Laughing tears. Ah me.

Tears of an angry clown, this blog.

– c.

Thank you.

That made my morning.

I pay not attnetion to tea-baggers. I mean, they’re just a vocal fringe movement with no real power and as such of no concern to us Europeans, who only need to deal with the real movers and shakers of the US of A and it’s cultured population.

Right? Please tell me I’m right.

Marek:

They’re a strict minority. They’re not even a big part of the Republican voting base. But they’re the lunatic fringe. They threaten our progressive legislators. They carry guns to rallies. They use all sorts of backwards language to describe educated, peaceful people.

Basically, if you can say something negative about America and its people, it’s exemplified by these teabaggers.

They’re probably inconsequential, but they’re a disgusting, shit-stained mirror of who we are. They send a very bad message to the world.

Vocal fringe dwellers are like bedbugs. Once they’re in your mattress, they’re in everybody’s mattress.

– c.

David has it, I think. They’re like a bird that can puff its chest out and fan out a tail to make itself look a lot bigger than it is. And then the bird will call you “faggot.”

The funny thing is, they really are wrapped around a legitimate policy disagreement. I don’t agree at all with their assessment, but there is a nugget of something buried deep. Seriously, though, it’s *buried* — and wrapped all around it are fatty layers of just plain awful. Any message they claim to have is lost amongst the cacophony of misinformation and hate speech.

It’s like someone extracted the worst parts of the conservative and libertarian movements — like the nastiest cancer juice — and ejected it onto our televisions.

– c.

My point of curiosity is, do you listen to policy disagreements from people that use Hitler in every argument? I certainly don’t listen to criticism of my work on the internet from people that type SHITCOCK and FAIL all the time, why should I listen to people that invoke Godwin at the slightest disagreement?

Maybe we need to teach a class for teabagger communication. They need to be made aware. It’s not like they’ve had the internet to teach them the basic rules of debate.

Well said Chuck!….

I live in Dallas, Texas. I work in Collin County (Plano, Frisco, etc.)

These people are everywhere here and have no interest in actual debate. (Note, that’s a self-selecting group, as I do know reasonable conservatives with substantive policy disagreements and the ability to discuss them civilly.)

But yeah, it’s difficult when these folks do have an outsize influence on local governments.

I liked them better when they were called “Libertarians”. Oh…sorry…that’s not fair to the Libertarians. I pay these folk no mind. I don’t even give them the satisfaction of arguing with them. They don’t understand the Constitution…or they twist it to serve their purpose (much more so than the mindful of the parties). I really dislike extremists of any kind. People should have an open mind and be able to have a conversation. People need to understand that not everyone thinks the same. This country is founded on the principle “All men are created equal”. These extremists don’t believe in that…they believe that only, they themselves, are right and just. There’s no debate with these people. There’s no understanding within these people. They are sheeple; a product of schlock journalism and celebrity talk shows borne of a faux news channel. I have an Uncle who is part of this “movement”. He sits around watching Fox news all day, cheering the screen as if it were a sporting event. His opinions are not his own. They are the opinions fed to him by rich TV hosts, trying to get richer. It’s at times like this that I fear America is truly doomed.

@Dave: All countries have their crazy political factions. The difference is that those countries don’t give them the publicity that our nation does. The media is a vulture pecking at the carcass of the fallen giant that is the United States of America. Not just Fox News…but ALL media “journalism”. Even NPR is getting in on the action. I watch BBC America and those hosts are doing their very best to not laugh out loud at what America has become. They know we’re ripe to be taken back by the King…the only problem is…the King has no want, will, or desire to inherit this mess.

I am an eternal optimist.

Much as I hate to say anything that might be construed as defending these loonies, mocking them for using the “Obama = Hitler” way of thinking is a bit tricky. I certainly saw a lot of shirts, signs and slogans that depicted Bush as der Fuhrer, especially right after he won his second term. I don’t think it’s a right wing or left wing thing so much as a cultural thing for Americans – Hitler has become a kind of national shorthand for everything someone considers vile and in need of opposition, especially when it comes to government or authority in general. Nazi has become the same kind of shorthand, whenever someone wants to talk about someone acting like a tyrant when they have even a modicum of power and control. I mean, one of the most mediocre of our sitcoms made the term “Soup Nazi” popular, to show just how far that term has filtered down in our collective consciousness.

Not saying it makes it right in either – or really any – case, just pointing something out for the sake of consistency. That said, I think the Ministry of Love had a sign on the door that said “Fair and Balanced,” but I’d have to go back and check.

@David:

That’s exactly it. Those who defend the Tea Party movement do so with the defense of, “But those are the fringe elements; we have real policy disagreements!”

And to them I say, then you better find a new group and a new platform for said disagreements, because those fringe elements are driving the car. The Crazy Car. And they’re piloting it right into a bridge abutment.

– c.

@Pete:

The lunacy isn’t unique to them, but they’re the loudest loonies in the room right now. Their use of Hitler isn’t their own, no, but it certainly disengages their discussion from rational discourse. I’m not willing to discount criticism against them simply because they’re microwaving leftover lunacy rather than inventing their own brand.

– c.

@Paul:

Word.

It’s funny (not ha ha funny), but the media is partly responsible for electrifying this beast and letting it walk around, smashing into things. The media circus exalts those who are the loudest, the craziest — the so-called “liberal media” isn’t that at all. It’s a media devoted to entertainment above news. And so, to get onto the news and to have a platform, these bugbears have to cover themselves in feces and write crazy signs and are rewarded with attention. Which only gives them more oomph.

Scary shiznit.

– c.

Note, I’m not the conservative saying we have disagreements. I’m the basically-centrist civil libertarian (think Coffee Party and EFF) who gets frustrated when people at work turn into raving lunatics at the mere sight of the president.

And yes, I do think that much of the left acted in similar fashion during Bush’s presidency. Nutcase whackjobs don’t restrict themselves to any politcal party, religion, or ideology.

Beautifully done.

@Kyle:

Fundies and extremists on either side basically end up the same.

Thing is, during Bush’s presidency, I don’t remember anything like the Tea Party Astroturf activists. In fact, what I remember is that criticizing Bush got you stamped with the scarlet letter “U,” for “Unpatriotic.”

Now — now! — it’s turned tables, and suddenly, it’s patriotic to criticize the president. Last president: oooh, don’t criticize. This president: stand up for yourselves, America! Patriotism Rooles, Nazism Drools!

That’s not a conservative vs. liberal thing, not really. The GOP during Bush’s years rarely acted conservative, least of all not financially.

– c.

The “liberal” media depends on advertising revenue to stay on the air. They’ll post whatever they can to get viewers. Advertising dollars > Ethics and Quality.

@Kyle: The difference between the left and the right is this: The right acts like stuffy, rich, spoiled pricks living in 1950 while the left acts like your enraged neighbor down the street. Most people relate more to the guys speaking for the left. I wish I could find the article, but some University did a study on this and a great majority of people polled related to the Dem speakers as opposed to the right. Seriously…who can relate to Boehner? Or even McCain? Meanwhile you have a guy like Grayson speaking his mind and gems like Barney Frank and Al Franken in the spotlight for the left. Public perception is a huge motivator.

Each side is a bunch of cry-babies when they don’t get there way. Hypocrisy in Washington??? The hell you say!!!

AHHH! I used “there” instead of “their”. Foiled by my own pet-peeve.

I don’t remember that degree of Godwin during Bush’s presidency. I remember very clear communications of things like, “Don’t torture,” and “Iraq didn’t have WMDs.” That’s a lot different than saying Bush is literally Hitler.

Also, policies and such aside, the left wasn’t threatening assassination. They certainly weren’t on the same magnitude. Obama is getting four times as many death threats.

That goes to show the difference between the left and the teabaggers.

Oh, there was a definite tinge of “if you support Bush, clearly you support bombing brown people for oil” and a lot of Bush-Hitler comparisons. Not to say that one side or the other started it, but it got very intense then. Remember when Boing Boing (or somesuch) labeled all the red states as “Jesusland” with lots of derogatory comments, as if everyone who supported Bush stood for Christianity and vice versa? (I could go on for hours about the far right’s co-opting of Christianity but that’s probably slightly off-topic here.)

But no, I don’t recall a lot of progressives advocating assassination, partly because it’s of course reprehensible and partly because Cheney would have ascended to the presidency.

Ethnic Hue made me laugh harder than it should have. I don’t know what that says about me. :/

What kills me is that the Tea Baggers think they’re fighting for America’s rights but they’re representing themselves as extremists who are the opposite of most Americans. I wonder what they would do to the GOProud individuals who would want to protest with them?

This post must have been hard for you since you’re a secret Teabagger along with David.

There are extremists on both ends of the political spectrum, left and right. It’s unsurprising that there are some in the Tea Party crowd.

I have to feed my baby girl in a few minutes, so I’m going to refrain from my normal ranting and frothing on the topic of ignorant teabaggers. It’s difficult to work up a proper rage with new baby smell in your nose anyway. I’ll just paraphrase two individuals instead:

Nobody is purely one thing or the other. I got some shit I’m conservative about. I got some shit I’m liberal about.

Universal Health Care — From my cold, dead hands

Maggie, the pinko-commie-socialist nazi Obamunist anti-American freedom-hater. (Is that what they’re calling us nowadays? I’m always behind on the trends. Would “Canadian” cover all that anyway?)

Roighto.

I tend to be fiscally conservative, socially liberal.

– c.