Tea Party

Yeah, I have noticed that

people like that should not be allowed to vote

Just for some background, I was working in an federal executive branch agency in summer 2008 when the Reduced Spending Party formed unofficially in response to liberal Congress spending and a President who supported that spending - all the major spending that was occurring and planned on, ie. not just the tax stimulus from that year, but also the war spending, and a few other deals like the $800 million African sex-ed program. It was a small group, about 1,500 people, including many economic professors and executive branch workers such as Jamaal Wilkinson.
The point of the group was to discuss how to create a program that could show the average person, who thinks that they are smart and likes to talk politics online, what was really happening with this spending, and what certain ideologies do to spending when they get placed into power. Think Perot charts, but way less convoluted.
One of the sillier ideas that was being talked about a lot was encouraging people fed up with extravagant spending to send a tea bag to their representatives. It never went anywhere, but a couple months later after the new President stepped in and continued preaching support for stimuli and bailouts it exploded. Economic bloggers who had originally met in the RSP (Stephanie Jasky, Karl Denninger) were angry about the Obama election and decided to rename the group the "Tea Party" based on the previous idea, but with the added objective of protesting the election of Obama specifically. They began to invite political speakers and for all intents formed their own party. When politically angry people form or infiltrate a group, things go bad. It got so big so fast, politicians began attaching themselves to it, and now the entire idea of deficit control and education is lost. Now its just a bunch of screaming ignorant people standing around the Washington Mall or on the Internet saying "Republicans are ignorant hillbillies or old, white cracker racists" or "Democrats are gay pussy spendthrifts."
Many of the original members still meet, but not under the RSP or the Tea name. These original members behind the idea of the "Tea Party" didn't want anything to do with politics other than trying to provide better education. But most are discouraged and have left, the citizenry has shown their true mentality. It's about hate, and stroking the ego, rather than learning and actually caring about making a positive influence.

please for the love of God learn to space out what you're saying

i don't like big blocks of letters

especially on a computer screen

This is part of what I mean, though.

You can find some reason to blame the other side for everything. If cornered on an issue, just move the goalposts. Your side is never wrong. It's those damn judges. Or Congress. Or it's not Congress, it's the President. Or it's not either, it's... well, whoever isn't on your side. It's their fault. It has to be.

I'm not saying conservatives are the only ones who do this. Everyone does. But this is what political debate has come to in this country: two camps huddles around ideologies that neither of them have the track record to back up, hurling poo at each other and convincing their own people that so much as listening to the other side is useless because of "bias."

I mean, look at the situation here. The Republicans under Bush spent a metric asston of money. Example: over a trillion bucks for a massive, unpaid increase in prescription drug benefit. The Tea Party can be understandably angry at this, so they're going to rush to the polls and punish Congress by... voting in the exact same people (Boehner, et al) that voted for the spending increase?

Look at Ron Paul. He started off Tea Party-backed, saying he was going to cut spending and lower taxes. But once he actually said what he intended on the air, he got in huge trouble. So now the Republican establishment has changed his mind, and he's all for "protecting" Medicare and Social Security, and increasing defense spending, and... blah blah, right down the Republican party line.

I mean, it doesn't strike you as a little naive? I'm not saying you are personally, and I'm not saying it's only conservatives. But you don't feel manipulated? I know you all felt betrayed after the Bush years, but why are you letting those same people make you so angry, you march to the polls and vote them all right back in, who are just as much to blame for massive deficits, high unemployment, etc?

I SEEN'T IT, HE SAID "POO"!

Jaerik why aren't you in politics?

Because the thing I value more than anything else is internal logical consistency. Neither side has even tried for this in as long as I can remember. You know why? Logical consistency is hard. It forces you to make hard choices that may be unpopular. And people don't pay enough attention, or indeed even care enough, to reward you for it. They would rather reward you with votes for going on television and telling them they're right about everything, and nothing is their fault, even when it makes no sense whatsoever.

The Republicans want government out of their lives!*

(* Except they want to criminalize abortion, outlaw gay marriage, vastly increase government power for the War on Terror, increase the scope and ease of the death penalty, increase drug enforcement, stop the building of mosques, etc.)

They want to cut taxes and cut spending!*

(* Except on defense, war on terror, social security, medicare, medicaid, and foreign aid. Well, foreign aid for Israel, Iraq, and Afghanistan. And...)

They love the Constitution and want to defend it to the death!*

(* Except for the parts that grant birthright citizenship, or makes Senators elected by popular vote, or the Commerce Clause, or the 14th amendment and the Equal Protection clause, or...)

Etc.

The Democrats are no better. Look at their hypocrisy on DADT, or immigration, or Guantanamo, or financial regulation, or bank bonuses...

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I guess what it comes down to is, in order to succeed in politics you need the ability to root for your own side even when you know they're dead-*** wrong on some things. I can't do that. The warm fuzzies I get from seeing my side "win" wouldn't do anything for me when I know it's based on political ideologies that are fundamentally hypocritical and logically unsound.

OMG... My hat off to you, couldn't of said it better myself.

Politics is like religion, logic not required.

Kungfuhustle likes this.

Look, I definitely feel disenfranchised at some of the same good ol boys heading back to congress. Perfect example is John "douche bag" McCain, who has made a LIVING wiping his *** with the principles of his constituents. Unfortunately I can only cast a vote for MY OWN House Rep and Senators, not anyone else. The "Tea Party" movement is at least a mildly different alternative than the same ol same ol because it has been snatching republican primaries away from they relative incumbents. Just look at what has happened in senate/governor races this time around in the Alaska, Delaware, Florida, and Kentucky primaries. The standard RINO jackass got his *** handed to him and told to go *** off.

It isn't out of the question to think that if anyone elected with support from the "Tea Party" goes to congress and doesn't hold true to their values, they will be seriously challenged during the next primary. I know that kind of stuff doesn't happen much, but it has happened this time around, maybe it will continue to keep happening, maybe the challenges will get stronger. Hell, it's better than NOTHING.

On a more general note, I'm not naive, and I don't think most of the supporters of the tea party are either, I think that generally they realize that elections still largely come down to "Giant Douche vs. Turd Sandwich" BUT they clearly don't think that more of the same policies and direction is a good thing.

I might say that is why you NEED to be in politics

I'm a troll for having an opinion you don't agree with? I don't think you really meant to say that, because that's a pretty dumb thing to say. Why don't you take a week off, think of something to say with a little more substance, and get back to me.

we done with the pissing contest?

Jaerik for President!

i wish good ideas would work their way into commonality without having to have excessive political backing.

That's not how you spell Flionheart...

u can run england

Wherever Flion rules is where I'll move to! :D

Maybe it's time to start voting in independents.

maybe its time to take back the country by force O_o

the government needs to hurry up with the undead apocalypse so we can have something to worry about other than politics