Mad Hatters

[gkjpalmer]

Tea Party supporters strike me as very angry, nasty people. The pitch fork, KKk, and torch type.

I understand that the Tea Party was in large part born in protest of the 5 trillion dollar deficit that was growing during eight years of the Bush Administration. I too was angry about that and very dissastified with what was going on in Washington.

But what the Hell have you "Great Patriots" accomplished aside from making it clear that your pissed and you hate.

You know..when your done pointing your fingers at Mexicans and Liberals and Blacks and Socialists and Communists and anti Americans and Planned Parenthood and Muslims and Barack Obama and Gays And Lesbians and Welfare Moms and Food Stamp kids and this Form of Government established by founders from whom you've taken your name, but hate so much...try doing something that helps your fellow Americans...even the few you do like.

 

[IGetItAlready]

Tea Party supporters strike me as very angry, nasty people. The pitch fork, KKk, and torch type.

Why?

But what the Hell have you "Great Patriots" accomplished aside from making it clear that your pissed and you hate.

Winning elections among other things.

You know..when your done pointing your fingers at Mexicans and Liberals and Blacks and Socialists and Communists and anti Americans and Planned Parenthood and Muslims and Barack Obama and Gays And Lesbians and Welfare Moms and Food Stamp kids and this Form of Government established by founders from whom you've taken your name, but hate so much...try doing something that helps your fellow Americans...even the few you do like.

So your whole impression of the Tea Party is that they're a bunch of mean, racist, homophobe bigots.
Color me stunned...
Isn't that what you also think of conservatives in general?

Just because the Tea Party hasn't set up shop in your local park doesn't mean they're not getting things done. If nothing else they've made Washington aware that We the People are watching, we're not as stupid as Washington would like and we are perfectly capable of making this Republic work as intended, despite the best efforts of current leadership.

 

[Oddball]

Tea Party supporters strike me as very angry, nasty people. The pitch fork, KKk, and torch type.

I understand that the Tea Party was in large part born in protest of the 5 trillion dollar deficit that was growing during eight years of the Bush Administration. I too was angry about that and very dissastified with what was going on in Washington.

But what the Hell have you "Great Patriots" accomplished aside from making it clear that your pissed and you hate.

You know..when your done pointing your fingers at Mexicans and Liberals and Blacks and Socialists and Communists and anti Americans and Planned Parenthood and Muslims and Barack Obama and Gays And Lesbians and Welfare Moms and Food Stamp kids and this Form of Government established by founders from whom you've taken your name, but hate so much...try doing something that helps your fellow Americans...even the few you do like.

Helpful hint: When painting with the broad brush, make sure you hold it with the bristles pointed away from you.

 

[freedombecki]

Tea Party supporters strike me as very angry, nasty people. The pitch fork, KKk, and torch type.

I understand that the Tea Party was in large part born in protest of the 5 trillion dollar deficit that was growing during eight years of the Bush Administration. I too was angry about that and very dissastified with what was going on in Washington.

But what the Hell have you "Great Patriots" accomplished aside from making it clear that your pissed and you hate.

You know..when your done pointing your fingers at Mexicans and Liberals and Blacks and Socialists and Communists and anti Americans and Planned Parenthood and Muslims and Barack Obama and Gays And Lesbians and Welfare Moms and Food Stamp kids and this Form of Government established by founders from whom you've taken your name, but hate so much...try doing something that helps your fellow Americans...even the few you do like.

Run out of your valium much?

 

[gkjpalmer]

I stand by my original post.
Winning elections?
Broad brush advice?
Valume?
Conservative vs Liberal?

My point is they arrived in Washington and simply became another version of what was already there.

 

[Warrior102]

Tea Party supporters strike me as very angry, nasty people. The pitch fork, KKk, and torch type.

Link to such behavior?

 

[Mad Scientist]

"Valume"

 

[Firehorse]

What have we done? Do you remember the 2010 midterms?

We work within the system, the system tells us that it takes more then one midterm to make real change happen in DC. 2010 wasn't a presidential year, this is.

The people we put in office in 2010 are holding back the tide brought on by this in incompitant pres. Reinforcements are on the way. If your a leftist, a democrat or a socialist, this next election is going to be brutal for you, please, for your own health, stock up on the happy pills

 

[gkjpalmer]

This is what I am asking; What have you done?
And again, if I am not mistaken, The Tea Party formed during the Bush administration during which time fiscal mismanagement became epic.

Two wars funded over seven years outside the federal budget through endless emergency appropriations, K street gone wild, revenues cut but spending not, and regulations known to have greatly contributed to the great depression deregulated? Outing a CIA operative? Endless signing statements? "Outsourcing is good for the economy" and incentivising it with tax write offs to promote it? Its there country so let them go wild....but lets rebuild it?

To the contrary, I am not a leftist. As I stated in my initial post, I too was not happy about the financial mis-management. I was working during those years for a company that did business with manufacturing and I watched them disassemble to move to Communist China so that a few people could make a ton of money while thousands became unemployed. Let me tell you that THAT more than trickled downward.

When the Tea Party began, I was excited. Then I slowly realized that they were driven more by sheer anger than anything else. Build a fence? Investing in American roads and bridges is Socialism? Attempting to reduce the cost of healthcare for everyone is an evil?

I do not see one solution to one issue to alleviate this mess comming from the Tea party, nor do I see a willingness to exchange ideas. Fillabuster/Cloture record DESTROYED.

 

[PredFan]

I stand by my original post.
Winning elections?
Broad brush advice?
Valume?
Conservative vs Liberal?

My point is they arrived in Washington and simply became another version of what was already there.

Go back to wherever you came from and educate yourself. You have now 8 posts and you've already proven you know nothing. We already have enough idiots here.

 

[Truthmatters]

In the study, led by Ryota Kanai of the University College London, people who identified themselves as liberals generally had a larger anterior cingulate cortex — a comma-shaped region near the front of the brain that is involved in decision-making. By contrast, those who identified as conservatives had larger amygdalas — almond-shaped structures that are linked with emotional learning and the processing of fear

Read more: Liberal vs. Conservative: Does the Difference Lie in the Brain? | Healthland | TIME.com

 

[PredFan]

In the study, led by Ryota Kanai of the University College London, people who identified themselves as liberals generally had a larger anterior cingulate cortex — a comma-shaped region near the front of the brain that is involved in decision-making. By contrast, those who identified as conservatives had larger amygdalas — almond-shaped structures that are linked with emotional learning and the processing of fear

Read more: Liberal vs. Conservative: Does the Difference Lie in the Brain? | Healthland | TIME.com

Right on cue!

 

[Politico]

Mad Hatters? Tea party folks are suffering from mercury poisoning? Who knew?

 

[Wiseacre]

It is readily apparent that the OP and others are holding more than a few misconceptions about the Tea Party movement, which is actually a disorganized but nonetheless determined number of groups who are opposed to big gov't, more spending, higher taxes, too much debt, and being ignored. Enough perhaps to be angry and not a little afraid of the direction this country is going in.

Pitchforks, hateful, nasty, KKK for God's sake? Just a little over the top, aren't we? These people show up, speeches are made, and then they go home. No violence, no arrests, no big mess to clean up, this is middle America you're talking about. I am always amazed at the liberal democrats who constantly say they're for the middle class, yet they always belittle, demagogue, and denigrate the TPers, who ARE the middle class. Who the hell do you think these people are, there ain't no 2%ers out there. That's main stream Americans who are concerned enough to stand up and say I don't like what's going on here. I say bless 'em all for trying to do somerthing, to try to take their country back from what it's become.

 

[gkjpalmer]

Go back from where you came from?
More Liberal v Conservative cliche's?
Cerebral Cortex studies?

Please, one self identified Tea party member....whats the plan...not the slogan...the plan that will restore a strong and well balanced America.

If you think I do not understand the Tea Party...YOUR FRIGGIN RIGHT! So instead of calling me names, explain! I said you strike me as....I didn't say you are. I asked what have you done... besides campaign and win a few speciffcally.

The fact is Im tired of the vitrial comming from Dems, Republicans and now the TPs.
I am upset with the TP because I thought they were different but the appear to me to have just melded into the same old same old.

I expressed my view but I have been asking over and over ....and all I've gotten from you folks is a club.
Predfan....your right...you do have a lot of idiots here. Sod Off

 

[Wiseacre]

You ask what the Tea Party people have done - for starters, they have changed the national debate to debt/deficits, limited gov't, lower taxes, and less spending. It was they who stiffened the spines of the republican party and refocused their attention away from business as usual to more conservative principles. It was they who got every GOP politician to worry about winning their next primary and getting reelected. And they have had a major influence in the House even though they do not have more than a third of the representatives. They have not been able to pass much in the way of legislation, due to the democrats in control of the Senate and WH.

A quick word about the Tea Partys, love 'em or hate 'em but they are the only political force that I know of who is not trying to further their own financial interests at the expense of every one else. They aren't asking for bailouts and tax breaks or subsidies, in fact they oppose that stuff. Not many other groups advocating policies for the benefit of everybody instead of themselves. And for this they have been vilified by the democrats, the very people who proclaim support for the middle class and yet denigrate these same people because they do not agree with their politics. Not their finest hour.

 

[gkjpalmer]

Thank you Wiseacre.

Limited Government: To what limit? I have always contended that Government ought to be equal to the task which I know requires alot more discussion, but I ask as an example, should the government not set standards for milk and monitor that the standards be met?

As far as lower taxes...we are at the lowest rates since WW2 and spending has remained flat at approximatly 35% since 1984. In the State I once lived the govenor cut State income tax by 30%. Then the State cut local spending causing everyones local burdon to increase 4x the savings on the State income tax.

As far as bail-outs...Deregulation and lack of policing permitted financial markets to essentially become massive gambiling tables, fraud...and they lost. I was furious and I saw it comming for years along with the mass exodus of promoted and incentivised outsourcing of our manufacturing base and jobs.

What would have happened one morning in America if every bank locked its doors, shut down its ATMs, did not process payroll checks? I believe we were looking at a full financial seizure which would have resulted in war on the streets.

The bail out sucked but the alternative at the time I believe would have been worse.

In the end I am not governed by beliefs that simple notions applied to how we manage our family budget or our individual lives applies to governing our country. If cutting taxes and cutting spending and having a small, nimble government was the silver bullet, then every Country on the planet would live in utopia..but that is not the case.

I am always open to hearing and exchanging ideas on how being American can be mutually beneficial to all of us. Blame, anger, attack, and vitrial stand in the way of that conversation and there in lies my dissapointment with the Tea Party. We've had Dems And Pubs, Liberals and Conservatives doing that for years and look at where we are at....so do we really need another?

 

[Wiseacre]

Thank you Wiseacre.

Limited Government: To what limit? I have always contended that Government ought to be equal to the task which I know requires alot more discussion, but I ask as an example, should the government not set standards for milk and monitor that the standards be met?

As far as lower taxes...we are at the lowest rates since WW2 and spending has remained flat at approximatly 35% since 1984. In the State I once lived the govenor cut State income tax by 30%. Then the State cut local spending causing everyones local burdon to increase 4x the savings on the State income tax.

As far as bail-outs...Deregulation and lack of policing permitted financial markets to essentially become massive gambiling tables, fraud...and they lost. I was furious and I saw it comming for years along with the mass exodus of promoted and incentivised outsourcing of our manufacturing base and jobs.

What would have happened one morning in America if every bank locked its doors, shut down its ATMs, did not process payroll checks? I believe we were looking at a full financial seizure which would have resulted in war on the streets.

The bail out sucked but the alternative at the time I believe would have been worse.

In the end I am not governed by beliefs that simple notions applied to how we manage our family budget or our individual lives applies to governing our country. If cutting taxes and cutting spending and having a small, nimble government was the silver bullet, then every Country on the planet would live in utopia..but that is not the case.

I am always open to hearing and exchanging ideas on how being American can be mutually beneficial to all of us. Blame, anger, attack, and vitrial stand in the way of that conversation and there in lies my dissapointment with the Tea Party. We've had Dems And Pubs, Liberals and Conservatives doing that for years and look at where we are at....so do we really need another?

Firstly, I would say that more blame, anger, attack, and vitriol are directed at the TPers than come from them. You have to remember these people are not political pros, we're talking about the mainstream middle class that aren't that politically savvy. They've got the knuckleheads like every other group has, and there are many who are trying to usurp the basic message by adding in social issues such as abortion. But that isn't the major focus of the TP movement, and I don't see the violence and destruction at their rallies that we've seen at the OWS events. They show up, speeches are made, and they go home with no problems. You may not agree with what they want, but I think it's hard to be disappointed with their conduct.

As far as the issues you mentioned, I'm not in total agreement with their agenda either. I think an immediate balanced budget would be a disastrous idea, and would surely lead to another bad recession or depression. We are too close to that as it is, and would not be to the country's benefit to cut spending that drastically. But that's not to say that we can't freeze spending to some upper limit, and find ways to be more efficient with the gov't resources we have. If you look around the rest of the world, I believe you will find that in most cases if not all cases those countries who have been able to limit their spending have also been able to withstand economc downturns and recover from them sooner. And those who have not end up paying a price in terms of less economic growth.

In any event, the Tea Partys want a more fiscally sound gov't. They fear for the future generations who will have to bear the burden of the massive debt we are creating and adding to now. I for one do not think that sentiment is unreasonable, and I applaud them for speaking out about it and doing something.

 

[rabbitthekitten]

To the original poster I'd just say I wouldn't worry too much about the Tea Party. The USA has always been about 100 years behind Europe socially and fascists are not taken too seriously politically anymore. They have zero support and all these ideas about superiority have died out. Expect American Exceptionalism, the Tea Party and the rest of the crackpot ideas to go the same way when people see what happens when they are in power. It'll be a painful process I imagine, but I don't think most Americans are as stupid as the Tea Party would like us to believe.

 

[uscitizen]

Mad Hatters. I like that.