Last week, the group Tea Party Nation organized the first Tea Party Convention in Nashville, Tenn., a for-profit event. Some 600 people paid $550 to attend, and Sarah Palin was reportedly paid $115,000 to the be the keynote speaker. After criticism of the convention’s cost, for-profit status, and payment to Palin, multiple national Tea Party organizations withdrew their participation.
But the event went on.
And so did the paranoid, conspiratorial assertions–that President Obama was born in another country, that he has covered up his college transcripts, that he is pushing a communist/socialist agenda, that he is protecting terrorists and endangering our country, etc.
The organizers of the convention made great efforts to limit access to the press, and even held “new-media training” sessions to help the Tea Partiers sound and look better on camera–the more people see inside this movement, the less like it. But we got ourselves into the event, where the right-wing, fringe sentiments were on plain display.
That said, these Tea Partiers–able to pay the cost of attendance–are more affluent than those at the 9.12 DC March, and more self-conscious of they are portrayed in the media. There were fewer signs and homemade t-shirts here, but the attitudes, if more subtle in delivery, were the same.
This New Left Media film was produced and edited by Chase Whiteside (interviews) and Erick Stoll (camera).
I sense a hijacking.
Many causes that people sign up to because they believe they are designed for good – seem to get infiltrated (or are created) by those with another agenda. The causes get twisted in the spin once they have mass support.
Excellent reporting Jason.
Namaste,
TinaLouise
At last weekend’s inaugural Tea Party Convention, there was much bloviating about “oppressed” Americans “suffering” under the Obama Administration’s “tyranny.” Judge Roy More, former Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, even delivered a rousing sermon comparing our President to King George III, the British ruler overthrown in the American Revolution.
Nothing better illustrates the utter absurdity of these delusions than contrasting the Tea Party with an actual, grassroots, democratic movement created to confront real, rather than imagined, tyranny: Iran’s Green Movement.
Censorship, harassment, intimidation, coercion, mass arrests, public beatings and de-facto executions by government-sponsored death squads. These are the harsh realities of living under tyranny. If the Tea Party movement’s petulant populists want to witness it’s horrors first-hand, I implore them to purchase a one-way ticket to Tehran. I suspect they’ll be in for a rude awakening.
Read more @ http://armchairfirebrand.wordpress.com/
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The left, liberal, progressive, socialist, communist or whatever suits their fancy should not feel threatened by the Tea Party movement. Yes it will eventually grow to the dominate political politics in the country but they will not attempt to take away your rights or shelf the constitution. That will be left to the current administration and their backers. Sarah will survive all of the outrageous bigotries thrown her way and she will continue to scare the hell out of the left. Progressives no matter the party do not have a place in a democracy; Our founders warned of their ways hundreds of years ago.
None of this is indicative of the original Tea Party movement nor it’s actual founding. From what I recall the “TEA” simply meant, Taxed Enough Already, and nothing more. It was originally designed as a resistance effort to the powers that be from excessive taxation of the constituency. It has now used as a front for Neo-cons and Rhino’s alike, including anything from the 9/11 theorists to the birth certificate movement (Kerchner vs U.S. congress and Obama).
But I suspect that the movement may have some validity as most people have yet to realize that the original investigation into the world trade center attacks( 9-11 commission) has released another book confirming suspicions of “evidence withheld” in their initial review of those events.
And the individual who claims that Obama has yet to release any of his documentation during his time as senator and his Occidental college records, or any other documentation is correct, just look at Obama’s campaign listings.
There is plenty of evidenceto the contrary, but being ridiculed for asking questions isn’t going to solve the discrepancies.
Sarah Palin doesn’t scare anyone because of her political clout. She scares them because her total ineptitude and lack of understanding involving anything involving politics. People can’t seem to see the writing on the wall. Luckily for her hand is big enough to write down everything she has to say.
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What a bunch of fools. And what a white, old crowd! Was anyone there under 55? Or black,asian, hispanic? Lmao
3yrs&counting said:
Progressives no matter the party do not have a place in a democracy; Our founders warned of their ways hundreds of years ago.
I say: What an idiot. Progressives FOUNDED this country. How in the world do these people get so twisted around?
“Neoconservatism is a political philosophy that emerged in the United States of America, and which supports using American economic and military power to bring liberalism, democracy, and human rights to other countries.[1][2][3] Consequently the term is chiefly applicable to certain Americans and their strong supporters. In economics, unlike traditionalist conservatives, neoconservatives are generally comfortable with a welfare state; and, while rhetorically supportive of free markets, they are willing to interfere for overriding social purposes.[4]” — wiki
In my mind, the tea party is supposed to be about *eliminating* the income tax, auditing and abolishing the federal reserve, keeping government from forcing healthcare on people, ending preemptive undeclared foreign wars of aggression and occupation, and restoring *LIBERTY*.
Although the tea party ideology is opposite to that of neoconservativism, it is evidenced by Palin’s speech that Neocons are trying to take it over.
The hypocrisy of the Neocon is to say that less spending is needed, whilst at the same time beating the drum beats of a trillion dollar a year preemptive and disastrous foreign policy and bankster bailout free market interventions. The Neocon’s concern is not for liberty, but for an ill-conceived force of “freedom” and “democracy” via a militaristic industry funded via fiat currency and bankster bailouts.
Thus, when I heard Palin’s speech, it was obvious to me that she was only a Neocon pawn. In my opinion, the Neocon kings are trying to hijack the tea party movement because they are embarassed that it isn’t theirs. Instead of talking about eliminating the income tax, they talk about “better budgets” and “lower taxes;” which are just BS keywords for more of the same.
The news talks about how the “tea party” kicked out Ron Paul. Well that’s NOT true!!! The fact of the matter is that half of the people in the tea parties I’ve witnessed are Ron Paul supporters or sympathizers.
So you see, the entire new coverage about Ron Paul being attached by the tea party was a ruse because it claims a false premise that Neocons and Republicans entirely control and make up the tea party. However, from what I’ve experienced, that is the furthest thing from the truth. Therefore, the Neocons are only pretending that they control the tea party. If the news really wanted to see what the tea party thinks about Ron Paul, they’d talk to the people at the rallies and not some paid Neocon shill!
[1] Polity, 2008 Robinson, Paul. Dictionary of International Security. Polity, 2008. p. 135
[2] Fiala, Andrew. The Just War Myth. Rowman & Littlefield. 2008. p. 133
[3] Vaughn, Stephen L. Encyclopedia of American Journalism. CRC Press, 2007 p. 329
[4] Tanner, Michael. Leviathan on the Right. Cato Institute, 2007. pp 33-34.
How do I get on the crazy train?
it’s clear that these people are sheep. Each person read from a very similar script;
1- He’s not American
2- He’s communist/socialist
3- Big Government spending
4- He’s letting the terrorists win
5- Palin just understands
These people don’t do due diligence and are allergic to research. I really think they need to lock the doors during the next indoor Tea party movement and set it on fire.
hahaha – they love bush – that explains everything. man these people are scary
maybe all these ‘constitutional supporters’ should have actually read it before the old gums started smacking. i personally will turn out to vote now religiously now that I am more aware of these types of people out thee ruining my country. Bush was big govt and the most unconstitutional president we ever had. he was a traitor and should be jailed. a bunsh of old crazies. sarah palin is trash and will soon be gone.
Wow thats like way cool dude.
RT
http://www.isp-logging.net.tc
How much you want to bet “3yrs&counting” is a troll or never actually studied American history?
3yrs&counting said:
Progressives no matter the party do not have a place in a democracy; Our founders warned of their ways hundreds of years ago.
LauraNo say: What an idiot. Progressives FOUNDED this country. How in the world do these people get so twisted around?
——–
Please don’t get caught up in buzz word battles. Those usually degenerate to each side calling each other Nazis or child molestors. There is no point.
A “conservative” or a “liberal” or a “patriot” or a “progressive” mean a lot of different things to a lot of different people. It’s like saying I’m a Democrat or a Republican. Saying that pretty much means nothing until you see what my stand is on individual issues. And if I say something vague like “I value life”, you better be asking what exactly do I mean by that. I might value the life of a bunny (like PETA) or the life of a soldier (like anti-war protestors) or the life of a fetus (like Randall Terry) or the life style of Americans (like modern day Neocons).
Many scumbags use buzzwords to con you into supporting them long enough for them to acquire legitimacy or power. And then it is too late for you to cry bait-and-switch.
The problem with videos like this is that the author is completely free to edit out everyone but “The Crazies” and people who sound like idiots.
The concept of the tea party and conservatives is that this country was founded on principles that said that if you wanted to, you could work hard, make a profit, and be whatever you wanted to be.
What they’re fighting is a socialist movement that says that if you work hard, we’ll take half of your profit away and give it to people who in most cases are just not motivated enough to earn it themselves.
Now before you label me as an insensitive hate-monger, I do acknowledge that there are people in the world that legitimately need assistance but letting the government be in charge of that much money is just way for certain politicians to promise money to certain groups and essentially buy votes.
People should be encouraged to donate freely to people in need and not forced to give money to a government that may just waste it on whatever they want.
It’s a complicated system and I don’t have the answers to all the problems. However, those are the principles of this country and I believe that they are what has made this country great.
Eric,It just happens to be that everyone there is crazy and that is the way they sound. There was no editing done in any way so as to show only “crazy” people, as you put it. The reporter and camera man simply interviewed who was there and those that agreed to speak with them. The producers/directors are not James O’Keefe and and are not looking to pull the wool over anyone’s eyes.
The tea party people are nothing to worry about. They’re the same old minority on the right fringe of the Republican, but now they’re dressing up in new clothes, trying out that line about “I’ve never been involved in politics before,” trying to latch onto any coattails they can find.
Read on: http://www.barryschiffman.com/thelastround/articles/teabags.html
The absolute genius of this video is that the interviewer went right down the middle with his questions. All it takes is these people professing their views and they are instantly de-legitimized.
They sure like to play dress up though, don’t they? I guess that’s all part of living in FantasyLand.
Keep talking Teabagger’s. You are highly entertaining.
Really Jason? That’s your argument? “They’re just crazy” I’m very convinced. There is no way for you to know how the video was edited. I’m just saying it could have been edited in whatever way the author wanted it to portray his political views.
There are so many examples of why socialist and communist policies don’t work. All that it does is promote less productivity and a weaker economy.
If companies get taxed less, they can afford to hire more people.
If more people have jobs, the better the economy will be.
The better the economy is, the less national debt we have.
The less National debt we have, the less inflation we have.
Do I have to explain why inflation is bad?
It’s bad because if you’ve saved 1 million dollars in your lifetime and inflation makes the dollar worth less. Your million dollars or life savings is now only worth half a million dollars in goods.
Wouldn’t you rather have more money? Think of all the charities and organizations you could donate it to.
Better economy = Better quality of life. And it all starts with lowering taxes and cutting down on government.
One more thing I find really amazing. The whole trying of terrorists in the U.S.
Do any of these people know that hundreds of terrorists were tried under U.S. law by the Bush Administration?
I mean, how exactly does this mind set come about? Do they really not know or is it just selective memory? There are so many examples of this that I’ve always found it interesting. I understand they choose emotion over fact but at some point don’t they just run across information that contradicts their positions?
All I know is living with fear, hate and xenophobia is a pretty lousy way to go through life. I used to feel anger towards people like this but now I just feel pity.
Hey Eric,
Take a look at the inflation rate from the eight years of the Bush Administration compared to the one year of the Obama Administration. It might surprise you. Actually, it might blow your mind.
And I’ll tell you what Eric. Let’s go ahead and cut those taxes but I’m going to need to ask you to make up the difference for our cops, jails, waste management, roads, fire, parks, and, of course, the military.
Thanks in advance man.
Did I say I supported Bush’s economic decisions? No. Funny how you relate all things conservative to Bush. Also, don’t forget that a lot of the things that bush did that caused inflation were thought up by democrats and he just let them happen.
Let me start out by saying all of those programs are bloated. Have you ever seen six government road workers standing around while 1 actually worked on something?
Cops are necessary. Jails are necessary. Fire is necessary but bloated, I called in a house fire last summer and 4 fire trucks and 5 police cars showed up and stood around while 1 firetruck put out the fire. Waste management can be somewhat privatized. Like I said… Road workers are notoriously over staffed. Not to mention government pays them overtime and weekend pay frequently which is good for the worker I suppose but not cost effective. I hardly think parks are necessary…
Obviously government services are necessary for a society to function and to uphold laws but they can all be a little leaner. If all of those unnecessary government employees were working for a private business, it would CREATE more tax dollars instead of spending more tax dollars.
Government Is completely reliant on the private sector for funding through taxes. Which means if you want better government programs, you have to support a stronger private sector.
Eric, I know the filmmakers very well since we have close working relationship and they are ethical and I know they haven’t edited the video in such a way as you suggest. Had they done so I would not have posted it here. The word “crazy” was your word and I simply reused it. Fact is that it’s not surprising to find that many unintelligent people gathered in one place. What I find surprising is that you would question the veracity of what is right in front of you. This happens to be what they said and these people happen to representative of the tea party movement at large. That’s a fact.
Eric, communism and socialism are two different things and are not interchangeable.
You’re right Jason. And neither is even remotely applicable to the Obama Administration.
These people do not represent the tea party movement. They represent about 15 people that attended a tea party and agreed to do an interview. Just because they can’t effectively argue their view to a random interviewer doesn’t mean that the concept of conservatism is invalid.
Obviously they are different or else they would be called the same thing. The concept however is the same in that you take something from one person and give it to another.
The Obama administration is exactly what leads to socialism or communism. Eventually you’ll have so many people addicted to government programs that there will be no turning back and we will only have one direction to go. Towards Socialism or something similar.
Eric, you used communism and socialism in the same sentence as a way of trying to describe the policies of the Obama administration. I would advise you to read up on both quote bit more before making uninformed and unintelligent comments about those things that you do not know about. Seriously, Eric. You have no idea what you are talking about and are simply spouting talking points used by the likes of Beck, Hannity, etc. You can put together a sentence, but you don’t know what the words mean.
I would like you to point out for me, Eric, exactly what in the policies promoted by this administration are socialist or community–again, two different things that you see as interchangeable, which aren’t. It’s either one or the other. You can’t be headed toward socialism if you’re trying to promote communism, Eric. Educate yourself.
Eric, do you use public transportation? Do you use your fire, police services? Do you know what your taxes are used for? Do you know there is a thing called Medicare? Do you realize we have a veterans administration and veterans hospitals run by the government?
Those are examples of socialism, by the way.
and on another point, which you made above, these people interviewed in this video report wouldn’t have a clue about conservatism and my guess is you don’t either. You’re knee-jerking here, Eric. Who said conservatism is dead? And what do extremists like these have to do with conservatism?
As a leftist in America – all Obama has been doing in the first year in office is catering to conservatives. The whole “work hard = getting paid” ideology does not exist. Those who work hardest often are in the hardest jobs, getting paid minimum wage. It’s time we heavily tax the rich so that those who do work hard – instead of lazy, useless CEOS, get the money they deserve. The average CEO gets paid 74:1 in comparison with the average employee, yet without the employees, the CEO runs nothing.
This isn’t a problem with spending, it’s a problem with the rich getting rich, the poor getting poorer and the world’s governments being perfectly satisfied with maintaining the status quo. The right are full of short-sided, selfish, uneducated buffoons. The Democrats are spineless and will cave into centrist demands. We have 2 parties working for the same goal of changing nothing while appeasing the masses. If capitalism re-started with everyone on an even playing field, nobody would do a thing because nobody wants to be in the slave-labor system of capitalism. This recession was due to the lack of regulations from the Clinton and Bush administrations’ attempts at stimulating the economy from the top down, alienating the middle and lower class.
Want real change? Realize that only through the working people themselves will the monopolies that run the world be destroyed. This isn’t a question – it’s an obvious promise.
It’ amusing that because I haven’t defined both communism and socialism, you assume I’m uneducated and that it’s somehow a valid defense to what I’m saying. The simple fact is that both communism and socialism are collective in nature and no matter how you try to spin it, they don’t promote productivity from the individual citizen because they have to share profits.
I know exactly what the words in my sentences mean. I think the real problem here is that you believe you are intellectually superior to me and rather than telling me why collectivism (we’ll use that word to make is simple for you) is somehow going to save our economy and dig this country out of debt, you attack my intelligence.
In response to your second post. No, I don’t use public transportation. I already said that some public services are needed… do you remember that? Look a couple posts up.
Veteran hospitals are a part the military as far as I’m concerned. I’ve heard this argument before and just because the government has been able to pass socialist programs before, it doesn’t mean they are good or couldn’t be a little leaner.
Who cares about our economy? During Bush – our national debt exceeded the world GDP which means we owed more money, than money is existence. Debt doesn’t matter when the money itself doesn’t exist. It’s just pictures on cotton. Collectivism promotes individuality whereas capitalism creates prototypes of people and then calls all 8-10 different types of people in the world “individuals.” How many stores can you walk into and see the exact same clothes with a different logo on them? It’s a product of the round table – a group of these huge corporations, – which controls what people think, how they think and what the priorities are so that the “individuals” you so admire are kept as stupid sheep, focused on the next hot piece of clothing, rather than seeing that they’re buying into the corporate game head on.
Quite amazing that you think your shirt from the Gap and your friends shirt from Express make you individuals.
Mat,
If you were smart enough and worked hard enough to become the CEO of a highly profitable company, wouldn’t you like to be rich? This is a simple case of jealousy. I’ve done the manual labor in a factory and for a tree service. Now I’m in the IT industry. I’m sorry, but If I can do it… so can you.
Oh man, you’re so right, I’m jealous and lazy which is why I’m getting my BA and going for my Ph.D. Clearly this is a sign of me being lazy of people who are rich due to inheritance and continued corporate favoritism. Thank you for pointing that out champ. I now see the errors of my ways. Praise Jesus.
I wouldn’t like to be rich at all. I’d like to see the elimination of the for-profit system because it necessitates exploitation. The leather costs 10 cents. The laces cost 10 cents. The shoe costs $125. Where is the CEO making his money? Oh right, by exploiting the person who puts the leather with the shoes. This seems legitimate to you I assume. The CEO, who does nothing but sit in his desk with a cigar makes $100+ dollars per shoe because other people, who get paid minimum wage at best are doing all the work (not likely since shoes are made in countries with no minimum wage or child labor laws).
Wow, I’m sorry that you don’t like certain stores. Individuality is not defined by what you wear. Sorry.
You strike me as the type of person who want so live in the stone age when we didn’t have to worry about scary things like the economy and everyone was just a moron with a spear.
See, you are working hard and I’m sure you’ll be successful someday. If everyone was like you, we’d be set. Good job. And apparently… Praise Jesus?
As brilliant as your assumption must be, I guess then why would I bother getting a Ph.D in political science? Technology is amazing. The problem is that we have 15-20 car companies making lackluster cars because they want profit. If we eliminate the profit system – we’d have one car company making the best possible automobile for the entire country. Competition breeds inefficiency, overproduction and poor goods – all because companies find ways to cut corners in the name of profit.
I’m not trying to get a wonderful job as a ruthless CEO who bitches about their bonuses as they destroy people’s lives and beg for bailouts. I’m aiming to becoming a professor at a public university.
You’ve got your car story completely wrong. The private market gives the people the opportunity to create a better car than their competitor. If Obama didn’t bail out GM, it would have failed and left better car companies in business.
I know I’ll get hell for this but do you remember Hitler? Well Volkswagon is a creation of hitler. Volkswagon translates to “peoples car”. It’s exactly what you are describing. Does that mean I’m calling you nazis? no. I’m just pointing out similarities of what happens when governments take control.
I think you don’t get the concept of bailouts. Conservatism is against it.
Maybe this will help:
bailout is to car companies as…
welfare is to lazy people(in some cases)…
What side are you on man?
In the 80′s, GM intentionally made cars that would become obsolete within a few years with the intention of forcing people to buy new cars. They did it for profit – the entire basis of capitalism. It’s completely idiotic to assume a car company run by a non-for-profit, government institution is going to make inefficient cars. They would instead, make the best possible cars since there is no motive to do otherwise.
I get the concept of bailouts – but now-a-days that’s what CEOs want. Bush gave tons of bailout money and I’d consider him a strict conservative up and down the line.
Welfare is not for lazy people. Holy shit, this is why I have a hard time discussing these topics. Saying welfare is for lazy people is to suggest that all the millions now unemployed chose to be so due to pure laziness.
Eric, cut the crap. Bush is responsible for a bulk of the bailouts. It’s a fact. I can hand you the documents. Start using facts and stop peddling in lies when trying to make a point. You and your ilk seem to forget how bloated the government became over the past eight years.
by the way, to my point above re: communism, socialism, if you were educated you would know they are not interchangeable and had you an understanding of either you wouldn’t have used it because you would have known, as many respectable conservative thinkers do, that this administration practices neither and we are not headed toward either. So yes, I assume you are uneducated based on the evidence you have provided me with: your words.