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duh 
"catpurrs"
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 Posted - 04/17/2009 : 13:41:46
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Edited by - duh on 04/19/2009 05:50:34 |
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RockGolf 
"1500+ reviews. 1 joke."
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Posted - 04/17/2009 : 17:23:44
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The issue is hypocrisy. FOX News pretended this was a "grass roots" movement when they were basically responsible for initiating and developing the whole thing. See last night's Daily Show to see further examples of FOX hypocrisy. A grass roots movement? More like astroturf - artificial.
Not that CNN did themselves any favours with that reporter's dumb stunt. (Although, attacking the protesters live on TV was originated on, you guessed it, FOX.) Nor did MSNBC by going into what even Stewart agreed was Daily Show territory.
People were complaining that their taxes were going up when in fact for anyone making less than $250K per year they were actually going down. They didn't complain about this during the previous eight years when Bush ran up the biggest deficit in history.
Further nonsense was that this was taxation without representation. Puh-leez! Does that mean Democrats were unrepresented in the past 8 years? |
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randall 
"I like to watch."
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Posted - 04/17/2009 : 21:09:43
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Taxation without representation? Are you fucking KIDDING ME?
Maybe your REPRESENTATIVES are voting for more TAXATION, but shut the fuck up about what our brave patriots did in the 18th century!
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duh
"catpurrs"
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Posted - 04/18/2009 : 03:12:59
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| i found the mockery and the vehemence of some reactions to be way out of proportion. |
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randall
"I like to watch."
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Posted - 04/18/2009 : 19:50:47
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I hope you don't think I was talking about you personally, duh. But the people who paraded around in tricornered hats, egged on by the cynical blowhards at Fox News -- and don't think they didn't know exactly what they were doing -- willfully fail to see that this is nothing, I say nothing, like the Boston Tea Party, except for the particular beverage chosen. [Do you realize that one protest group bought a million tea bags to protest wasteful spending?] And, of course, the "party" vibe they were trying to get goin'!
That brave revolt was fought over a greedy British Empire which wanted to extract tax money wihtout any say by the Colonists, but give back precious little. Those 18th century patriots were risking their lives, and their complaint "taxation without representation" was literally true.
This "revolt" was ostensibly over a taxation plan which would add another 3% [which will still be far less than the tithe collected under ol' tax-bustin' Ronald Reagan!] on the amount of money that exceeds an earnings threshold which most of the protesters will never see in their lives. [But guess which people do? The Fox News blowhards, of course!] Most of the people demonstrating will actually receive tax breaks under Obama's plan. And each of the people demonstrating has plenty of representation!
And where were all these patriotic protesters when George W. Bush was blowing the budget to hell, his Republican cronies were on a spending spree which made even porky Democrats blush, and the government was handing out massively wasteful no-bid contracts to all of Dick Cheney's dark-side pals? Were they cheering his tax cuts, which have helped dig us into the biggest hole since the Dust Bowl? Holding him high for turning a surplus into manure? Calling the little sneak out for prosecuting two wars on supplemental appropriations off the official budget, where we couldn't see it? Wow. I remember hearing crickets chirping back then over the din from these same fine patriots.
Hypocrisy is one thing, and I hate to see it anywhere. But acting against your own interests just because some demagogue on TV has whipped you into a frenzy is just, oh, I'm trying to avoid saying "dumb," massively misinformed. That makes me more than sad. It makes me ashamed. The "tea-bagging" jollies were juvenile, sure. But for some people, ridicule is the only response to a "movement" this ridiculous. It's a hell of an improvement over calling someone an America-hater just because they don't agree with you. I'll select the ridicule approach every single time. |
Edited by - randall on 04/18/2009 20:19:58 |
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randall
"I like to watch."
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Posted - 04/18/2009 : 19:53:22
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quote:
Originally posted by duh Improper Username
My son joked that if I had gone to our Tea Party, that I would have gotten myself on to some government terrorist watch list
For some protestors outside the 2004 Republican National Convention in New York, your son's joke became dead serious. At least he can treat it as a joke now. |
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duh
"catpurrs"
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Posted - 04/18/2009 : 22:34:47
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| ok youre right im wrong |
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randall
"I like to watch."
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Posted - 04/18/2009 : 23:43:24
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quote:
Originally posted by duh Improper Username
ok youre right im wrong
 Um, not at all: just trying to express my opinion, which is that there are at *least* two sides to every issue... |
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lemmycaution
"Long mired in film"
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Posted - 04/19/2009 : 02:18:30
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quote:
Originally posted by randall
I hope you don't think I was talking about you personally, duh. But the people who paraded around in tricornered hats, egged on by the cynical blowhards at Fox News -- and don't think they didn't know exactly what they were doing -- willfully fail to see that this is nothing, I say nothing, like the Boston Tea Party, except for the particular beverage chosen. [Do you realize that one protest group bought a million tea bags to protest wasteful spending?] And, of course, the "party" vibe they were trying to get goin'!
That brave revolt was fought over a greedy British Empire which wanted to extract tax money wihtout any say by the Colonists, but give back precious little. Those 18th century patriots were risking their lives, and their complaint "taxation without representation" was literally true.
This "revolt" was ostensibly over a taxation plan which would add another 3% [which will still be far less than the tithe collected under ol' tax-bustin' Ronald Reagan!] on the amount of money that exceeds an earnings threshold which most of the protesters will never see in their lives. [But guess which people do? The Fox News blowhards, of course!] Most of the people demonstrating will actually receive tax breaks under Obama's plan. And each of the people demonstrating has plenty of representation!
And where were all these patriotic protesters when George W. Bush was blowing the budget to hell, his Republican cronies were on a spending spree which made even porky Democrats blush, and the government was handing out massively wasteful no-bid contracts to all of Dick Cheney's dark-side pals? Were they cheering his tax cuts, which have helped dig us into the biggest hole since the Dust Bowl? Holding him high for turning a surplus into manure? Calling the little sneak out for prosecuting two wars on supplemental appropriations off the official budget, where we couldn't see it? Wow. I remember hearing crickets chirping back then over the din from these same fine patriots.
Hypocrisy is one thing, and I hate to see it anywhere. But acting against your own interests just because some demagogue on TV has whipped you into a frenzy is just, oh, I'm trying to avoid saying "dumb," massively misinformed. That makes me more than sad. It makes me ashamed. The "tea-bagging" jollies were juvenile, sure. But for some people, ridicule is the only response to a "movement" this ridiculous. It's a hell of an improvement over calling someone an America-hater just because they don't agree with you. I'll select the ridicule approach every single time.
Grasshopper's response is lucid. |
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ChocolateLady 
"500 Chocolate Delights"
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Posted - 04/19/2009 : 07:48:02
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quote:
Originally posted by lemmycaution
Grasshopper's response is lucid.
[Insert here head nodding in agreement smilie.]
Look, living outside the USA I don't really have much of a say in these things, but I work for a non-profit organization which helps people all over the globe. Looking at programs for needy people being cut is a painful thing to watch, and a huge part of it is because of the hits that the economy in the USA have taken. What all this taught me is that prosperity doesn't "trickle down" as Reagan thought it would, but unfortunately, poverty does.
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randall
"I like to watch."
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Posted - 04/19/2009 : 09:30:09
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Here are some patriotic signs being held up by tea-partying patriots to express their patriotic views.
I'm not saying all tea-partyers were crazy, just that they welcomed the few crazy ones [maybe it's more accurate to call them "misguided" instead] with open arms, with the Fox News gasbags cheering them on. |
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ChocolateLady
"500 Chocolate Delights"
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Posted - 04/19/2009 : 10:06:50
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quote:
Originally posted by randall
Here are some patriotic signs being held up by tea-partying patriots to express their patriotic views.
I'm not saying all tea-partyers were crazy, just that they welcomed the few crazy ones [maybe it's more accurate to call them "misguided" instead] with open arms, with the Fox News gasbags cheering them on.
I had to giggle. There was one picture that had two signs in the background. One said "Power to the People" and the other said "Socialism is NOT an American Value".
BWAH!
(Get those poster writers a dictionary, please!)
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randall
"I like to watch."
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Posted - 04/19/2009 : 11:20:00
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quote:
Originally posted by ChocolateLady
quote:
Originally posted by randall
Here are some patriotic signs being held up by tea-partying patriots to express their patriotic views.
I'm not saying all tea-partyers were crazy, just that they welcomed the few crazy ones [maybe it's more accurate to call them "misguided" instead] with open arms, with the Fox News gasbags cheering them on.
I had to giggle. There was one picture that had two signs in the background. One said "Power to the People" and the other said "Socialism is NOT an American Value".
BWAH!
(Get those poster writers a dictionary, please!)
They also needed to look up "Artical III" and "Telepromter." But poor spelling, even completely contradictory thinking, does not make you unpatriotic. Tea Party on, Garth! |
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duh
"catpurrs"
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Posted - 04/19/2009 : 12:25:00
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| i regret this topic i am not political and i dont like to argue my runon sentences are cuz of posting from cell i liked the idea of the parties as a way to engage people like me i thought they were nonpartisan i can spell too except when having bra |
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duh
"catpurrs"
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Posted - 04/19/2009 : 12:45:18
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| brain glitch ithought reagan economics were phased out long ago is it not good when people become involved in ideas and process of government |
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randall
"I like to watch."
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Posted - 04/19/2009 : 13:49:56
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quote:
Originally posted by duh Improper Username
brain glitch ithought reagan economics were phased out long ago is it not good when people become involved in ideas and process of government
Of course it is! But far too many of these people were being cynically manipulated by extreme partisans into demonstrating against a phantom -- something that doesn't exist. See my post above for details. See any reputable news organization for why an emergency stimulus package [which was just dandy when it was Bush doing it!] is necessary right now.
I don't think you can find a single person who enjoys paying taxes, or won't complain about them at the drop of a hat, so that's a slam-dunk issue if you want to get a crowd together. I may not like it, but I'll pay my fair share without protest if everyone else does too.
When Fox News even goes so far as to brand the demonstrations ["FNN Tax Day Tea Party," or whatever], you are no longer looking at a nonpartisan event. Nor are you seeing a natural groundswell of public opinion. You are watching a "reality show" ginned up by the same kind of amoral TV executives who made the fictional Howard Beale a sensation in NETWORK. |
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Tea Parties
