Tea Party Terrorists

[gumOnShoe]

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/031 0/34934.html

It was only a matter of time, and its not the only incident either. Can't say I'm surpised. This movement has built itself up on anger and they just were served a fairly crushing defeat. The loose screws have obv decided that death threats & assassination attempts are the only way left.

Yes, not all Tea Party activists are this nuts, but the complete inability or unwillingness of the group to define exactly what it is and stands for lets people like this in it too.

Either way, I've not seen anything so scary in American politics outside of a history book before, in my life time, from our own country.

[fli]

tea party...
*eye rollie*

what a laughable group.

The top dogs disguised as the under dogs...

Not that some of them had some good points that I agree on, but overall-- Republicans trying to be the party that's gonna fix things?

Hadn't we had 8 years of fixing up by them?

[Jon-86]

Quick America, declare war on yourself before these terrorists build camps, gains support and do something terrorist like :P

Can they really be called terrorists if nobody takes them seriously?

[ToddM]

Why do you guys hate the Tea Party movement?

[JohnnyWang]

At 3/24/10 05:05 PM, ToddM wrote: Why do you guys hate the Tea Party movement?

They claim they are the popular opinion, when no-one inside the movement can say for sure what they stand for. Also, they are obnoxious, loud, and make bad arguments.

[SmilezRoyale]

I can't think of any political party that isn't built on anger, people don't join political parties because they are happy about the way things are going. Unless they realise that political parties are a useless endeavor.

Notice though that the representative who was targeted was a republican. I don't believe that the Tea party is in fact a wing of the Republican party although undoubtedly most of the tea party members are registered republicans. But being a registered republican is not the same as being part of the republican party, in fact there is a critical difference.

Of course to argue that the Tea party movement is going to fail because it's platform was attempted in the Bush administration is patently false. But the reason these individuals did not rear their heads during the Bush years are twofold, number one is that if these individuals got their news sources from the Neoconservatives they would have been brainwashed into justifying increases in government spending, and two, a liberal-democratic based fiscal responsibility Group would have a much harder job gaining support.

The threat of the Teaparty movement failing is going to come from the republican party co-opting the Tea party movement into a war machine, and in this regard it is good news to me that Tea party member's have a bipartisan anger about them.

[scahkruhtees]

At 3/24/10 05:30 PM, JohnnyWang wrote:

At 3/24/10 05:05 PM, ToddM wrote: Why do you guys hate the Tea Party movement?

They claim they are the popular opinion, when no-one inside the movement can say for sure what they stand for. Also, they are obnoxious, loud, and make bad arguments.

Also, it's yet another group of nutbags claiming Jesus H. Christ as its moral compass without following the alleged teachings of said savior in the number-one top selling book of ever, the Bible.

I'm sure they're perfectly lovely people when the topic of the day isn't causing them to ragequit intelligent society.

[adrshepard]

Inasmuch as the Tea Party represents frustration and anger at Washington, they are the popular opinion. Anger doesn't have to be eloquent or rational. The Tea Party Movement isn't intended to be a new political party, it's just meant to exert public pressure on elected officials by showing that people are unhappy with such and such a policy and want a different one. If the official backs away from that policy because he wants to be reelected, then the activists are successful.

Don't deceive yourself into thinking that these people just sprung out of nowhere when Obama was elected. I doubt many of them were happy with the deficits under Bush, either. The problem is that, in perception at the very least, Obama is making a bad situation far worse with huge new spending programs (when people hear about a trillion dollar bill spread out over 10 years, the key word is "trillion" and not "10 years," for instance).

In any case, to try to frame this incident as representative of all tea partiers is just sloppy. If all, most, or even half of them were inclined to violence, there'd be a hell of a lot more going on than a cut gas tank. Any group with any political cause will attract extremists, and with extremism comes violence. It's true for everything.

So, yeah, this is basically just another "I hate the tea-partiers" thread.

[adrshepard]

At 3/24/10 05:53 PM, scahkruhtees wrote: I'm sure they're perfectly lovely people when the topic of the day isn't causing them to ragequit intelligent society.

One more thing: "intelligent society" and "public discussion" isn't all it's cracked up to be. If you feel strongly enough about something, then you aren't going to give a shit about proper democratic procedure.

But even violence is pointless in our society. Public officials are just title-holders; there will always be someone to replace them who will vote exactly the same way.

[JohnnyWang]

At 3/24/10 06:53 PM, adrshepard wrote: they are the popular opinion.

No, they're not. They're a vocal minority, that don't even have internal consistency. It's a mish-mash of right-wing ideologies.

And for the record, the demostrations against the War in Iraq were bigger and more wide spread, but then it wasn't "the popular opinion" or "true americans", as apparently the definition of "American" is tied to something else that residency or citizenship.

[SmilezRoyale]

At 3/24/10 07:15 PM, JohnnyWang wrote:

At 3/24/10 06:53 PM, adrshepard wrote: they are the popular opinion.

No, they're not. They're a vocal minority, that don't even have internal consistency. It's a mish-mash of right-wing ideologies.

And for the record, the demostrations against the War in Iraq were bigger and more wide spread, but then it wasn't "the popular opinion" or "true americans", as apparently the definition of "American" is tied to something else that residency or citizenship.

That depends entirely on who is televising them Wang. Antiwar protests were looked down upon or ignored only by Fox news, not by the major facets of the democratic party.

However You're also being dishonest when you claim that the majority of Americans aren't concerned about the level of government spending.

[MisterRPG]

At 3/24/10 04:33 PM, Jon-86 wrote:

Can they really be called terrorists if nobody takes them seriously?

We didn't take middle-eastern terrorists seriously either, until they blew up the WTC. That said, I don't consider the Tea Party folks terrorists. Making threats is a far cry from actually killing someone. They don't have the testicles for it.

Yet.

[darkrchaos]

I was watching the news and hearing about death threats they were sending to the people that supported the bill. My pap said these people are as bad as terrorist. And they are. The man that yelled "baby killer" should be fired.

[n64kid]

At 3/24/10 04:29 PM, fli wrote: tea party...
*eye rollie*

what a laughable group.

Why? Because they know that it is impossible to pay off our debt? Like ever? It is not possible to run a surplus anymore. We would be bankrupt if we didn't have the money printing machine. So you laugh at people who are aware of this?

The top dogs disguised as the under dogs...

Tea party members are pretty damn poor and a significant amount are our elderly who know that medicare will be cut.

Not that some of them had some good points that I agree on, but overall-- Republicans trying to be the party that's gonna fix things?

Tea party members reject republicans AND democrats, they embrace conservatism and reject statism. Republicans =/= conservatives. Look at George Bush. He's a statist and spent your tax dollars like a liberal.

Hadn't we had 8 years of fixing up by them?

Nope, Clinton was more conservative than Bush, and Regean was the last true conservative.

Honestly... you people criticize without knowing what the hell you're talking about.

Tea party is a rejection of the last decade of politics, and it started under the Bush era. It's a group that favors liberty, and everyone I know who is a member is neither democrat nor republican, but independent and libertarian.

I mean, do you favor 700 billion dollars paid in interest with 2.6 trillion taken as tax revenue? On a pro rate basis, do you want 27% of your taxes going not to foreign and domestic issues, but to interest on debt?

How clueless can the supporters of Obama, and opposers of the tea party movement be?

Oh well, we're trapped.

[SmilezRoyale]

I can't say I would feel sorry if a representative (with few execeptions) got his house burned to the ground because of the Health Care bill. Spare the women and children of course.

But it is very revealing when Democrats show concerns about terrorism when The acts of terror are committed against the government under their administration.

[X-Gary-Gigax-X]

At 3/24/10 04:24 PM, gumOnShoe wrote: Yes, not all Tea Party activists are this nuts, but the complete inability or unwillingness of the group to define exactly what it is and stands for lets people like this in it too.

No, they never chose to have these people represent them this way. You did just now, and politico when they made that article.

[MisterRPG]

At 3/24/10 10:14 PM, X-Gary-Gigax-X wrote:

At 3/24/10 04:24 PM, gumOnShoe wrote: Yes, not all Tea Party activists are this nuts, but the complete inability or unwillingness of the group to define exactly what it is and stands for lets people like this in it too.

No, they never chose to have these people represent them this way. You did just now, and politico when they made that article.

Because yeah, Mike Troxel isn't responsible AT ALL for his own actions and making them in the name of the Tea Party isn't representing them AT ALL. There's no excuse for it.

[Dawnslayer]

At 3/24/10 07:24 PM, SmilezRoyale wrote:

At 3/24/10 07:15 PM, JohnnyWang wrote:

At 3/24/10 06:53 PM, adrshepard wrote: they are the popular opinion.

No, they're not. They're a vocal minority, that don't even have internal consistency. It's a mish-mash of right-wing ideologies.

And for the record, the demostrations against the War in Iraq were bigger and more wide spread, but then it wasn't "the popular opinion" or "true americans", as apparently the definition of "American" is tied to something else that residency or citizenship.

That depends entirely on who is televising them Wang. Antiwar protests were looked down upon or ignored only by Fox news, not by the major facets of the democratic party.

However You're also being dishonest when you claim that the majority of Americans aren't concerned about the level of government spending.

Way to put words in his mouth. Where, anywhere in his post, did he say the majority of Americans are unconcerned about the level of government spending? Nowhere. Reread it for yourself and show me I'm wrong.

Of course people are concerned about it; but while the Tea Party is on the streets raging about it for the sake of raging, some of us prefer to try and think of how to solve the problem without causing a national breakdown.

[fli]

At 3/24/10 09:31 PM, n64kid wrote: Why? Because they know that it is impossible to pay off our debt? Like ever? It is not possible to run a surplus anymore. We would be bankrupt if we didn't have the money printing machine. So you laugh at people who are aware of this?

Yes, they should know that it is impossible to pay off the debt-- partly because they've increased it.

You see, there isn't much difference between the democrates and the republicans. They both raise taxes.

HOWEVER-- it's about the shifting the burden and how to spread.
Republicans is as self-interest as you can get.

I mean, how is it fucking possible to gain during the Bush years when it's all about debts, and debts, and debts?

Well... Republican businesses did it.

The top dogs disguised as the under dogs...

Tea party members are pretty damn poor and a significant amount are our elderly who know that medicare will be cut.

And there is also a significant amount of elderly and poor who's for a public option.
And these are people who just don't have pap smears for years.

Not that some of them had some good points that I agree on, but overall-- Republicans trying to be the party that's gonna fix things?

Tea party members reject republicans AND democrats, they embrace conservatism and reject statism. Republicans =/= conservatives. Look at George Bush. He's a statist and spent your tax dollars like a liberal.

Except, Bush was a Republican.
No matter how you spin that...

Hadn't we had 8 years of fixing up by them?

Nope, Clinton was more conservative than Bush, and Regean was the last true conservative.

Honestly... you people criticize without knowing what the hell you're talking about.

Tea party is a rejection of the last decade of politics, and it started under the Bush era. It's a group that favors liberty, and everyone I know who is a member is neither democrat nor republican, but independent and libertarian.

I mean, do you favor 700 billion dollars paid in interest with 2.6 trillion taken as tax revenue? On a pro rate basis, do you want 27% of your taxes going not to foreign and domestic issues, but to interest on debt?

How clueless can the supporters of Obama, and opposers of the tea party movement be?

Oh well, we're trapped.

[SadisticMonkey]

lol

so a couple of guys in a pro-capitalism movement consisting of hundreds of thousands happen to be nutjobs and OMG THE WHOLE MOVEMENT IS CRAZY

though when there are whole anti-capitalist protests full of people blatantly commitng violence against the police, you don't seem to care.
good job.

At 3/24/10 05:30 PM, JohnnyWang wrote: They claim they are the popular opinion, when no-one inside the movement can say for sure what they stand for.

Pretty damn obvious. Low taxes, low spending, small government.

Also, they are obnoxious, loud,

wow because they're not protestors or anythign right?

and make bad arguments.

is that what you heard on msnbc?

[n64kid]

At 3/25/10 02:02 AM, fli wrote:

Yes, they should know that it is impossible to pay off the debt-- partly because they've increased it.

You see, there isn't much difference between the democrates and the republicans. They both raise taxes.

That's part of what the whole tea party movement is about though. Dems and Repubs both take significant blame for the economic crisis, so "blue dog democrats" and conservative republicans who believe the government has too much power and fails too much became involved, or atleast sympathize with the tea party movement.

It's no longer democrat vs republican but conservative vs liberal, as evidenced by the rift in the democratic party.

HOWEVER-- it's about the shifting the burden and how to spread.
Republicans is as self-interest as you can get.

But that's America. That's what we were founded on, capitalism. You have the right to pursue happiness, not have the government hand you a bone if you're an utter failure. I'm not a republican, never was, and was raised a democrat, but I respect those who can make a living for themselves, and have little respect for those who want handouts.

I'm not rich by any means, but I would never want some asshole to subsidize my expenses. I believe in self reliance, which drove our economy before the progressive movement of the early 1900s.

Remember, America was founded due to a rejection of European rule. We didn't like taxes, and we wanted to be left the hell alone. We don't have UHC because our principles reject it. That's what pisses me off so much about people trying to change the country. If you want European style government, get your ass to Europe. Otherwise, leave America alone as the land of real liberty.

I mean, how is it fucking possible to gain during the Bush years when it's all about debts, and debts, and debts?

We've had deficits for the last 33 or so years, more so if congress uses GAAP to account for social security liabilities.

Well... Republican businesses did it.

What is it with you and your view of policitcal parties. All bankers, CEOs, rich people = Republicans, right? Oh, they're successful, they must be Republicans!

Fuck, all the rich people I know are doctors and lawyers and they're 100% democrat. Conversely, the people I know who are republicans are truck drivers and delivery boys for UPS.

And there is also a significant amount of elderly and poor who's for a public option.
And these are people who just don't have pap smears for years.

The elderly were the only age group who voted for McCain over Obama. And since the bill called for a reduction in medicare benefits, I doubt that significant amount represents anything close to a majority.

Except, Bush was a Republican.
No matter how you spin that...

Conservative vs liberal. Fuck political parties.

[SadisticMonkey]

Tea Party Protests are obviously about conservatism, not republicanism

far out

[fatape]

At 3/25/10 08:05 AM, n64kid wrote: But that's America. That's what we were founded on, capitalism.

exactly in what founding document dose it say that?

[adrshepard]

At 3/25/10 12:08 PM, MercatorMap wrote: Just because are more loud and obnoxious than the next person doesn't mean you represent the majority. These people call Obama a socialist and communist...

The Tea Partiers are generally frustrated with Washington politicians and rapid increases in spending.
Every poll for the past several months has shown dismal satisfaction ratings for congress.
The popularity polls for Obama, Reed, and Pelosi, the leaders of many of the new spending bills, have steadily declined for months, reaching new lows just as the healthcare bill was being passed.

See the connection?

[ImaSmartass2]

At 3/25/10 05:26 PM, adrshepard wrote:

At 3/25/10 12:08 PM, MercatorMap wrote: ]

Every poll for the past several months has shown dismal satisfaction ratings for congress.
The popularity polls for Obama, Reed, and Pelosi, the leaders of many of the new spending bills, have steadily declined for months, reaching new lows just as the healthcare bill was being passed.

See the connection?

O RLY?

[Warforger]

At 3/25/10 03:02 AM, SadisticMonkey wrote: lol

so a couple of guys in a pro-capitalism movement consisting of hundreds of thousands happen to be nutjobs and OMG THE WHOLE MOVEMENT IS CRAZY

They don't have good communication as a group of people, thats why they sometimes even protest their own conventions, since the tickets are aimed for only the elite to get in (since the tickets were in the thousands).

At 3/25/10 03:02 AM, SadisticMonkey wrote: though when there are whole anti-capitalist protests full of people blatantly commitng violence against the police, you don't seem to care.
good job.

Anti-Capitalist? What the hell? Where are they?

At 3/25/10 03:02 AM, SadisticMonkey wrote:

At 3/24/10 05:30 PM, JohnnyWang wrote: They claim they are the popular opinion, when no-one inside the movement can say for sure what they stand for.

Pretty damn obvious. Low taxes, low spending, small government.

I know! thats why tickets to TEA party conventions cost thoasands of dollars!

At 3/25/10 03:02 AM, SadisticMonkey wrote:

Also, they are obnoxious, loud,

wow because they're not protestors or anythign right?

Agreed. Its just that they shouldn't just scream "THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ARE AGAINST THIS BILL" when they only represent a small fraction.

At 3/25/10 03:02 AM, SadisticMonkey wrote:

and make bad arguments.

is that what you heard on msnbc?

Fox is better?

[ImaSmartass2]

At 3/25/10 06:48 PM, ImaSmartass2 wrote:

At 3/25/10 05:26 PM, adrshepard wrote:

At 3/25/10 12:08 PM, MercatorMap wrote: ]

Every poll for the past several months has shown dismal satisfaction ratings for congress.
The popularity polls for Obama, Reed, and Pelosi, the leaders of many of the new spending bills, have steadily declined for months, reaching new lows just as the healthcare bill was being passed.

See the connection?

O RLY?

Sorry, link did not include poll. linky'

sorry for DP

[SadisticMonkey]

At 3/25/10 12:08 PM, MercatorMap wrote: I guess the Westboro baptist church also represents the popular opinion.

Sorry I didn't realise that there were hundreds of thousands of people who turn up to WBC protests.

[SadisticMonkey]

At 3/25/10 06:49 PM, Warforger wrote: They don't have good communication as a group of people, thats why they sometimes even protest their own conventions, since the tickets are aimed for only the elite to get in (since the tickets were in the thousands).

I don't know what you're talking about.
there are Sarah-palin type conventions (or whatever) but the movement is overwhelmingly about the protests which could be attended by all

Anti-Capitalist? What the hell? Where are they?

You know, the G-20 protests, the WTO protests etc which always have large number of people who pelt the police with rocks and flip police cars etc. they engage in acts of violence to frighten people i.e. they engage in terrorism.

At 3/25/10 03:02 AM, SadisticMonkey wrote:

I know! thats why tickets to TEA party conventions cost thoasands of dollars!

Like I said, these "conventions" are really only about elites who probably don't really embody teh message on the teap party movement. The MAJORITY of it is all about teh dozens of amaszingly well attended protests.

Also, asking people to VOLUNTARILY pay money IF they want to go to some convention thing is not at all comparable to FORCING people to fund something/receive services from government regardless if they want to or not, so that was a pretty poor link

Agreed. Its just that they shouldn't just scream "THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ARE AGAINST THIS BILL" when they only represent a small fraction.

Well I can safely assume that practically ALL conservatives in America support the message of the tea party protests, so small fraction might not be accurate

but I mean all protesters do this and talk about how government is ignoring what the people want etc

Fox is better?

Nope, but MSNBC et al have done a particularly terrible job of covering the protests and most liberals base everything they know about the protests on what they heard from the liberal media.
Lol I saw this video of a CNN reporter interviewing a protestor, and he was, albeit emphatically, explaining what the protests were about, and then she sort of cut him off half way through and didn't let him finish so he understandably got mad and then acted like "Ok so wow they're getting all mad and I'm not sure it's safe to keep reporting this back to you" lol

[VigilanteNighthawk]

At 3/25/10 03:02 AM, SadisticMonkey wrote:

Nope, but MSNBC et al have done a particularly terrible job of covering the protests and most liberals base everything they know about the protests on what they heard from the liberal media.
Lol I saw this video of a CNN reporter interviewing a protestor, and he was, albeit emphatically, explaining what the protests were about, and then she sort of cut him off half way through and didn't let him finish so he understandably got mad and then acted like "Ok so wow they're getting all mad and I'm not sure it's safe to keep reporting this back to you" lol

Go head over to the forums over on politico and look at the comments many of the Tea Party supporters are making. I've seen both veiled and overt threats of violence and revolution in several comments, as well mindless insults and tinfoil rants. While I'm not going to accuse the movement as a whole of this, to the movement has attracted a lot of nutters.