's rather easy to portray yourself as liberal in your own mind by making statements such as this from your ivory tower in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada via the internet.
Hell, you even admitted less than a year ago that you'd never once had a black person in your home.

The fact of the matter is that you don't have a clue what the Tea Party is about, and apparently neither does your savior, Obama.
Not a clue.
He thinks they should be thanking him.
I bet most liberal Democrats don't have a clue either.
Which explains why you're all so critical about Tea Partiers.
You need to believe "all Tea Partiers are racist rednecks".
It's just a hell of a lot easier to be a stereotypical condescending liberal than try to understand the real reasons that Main St. America are revolting against expanding government spending and higher taxes.


Also, I just love when someone who paints themselves as this bastion of open-mindedness continually feels the need to marginalize and stereotype an individual (me) or a group of people (Tea Partiers)

[DroppinScience]

Are ALL Tea Partiers racist? No.

Are MOST Tea Partiers racist? Absolutely.

Have taxes gone up for the middle class? Nope.

If your resentment is not race-based, it doesn't seem to be fact-based either.

[DroppinScience]

Hell, you even admitted less than a year ago that you'd never once had a black person in your home.

I kind of have to LOL at this one.

1) I don't have that many people over at my house, period.
2) I have had plenty of other minority groups in my house.
3) Blacks constitute 2.6 % of the population of Edmonton. Philadelphia has a 43.8% black population. This should mean you have 20 times more black friends than me.
4) I have invited black friends to my house, but they have not shown up. Oh well, at least I tried. :)

And if you weren't a racist, you wouldn't have to point out that you invite minority groups to your house or have black "friends" in the first place.

[QueenAdrock]

Re: #4: That's not true, Brett. In the past year, Nicole and Claire have been here, and Chrystal visited us all the time when we were in DC. She's black AND Mexican, which gives us twice the street cred! :rolleyes:

[DroppinScience]

Re: #4: That's not true, Brett. In the past year, Nicole and Claire have been here, and Chrystal visited us all the time when we were in DC. She's black AND Mexican, which gives us twice the street cred! :rolleyes:

Hold it, I thought Nicole never shows up because she's always busy writing papers?

I forgot about Claire. Of course!

Yes, but DC also has at least 25 more times black people than Edmonton. It's to be expected!

[QueenAdrock]

Pfft, but they don't have as many Blaxicans like Chrystal. Like I said, more street cred.

Nicole's been over for our parties before. PLUS, she's coming over to do a Mary Kay party this Thursday!

Either way, I can't believe you forgot we've had black people in our house! Don't you take tallies like I do? I have a whiteboard by the door and make all the African-Canadians tick it off when they come in.

EDIT: Oh wait. I forgot. I'm not allowed to talk to you via the message board. WHOOPS!

[DroppinScience]

Pfft, but they don't have as many Blaxicans like Chrystal. Like I said, more street cred.

Nicole's been over for our parties before. PLUS, she's coming over to do a Mary Kay party this Thursday!

Either way, I can't believe you forgot we've had black people in our house! Don't you take tallies like I do? I have a whiteboard by the door and make all the African-Canadians tick it off when they come in.

I must have been slipping. I was so obsessed with tallying Peruvian, Nepalese, and Jordanian guests to our home, that I forgot about black recruitment.

[travesty]

Are ALL Tea Partiers racist? No.

Are MOST Tea Partiers racist? Absolutely.

Have taxes gone up for the middle class? Nope.

If your resentment is not race-based, it doesn't seem to be fact-based either.

Maybe
Maybe
and Yes are the correct answers to those questions. You need to recheck your facts about taxes.
To continue to characterize tea partiers as racist just because the majority of the attendees are white is, in and of itself, racist. You are the one making race an issue, not the tea partiers....you are the racist. You have to own that. Were the people who attended the million Man March racists bacause the majority were black? Are La Raza event attendees racists because the majority are Latino? If you are not ready to say they were (are) then shut the hell up about the tea partiers.

The Dems continual attempts to marginalize this movement is only strengthening it. It didn't work when you tried to do the same thing to O'Reilly. His rating are better than ever. It didn't work when you tried to do the same thing with Limbaugh. His ratings are better than ever. and it didn't work when you tried to do the same thing with Glen Beck. His ratings are better than ever. You are only helping their cause by trying to convince people that the movement is something it's not. Most people know you are just full of shit and a closet racist.

[Whatitis]

Are MOST Tea Partiers racist? Absolutely.
Such a bullshit statement! Just shallow, just like most here who cannot see anything past partisan lines.

[DroppinScience]

Million Man March was an event meant to unite African-Americans in fighting the economic and social ills facing their community. It was advertised as such, and it was understandable why not too many whites or Asians or anyone else showed up to that rally. I didn't see any black people hold signs like "kill whitey" or "down with honkeys."


The Tea Party is a group of (predominantly) old, white, Republican men that use code words ("socialism" "fascism" etc.) to mask what are largely race-based fears and resentments. They call themselves "real Americans" or "the real America." Last I checked, demographics showed that America is becoming more and more racially diverse, so how could rallies held almost exclusively by old white guys be considered the "real America" when they leave out every other demographic? A two percent non-white presence seems like a failure on their part.

I mean, the Tea Party called John Lewis a "nigger" and Barney Frank a "faggot." I know that kind of behavior doesn't cast a wide tent.

Maybe I'm marginalizing the Tea Party movement by overemphasizing their racist tendencies. I do need to give more airtime to their moronic tendencies. Racism IS pretty moronic, so I guess it goes without saying.

[RobMoney$]

You realize the Tea Party are against the policies of politicians other than just the African-American President, don't you?

[RobMoney$]

And if you weren't a racist, you wouldn't have to point out that you invite minority groups to your house or have black "friends" in the first place.

Quote me where I've ever pointed out who I have invited over my home.

[travesty]

So if I conceded and told you that in fact the Tea Party is a white, middle class movement fighting the economic and social ills facing their community would you be alright with it like you are with the million man march? Fuck no you wouldn't, you'd be screaming bloody murder about the these racist, bigot honkeys. Can you please show me photos of anyone at a Tea Part with a sign that says "Kill N****rs" or "Down with Blacks".

The Million Man March was largely young, black, democrat men that that used codes words like "the man" and "Cracker" to mask what were largely race-based fears and resentments. So what's the difference? There is absolutely no proof that the Tea Partiers are protesting based on "race-based fears and resentments". There is simply no evidence of it. You are just as much a victim of your preferred media outlets as anyone who watches Glen Beck. Go to a Tea Party....oh wait , they don't have them in Canuckistan.

"The Tea Party" has never called anyone a "nigger" or a "faggot" . Some assholes may have done that but characterizing the entire movement on those two statements is patently absurd. Like I said, keep it up, pretty soon the Tea Party will have massive ratings and support and the Dems will, once again, have stepped on their own dicks trying to cry "racism" when most rational people can clearly see it is not. I expected more of you DS.

The beauty of the Tea Party, at least initially, was that it wasn't trying to be a perfect demographic. It didn't care that it was mostly white or any other color for that matter. If you were against higher taxes, you were welcome. What the demographic actually was, was irrelevant. Now that the GOP has hold of it they are trying to answer the Dems incessantly petty cries of Racism by recruiting minorities and making sure they get in front of the cameras. In the beggining it was just a movement against big government, pure and simple. Now it's trying too hard to conform into some media friendly organization drumming up support for the GOP and, to me. has lost all of it's appeal because of it.

[travesty]

I you want real racism, HERE (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36618626/ns/us_news-life/) it is. Quitr trying to find it where it's not, it isn't that hard to find for real.

[yeahwho]

What I posted above (A Mighty Pale Tea (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/17/opinion/17blow.html)) is the viewpoint of someone who is black, is successful and has an audience of of millions through the media. The United States isn't just made up of people who live on the fringe of 24/7 media news. There are those who have a clear understanding of the days events and political discourse without nonsense infiltrating their lives.

The defense of the Tea Party and their moronic place in American politics may just be the best thing the Obama administration has going for it in 2012. Right behind the look of this moniker, Sarah Palin (http://www.hulu.com/watch/141545/saturday-night-live-sarah-palin-network) President of the United States.

[RobMoney$]

What I posted above (A Mighty Pale Tea (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/17/opinion/17blow.html)) is the viewpoint of someone who is black, is successful and has an audience of of millions through the media. The United States isn't just made up of people who live on the fringe of 24/7 media news. There are those who have a clear understanding of the days events and political discourse without nonsense infiltrating their lives.

And the same can be said about the article I based this thread about.
http://www.beastieboys.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=94437

You choose to look at the Tea Party through the eyes of a critic and fall into the stereotyping because it supports your platform.
It's easier to try to dismiss them as racist rednecks than deal with their justified crtitcism of your savior, Obama.
I choose to try to listen to what they're issue is and ignore their lunatic fringe.

[DroppinScience]

It's easier to try to dismiss them as racist rednecks than deal with their justified crtitcism of your savior, Obama.
I choose to try to listen to what they're issue is and ignore their lunatic fringe.

Well, you do seem to have about the same grasp of spelling and grammar skills as the people who design signs at Tea Party marches...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pargon/sets/72157623594187379/

[DroppinScience]

Rob can also cover his ears, avert his eyes, and put his head in the sand from the latest Frank Rich column...

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/18/opinion/18rich.htm

Take it from the louder voices on the right. Because no tape has surfaced of anyone yelling racial slurs at the civil rights icon and Georgia Congressman John Lewis, it’s now a blogosphere “fact” that Lewis is a liar and the “lamestream media” concocted the entire incident. The same camp maintains as well that the spit landing on the Missouri Congressman Emanuel Cleaver was inadvertent spillover saliva from an over-frothing screamer — spittle, not spit, as it were. True, there is video evidence of the homophobic venom directed at Barney Frank — but, hey, Frank is white, so no racism there!

“It’s Not About Race” declared a headline on a typical column defending over-the-top “Obamacare” opponents from critics like me, who had the nerve to suggest a possible racial motive in the rage aimed at the likes of Lewis and Cleaver — neither of whom were major players in the Democrats’ health care campaign. It’s also mistaken, it seems, for anyone to posit that race might be animating anti-Obama hotheads like those who packed assault weapons at presidential town hall meetings on health care last summer. And surely it is outrageous for anyone to argue that conservative leaders are enabling such extremism by remaining silent or egging it on with cries of “Reload!” to pander to the Tea Party-Glenn Beck base. As Beck has said, it’s Obama who is the real racist.

Most Americans who don’t like Obama or the health care bill are not racists. It may be a closer call among Tea Partiers, of whom only 1 percent are black, according to last week’s much dissected Times/CBS News poll. That same survey found that 52 percent of Tea Party followers feel “too much” has been made of the problems facing black people — nearly twice the national average. And that’s just those who admit to it. Whatever their number, those who are threatened and enraged by the new Obama order are volatile. Conservative politicians are taking a walk on the wild side by coddling and encouraging them, whatever the short-term political gain.

What is known is that the nearly all-white G.O.P. is so traumatized by race it has now morphed into a bizarre paragon of both liberal and conservative racial political correctness. For irrefutable proof, look no further than the peculiar case of its chairman, Steele, whose reckless spending and incompetence would cost him his job at any other professional organization, let alone a political operation during an election year. Steele has job security only because he is the sole black man in a white party hierarchy. That hierarchy is as fearful of crossing him as it is of calling out the extreme Obama haters in its ranks.

[DroppinScience]

Since Frank Rich discussed John Lewis and the fact that no video has surfaced as of yet of anyone yelling out "nigger" to Lewis, I saw a post by noted conservative Andrew Breitbart trying to "prove" that the incident in question never happened, trying to clear the Tea Party's good name from charges of racism.

The ironic thing was that in the comments field, in celebrating the fact that they're not racist... they actually came off as, well, really racist! I saw comment after comment calling John Lewis a "race pimp just like MLK was" and other such nonsense. It was just like reading a Stormfront message board. Jeez, if you're so convinced nobody called John Lewis a nigger, don't trip over yourself and out yourself as a racist.

[RobMoney$]

You were called a name, you weren't called a name...who cares.
Keep avoiding the real issue.

[DroppinScience]

Keep avoiding the real issue.

Which is that the right wing has no interest in condemning or tempering the hatred and extremism emanating from the fringes. It's either for political reasons or they secretly share those views as well.

[RobMoney$]

Who cares.

Ok, now the Tea Party represents the right.
Ok, let's just suppose for the sake of your argument that everyone who opposes expanding government control, expanding government spending, higher taxes, and the ever constant creation of entitlement programs for the "underpriviliged" is only doing so because they're racist rednecks and secretly hate black people.

Ok. Sure.
If that seems like a valid conclusion in your mind than you're an idiot, but whether they're racist and secretly hate black people really doesn't change the fact that the rest of the issues they raise are valid.

So any discussion about whether someone is racist or not is kind of pointless.

[yeahwho]

So any discussion about whether someone is racist or not is kind of pointless.

Sure. I actually completely agree with you. Being a racist is not illegal. All sorts of insanity is legal in the USA and I prefer to keep it that way. You can be a racist in the USA and you can be a member of an overwhelmingly white middle class party. Who cares? It's your choice.

It's my choice along with millions of others to question the motives of such obliviousness, how it is funded, who makes up the statistical identity and what the real objective is. After all they cheered a speaker at a rally here in Washington State when she suggested they hang Senator Patty Murray. It changed my viewpoint on the Tea Party's values forever.

I think it's great that the Tea Party is such a strong political party in the eyes of so many. Come election time we'll see how effective this movement is in changing the landscape of American politics.

[kaiser soze]

The Human Spider - one of the brightest gets the infiltrator treatment

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_profilepage&v=IsklKjpGQ_s&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fuser%2Froutzen %23p%2Fu%2F4%2FIsklKjpGQ_s#!

[yeahwho]

That one dudes sign says infillrator. I bet he isn't getting laid tonight.

[DroppinScience]

That one dudes sign says infillrator. I bet he isn't getting laid tonight.

I imagine there's a tea party equivalent of the lone girl at a Star Trek convention (or a Rush concert :p ) that all the guys latch on to, but she ain't interested...

[yeahwho]

I imagine there's a tea party equivalent of the lone girl at a Star Trek convention (or a Rush concert :p ) that all the guys latch on to, but she ain't interested...

What do you talk about to that new hot babe at the annual tax day protest? How 98% of the country gets a tax break this year (http://www.ctj.org/obamastaxcuts.php) and you two are protesting for the 2% in the highest tax bracket that didn't get a tax break?

Teabaggers: just in case you thought America was getting smarter

[kaiser soze]

Who are they?

1) Some are Lunatics

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jbc064Uwax4&feature=player_embedded

"Are you a commie? are you a commie? Then stay alive, else you'll be dead."

[RobMoney$]

"Republicans do not belong at Tea Parties" per Ex. Dir. of the Libertarian Party.


http://www.independentpoliticalreport.com/2010/04/libertarians-question-republican-participation-in-tea-parties/

Libertarians question Republican participation in Tea Parties

WASHINGTON - Wes Benedict, Executive Director of the Libertarian Party, issued the following statement today:

"Many Libertarians around America are planning to go to Tea Party rallies tomorrow. I also expect lots of Republican activists and politicians to be there. But frankly, I don't think those Republicans belong there. The people participating in these rallies are saying 'There's too much government spending,' but Republicans, decade after decade, have supported massive increases in government spending. During the George W. Bush administration, Republicans in Congress supported spending trillions of dollars on foreign wars, a massive Medicare expansion, and banker bailouts. Republicans doubled the budget and doubled the federal debt. Why can't the Republican Party just admit that it loves big government?

"If I thought there would be many Democrats at these rallies, I'd criticize them too. However, I think it's safe to say that they'll be few and far between.

"Many Libertarians are enthusiastic about the Tea Parties, but many are not. Many Libertarians are concerned that participating causes us to get lumped in with conservatives and Republicans. In our online poll at LP.org, 28% so far say that 'The Tea Parties have become too Republican-flavored.'

"Libertarians are often frustrated when the press characterizes us as 'right-wing' or 'conservative.' Although we certainly support reducing government spending, which most conservatives also claim to support, we differ from right-wingers on many issues: for example, we oppose foreign interventionism, support immigrant-friendly policies, oppose overreaction to terrorism, and oppose the War on Drugs.

"Libertarians are neither left-wing nor right-wing. We're in a different place on the political map, as illustrated by the popular World's Smallest Political Quiz.

"Some of the people in the tax day Tea Party crowds will be right-wingers, and some will be Libertarians. For those Tea Partiers who support Libertarian principles of very limited government spending, government tolerance on social issues, and a non-interventionist foreign policy, the Libertarian Party is ready to welcome them with open arms."

[kaiser soze]

So I'm curious - is this the more moderate side of the Teabaggers distancing themselves from Rogue republican characters, or is this the radical side of the Teaclan distancing themselves from moderate republicans?

Looks like McCain and Palin will have to dodge "Infiltrator" signs now :(

[DroppinScience]

So I'm curious - is this the more moderate side of the Teabaggers distancing themselves from Rogue republican characters, or is this the radical side of the Teaclan distancing themselves from moderate republicans?

Looks like McCain and Palin will have to dodge "Infiltrator" signs now :(

I presume that it could go either way. Whether it's moderate or extremists, there is probably a greater sense that they don't want the Republicans hijacking or co-opting the movement. There are segments of the Tea Party movement that believe Palin is a fraud and a pretender and there are many more who vehemently hate Michael Steele with a passion (despite the fact that Steele says he'd be there marching with the Tea Party if he wasn't the head of the RNC).

[DroppinScience]

May as well add this to the Tea Party discussion...

"Bill Maher To Tea Baggers: Take On Defense Spending And I'll Believe You"

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/24/bill-maher-to-tea-baggers_n_550430.html

What defense spending really is. Is a giant welfare program. A jobs program for defense workers to build crap we don't need. So... scream about handouts. This is what they should be protesting.

We spend more on weapons than the next top 15 military powers combined. Let's cut it in half so we only spend as much as the next 8 countries behind us and see if anyone invades us.

Teabaggers, If you'll look into that, I will believe you really are 'we the people,' 'what about our grandchildren' patriots. But if you're unwilling to cut defense and give up the empire, you don't really care about the debt. And you have to admit: you're just a racist sore loser.

[RobMoney$]

How are Libertarians "racist sore losers" when they didn't have a candidate in the final election for president?
At best, at this stage of their political life they're a distant third place to the GOP and the Dems?

[kaiser soze]

Haliburton who? KBR what? Blackwater where?

You know damn well that 4 out of 5 teabaggers don't even know who these war profiteers are and more than likely will defend their war crimes because it keeps the terrorists off our shores.

I know my friend did when the wars started - now that he is in the military he despises these outfits.

But, give our Veterans some ok healthcare and oh lordy there will be hell to pay!!

[DroppinScience]

How are Libertarians "racist sore losers" when they didn't have a candidate in the final election for president?
At best, at this stage of their political life they're a distant third place to the GOP and the Dems?

1) Bill Maher is a libertarian.
2) Bob Barr was on the ballot on the Libertarian Party ticket in the final election.
3) The Tea Party and libertarians are not synonymous.

[DroppinScience]

Riddle me this, Tea Party scholars...

Where was the tea party outrage in the Bush years?

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/04/23/92604/commentary-where-was-tea-partys.html


Yes, he says, ideology plays a part. Yes, politics does, too. But as he put it in a follow-up conversation by phone, "once you control for partisanship, party identification and ideology, there's still a significant, robust effect for race."

Some of us needed no polling data to know this. Some of us needed only to observe the timing of the tea party's rise.

After all, if the tea partiers were truly only concerned about so-called "tyranny," they'd have started howling when President Bush claimed he need not be bound by laws with which he disagreed.

If they were truly only worried about a "socialist" takeover of private industry, they'd have yelped when he took over troubled financial institutions.

If they were truly only anxious about the budget, they've have hollered when he spent a $128 billion surplus into a $407 billion deficit.

If they were truly outraged over their income taxes, they'd have screamed at Bush first, given that their taxes are the same as when he was in office.

It is telling that they "discovered" their burning concern over these things shortly after Barack Obama came to power.


And contrary to what some in the movement would argue, it is not the case that any criticism of Obama brings charges of racism. Columnist George F. Will accuses Obama of timidity, columnist Charles Krauthammer calls certain of his policies "terminally naive," columnist Jonah Goldberg charges him with dirty politics. Yet there's been no national hue and cry accusing those conservatives of racial bias.

The reason is simple. Unlike certain tea partiers, they did not claim Obama favors white slavery. Or depict him as a witch doctor with a bone through his nose.

Or cry, "I want my country back."

For those of us trying to build a country that does not fear difference, a country where access to opportunity is not a function of skin color; for those of us seeking an America that will finally live out the true meaning of its creed, that battle cry of the tea partiers says all that need be said about the differences between them and the rest of us.

They are looking for the America that was.

We're searching for the one that ought to be.

[RobMoney$]

I just don't get the entire argument of questioning the timing of why the tea party is gaining steam now, as if it's all just because Obama's black and if a white guy were implementing the same policies the american public would be fine with it.
It's just blatant and transparent liberal, pro-Obama race baiting IMO.
The point which people finally stand up and say "enough" is different for every single person.

To act as if the Bush administration played no role in the rise of Tea Party pushback is just simply spin doctoring by the left.

It may not have started during the Bush years, but make no mistake about it, IMO Bush and Co. played more of a role in the foundation of the Tea Party than Obama did. Obama's just the straw that's finally breaking the proverbial camel's back.

[DroppinScience]

I just don't get the entire argument of questioning the timing of why the tea party is gaining steam now, as if it's all just because Obama's black and if a white guy were implementing the same policies the american public would be fine with it.
It's just blatant and transparent liberal, pro-Obama race baiting IMO.


*ahem*

And contrary to what some in the movement would argue, it is not the case that any criticism of Obama brings charges of racism. Columnist George F. Will accuses Obama of timidity, columnist Charles Krauthammer calls certain of his policies "terminally naive," columnist Jonah Goldberg charges him with dirty politics. Yet there's been no national hue and cry accusing those conservatives of racial bias.

The reason is simple. Unlike certain tea partiers, they did not claim Obama favors white slavery. Or depict him as a witch doctor with a bone through his nose.

Or cry, "I want my country back."

Anyways...

The point which people finally stand up and say "enough" is different for every single person.

Funny how every single Tea Party member cried "enough" at the exact same time.

Oh yes, and I'm still wondering why the Tea Party hasn't addressed defense spending if they're so worried about the national debt.

[yeahwho]

The Tea Party sort of jumped the shark with Hannity (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAm3VbKekko&feature=related)? How can any thoughtful human in America relate to this kind of crassness?

Incredible, what an embarrassment to be associating the good people of this Country with a terrorist. Then applaud that kind of crass statement.

[RobMoney$]

Funny how every single Tea Party member cried "enough" at the exact same time.

Oh yes, and I'm still wondering why the Tea Party hasn't addressed defense spending if they're so worried about the national debt.

The bottom line is that anyone who's critical of Obama, the left looks at with a hint of racism.

[yeahwho]

I was wondering what the bottom line was. So I can now call all non-whites critical of Obama racists.

That is a very interesting bottom line.

[DroppinScience]

The bottom line is that anyone who's critical of Obama, the left looks at with a hint of racism.

If you yell out "nigger" (as you're well known to have done on this board) and carry signs depicting Obama as a witch doctor, you're asking to be called a racist.

As the above article mentioned, George Will and other conservatives aren't doing that. Plain and simple.

[Tone Capone]

If you yell out "nigger" (as you're well known to have done on this board) and carry signs depicting Obama as a witch doctor, you're asking to be called a racist.

As the above article mentioned, George Will and other conservatives aren't doing that. Plain and simple.

(lb)(y)

[RobMoney$]

Oh, hi Tony!
Find any new women to harass and threaten lately?