Bizarre, Congress, Politics, Society

Tea Party: “We Are Not Terrorists!”

Submitted By Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger

The wrath from the right has been scortching ever since VP Joe Biden commented that certain freshman tea party congressmen were acting “like terrorists” in negotiations to raise the debt ceiling. There was equally no love lost when John McClain commented that the tea party freshman were acting as “deceivers” and their ideas were “bizarro.”

Now Tea Party freshman Rep. Joe Walsh (R-Ill.) (No, not the one with the Maserati that goes 185) has produced his own video decrying the incivility and telling us that “Vice President Biden, I’m not a terrorist. Terrorists target and kill people.” You can watch the lament here.

While the language employed by the VP was quite over the top, and especially so given Biden’s challenge to introduce more civility into public discourse, our freshman congressman fails to see the irony of his words.  No one suggests the Tea Partiers are calling for mass extinction of liberals or undocumented aliens, or gays or the poor. But what do they want? 

Here’s Nevada GOP Senate Tea Party candidate Sharon Angle on  the frustration of her comrades:

“I hope that’s not where we’re going, but you know if this Congress keeps going the way it is, people are really looking toward those Second Amendment remedies and saying my goodness what can we do to turn this country around? I’ll tell you the first thing we need to do is take Harry Reid out.”

Some Tea Party candidates are a tad less discrete in their call for violence. Here’s Texas Tea Party candidate Stephen Broden, “Our nation was founded on violence. The option is on the table. I don’t think that we should ever remove anything from the table as it relates to our liberties and our freedoms.”

Alaska Tea Party candidate Joe Miller found a lot to like in East Germany’s “checkpoint Charlie” system of stemming the tide of freedom-seekers “immigrating” to West Berlin during the Cold War:

“The first thing that has to be done is secure the border … East Germany was very, very able to reduce the flow. Now, obviously, other things were involved. We have the capacity to, as a great nation, secure the border. If East Germany could, we could.”

And the Tea Party has a thing or two to say to liberals about the notion of any separation between church and state:

 “Do you know, where does this phrase ‘separation of church and state’ come from? It was not in Jefferson’s letter to the Danbury Baptists. … The exact phrase ‘separation of Church and State’ came out of Adolph Hitler’s mouth, that’s where it comes from. So the next time your liberal friends talk about the separation of Church and State, ask them why they’re Nazis.” —Glen Urquhart, the Tea Party-backed Republican nominee for the Delaware House seat. You can even watch him here. 

And then there’s that “witchy woman,” Delaware’s own Christine O’Donnell,  who, when questioned about whether the Constitution calls for separation of church and state during a debate before an audience of legal scholars and law students at Widener University Law School delightfully noted, “You’re telling me that’s in the First Amendment?”  Ahems were heard around the world on that one.

New York Tea Party darling Carl Paladino had this suggestion for the poor:

“Instead of handing out the welfare checks, we’ll teach people how to earn their check. We’ll teach them personal hygiene … the personal things they don’t get when they come from dysfunctional homes. These (prisons) are beautiful properties with basketball courts, bathroom facilities, toilet facilities. Many young people would love to get the hell out of cities. You have to teach them basic things — taking care of themselves, physical fitness. In their dysfunctional environment, they never learned these things.”

Then there’s the First Lady of the Tea Party, Michele Bachmann, sharing all the inside dope on what it really means to be gay (no husband jokes, please):

“If you’re involved in the gay and lesbian lifestyle, it’s bondage. It is personal bondage, personal despair and personal enslavement.” — then Minn. state senator Michele Bachmann

There’s scores more and they deal with all manner of insensitivity to the poor, immigrants, the 45000 Americans who die every year from inadequate health care, and just about everyone else the right likes to pillory.

Now most of these quotes were from losers in their electoral races and maybe they represent only the most extreme dunces the Tea Party has produced, but that’s not really the point is it? The point is that while the far-out Right might be justly indignant for the rhetorical excesses of the Left, they can’t seem to find the words to decry the excesses of their own camp. 

There’s a word for that.

Source: Huffington Post

~Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger

359 thoughts on “Tea Party: “We Are Not Terrorists!””

  2. Elaine:

    Congratulations, grandma. BTW, I loved the poem you linked to (to which you linked?).

    To anyone else who cares:

    I see that a controversy has arisen over privacy issues. I wish to add the following to assuage any concerns anyone may have:

    1. I consider it a privilege to be permitted to contribute from time to time as a guest blogger and respect the fact that Res Ipsa is not my site. When I make a contribution, I enter the site, click on “new comment,” type my comment and click on “publish.” I am grateful when I am able to accomplish that without a problem. I then exit the site. I have no interest in nosing around for personal information about anyone else and frankly, I wouldn’t know how to go about it even were I so inclined.

    2. I was likely the first person to know kderosa’s identity, and kept it to myself. The information came to me in a straightforward manner. kderosa had made a comment which I deemed personal, and I had noted in response my objection to personal attacks by anonymous posters. (That continues to be a pet peeve of mine.) In any event, kderosa’s reply challenged my assumption concerning his anonymity. I had already concluded that he is a lawyer. (After 39 years I can smell another lawyer at a 100 paces even if he’s downwind.) So, being the gifted technical expert that I am, I googled “kderosa.”

    3. I have always respected another’s anonymity. I choose not to be anonymous because I see no point in hiding my identity. But that is a personal choice. However, I still do not like personal attacks under pseudonyms because I believe they are cowardly. I had my share of schoolyard fights growing up and I didn’t wear a mask in any of them.

    The point is that I would not reveal private information about another poster on this site under any circumstances. You are free to be as rude, caustic, obnoxious and otherwise unpleasant in responding to my comments as you care to be. If you do so anonymously, however, I am unlikely to acknowledge what you have to say.

  4. “For the record – I provided absolutely no information which was not obtained from Professor Turley’s server with a request just like anyone else’s and I was the only source of information that we used. I’m certain that I can, if necessary, prove beyond a reasonable doubt that I obtained the information by completely legal methods of my own design.”

    Slartibartfast,

    Are you saying that Professor Turley provided you with access to his database or provided you with a copy of it?

  5. No Way,

    That’s odd, because the first gravatar is “http://en.gravatar.com/buddhalaughing” and the one in the thread you link to is “http://en.gravatar.com/buddhaislaughing”

    Which are about as different as pant and paints.

  6. “Even my comment are being flagged as “awaiting moderation.” Then I have log on and approve my own comment.”

    That’s because you included more than two hyperlinks. It can be changed, but the default of two is used to try to prevent spam.

  7. Mike,

    “You still neglected to respond to whether his calling me “Spinwell” was also a diminution and lack of respect.”

    Stop addressing people by anything other than their chosen pseudonym and you may then have clean hands. Until such time, please stop trying to play the victim. It’s a childish game of he touched me first. It’s not very becoming of any adult. Do you really need me to point out that “Spinwell” is as disrespectful as “Kenny”? If so, I wll. It is.

    Leave the past in the past and move on. Respond to the ideas and forget about the person presenting them.

    Nobody should have been banned. Kderosa’s post as Buddha was not used as an attempt to portray himself as someone else. It’s pretty obvious that it was used to demonstrate that he knew what he was talking about. The fact that Gene jump on top of it so quickly is pretty good evidence that Gene is much more knowledgeable of all thing Buddha than he is willing to admit.

    When have I claimed “sainthood?’ When have I asked you or anyone else to hold me in high esteem? Why would you hold me in high esteem if you disagree strongly with me.

    Nobody needs to compliment you Mike. You pat yourself on the back enough to cover that. There are a number of people with whom I disagree on many things that I still hold in high esteem.

  8. Even my comment are being flagged as “awaiting moderation.” Then I have log on and approve my own comment.

  9. Here are some of JT’s posts and their Think Progress doppelganger:

    JT: McConnell: Casey Anthony Verdict Shows Terrorist Suspects Should Not Receive Real Trials

    TP: Sen. McConnell: We Can’t Trust Courts To Try Terrorists Because Casey Anthony Was Acquitted Of Murder

    JT: Panetta: Iraq Really Was A Response To 9-11

    TP: PANETTA TELLS TROOPS THEY’RE IN IRAQ BECAUSE OF 9/11

    JT: Boehner Accuses Obama of War Powers Violation

    TP: Boehner Claims Obama Is Violating War Powers Act, Two Weeks After Saying Obama Complied With Law

    JT: Bachmann Under Fire For Clinic’s “Cure” of Homosexuality

    TP: BREAKING: Undercover Investigation Confirms Bachmann Clinic Provides Discredited, Damaging ‘Ex-Gay’ Therapy

    JT: Timber! Obama Reverses Himself On Protecting Millions of Acres of Wildness in New Concession To Developers and Drillers

    TP: Bruce Babbitt Says Congress, Led By GOP House, Has ‘Declared War On Our Land, Water And Natural Resources,’ Then Slams White House ‘Munchkins’ For Bartering Away Public Lands

    JT: Gingrich and Bachmann Call For Campaign Against Same-Sex Marriage

    TP: Too numerous to list.

  11. “All it took was telling WordPress to search for “Buddha Is Laughing” and comparing the IP and e-mail address information.”

    Gene,

    Please don’t try to play me as a fool. I am not.

    It’s pretty obvious that whomever posted as Buddha Is Laughing used his email address. One only need click on the gravatar to see that it is one used by BIL.
    http://en.gravatar.com/buddhalaughing

    The very same gravatar is associated with the Buddha posts on this thread.
    http://jonathanturley.org/2009/04/30/justice-david-souter-to-retire/#comments (IF it disapperas or changes, so will the one above. Unless it is tampered with by someone having Administrator access.)

    It’s pretty obvious that Buddha has more than one email adrress associated with his green grinning buddha. Buddha could have chosen to post using either address. Only Buddha would have known which email address he wanted to post from.

    The IP address is a moot point as you Gene H. would not have known Buddha’s current IP address, due to his lack of recent posts.

    The lame excuses provided might be enough to convince those who are ignorant, but they do little to persuade those who are knowledgable.

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  13. Puzzling,

    Thanks and back at you. If you click the search link after entering Mike Spindell, you will see that perhaps 2 of the 12 posts I’ve written could be construed politically. That is purposeful, first because I don’t view my role here as partisan and because despite the amount of time I’ve taken writing to state exactly what I believe in, I’m constantly seen as a creature of the Left. I was 40 years ago, but that experience changed me when I found my “allies” would be just as scary in power, as those we opposed. I am not an “Ist” and refuse to be pigeon-holed as one.

    I believe that “parties” and “Isms” are all con games to keep those not in power fighting against each other. I think what we see as politics is merely the actions of power hungry egotists, manipulating people through creating false divisions and fostering bad mythology.

    Now of course some may read my “Tea Party” article as politically partisan. Is it though partisan to make an easily proven point that the “Tea Party” has been driven by monied interests and pandered to with mythological slogans
    to arouse people in the service of something they might really buy into if they got past the rhetoric. Let me again state for the record what I believe, that people will characterize it is not my responsibility, because as Groucho said I wouldn’t join any group that would have me as a member.

    I believe in the formulations of Rabbi Hillel, the Elder, Wiki it if you care to,
    I’m tired of constantly having to quote it. From those beliefs I specifically believe that all human beings should have the right to adequate food, water, shelter, health care, clothing and a chance to maximize their potential. I believe that people have the right to succeed via an open economy and that there is nothing wrong with some being wealthier than others. However, the Law need be even-handed in it treatment of all.

    That’s it. You can characterize it any way you want, but remember I’m talking about ends, not the mechanisms to achieve them. I’m open to that as long as the ideas pass my own tests of rationality.

  16. Elaine,

    Since you’ve got the only REALLY important news, you go first. Congrats!

    Elaine and Everyone else,

    Oh Good, another thread de-railed

    For what it’s worth I can explicitly remember three people who got banned. There was a white supremacist, (don’t remember the name, he only had about 5 post) who was banned for language; the threshold for that one is ridiculously high (I seem to remember a couple of others banned and\or receiving warnings about language). Of the other two, one got banned for impersonating another commenter, and the other got banned (after being a regular since the very beginning of the blog) for exactly the sort of thing KDE’s doing now. Right down to the personal grudges involved. At least with the people who are still commenting.

    There may be a couple I’m missing, but banning is rare enough to be memorable, and every instance I can remember it was either a regular who broke JT’s trust or someone who’d made repeated posts with more profanity and racial slurs than other words.

    Mike S,

    My memory of the event matches yours. I’m pretty sure it was something along the lines of “Are you the Mike who lives ______? It’d sure be too bad if someone online used that information to steal your identity.”

  17. puzzling:

    In my view the aggregate tone and topic choice of the guest bloggers is a marked departure from the approach JT has taken.

    You’re correct. I’m as, if not more, guilty of that as the next GB.

    You are also comparing JT’s lone “Tea Party” post with the GB’s “political” post, many of which have nothing to do with the Tea Party.

    Here are some political posts, since June 1, by JT:

    Report: MSNBC Close To Naming Al Sharpton Host of Prime Time Show
    Bachmann Under Fire For Clinic’s “Cure” of Homosexuality
    California Legislators Ask To Form 51st State
    Panetta: Iraq Really Was A Response To 9-11
    McConnell: Casey Anthony Verdict Shows Terrorist Suspects Should Not Receive Real Trials
    Gingrich and Bachmann Call For Campaign Against Same-Sex Marriage
    Clinton: Support The War Or I’ll Accuse You Of Being Gaddafi’s BFF
    Obama To Order Troop Reduction — By November 2012
    Carney: The President Has Been Clear That His Position Is Unclear
    Boehner Accuses Obama of War Powers Violation
    Report: Many Americans Will Now Have To Work Until Their 80s To Support Retirement
    Report: Libya To Cost $750 Million in 2011
    Timber! Obama Reverses Himself On Protecting Millions of Acres of Wildness in New Concession To Developers and Drillers
    Auto Industry Bailout to Cost U.S. Taxpayers $14 Billion

    I have noticed that JT’s political posts have less of politically charged title than the ones you listed. Also, JT posts 5-6 times a day and maybe only one is of a political nature. This gives the appearance of fewer political posts by JT.

  18. On vacation in Colorado. Agree with Blouise that you, slarti, should post more often. Puzzling ,while Professor Turley seems to agree with some libertarians with respect to the wars as many of us do here. I have never seen any indication that he is in favor of demolishing what your side calls “the welfare state” or the destroying the unions. It seems like libertarians have more in common with the tea party on issues like Social Security than they do with the antiwar members of this blog.

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