Poking the Tea Party "bear" with a stick: Congress invents new 'earmark' tactics

[kwc57]

Did Reagan or either Bush get elected without evangelicals?

The religious right played a role in getting them elected. That is why they courted them. The vast majority of Americans are somewhere in the middle. Can a politician get elected with just hid half of the middle? Possibly. It is the courting of folks on each end of the spectrum that helps assure a victory. My point was that they got used. They were courted for their votes and then ignored on the back side. The religious right had their litmus test for candidates with things such as abortion, gay marriage, etc. The candidates paid lip service to those issues to get elected. How many of the social issues that the religious right pushed ever get acted upon by the folks they helped put in office? Zero. I think you'll see the same thing now. Many "conservatives/Republicans" jumped on the Tea Party banfwagon and said "me too" to get elected. It remains to be seen if they will actually reform themselves once they were reelected. We already see stories of Congressmen who signed onto the "no pork" committment who are getting busted with earmarks they threw into legislation. Their excuse.......that was in 2010 before I signed the pledge for 2011.

Do I hope all of these folks who used the Tea Party to get elected live up to the rhetoric? Hell yes! But I've been around long enough to know that the proof is in the pudding. We'll see.

What happens if the Republicans don't live up to the Tea Party rhetoric they "subscribed" to during the election season? Just like the religious right, the Tea Party only has enough clout to assist in getting someone elected along with all of those middle of the road Americans. They are not large enough to elect third party candidates on their own.

Will they get screwed without even being kissed like the religious right was over and over? Time will tell.

 

[geauxtohell]

He's a teenaged kid living at home with his mama trying to imitate his talk radio heroes. He thinks pwning people on the interwebs is a personal accomplishment. So far all he has managed to do is impress everyone with his superior stoopidity.

You may have a point.....

Putting the screen names of posters you perceived to have "pwned" in your signature basically screams: "I am a fucking retard".

Or that you're a zombified dittohead that blindly follows Limbaugh and Beck, proudly parroting what they say, KNOWING for a FACT, that because you heard it on the EIB Network or FAUX Nooze, it's gospel.

Such a banal way to go through life.

 

[geauxtohell]

Dobson...The man who said he wouldn't support Fred Thompson because he didnt "act Christian enough".

*sigh

That's a generous interpretation of the act.

He didn't support Fred Thompson, because he knew that he couldn't swing the election for Thompson and reveal that he's not the "king maker" he has convinced everyone he is.

If you buy the "not Christian enough" B.S., you are gullible.

In truth, I "buy" both arguments...That Dobson didn't like the "degree" to which Thompson "acted Christian", AND, that he (Dobson) couldn't be "king-maker".

I am more cynical. Like all demagogues, Dobson simply uses religion as a false pretense to obtain what he really wants: power?

 

[geauxtohell]

Did Reagan or either Bush get elected without evangelicals?

The religious right played a role in getting them elected. That is why they courted them. The vast majority of Americans are somewhere in the middle. Can a politician get elected with just hid half of the middle? Possibly. It is the courting of folks on each end of the spectrum that helps assure a victory. My point was that they got used. They were courted for their votes and then ignored on the back side. The religious right had their litmus test for candidates with things such as abortion, gay marriage, etc. The candidates paid lip service to those issues to get elected. How many of the social issues that the religious right pushed ever get acted upon by the folks they helped put in office? Zero. I think you'll see the same thing now. Many "conservatives/Republicans" jumped on the Tea Party banfwagon and said "me too" to get elected. It remains to be seen if they will actually reform themselves once they were reelected. We already see stories of Congressmen who signed onto the "no pork" committment who are getting busted with earmarks they threw into legislation. Their excuse.......that was in 2010 before I signed the pledge for 2011.

Do I hope all of these folks who used the Tea Party to get elected live up to the rhetoric? Hell yes! But I've been around long enough to know that the proof is in the pudding. We'll see.

What happens if the Republicans don't live up to the Tea Party rhetoric they "subscribed" to during the election season? Just like the religious right, the Tea Party only has enough clout to assist in getting someone elected along with all of those middle of the road Americans. They are not large enough to elect third party candidates on their own.

Will they get screwed without even being kissed like the religious right was over and over? Time will tell.

Very well put.

 

[Talismen]

That's a generous interpretation of the act.

He didn't support Fred Thompson, because he knew that he couldn't swing the election for Thompson and reveal that he's not the "king maker" he has convinced everyone he is.

If you buy the "not Christian enough" B.S., you are gullible.

In truth, I "buy" both arguments...That Dobson didn't like the "degree" to which Thompson "acted Christian", AND, that he (Dobson) couldn't be "king-maker".

I am more cynical. Like all demagogues, Dobson simply uses religion as a false pretense to obtain what he really wants: power?

Yep. His own "brand" of power.
I.E. - "God-like" power.

 

[uscitizen]

Bush did hire a lot of Falwells lawyer school graduates as payback for the religious votes.

 

[kwc57]

Bush did hire a lot of Falwells lawyer school graduates as payback for the religious votes.

But did he give them their social agenda wishlist they were looking for? If not, their votes bought them nothing. They were used.

 

[uscitizen]

Bush did hire a lot of Falwells lawyer school graduates as payback for the religious votes.

But did he give them their social agenda wishlist they were looking for? If not, their votes bought them nothing. They were used.

Of course they were, however you must take the longer view. It was another step in their direction. Those who only see the short term view will always be taken advantage of.

 

[geauxtohell]

In truth, I "buy" both arguments...That Dobson didn't like the "degree" to which Thompson "acted Christian", AND, that he (Dobson) couldn't be "king-maker".

I am more cynical. Like all demagogues, Dobson simply uses religion as a false pretense to obtain what he really wants: power?

Yep. His own "brand" of power.
I.E. - "God-like" power.

And Evangelicals still see this man as a major spokesman to their cause.

Symptomatic of the larger problem.

 

[Talismen]

I am more cynical. Like all demagogues, Dobson simply uses religion as a false pretense to obtain what he really wants: power?

Yep. His own "brand" of power.
I.E. - "God-like" power.

And Evangelicals still see this man as a major spokesman to their cause.

Symptomatic of the larger problem.

Yep...There's a HUGE split within the "modern" church today.
I myself identify with Lutheranism (ELCA), but, within even that denomination, there is a split.

Not what being a Christian is about, IMO.

 

[ABikerSailor]

Think of it this way.......there is only 1 God, and there is no other God but God.

What the various religions are doing is saying that their version of God is the only right one.

Now.......when I first showed up in Amarillo, I was still active duty Navy, and I moonlighted as a bartender at the local biker bar (paid for my Harley that way). Now.......depending on what time you saw me during the day, you would either look at me as a Navy man, or, if you saw me during the evening, you would see a hardcore biker, or, if you saw me in a professional civilian setting, you would probably think I was a pillar of the community (nice shirt, tie, and professional slacks).

I'm all of those people, as there is only 1 of me, but depending on what environment you see me in would determine your view of me.

Same with God. He appears to all of us in a slightly different way, and our perceptions of Him may be different from other people's perceptions of Him, but it's still the same God.

Judaic theology understands Him one way, Christians (depending on the denomination) understand Him a different way, and Tao understands Him in yet another way, but they're all the same thing, it's all one God.

I really wonder why people persist in this "my God is better than your God", especially when it's all the same deity.

 

[California Girl]

Wow. You totally missed his point, didn't you?

He's a teenaged kid living at home with his mama trying to imitate his talk radio heroes. He thinks pwning people on the interwebs is a personal accomplishment. So far all he has managed to do is impress everyone with his superior stoopidity.

You may have a point.....

Putting the screen names of posters you perceived to have "pwned" in your signature basically screams: "I am a fucking retard".

He's a teenaged kid living at home with his mama trying to imitate his talk radio heroes. He thinks pwning people on the interwebs is a personal accomplishment. So far all he has managed to do is impress everyone with his superior stoopidity.

You may have a point.....

Putting the screen names of posters you perceived to have "pwned" in your signature basically screams: "I am a fucking retard".

Or that you're a zombified dittohead that blindly follows Limbaugh and Beck, proudly parroting what they say, KNOWING for a FACT, that because you heard it on the EIB Network or FAUX Nooze, it's gospel.

If that were true, it would only be the right that showed retard tendencies. But it isn't. The left have more than their fair share. Maybe it's because, on both sides, there are those who are incapable of evaluating information, thinking rationally and critically and forming their own opinions.

Since you are not capable of forming your own opinion, I am not surprised that you seek to blame one media organization.