#teaparty

"So my conclusions: The ignorance (willful or otherwise) is deep. The anger (justified or otherwise) is high. Teabagger solutions are silly at best and dangerous at worst. But what bothers me more is that our side has been so woefully inadequate at laying out these facts. These are not sophisticated concepts and the words can be small."

"It's possible that if the Tea Partiers cleaned up their ranks--purged the birthers, publicly rebuked people like this guy, banned Hitler signs, loudly rejected any instances of racism--that they simply wouldn't have much of a movement left. Martin Luther King was trying to lead a black community that was demonstrably patriotic, and had, in the main, rejected political violence as a strategy. He could afford to be picky. In the case of the Tea Parties, it's possible that once you subtract the jackasses, you just don't have enough energy left."

In case it's not clear: These nutters are complaining that government services weren't expansive enough to accommodate their protest of expansive government services. "Rep. Kevin Brady asked for an explanation of why the government-run subway system didn’t, in his view, adequately prepare for this past weekend’s rally to protest government spending and government services. Seriously."

Iraq War protesters were called worse. And besides, this is damn funny. "There is not only something funny going on here, there is a story here. These supposed journalists and their networks (or publisher, in Sullivan's case) have rather seriously insulted the citizens who colorfully took to the streets to air respectable views in a most civil fashion. If they had any decency, Cooper et al. would apologize for their vile reference to sexual practices in the context of ordinary citizens exercising their First Amendment rights."

"People should remember that while they have the right to their opinion, they are not entitled to be taken seriously. That only comes from having credibility gained by the correct presentation of facts and analysis and a willingness to be even-handed--criticizing one's own side when it is wrong and not only speaking up when the other party does the same thing."

"The news came as a surprise to bassist Stuart Chatwood, who, in an email to JAM!, stated that he "wasn't aware that the band had broken up.""

Oh, for God's sake, this is a travesty. The Tea Party opening for Def Leppard?!