That Ain't Earl Grey In Your Teabag!

Being a conservative Libertarian, I have been quite troubled with the whole tea party movement since it raised it's rather ugly head in the 2008 elections. I could never quite put my finger on it until I heard this quote:

“The problem with the Tea Bag Party is that they use Abbie Hoffman means to achieve Norman Rockwell ends. Their basic beliefs may be traditional, but their methods are flamboyant and irresponsible.”

--New York Times Columnist, David Brooks


For me that hit the nail on the head. What do you folks think?

I always have been an advocate that some elements of the conservative movement should resort to Saul Alinsky tactics........

Other than protesting, what Abbey Hoffman means are you referring too?

Other than protesting, what Abbey Hoffman means are you referring too? Originally Posted by gnadfly

Perhaps you need to fill us in on what other Abbey Hoffman means you are making reference to.

Quiet binTex, the adults are talking.

Quiet binTex, the adults are talking. Originally Posted by gnadfly

Gnadfly, please excuse me! I didn't realize there was an adult in the room. I thought it was just you playing in your sandbox while waiting for the Easter Bunny to arrive in a few weeks! LMAO

As far as I am concerned, the reference seems to be self-explanatory! Perhaps you were absent when they covered the "Reading Between the Lines" course last year in the 6th grade! Perhaps if you are real nice to your former teacher, she will let you audit this years class!

Other than protesting, what Abbey Hoffman means are you referring too? Originally Posted by gnadfly

Well, you would have to ask the columnist I quoted, but I would imagine he might respond by pointing to Abbie's more silly antics like his march on the Pentagon with Ginsberg and Dr. Spock and a handful of Tibetan monks threatening to use psychic energy to make the pentagon levitate and glow orange, or maybe the bags of dog shit mixed with piss he handed out to his Yippies to pelt Chicago Police with at the DNC in 1968. Perhaps he might point to the media hound he was, or the common tactic of duping reporters with the "Average Joe Hippy" that sure was a whole lot like Joe the Plumber.

Maybe the author would also mention Abbie's penchant for disrupting courts, politician speeches, community meetings and even The Who concert at Woodstock with his flamboyant theatrics and general bullshit If you ask me, Pete Townsend should have smashed his guitar over that nutcase's head instead of merely using it as a battering ram.

The reality is, Abbie, like many of the tea baggers, was really just an egomaniac that used politics as a vehicle to perpetuate their cult of personality.

Well, you would have to ask the columnist I quoted, but I would imagine he might respond by pointing to Abbie's more silly antics like his march on the Pentagon with Ginsberg and Dr. Spock and a handful of Tibetan monks threatening to use psychic energy to make the pentagon levitate and glow orange, or maybe the bags of dog shit mixed with piss he handed out to his Yippies to pelt Chicago Police with at the DNC in 1968. Perhaps he might point to the media hound he was, or the common tactic of duping reporters with the "Average Joe Hippy" that sure was a whole lot like Joe the Plumber.

Maybe the author would also mention Abbie's penchant for disrupting courts, politician speeches, community meetings and even The Who concert at Woodstock with his flamboyant theatrics and general bullshit If you ask me, Pete Townsend should have smashed his guitar over that nutcase's head instead of merely using it as a battering ram.

The reality is, Abbie, like many of the tea baggers, was really just an egomaniac that used politics as a vehicle to perpetuate their cult of personality. Originally Posted by phatdaty

As I said previously, the reference seems to be self-explanatory. At least it seems to be to the adults in the room!

Being a conservative Libertarian, I have been quite troubled with the whole tea party movement since it raised it's rather ugly head in the 2008 elections. I could never quite put my finger on it until I heard this quote: Originally Posted by phatdaty

Don't you mean after the 2008 elections?

I think that would give you the answer as to what they're truly all about.

Don't you mean after the 2008 elections?

I think that would give you the answer as to what they're truly all about. Originally Posted by Doove

I could be wrong, but I am pretty sure they gained notoriety in the Spring and Summer of 2008, not in the fall and winter.

I could be wrong, but I am pretty sure they gained notoriety in the Spring and Summer of 2008, not in the fall and winter. Originally Posted by phatdaty

It sounds as if it may have begun in 2008, but i don't think they really started to have any impact until 2009. I know i never heard of them until then. So i guess it boils down to definitions.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea_Party_protests

--New York Times Columnist, David Brooks


For me that hit the nail on the head. What do you folks think? Originally Posted by phatdaty

I'd take anything from the NYT with a grain of salt. All of their articles have a NE Lib POV.

I could be wrong, but I am pretty sure they gained notoriety in the Spring and Summer of 2008, not in the fall and winter. Originally Posted by phatdaty

You are wrong.

Don't you mean after the 2008 elections? Originally Posted by Doove

It was after the 2008 elections. The impetus was the Spendulus bill and specifically the on air comments by CNBC's Rick Santelli:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zp-Jw-5Kx8k

It was after the 2008 elections, but the impetus was the Spendulus bill. Originally Posted by pjorourke

I'm taking that with a grain of salt.

I'm taking that with a grain of salt. Originally Posted by Doove

It wasn't from the NYT

(see my edit)