What Actually 'Drives' The Tea Parties

[Big Black Dog]

What actually "Drives" the Tea Parties??????

My best guess is truth, justice and the American way.

 

[westwall]

What actually drives the tea party? A democrat as president and a dem controlled congress.
The will slack off a bit as repubs get more control in congress. And will not make much noise at all when repubs control both houses and the presidency once again.

The TEA partiers got far more Repubs removed from office than Dems so you might want to rethink the biased opinion there. The TEA party from what I have been able to find wishes to reel back government. They think the Feds are taking too much and spending it poorly. They wish to bring the waste to a halt. All in all an admirable goal.

Just like Government Workers and Party Members displaced the Money Class after the Russian Revolution, Government Workers and Union Members are creating a privileged class here and now, only the balance has changed. The parasite has outgrown the host. We are Fucked, and we know it. There is no truth or Justice in what is going down. What is going down is motivated by jealousy, hate, lust, and greed. The Virtues are in the people, and the powers that be are sure to punish them for it.

Absolutely true. The bureaucrats are a definite drain on the economy and are very clearly setting themselves up as a "ruling class" seperate from the people they supposedly work for.

 

[William Joyce]

White fear of displacement drives the Tea Party.

The difference between me and the Tea Party is 1) I admit it and 2) I don't think there's anything wrong with that.

"Taxing and spending", don't make me laugh. Bush spent like a drunken sailor and you never heard white people complain about that. Republicans and Democrats have basically been doing the same thing in Washington for years, but the minute a black Marxist is elected president, a 100 percent white movement all of a sudden comes forth to oppose him that really actually has nothing to do with race, I swear. "We just want our liberty", duh. You'll never be free until you tell the truth, white guy.

 

[Intense]

White fear of displacement drives the Tea Party.

The difference between me and the Tea Party is 1) I admit it and 2) I don't think there's anything wrong with that.

"Taxing and spending", don't make me laugh. Bush spent like a drunken sailor and you never heard white people complain about that. Republicans and Democrats have basically been doing the same thing in Washington for years, but the minute a black Marxist is elected president, a 100 percent white movement all of a sudden comes forth to oppose him that really actually has nothing to do with race, I swear. "We just want our liberty", duh. You'll never be free until you tell the truth, white guy.

I don't relate it to Race at all. Race Culture, is a little different. I applaud Anyone and Everyone that stands in support of Individual Liberty, Unalienable Rights, and Reason. How ever far back it goes William, we are all related. Different measures of the same nature.

 

[daveman]

What Actually 'Drives' The Tea Parties

Billionaires like the Koch brothers.

But remember, folks: Billionaire George Soros is an absolute angel, and has only the best interests of the average American at heart.

 

[daveman]

White fear of displacement drives the Tea Party.

The difference between me and the Tea Party is 1) I admit it and 2) I don't think there's anything wrong with that.

"Taxing and spending", don't make me laugh. Bush spent like a drunken sailor and you never heard white people complain about that. Republicans and Democrats have basically been doing the same thing in Washington for years, but the minute a black Marxist is elected president, a 100 percent white movement all of a sudden comes forth to oppose him that really actually has nothing to do with race, I swear. "We just want our liberty", duh. You'll never be free until you tell the truth, white guy.

 

[Synthaholic]

What Actually 'Drives' The Tea Parties

Billionaires like the Koch brothers.

But remember, folks: Billionaire George Soros is an absolute angel, and has only the best interests of the average American at heart.

daveman: loyal FOXNEWS viewer.

 

[Synthaholic]

White fear of displacement drives the Tea Party.

The difference between me and the Tea Party is 1) I admit it and 2) I don't think there's anything wrong with that.

"Taxing and spending", don't make me laugh. Bush spent like a drunken sailor and you never heard white people complain about that. Republicans and Democrats have basically been doing the same thing in Washington for years, but the minute a black Marxist is elected president, a 100 percent white movement all of a sudden comes forth to oppose him that really actually has nothing to do with race, I swear. "We just want our liberty", duh. You'll never be free until you tell the truth, white guy.

daveman: why should I debate when I can post a picture instead?

 

[daveman]

Billionaires like the Koch brothers.

But remember, folks: Billionaire George Soros is an absolute angel, and has only the best interests of the average American at heart.

daveman: loyal FOXNEWS viewer.

I don't watch TV news, and I don't listen to talk radio.

Now comes the part where you insist I do, because you let your bigotry and preconceived notions do your thinking for you -- and they don't do a very good job.

 

[daveman]

White fear of displacement drives the Tea Party.

The difference between me and the Tea Party is 1) I admit it and 2) I don't think there's anything wrong with that.

"Taxing and spending", don't make me laugh. Bush spent like a drunken sailor and you never heard white people complain about that. Republicans and Democrats have basically been doing the same thing in Washington for years, but the minute a black Marxist is elected president, a 100 percent white movement all of a sudden comes forth to oppose him that really actually has nothing to do with race, I swear. "We just want our liberty", duh. You'll never be free until you tell the truth, white guy.

daveman: why should I debate when I can post a picture instead?

You agree with William Joyce, anti-Semite and racist?

Wouldn't surprise me, actually.

 

[Foxfyre]

Wow. Less than two pages to turn what was a thoughtful OP and interesting topic into a full blown insult fest and food fight. That must be close to a record. Way to go guys.

 

[Wry Catcher]

Its not what the left wants to project.

One take:

Classical Values :: Where's the war? And who are the warmongers?

December 08, 2010


Where's the war? And who are the warmongers?

A lot of people are hoping to start a war between social conservatives and libertarians in the Tea Party, and I think that represents wishful thinking on their part. That there is no denying the existence of sharp differences in philosophy within the Tea Party tent has long been obvious; I have written a number of posts about it, and I make no secret of being in the libertarian camp, nor have I ever denied my disagreements with social conservatism (especially the statist variety). But because I have also long favored a coalition between libertarians and social conservatives on issues they can both agree upon, I see no more reason for starting a "war" than the social conservatives I have encountered. Because of the horizontal, grassroots nature of the Tea Party, I think it would be very difficult to start any real war. For starters, the Tea Party is based largely on showing up at a given event. If local Tea Party organizers in, say, the RTL camp decided that a mass demonstration in front of the local Planned Parenthood headquarters was in order, they would be as free to show up as those who disagreed with the demo would be free to stay home. There is nothing new about disagreement on that issue. Ditto gay marriage, marijuana legalization, or demanding that condom lessons be stopped in schools. Individual Tea Partiers have different positions on these issues pro or con, which means that large turnouts from "THE TEA PARTY" in its entirety could hardly be expected. Few would show up. So how do you start a "war" that way?

I'm reminded of the old slogan "what if they gave a war and nobody came?"

For there to be a "war" between libertarians and social conservatives, they would have to agree to have one. I might be wrong, but don't see such an agreement as forthcoming. It certainly isn't going to come from me. I merely disagree with social conservatives on those areas where I disagree, just as they disagree with libertarians on those areas where they disagree. As these disagreements are well known, and as the coalition enters its third year, I'm not seeing anything resembling a call for war within the Tea Party movement itself.

The whole thing seems awfully contrived, and I am tempted to ask "who benefits?"

In that regard, an article in Reason (Class War:How public servants became our masters) sheds some light into what drives the Tea Party more than any other issue.

Our rulers, that's what!

They -- and I do mean they -- are the uniting force that motivates libertarians and social conservatives to show up together in strength. They make disagreements on other issues pale by comparison. They want to bury us all. And they aren't checking cards at the gates of the nation's doom to see whether we are libertarians, social conservatives, or some non-conforming mishmash of both.

...54 percent of the economy is private, 28 percent goes to the feds, and 18 percent goes to state and local governments. The trend lines are ominous.

Bigger government means more government employees. Those employees then become a permanent lobby for continual government growth. The nation may have reached critical mass; the number of government employees at every level may have gotten so high that it is politically impossible to roll back the bureaucracy, rein in the costs, and restore lost freedoms.

People who are supposed to serve the public have become a privileged elite that exploits political power for financial gain and special perks. Because of its political power, this interest group has rigged the game so there are few meaningful checks on its demands. Government employees now receive far higher pay, benefits, and pensions than the vast majority of Americans working in the private sector. Even when they are incompetent or abusive, they can be fired only after a long process and only for the most grievous offenses.

It's a two-tier system in which the rulers are making steady gains at the expense of the ruled. The predictable results: Higher taxes, eroded public services, unsustainable levels of debt, and massive roadblocks to reforming even the poorest performing agencies and school systems. If this system is left to grow unchecked, we will end up with a pale imitation of the free society envisioned by the Founders.
​

That's what I think drives the Tea Party, and that's why the latest divide-and-conquer strategy will fail. Every day I see examples, large and small, and I don't have the time or energy to blog about all of them. (Just yesterday I read about the mandate for back up cameras on cars, and about bureaucratic insistence that doctors be chaperoned when examining patients even though neither the doctors nor the patients want chaperons.) These people are running our lives, ruining the country, and they are doing it with our money, and even though it is clear that the money has run out, they demand it anyway.

Which naturally leads me to suspect that it is they who want the Tea Party to have a war.

They can make all the noise they want, but I for one am not about to go to war on their say-so. Sure, they might be very powerful, but they don't have the power to declare war within the Tea Party, do they? Well, I guess maybe they can declare a war within their media echo chamber, but they can't draft me or make me fight, can they?
posted by Eric on 12.08.10 at 10:52 AM

Mega links at site

What Actually 'Drives' The Tea Parties?

Greed, hate, fear and ethnocentrism.

 

[Synthaholic]

But remember, folks: Billionaire George Soros is an absolute angel, and has only the best interests of the average American at heart.

daveman: loyal FOXNEWS viewer.

I don't watch TV news, and I don't listen to talk radio.

Now comes the part where you insist I do, because you let your bigotry and preconceived notions do your thinking for you -- and they don't do a very good job.

daveman: comes to same conclusions and talking points as Rightwing Media, totally by coincidence.

 

[daveman]

daveman: loyal FOXNEWS viewer.

I don't watch TV news, and I don't listen to talk radio.

Now comes the part where you insist I do, because you let your bigotry and preconceived notions do your thinking for you -- and they don't do a very good job.

daveman: comes to same conclusions and talking points as Rightwing Media, totally by coincidence.

You're so predictable...but that's only because you're not very bright.

 

[NYcarbineer]

Seems like vast unpayable debt drives the TEA.

At some point you must say enough is enough

And yet there is no meaningful groundswell of opposition from the Tea Party to the budget busting 900 billion dollar GOP/Obama Stimulus II that is about to become law.

 

[NYcarbineer]

Once the social conservatives co-opted the Tea Party, and once the Tea Party abandoned the idea that it would be a bonafide 3rd party, and instead became some sort of amorphous faction floating around inside the GOP,

business as usual returned to party politics.

 

[Intense]

Once the social conservatives co-opted the Tea Party, and once the Tea Party abandoned the idea that it would be a bonafide 3rd party, and instead became some sort of amorphous faction floating around inside the GOP,

business as usual returned to party politics.

You mean like The Green Party or The Working Family Party?

 

[Bern80]

What Actually 'Drives' The Tea Parties

Billionaires like the Koch brothers.

Sorry, but I had never HEARD of the Koch Brothers until just recently. I think they are bogeymen the Left dreamed up as another effort to demonize the Tea Parties.

And if they are supporting the Tea Party movement as they are accused, then surely they are offset by George Soros, the Tides Foundation, and others of that ilk who are doing their damdest to turn us all into Marxists and don't care who they destroy in the process.

Our local Tea Party groups are made up of Republicans, Democrats, Independents, and folks who don't identify with an ideology at all, but who embrace the Tea Party goals of a fiscally restrained government, respect and protection for individual liberties, and respect for the U.S. Constitution as it was originally intended to be interpreted.

The local Republican Party was thanked for announcing our rallies to their constituents, but was not otherwise involved in anything in any way. There were no famous people leading any of the events to date.

As a real tea partier than maybe you can help me out. I call myself a libertarian and initially I liked what I was hearing out of the tea party in terms of fiscal conservatism. But here is the problem I am starting to see. That is a very general issue and when people start to ask for specifics many in the tea party kind of clam up. It's not just the tea party, but a lot of people who are against big government. Well that means you're FOR small government and cutting government spending right? But polls shows that when you ask would you cut this specific thing or that specific thing the answer is no.

In other words, tea party says it is for generally cutting government spending, but specifically, nothing. Is that really the case? Because if spending is going to be cut in any meaningful way some tought choices will have to be made. Yes we do need to look at military spending. We can wipe out any country ten times over with our weapons so maybe that is the most efficient way to defend our country. And we need to look at entitlements something drastic must change with social security, medicare and medicaid because they can't run defecits forever.

 

[Intense]

Billionaires like the Koch brothers.

Sorry, but I had never HEARD of the Koch Brothers until just recently. I think they are bogeymen the Left dreamed up as another effort to demonize the Tea Parties.

And if they are supporting the Tea Party movement as they are accused, then surely they are offset by George Soros, the Tides Foundation, and others of that ilk who are doing their damdest to turn us all into Marxists and don't care who they destroy in the process.

Our local Tea Party groups are made up of Republicans, Democrats, Independents, and folks who don't identify with an ideology at all, but who embrace the Tea Party goals of a fiscally restrained government, respect and protection for individual liberties, and respect for the U.S. Constitution as it was originally intended to be interpreted.

The local Republican Party was thanked for announcing our rallies to their constituents, but was not otherwise involved in anything in any way. There were no famous people leading any of the events to date.

As a real tea partier than maybe you can help me out. I call myself a libertarian and initially I liked what I was hearing out of the tea party in terms of fiscal conservatism. But here is the problem I am starting to see. That is a very general issue and when people start to ask for specifics many in the tea party kind of clam up. It's not just the tea party, but a lot of people who are against big government. Well that means you're FOR small government and cutting government spending right? But polls shows that when you ask would you cut this specific thing or that specific thing the answer is no.

In other words, tea party says it is for generally cutting government spending, but specifically, nothing. Is that really the case? Because if spending is going to be cut in any meaningful way some tought choices will have to be made. Yes we do need to look at military spending. We can wipe out any country ten times over with our weapons so maybe that is the most efficient way to defend our country. And we need to look at entitlements something drastic must change with social security, medicare and medicaid because they can't run defecits forever.

We need to learn to live within our means. Sometimes Less is More. It's more than having to make the hard choices, it's making them fairly and with consistency. We will accept what is done in fairness. What is important is keeping things transparent and within reason. We can't continue to spend more than we bring in, we are bringing ourselves down and everyone around us.

 

[NYcarbineer]

Once the social conservatives co-opted the Tea Party, and once the Tea Party abandoned the idea that it would be a bonafide 3rd party, and instead became some sort of amorphous faction floating around inside the GOP,

business as usual returned to party politics.

You mean like The Green Party or The Working Family Party?

When's the last time the Green party had a significant impact on anything?

To be successful, a third party has to emerge in the Center. The Perot party whatever that was called would have been a better vehicle, but those people gave up too and went back onto the 2 Party reservation.