The distinction between the Tea Party movement and the official G.O.P. is real, and we ignore it at our peril. While Washington is fixated on the natterings of Mitch McConnell, John Boehner, Michael Steele and the presumed 2012 Republican presidential front-runner, Mitt Romney, these and the other leaders of the Party of No are anathema or irrelevant to most Tea Partiers. Indeed, McConnell, Romney and company may prove largely irrelevant to the overall political dynamic taking hold in America right now. The old G.O.P. guard has no discernible national constituency beyond the scattered, often impotent remnants of aging country club Republicanism. The passion on the right has migrated almost entirely to the Tea Party’s counterconservatism.
The leaders embraced by the new grass roots right are a different slate entirely: Glenn Beck, Ron Paul and Sarah Palin. Simple math dictates that none of this trio can be elected president. As George F. Will recently pointed out, Palin will not even be the G.O.P. nominee “unless the party wants to lose at least 44 states” (as it did in Barry Goldwater’s 1964 Waterloo). But these leaders do have a consistent ideology, and that ideology plays to the lock-and-load nutcases out there, not just to the peaceable (if riled up) populist conservatives also attracted to Tea Partyism. This ideology is far more troubling than the boilerplate corporate conservatism and knee-jerk obstructionism of the anti-Obama G.O.P. Congressional minority.
(I highly recommend that you read the entire article by clicking the title of this post.)
I actually covered some of what Frank Rich writes about the Teabagger movement in my post from January 29th. However he now has the added information provided by the goings on at the Nashville convention and CPAC to flesh out his contention that the group may resort to domestic terrorism to get their voices heard and failing that might even be preparing for an all out civil war.
Personally I don't fear a civil war from these people, but domestic terrorism does not seem a bridge too far for some of these incredibly angry individuals. And if that happens I expect the government to throw Glen Beck, Sean Hannity, and Sarah Palin into prison for inciting violence against their country.
I can only dream that Sarah would get thrown into jail for inciting violence against her country. She has already nearly reached the legal threshold of culpability. She has passed the moral threshold that is for sure.
ReplyDeleteSarah Palin found her calling - to incite.
ReplyDeleteThat's all she's good for, it doesn't take smarts. Just the right words, repeated often.
The people behind her know it and are using her. She will end up with something on her hands though, I don't doubt it.
Don't forget Bill O'Rielly and his complicity on the murder/assassination of Dr. Tiller.
ReplyDeleteI am not crazy about all the taxes I have to pay every year, but you learn early on in a good history, economics or even philosophy that we have a responsibility to community and society. Taxes are a reality. Whether they are properly processed for the greater good is debateable, but I doubt most detracters like pinhead Sarah would even be able to go beyond the buzzwords.
Remember, Sarah doesn't like the law, law enforcement, public safety, public health, construction/weatherization mandations. . .when you have NASCAR sponsors running Goodwill as a policy is when you've achieved Sarah's dream for America.
And remember to employ a gastapo to enforce her free market values - a lot of us consumers (I mean patriots) would have no recourse. Thugs would rule the land where the Bachmans, Tancredo's and Heath's would be determining our Citizen Worthyness, or rather, UnAmerican activities like using the 1st Amendment.
Using the term "teabagger" is a virtually guaranteed way to lose the middle on this argument. Frank Rich doesn't do that, so I can't figure out why anyone else would, or are we past the point of persuasion?
ReplyDeletePalin has done everything I know of to be declared a terrorist.,,,encourages ppl to not pay taxes due....encourages ppl to die for her causes.....encourages lies and deceit....encourages false pretence.....Where there is a smoking gun...there is a spent cartridge !!!
ReplyDeleteJesse Ventura won in Minnesota. Arnold Schwarzenegger won in California. And Clint Eastwood won in California, too. And Al Franken won in Minnesota, too.
ReplyDeleteThe American people are 1) disgusted with so-called “professional” politicians; and 2) invested in celebrities.
Sarah Palin is not a professional politician. She is a celebrity. She has publicly pledged herself to America and the American people.
Regardless of whatever complexities the media and the h8rs and the crumbling vestiges of the patriarchy may throw in her way, the above dynamics are the simple and plain dynamics that will put Sarah Palin in the White House and open the Magdalene Path to everyone with a decent heart and a brave spirit.
Fighting this—fighting Sarah—is like fighting the blue sky or the warm Sun or firm Earth under your feet. Deal with it. Embrace Sarah. She has already won. (Nobody on the Left is even playing the same game!)
Gryphen:
ReplyDeleteFrank Rich is probably one of the most rational 'journalists', in the truest sense of the word, that the country has left. He is truly old school and his search for the truth is absolutely relentless.. The things he articulates in this article about your local celebrity half-term slime merchant are right on the beam..
The violence she advocates; the history your ex-unofficial half-term governor-husband has with the secession militia; and the new shield she has become for beck, since they are now going on the road with each other, will wield results very quickly, if Rich is correct. And now with the management team of starbuck's saying it's OK to strap on a handgun and come on in to our shops, we may see it sooner than later....
Whenever you have prominent politicians and pundits calling for a "purity test" as a threshold for party membership, I worry that should they ever prevail we would be a long, dark period of violence, suppression, and oppression.
ReplyDeleteDark clouds of this kind of thinking have covered other countries in the past; most recently, Germany and China. If the extreme voices of this movement prevail, we could see real violence. I agree with Gryphen that domestic terrorism might be a greater and more imminent threat than we realize.
I fervently wish we could manage some common sense gun and ammunition control measures in this country. The NRA has already announced its goal is to remove all regulation of guns. That is utterly insane and irresponsible.
With all the people who are on heavy-duty medications, who are mentally unstable, or have anger-control problems, why on earth do we want folks walking around with semi-automatics or assault rifles.
Surely we could get those off our streets without endangering our Second Amendment Rights. Why are so many people afraid to the point that their fears completely override their common sense?
Keeping in mind that Obama is an accommodator and that the military and police are heavily infiltrated with the fringe right, and that there are 10s of thousands of mercenaries in this country. Mercenaries who have no loyalty to our laws or our Constitution or the Commander-In-Chief, only to their empolyer.
ReplyDeleteI think we all need to be very afraid.
This would not be unarmed students sitting-in in the Chancellor’s office or the draft office. It won’t even be a rabble with seep through tea bags hanging in their faces.
This would be heavily armed, and body armored civilians, police, military, vets and probably paid agitators. They have assault rifles and explosives, and can get their hands on tear gas cannons, and probably the new laser weaponry.
Be afraid. Seriously. And pray to God that there are enough members of the CIA, FBI, police, military etc. who are loyal to our laws and our Constitution to be keeping track of these people and arresting and thwarting them.
@anonymous 4:31. Yes I agree. Who likes to pay taxes? But, Jesus said to render the tax when his followers asked him. Besides, if we didn't have taxes, we wouldn't have infrastructure or regulation. We would be a third world country.
ReplyDeleteAn interesting article about Murdoch's incredible lust for political power, and how it is a grave threat to democracy:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/feb/28/henry-porter-news-international-murdoch
I would love an all out civil war against the teabaggers.
ReplyDeleteWhile the American public does love celebrity, it also turns quickly on the objects of its affection. As more "bad plastic surgery" photos are released, as the true one trick pony nature of Palin's speeches wears thin, as the skeletons come out of the closet, this phenomenom will fade. But the potential is always there, which is why blogs such as this one are so valuable.
ReplyDeleteAs for the "Magdalene Path?" Please. Adjust the tin foil hat because it's slipping.
Frank Rich's piece is excellent and spot-on. I just put up a post about it as well:
ReplyDeletehttp://freerangetalk.com/?p=22784
hope you caught the hat-tip and link to your site, Gryphen ;)
@ Anon 4:31 -- what's more remarkable about O'Reilly and Tancredo, in regards to Palin, is the fact that in the same week they both made an explicit effort to distance themselves from her -- at the exact same moment that her most loyal minion jumped ship
ReplyDeletehmmmm, wonder what's up ;)
Anon 5:09 says: "Fighting this—fighting Sarah—is like fighting the blue sky or the warm Sun or firm Earth under your feet. Deal with it. Embrace Sarah. She has already won. (Nobody on the Left is even playing the same game!)"
ReplyDeletethat's weird. I could have sworn she LOST and somebody on the left won. I must have been watching a different election.
Murdoch is like the Joker, and Obama is like Batman.
ReplyDeletemy fantasy.
Sarah Palin cannot "pledge herself to the American people"; the American people aren't interested in her cheap sideshow - they already told her a year ago to shut up and go away. Remember the election results?
ReplyDeleteThere are plenty of decent, hard-working politicians in this country and any one of them is worth a thousand Sarah Palins even on their worst day.
Sarah Palin should stick to avoiding journalists and scamming megabucks off her Xtian admirers. It's what she does best.
Oh, I should probably add that she should spend more time keeping her personal scandals covered up ... they can be slippery little suckers ....
I do scan rense daily because he covers what others don't. He put
ReplyDelete'our' Gryphen's piece up & isn't
afraid to print the truth about
crooked individuals of any group, race, culture, creed or political persuasion. You betcha, Miss Sarah is backed by some nasty people, people whose only agenda is control. With her insatiable need for attention, & seeking heaven-on-earth with expensive worldly trinkets & trappings of the 'good' life, (not at all what the Bible teaches) she is indeed a very useful idiot in these peoples' hands.
Read the Bible lately, Sarah?
Sharon TN
The best antidote to the Tea Party is the Coffee Party!!
ReplyDeleteJoin up!
http://coffeepartyusa.com/ or visit on facebook instead...
http://www.facebook.com/coffeeparty?ref=nf
Funny how the tea party is just SO OFFENDED by the use of the word tea bagger. You'd never know what it meant unless we told you, so get over you faux outrage.
ReplyDeleteThis article is one of the best I've read. Taxes in our country are a necessary evil, and what did this attack on the IRS accomplish? This nutjob had no direct ties to the teabagger movement, but it's exactly their brand of hate that fuels this type of violence.
ReplyDeletePeople from both parties, have to find a way make these people feel included in some way, that their voices are being heard, because apparently Mrs Palin has whipped up this rabid froth, misleading them to believe they could change the structure of our political system.
The problem is, they still blindly follow her even though she's abandoned them. No one likes to be stabbed in the back, fleeced, and left to fend for themselves.
Thank You for pointing out this well written article.
In addition to being able to very effectively stir up hate and division, she has the backing of at least 4 EXTREMELY powerful entities: Murdoch and his world-wide media empire (no other news empire even comes close in both power or dollar value); the christian dominionists (they are a huge empire, 'planted' in high positions all across the country – including the military, politicians, 'think' tanks, etc.); big oil (need I say more?), and; the military industrial complex, which must be having wet dreams over her desire to nuke Iran, go to war against any country that has offended her or the US, etc, etc, etc. She CLEARLY believes in American exceptionalism in a MILITARY sense, not just the proud, chest-thumping, typical patriotic sense. Because of the uncontrollable wrath of her followers AND the almost limitless power of her benefactors, we should all be very afraid. We can disagree with the stupidity of the Magdalene phraseology, and we can all agree that she is not qualified for anything, but no one can dispute the combined power of these four groups (five, if you count her followers – and even the most disaffected ones would probably vote for her in a contest with Obama).
ReplyDeleteDidn't Maher cover this?
ReplyDeleteThe GOP is a political party.
The Teabaggers are a cult. They couldn't put forth a candidate because they are not a recognized political party. Their only hope is to take over the GOP. And that is not going to happen. Not in time for 2012 at least.
The only reason the Republican would put Palin on the ticket is as a placeholder; knowing they'll lose and not wanting to damage any candidate that is viable for 2016. I think that's what they did with McCain. Whether it was Hillary or Obama, McCain was going to lose.
Things are going to get better. And the better they get, the more irrelevant the Teabaggers are. As jobs improve, foreclosures abate, healthcare is dealt with, the Teabaggers wil lose steam until the only ones left are the hard core haters. Those that live to hate, be it race, gender, sexual orientation, age, weight, religion, education or whether you're a smoker.
Gryphen, you seem to have attracted some funny trolls tonight. I'm enjoying the entertainment.
ReplyDelete@anon 5:09 - The only thing Sarah Palin has pledged to herself is to scam the ignorant Americans who support her. She is all about the money and nothing else. While you may have embraced Sarah doesn't mean I have too and I never will.
ReplyDeleteThe last time we had a popular Democratic president, the GOP spewed antigovernment rhetoric that helped fuel the groups like the Michigan Militia and Posse Comitatus. The result from fanning those flames? Tim McVeigh bombing the Murrow Building in Oklahoma City. The GOP then retreated from their antigovernment memes as fast as they possibly could. We are seeing a repeat of that phenomenon, except this time, even the GOP politicians are invoking violent imagery in their antigovernment rants.
ReplyDeleteThe teabaggers are stupid and hateful enough to engage in violence. I think that it is not a matter of if, but when. When the violence occurs, we should excoriate, humiliate, and even prosecute those members of the GOP and the right wing media propagandists who have been been pouring gasoline on the teabagger flames. When Tim Pawlenty talks of “taking a nine iron” to the government, when Michelle Bachman claims that she wants people to be “armed and dangerous,” when Fox News contributor Dick Morris says "Those crazies in Montana who say, 'We're going to kill ATF agents because the U.N.'s going to take over' -- well, they're beginning to have a case," when Glenn Beck “jokes” about killing Nancy Pelosi - among MANY of his other calls for violence, when all of these things occur from a single political party within a span of a year, then we are on the verge of ACTUAL acts of violence.
Pawlenty, Bachman, Beck, et al., know damn well that the teabaggers are imbecilic sheep who are easily stampeded. It seems likely but a matter of time before one of these gullible, well armed idiots decides that it is indeed time to “take back America” and to “water the tree of liberty with blood.” Not only are these calls for violence meant to intimidate, they are inextricably linked to the incipient racism of the teabaggers. These folks are no more legitimate than the Klan.
If, God forbid, such violence from the teabaggers does erupt, I will damn well fight like hell to see that these provocateurs face criminal charges for inciting it. I view their conduct as among the most unpatriotic of acts by public officials in the history of our nation. They know that absolutely nothing good can come from it. They are cowards, they are criminals, they are unAmerican.
Not only should we not ignore the teabaggers, we should not ignore - nor tolerate - those whom incite them. We should expose and shame the politicians and boycott the broadcasters guilty of this loathsome conduct.
As for the use of the term “teabagger,” the only ones really objecting are the teabaggers themselves. Fuck them. In their own stunning lack of historical awareness they came up with the moniker all on their own. That they were too stupid to realize the word had another meaning is their own damn fault. Now they want to bitch that we shouldn’t call them what they originally called themselves? They have done NOTHING worthy of respect and I will extend them none. They cannot escape their predisposition toward racism, threatened violence, and the incessant promotion of bizarrely idiotic conspiracies that have NO connection to reality. They are morons.
I will NEVER refer to them as anything other than teabaggers. Teabaggers they were, teabaggers they are, teabaggers they will remain.
Where will it all end? I'll take another ovaltine. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteI love the Gasman. I really do.
ReplyDeleteExcellent post, Gasman!
ReplyDeletejk
@ KellyGirl: You weren't watching a different election. Anon 509 was watching an alternate universe.
ReplyDelete@ Gail: I already joined the Coffee Party, but I will repost for others. Please check it out: CoffeePartyUSA.com
@ Everyone else: I refuse to live my life in fear of what "might" happen. We may end up in a violent civil war, we may not.
What I will do is be prepared and vigilant. But I will not hand my life over to fear. Because that is no kind of life.
Gryph wrote: "Personally I don't fear a civil war from these people..."
ReplyDeleteI think the people who would wage civil war are not necessarily the same people who troll the online blogs. The violent war-type people are more secretive because they know what they're planning is illegal.
amen, gasman!
ReplyDeletei love you!
This ditzy, aging grandmother, really thinks she is the leader of the Christian Taliban... We haven't heard her speak up about husband Todd's emailing on Alaska state government business, or the "ruffled ears"... She must be "re-loading."
ReplyDeleteThe teabaggers brew their tea out in the open. People that normally harbor their own dislikes meet up together. This meet up gives our government every opportunity to catalog and identify these people.
ReplyDeleteWhen and if this movement ever goes secretive and moves underground, not good. Then we get things like Oklahoma City bombing. I don't think our government would tolerate a repeat,
I know I wouldn't.
Excellent post as always. It's the wet dream of the Tea Party backers to picture their obedient sheeple marching in lockstep while taking back their obsolete vision of a vanilla America with freedom from government (until they need one, of course). Deep pocket backers are counting on the ignorance of their base, their short attention spans, their willingness to resort to knee-jerk violence to make their point and give all for what they're being fed as the only correct and "pure" religion. Umm hmm. What does that remind you of? I believe that most thinking people can make the jump to the historic implications. However, when the comparison seems to come uncomfortably close, there's another inane Facebook post or Tweet from SP, or an insane episode from the Beckster to detract attention and make the above implication appear implausible and almost laughable. "Fighting the blue sky or warm sun?" Uh, yeah.
ReplyDeleteI would suggest that people Google "Beer Hall Putsch" (1923) or "Reichstag Fire" (1933). I had never heard of the former, but both give one a sudden reality check, especially when you consider the 10-year time span between them. Could the same happen here in this "enlightened" day and age? History is being rewritten every day, and the teaching of much past history is fading in schools.
I trust that the majority of people dismiss SP as a buffoon, but the best I can offer is to remain as vigilant as we all seem to be in the blogisphere. Realize that many pro-Palin trolls are being paid to post blood-pressure-raising comments on blogs and websites, as well. Hopefully, armed with knowledge and numbers, we can circumvent the lame (bought and paid for) MSM and never see a repeat of what transpired in the past.
What does it say about a country when Republican leaders such as Sen. Scott Brown and the teabagger cult can embrace the actions of terrorist Andrew Stack as legitimate? I don't understand why the Patriot Act has not been invoked against these folks. The Republicans are soulless, dangerous hypocrites. They not only pal around with terrorists but also encourage even more acts of terrorism.
ReplyDeleteA commenter above says "the simple and plain dynamics that will put Sarah Palin in the White House".
ReplyDeleteMy question is how we salvage the "tea baggers" that are recoverable and neutralize the ones that are too far gone to return to sanity. For example, a commenter above says "the simple and plain dynamics that will put Sarah Palin in the White House". Is it possible to get this person thinking rationally again? dunno.
Palin is not a leader. She hasn't shown a single instance of leadership in her entire life (including the feined h.s. basketball team). She's a self-serving grifter who blows with the wind if it will get her somewhere. And a dumbass.
ReplyDeleteIt still cracks me up that NOW "they" are complaining about the term "teabagger". It was "their" idea - they were so stupid they didn't know what it meant.
ReplyDeleteNow "they" want to change it to "tea partyer".
No way - stupid people wrote their own lines. Teabaggers they were and teabaggers they are, with all the verbal ramifications.
You can tell when you are getting close to annoying when the "teabaggers" show up.
First and foremost: TEABAGGERS - it's WHAT they are as well as "WHO" they are.
I love it.
Anon @ 5:09,
ReplyDeleteIt takes a genuine mental homunculus to draw a VERY curvy line from Jesse Ventura to Arnold Schwarzenegger to Clint Eastwood THEN to Al Franken all as a mans to illustrate how the election of Sarah Palin as POTUS is inevitable. That bit of stunningly inane ludimocrosity is so disconnected from reality it is hard to know where to begin critiquing it.
First, that Americans love celebrity is not in question. However, all of those whom you mentioned above were celebrities first and politicians second. You state, “Sarah Palin is not a professional politician. She is a celebrity.” Actually, she has been a professional politician far longer than she has been a celebrity. Palin became a celebrity AFTER she was a politician, not the other way around.
Second, though Ventura and Schwarzenegger are not exactly known for their intellect, in comparison with Palin they appear to be Oxford dons. Eastwood and Franken are not stupid. They each possess genuine intellect and probably could have succeeded as politicians without their initial film/TV celebrity. Palin is an accident. She was able to rise to the top of Alaskan politics simply by flirtin’, winkin’, actin’ vaguely slutty, and not saying anything which makes a damn bit of sense. It is extremely doubtful if that plan could have worked anywhere else but in Alaska. AK epitomizes podunk politics. It will be to their eternal shame that the citizens of Alaska allowed Palin to EVER reach ANY elected office. Sorry, Alaskans, but you screwed the pooch on that one.
With many high profile Republicans and conservatives OPENLY declaring her unfit to hold office, exactly how do see the logistics of a Palin run for POTUS happening? Her poll numbers have been dropping like a rock and she hasn’t even had to face any scrutiny from the press yet. The GOP would bring her down before the Dems even had to lift a finger. The GOP recognizes her as a threat to their very survival. Palin’s celebrity has long since reached its high water mark and is ebbing quickly. Unlike the tide, however, Palin’s fortunes will not be rising again to any great degree. She is quickly becoming a bizarre footnote of American politics.
As to your statement, “the above dynamics are the simple and plain dynamics that will put Sarah Palin in the White House” I would invoke the words of that inimitable political sage and philosophical guru Wayne Campbell:
“It might happen, tsshyeah, and monkeys might fly out of my butt.”
As if I didn't love the gasman's first comment - quoting Wayne? Priceless!
ReplyDeleteWhat I'm trying to figure out is if the Teabaggers are the same baby boomers who were protesting The Man during the Vietnam War, baby boomers who missed out on the protests back then so are making up for their lost youth, or are just jealous that the echo boomers are coming into their own and usurping the numeric power the baby boomers used to have.
ReplyDelete"genuine mental homunculus," LOL. The inimatable Gasman never fails to entertain. Lots of other great comments here also.
ReplyDeletearg! inimatable = inimitable.
ReplyDeleteDomestic terrorism, indeed, Gryphen.
ReplyDeleteHAZMAT called to the Ogden, Utah IRS building today...
Austin IRS hit by plane murderer 11days ago.
Comments at HuffPo on both of these stories have folks who are calling these "patriotic acts."
Free speech is one thing but aiding and abetting domestic terrorism by calling them "patriots" seems to cross the line to me. In fact, I wouldn't be at all surprised if some of the GOP attitudes of tacit approval or "understanding" toward the Austin event has opened the door for these nutcases to become bolder
Anon @ 11:35. I see your point, but I don't think so.
ReplyDeleteMany of them seem to be proud Vietnam vets. Pulled themselves up by their bootstraps, they did--and doggone it, they worked hard, raised a family and went to church every Sunday. Scrimped and saved to buy a house and saved for their old age. All this time, they have looked forward to retirement, Social Security and Medicare.
Many of these people have spent the last forty years, or so, of their lives voting against their own best interests and are now having buyer's remorse.
They have defended tax cuts for the wealthy, complained about estate taxes that didn't even apply to their level of wealth and turned a blind eye to corporate tax breaks and off-shore banking.
Now that they have reached Social Security and Medicare age, that predatory capitalism that they loved so much is staring them right in the face. They don't understand that what they are actually discovering is that free enterprise (capitalism) and predatory capitalism ain't the same animal.
Just make sure we get our Social Security checks and Medicare--but you can just keep all that socialized medicine stuff, thank you very much.
The 60s/70s protests were against the draft and a bloody, unending war.
The tea baggers of these times are the "I got mine, blank you" crowd--they were no where to be seen in 2003, when critical thinking and louder voices were needed.
Billions and billions poured into Iraq--no problem--bail out a bank to keep the economy afloat and it's--don't tread on me.
Many of these people are about my age. How they got to be so old, yet so clueless, is beyond me. Or, on second thought, it could be that living a life with the philosphy of "I got mine, and want as much as yours as I can get" requires the use of fewer brain cells.
Of course, that is just my humble opinion.
At first I was excited about the birth of the Coffee Party. But then I read a quote from the founder in the NYT on March 2. She said, "We're not the opposite of the Tea Party. We're a different model of civic participation, but in the end, we want some of the same things." That's like saying that the NAACP is not the opposite of the KKK but just a different model of civic participation. I officially give up.
ReplyDelete4:37 pm, Agree with you. Just want to add race is a very big reason the got mine roaches slithered out.
ReplyDelete