They are what happens when the religious get political. Other examples of this are the KKK, Nazis and Hezbollah.
So it would appear you failed the "Tea Party Test" I put up. Not surprising for a guy who is comfortable with using the military to remove the blight of religion from other autonomous sovereign nations.
What happens when the movement is hijacked by another political party for their own discretionary purposes - The Tea Party House.
As I'm sure you're aware, Lemonade Freedom Day was a protest against law enforcement that have shut down lemonade stands around the country. I don't really see this necessarily, as a Tea Party related event. I do feel bad that they were arrested. Here's another video about it, fast forward to middle... [video=youtube;26hlpBnc20o]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26hlpBnc20o[/video]
Its no more a tea party related event than a random protest of drug testing on animals would be a PETA related event. Then again, if we are buying the cool aide being sold by some, no event pushes tea party ideology unless it is filled with racist signs carried by the "extreme" right who want god for government. After all, isn't that what the tea party is all about? Seriously though, cops arresting people for the civil disobedience of collecting 10 cents for a cup of liquid on "government soil" without a permit, strikes right at the heart of what the tea party is about.
Kinda amazes me how you can be arrested for selling cheap lemonaid on public grounds. However it's perfectly ok to trade votes for Bar-B-Q. http://www.wisgop.org/news/rpw-files-complaint-over-voter-bribery-pasch-connected-interest-group
If PETA is not involved as an organization in a particular protest against drug testing on animals, it's not a PETA related event. Further, there are many people that would sympathize with that cause, but do not care for PETA.
True, but then again, I never claimed it was a Tea Party event, so why is it an issue? My exact words were: "If that video made you uneasy, you may be a tea party sympathizer." That would be a legitimate comparisson if the Tea Party was an actual and singular organization like PETA. Unfortunately for your argument, Tea Party is really just a name for the cause itself, with lots and lots of individual groups of people who have taken on the name of the cause. Tea Party Patriots Tea Party Express etc, etc, etc. I would, however, be interested in hearing an argument for disliking the Tea Party while sympathizing the need for smaller government and free enterprirse that didn't make use of ad hominem attacks against average white Americans, or demonstrate a gross lack of understanding of what the Tea Party is about. I'm all ears.
Unfortunately O what is necessary for understanding requires at least some neurological interface - However for the Wind Tunnels why there is not as well a Democratic Tea Party or Liberal Tea Express or even Middle Party Patriots is as stated before, the original Tea Party Movement no longer exists and was morphed into a suffragette for the Republican Party. Your video is an apparition about Republican inspired, singular purpose Law Enforcement than an issue of commerce.
Rebecca - From the standpoint of someone not involved in the argument it appears y'all are discussing a non-issue. I didnt read O'Nations comment as suggesting that video was a tea party event... just something the average TP sympathizer would find uncomfortable. On another note... Breeze keeps trotting out statements about the Tea Party being co-opted by the GOP, and quoting his vocabulary word of the day "astro-turfing" as if it was relevant. [How thrilling, can't wait to see what's in store when you graduate to the letter "B".] As O'nation states, the tea party is not a political party, it is a name given a movement started by people that felt left out of the electoral process by the major political parties, hence the name Tea Party... the original "taxation without representation" dissidents. It doesnt have a unified "structure" to co-opt, it's just a movement of people that think both parties have lost their way with regards to burgeoning government, out of control government spending, and a failure to adhere to core constitutional principles on which the country was founded. Meanwhile, for a real example of astro-turfing... ie a "grass roots" group that's really just an adjunct of a political machine, pushing the agenda of parties that don't *appear* to be at the helm... read up on ACORN. BTW - I may have been too subtle earlier Breeze. Sorry. You tried to denigrate the tea party by posting a report saying it is "unpopular". IF popularity is a requirement of credibility... what does this say about the only guy on this page with a red rep? Your thoughts? .
by posting a report saying it is "unpopular". I have posted no report of that nature, all I have pointed out is that all the members associated with the Tea Party, both House and Senate are registered Republicans. It says I do not belong to your group of political zelouts.
Breeze -I realize your reality isn't always a confining parameter in your arguments, but might wanna be more careful when all we have to do is scroll up. Here's a screenshot to jog your memory. ============================================
There is nothing there represented by your earlier post 30. What you have posted is a true representation of the present condition of the post Tea Party Movement per their exclusive Representation by Registered Republicans and their non existent political identity.
I remember when Obama won the election. There was a lot of buzz about making the Republican party more appealing to a wider variety of people. I don't think a "Tea Party candidate" will ever be a Democrat. For example, Perry and Bachmann to me, just seem like generic Republicans A and B, except, perhaps with a little more religious fervor. I don't want to argue about it with anyone. I have mixed feelings about them. I like many of their beliefs, but in certain ways they turn me off. Just my perspective.
If someone associated with the Tea Party or the GOP mentions a religious topic, the Tea Party or the GOP must be radical religious zealots. Yet in recent memory... . - "The Reverend" Al Sharpton ran for the highest office in the land. - He was preceded in that attempt by "the Reverend" Jesse Jackson. - In Tennessee, Democratic Senate candidate Harold Ford Jr. was known to shout "I love Jesus, I can't help it!" at campaign rallies. He appeared in an ad strolling past the pews of a sunlit sanctuary. - In Ohio Ted Strickland, an ordained minister, ran a race to become the state's first Democratic governor in 16 years. He quotes the prophet Micah: "And what then is required of us, we are asked, but to do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with our God?" - In the House, Nancy Pelosi established a 42-member Democratic Faith Working Group. - That group was led by Democratic House Whip... South Carolina Rep. James Clyburn (son of a fundamentalist minister), . . No, these aren't members of the Tea Party, or even the "religious right", just Democrats running for or holding some of the highest offices in the land. Oddly, nobody suggests the Democrats are a bunch of religious zealots. So why is it different if anyone on the other side of the aisle speaks of religion? Politicians speaking about religion or even being overtly religious is nothing new... but when someone wants to marginalize a party or person, they pull a few quotes of them speaking about God and there ya have it folks... what we have here are religious nutcases. Still, it simply isn't any nuttier for one party's politicians to speak about God than it is for the other. The tea party is a movement based primarily on more limited government with less waste, but it's much easier to mischaracterize them as religious nutjobs than it is to speak in favor of larger more wasteful government.
You're basing that entire post on my partial sentence of, "perhaps with a little more religious fervor?" I stand by that statement. All you have to do is listen to them talk. Anyway, I don't have a problem with religion per se, but, a high level of outward religiosity in politicians does make me a bit nervous. However, it wasn't what I had in mind when saying the Tea Party turned me off in certain ways. It's more about me, in that it's hard to feel full support for any particular party, or movement, if it encompasses a lot of political issues. Depending on the separate issue, I may have a view that is traditionally considered left, middle, or right.
I have been spending too much time trying to convert you to Islam, haven't I. Hehe. This is one of the reasons the Democratic party so badly outnumbers the Republicans in sheer numbers of registered voters. Democrats say, want to hug a tree at the cost of millions of jobs? no problem. Want to kill off agriculture in Central California to help enourage growth in a certain species of fish? No problem. Fat cat wants to line his pockets at the expense of the taxpayers? No problem. Want to protect low skilled wages with legislation against fair competition? No problem. Want to decimate a labor market by flooding it with cheap labor? No problem. Its a big tent, and everyone is welcome. Nevermind the many conflicting positions, we need voters!!!! Republicans used to stand for something, which gave them a "smaller tent" but its hard to figure out what Republicans stand for anymore. IMO, Tea party stands for one thing and one thing only. Smaller Government/Fiscal responsibility. If you share their position on that one issue, it doesn't matter if you are a black/latino homosexual on a crusade to save the baby whales and convert the nation to atheism. As long as you don't want to use the goverment to achieve those goals, you are welcome. The reason you see all the effort being expended to paint the Tea Party as the "Extreme Right Wing of the Republican Party"(how many times have you heard that) or as the "Religious Right" is because the Tea Party stands for something that has enormous bi-partisan support and it scares the living crap out of Democrats (and Republicans). At least its happening at a municipal level. We can all laugh and disparage the neighborhood nazis who run those communities, and you always have the option of leaving. I personally don't know how New York manages to maintain its population with an income tax levied by the city. no thanks.