Tea Party Epiphany
I'm tired of the endless Tea Party analyses and frankly, I've been running hot and cold on Matt Taibbi lately, but his Tea Party epiphany after going undercover in Kentucky is well worth a read in full. There's more colorful quotes but this one captures the essence.
Makes you wonder who actually voted for Bush in 04 then. Maybe they really did steal the election with the Diebolds?
That's because the Tea Party doesn't really care about issues — it's about something deep down and psychological, something that can't be answered by political compromise or fundamental changes in policy. At root, the Tea Party is nothing more than a them-versus-us thing. They know who they are, and they know who we are ("radical leftists" is the term they prefer), and they're coming for us on Election Day, no matter what we do — and, it would seem, no matter what their own leaders like Rand Paul do.The one part that especially resonated with me was how every single tea party person claims to be the "exceptional" Republican that hated Bush and railed against excessive spending back when the GOPers were running up the deficit with unfunded wars and tax cuts for billionaires. I hear that every day from my own cadre of conservatives at DetNews.
Makes you wonder who actually voted for Bush in 04 then. Maybe they really did steal the election with the Diebolds?
Labels: dangerous idiots, Election 2010, Republicans
posted by Libby Spencer at 12:47 PM
5 Comments:
In the 2004 election, they were swiftboating, too. As Taibi rightly observes, it's about Us v. Them, not about the issues or the state of the country. Since they work against the interests of the public, they'll use any dirty tactic to win because affirmation isn't earned, or expected, by the teabaggage, at least not from mentally balanced voters. I wish that were just a joke about the voting machines.
It isn't remotely fact based. The cries of "tyranny" and "Communism" stem from the most banal and ordinary presidential actions. The most absurd and preposterous charges are designed to be that way because you can't challenge something so idiotic or anyone so idiotic or so dishonest.
We make a mistake if we treat it as anything but epidemic insanity and if we attempt to correct the facts, point out the inconsistencies and contradictions.
The only central theme that seems to be related to planet earth is that he's black, but that's the one they won't talk about, the one they evade by cliche references to card games. He's "tribal" He's a Kenyan anti-colonial. He's a Muslim. They're either insane or treasonous paid operatives.
They protested Bush? How can you argue with a liar to whom history changes by the moment?
Everyone I know is talking about an exodus, 'cause it's hard to talk about hope any more and even harder to give a shit about a country that doesn't really deserve to be saved.
Ruth that wasn't a joke about the Diebolds. I'm one of the people who left Kos during his 04 purge of those of us who dared suggest it happened.
Fogg, hiding out on that quiet beach somewhere on the Carribean is looking better and better to me every day. It's getting so I can hardly bring myself to read the "news" much less talk about it.
. At root, the Tea Party is nothing more than a them-versus-us thing...
I haven't read the article yet and I need to. But yes, of course it's an "us vs them" thing. I mean, I wrote about that tonight in relation to the James O'Keefe story. These guys are all resistance fighters in their World War III - the battle against the evil liberals.
Maybe growing up in Privileged America they don't have enough real battles to fight, maybe they didn't get enough time at the breast as infants, maybe they're sociopaths. But really it's about needing to feel connected to something, part of something BIG. Because the entire culture keeps telling them they are WRONG and this is the reaction.
Hey SoBeale, I read almost none of the TP articles anymore, but this one caught me after 5 people raved about it on twitter. It's not that long by Taibbi standards. And I think you're exactly right about what drives them. It's all about being part of "an exclusive group" of real Murkans. I think that's how they live with the cognitive dissonance. As long as they agree with each other, the facts can't hurt them.
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