Not gonna win many hearts and minds with moves like this...

Again, there are all sorts of political operatives trying to co-opt the Tea Party. The TPE is Dick Fucking Armey. A hallmark of the movement is that there's no formal organization.

Of course any media outlet will prefer to be able to identify a "leader"; it makes their job easier.

 

I wasn't the one claiming that the citizenry is stupid. You should get your facts straight.

 

It's true that Palin never used the word "porch." She did say you can see Russia from Alaska: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXL86v8NoGk

I thought it was kind of a dumb point for her to make, but I also thought it was way overblown. Sort of off-the-cuff thing you don't really think that hard about, but sounds kind of weird and "resume padding" when interpreted out of context.

I think it became a symbol for her much the same way Al Gore was completely misquoted in saying he "invented the internet." He never made any such claim, but there's a stuffy, self-satisfied, self-congratulatory air about Gore that makes the line feel "truthy" even if not the truth.

Palin seemed in over her head in the 2008 campaign, but scrambling incoherently to prove she wasn't. Fey's line about seeing Russia from her porch just seemed to capture that idea.

 

I understood what Nate said. You're correct to point out that I was mocking him, because I can remember when I used to think the citizenry was "stupid". Life experience has taught me there is all kinds of intelligence, and the American people have common sense in spades. We can be fooled in the short term, but in the long term we generally do the right thing.

 

Agreed. Sly, I would ask you to stop that silly name substitution when someone wants to say something to me. I'm not made of sugar. If someone wants to tell me to go fuck myself on this board, I have zero problem with it. Please re-edit julius' post to include my name.

 

Like I said, it doesn't matter. Hell, the post I read from you after that one I tried to rep you on. I know how I come across, so it doesn't bother me when someone makes fun of me for it.

 

If you want to look at it that way, so be it, but it's pretty common knowledge that people don't question things as long as the water is running, the TV is still on, and they can still feed their family. How many people vote for the Republican or the Democrat simply because they have a D or R next to their name? How many people vote the party line without reading what they're voting for? If I went on the news tonight and called you a child rapist, completely unfounded or not, I'd bet that there would be people out there who would think you were a child rapist until the day you die.

You sure get defensive when someone starts talking about the Tea Party. I didn't say that's how I perceive your party, I said that's how it seems the public generally perceives your party. Not my fault you guys backed some whack jobs.

 

i want to answer the questions that i want to answer, you are being rude

 

http://www.war-of-the-worlds.org/Radio/Newspapers/Oct31/NYT.html

http://listverse.com/2009/03/16/top-10-bizarre-cases-of-mass-hysteria/

 

[video=youtube;kkCwFkOZoOY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkCwFkOZoOY[/video]

 

And it's not my fault that you can't understand that any time you see a "tea party organization" say something, it's a lie. It's neither a party nor an organization in the way you think of political parties. It's a movement without a leader who doesn't back candidates as a unit, but only as individuals. There are political organizations that have the name "Tea Party" in it, but that doesn't mean squat. The whole idea of the Tea Party is that we only speak for ourselves and are only united by the idea of limiting the size and scope of government. The only thing that any Tea Party "organization" will have is a local coordinator who will put up local meetings or the time of a protest. That's why you don't see polished signs that are all the same; it's completely grassroots.

As for my defensiveness, you would be defensive too if I ascribed a set of false ideas and claims to you and people with whom you politically agree. I've been yanking on your veil of ignorance to try to enlighten you, but you have that thing tied down tight.

 

Nate, your disdain for others not as smart as you think you are is noted.