Was on the corner of 217 and I-5. Looked kind of shaggy, holding up a hard to read sign.

"Tea Parties"

"Find your voice!"

Was thinking of the Glenn Beck "You surround them!" deal, wondering if this guy thinks most of the cars driving past him, laughing (and yes, the car next to me was doing just that!), are filled with conservatives, just like him, too afraid to speak!

You guys run into these clowns yet?

So someone that stands up for what he believes is a "clown"?

Why?

Because it doesn't fit in with lord Obama and the leftist, socialist views of the democrats?

Whatever happened to free speech and standing up for what you believe in?

Oh. That's right. It's only OK to do it, if it fits the liberals views. Otherwise they're "clowns".

Edit add: As I said before in another post; Instead of tea bags we should be sending the pricks (pun intended) in DC condoms. By the train car load.

How about the MILLIONS that stood up for themselves when your God DUHbya was running America into the shitter? How about the MILLIONS of Americans that stood up for themselves when Iraq was being INVADED instead of going after Osama in Afghanistan?
WE WERE labeled UNPatrotic and UNAmerican....
Is that what you are?
I'm just sayin.....

You're a clown when you stand up for idiotic beliefs, free speech or not.

"So someone that stands up for what he believes is a "clown"?

Nope. It's perfectly legit to stand up for what you believe. As long as you know what it is.

What these teabaggers are is tools and dupes.

http://thinkprogress.org/2009/04/09/lobbyists-planning-teaparties/

Vitalogy and Amus have it!

It's one thing to step up and express what you believe and back it. Perfectly respectable.

(Helps to not look like a doofus though, just saying...)

It's another to swallow a lot of dogma whole, mix it up with justification for personal character issues and call that being a "real American".

Sorry Skybill, I think most of them are clowns. When I pin them on specifics, they NEVER can just come back and support their stuff. It's always a dodge. And I do walk right up and ask some stuff too.

I'm not afraid of that. I do support my POV, and welcome others working hard to support theirs.

Problem is I don't see that support very much on the conservative side. I understand why. That's because many of their fundamentals are in contradiction, or are not well supported by the facts, without cherry picking.

Been there, done that. Many times. Often here too!

What I don't get, and do not think is understandable is the dodge. I've made a list here, 15 items strong.

Those are all the things people have done to avoid some level of acceptance. Maybe not acceptance of their position not being defensible, but at least acceptance that they have some work to do to better support it.

They dodge. Because of this they don't grow stronger, they don't clarify what it is they believe, why and what it means.

Not my problem.

If the Tea Party protesters really are sincere in their supposed conviction that they are against taxes going up as a result of governmental bailouts, then they will spread the blame across George W. Bush and Barak Obama, as it was Bush who started the ball rolling. I will be going to the Beaverton protest, and I will be wearing a Libertarian shirt. I am curious how this will play out, in terms of what message the protesters send out. If I am feeling really goofy that day, I will bring my copy of _Atlas_Shrugged_ and implore people to "Reeeead _Atlas_Shruuuuugged_!"

So you reference a left wing web site. What do you expect them to say?

It would be like me referencing http://www.grassfire.org/

Although I'd believe Grassfire long before I'd believe Thinkprogress. Just like you would believe the other way around.

Both organizations slant they way their readers/members do.

Unfortunately none of it will do anything to change DC.

They are off on a roll and we are all going to get steamrolled over.

It's just going to take some longer than others to realize it.

They have a name for it.

"Astroturf"

Faked Grass Roots activism.

I don't care what they call it. If it lets the morons in DC know we are fed up with higher taxes they can call it whatever they want.

But like I said, nothing anybody can do will change it, other than to vote them out next time around.

Congratulations!

If you're expecting your taxes to go up, you must be making more than $250,000.00!!

I on the other hand am looking forward to my tax cut.

Can you please share some of the kool-aid you are drinking?

I want to be oblivious too!

Sure, income tax may go down. Watch out for all the other taxes that will go up. Such as the BS "carbon" tax that will be coming.

It WILL be a net loss for all of us.

I don't care what they call it. If it lets the morons in DC know we are fed up with higher taxes they can call it whatever they want.

When has anybody raised the taxes since Bill Clinton raised them for the super rich in his first term? Huh?

Not if we get health care, new infrastructure, education and other things.

You are having that "steamrolled" feeling, because the GOP hosed it so completely badly, that everybody said, "let's try it another way.", and here we are.

A lot of the stuff that people want done, wouldn't be such a problem, if we didn't have the burden from the last administration.

Now it's a double whammy!

Most conservatives I know, thought that if the burden was raised enough, it would keep the progressive legislation off the table.

It's not.

That kind of backfired to hose things up to this level, then bitch about paying more taxes. What did you think was gonna happen?

Speaking of carbon tax, and this kind of goes with the "24 Hour Fitness" thread.

Here's a thought;

Since the "global warming" crowd thinks that carbon dioxide is a major contributor the warming cycle the earth is going through right now, and since when you breathe you inhale oxygen and exhale CO₂, and when you exercise you breathe faster and deeper, then people who exercise are exhaling more CO₂ than the rest of us who don't exercise and they should be taxed more.

An "Exercise and Excess CO₂ Tax"

Makes as much sense as most of the other stupid taxes they (the DC morons) are coming up with.

It's funny, the original Boston Tea Party dealt with Taxation without representation. This tea party must be taxation with representation. Strange.

I will withhold judgement on what happens or is said at the Tea Party rallies until they happen on Wednesday. I will report back afterward.

Glenn Beck's delivery bugs me. Just as Bill Maher's used to when he would lay on the sarcasm so thick that it came off really smarmy and unfunny. Childish. Immature.

Maher toned that down quite a bit. Beck has amplified it to a degree that is borderline retarded.

Glenn Beck is a born again mormon. Enough said.

As for the teabaggers, 10 bucks says most of them barely pay taxes as it is. Just like Joe the Plumber, they are worried about paying taxes on income they'll never earn.

"Glenn Beck is a born again mormon. Enough said."

Bit of a religious bigot, are we?

Religion is a choice of beliefs, race is not.

Does one really pick one's beliefs? I know of at least one person (Jerry Billings, the old guy on the Bunk Busters Cable-Access show) who vehemently says no. I am somewhat undecided on that question. However, I think that one certainly does choose one's action on those beliefs.

Absolutely one picks their beliefs. Glenn Beck did. He dumped his old religion for a new religion.

I don't think one's religion has anything to do with their political views, though there religion may shape them one way or anther. To dismiss Beck's political thoughts because he's a Mormon is short sighted.

However, I don't happen to care for Beck's doom and gloom political outlook and usually turn him off. Has nothing to do with religion.

When I find out that someone is a Mormon, it changes my outlook on their judgment, which includes political beliefs. If Glenn Beck is naive enough to fall for the BS the Mormon church sells, then how can I trust anything else he believes in? His judgment is flawed in regards to his religious beliefs, so I have to assume he's a beer short of a 12 pack on other stuff too.

I don't believe in anything supernatural because I have not encountered any evidence to convince me of the existence of such beings, forces, or events. Do you think that I could just say, "I believe in [fill in something supernatural here]" and do so sincerely?

In my experience, the LDS church has a greater free-will and libertarian bent than most mainstream religions.

On the other hand, Glenn Beck is an idiot windbag.

Why is it that the cons are at the forefront of the bread-and-circuses movement? That is to say, don't they understand that it takes taxes to pay for government services? Even the ones that they don't agree with or benefit from.

Re: tea and taxes - when I was a working minor, I sent a teabag in with my tax return. If I couldn't vote for my representation, why should I be taxed by them?

.....you believe in Robinhood and brotherhood and rollin a ball in the hay....


....If you're expecting your taxes to go up, you must be making more than $250,000.00!!

or a smoker typically making substantially less......

quit then.

problem solved.

Cancer cures smoking.

Everybody who breathes air is going to die!!

>>I don't believe in anything supernatural
How about the fact that you exist?
The fact that the sun rose this morning.
The fact that your heart keeps beating every second or so. Any explanation?

* How about the fact that you exist?

My existence is quite physical, as in sub-atomic particles, atoms, molecules, cells, etc. Those atoms came from other stuff, such as food, beverages, and the air. A small portion of the atoms were placed by dentists.

* The fact that the sun rose this morning.

The earth rotates on its axis, giving the sun the appearance of rising and setting. The radiant output of the sun is due to nuclear fusion reactions that take place in it--as They Might Be Giants once sang, "The sun is a mass of incandescent gas: a gigantic nuclear furnace where hydrogen is fused into helium at a temperature of millions of degrees."

* The fact that your heart keeps beating every second or so. Any explanation?

The heart is made of muscle cells that excite themselves into contracting periodically. When several heart muscle cells are put together, they have the ability to synchronize their contractions.

I will go a step further:

I am grateful to all of those people who work really hard to try to understand the composition and functioning of the human body. Their work has allowed us all to live better lives by leading to the development of cures for various ailments. I am thankful to G.V. Black and others who developed techniques for filling cavities so that I don't have to suffer pain or die from an abscessed tooth.

I am grateful to the people who worked really hard to develop the science of astronomy and space travel.

I am grateful to the people who worked really hard to understand the workings of the human heart. Their work has allowed many to live better lives by finding work-arounds to cardiac problems such as clogged arteries, defective valves, and high blood pressure; moreover, they have been able to give people the information needed to reduce the chance of suffering from cardiac problems.

I have no idea what any of you are talking about or what this topic is about so I'll just assume liberals are upset at something conservatives are doing and came here to bitch or and complain about it.


If herb created the topic It would most likey be the other way around..

This place is too easy to predict.

It WILL be a net loss for all of us.

So is/was Iraq but your not pissing and moaning about that POS invasion.

I attended the Beaverton Tea Party. About 500-700 people were there at the peak. KUIK's Jayne Carroll was broadcasting live from the parking lot across the street from the post office. However, I did not see the KUIK broadcast incorporate any interviews with picket participants, nor did they have any monitor speakers to allow onlookers to listen to the broadcast.

I have a hunch that this event may have been advertised through veterans' or seniors' organizations, as the demographics were skewed that way. There was also a smaller group of younger people--those probably barely old enough to vote. The 34-54 crowd was not as well represented.

There were a variety of signs, although some of the people stated that they got their slogans from Tea Party Websites. Most of the signs were of a generic anti-tax/anti-pork/anti-bailout nature. I saw very few signs (less than three or so) with specifically anti-Obama content. One sign had a slogan about the United States having a Christian foundation. It was a pretty friendly bunch, and the reactions from motorists were about 40% favorable and 60% indifferent. I didn't spot any counter-protesters or any passers-by who expressed disagreement with the group.

Will anybody remember the Tea Parties the next time that public officials are up for election? Will the Tea Parties inspire any of their participants or the passers by to research pending legislation and to write to their representatives? I don't know.

Yeah, the seniors who rely on Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid to get by are there railing against government pork. And I'll bet there was not one person there who has an income of over $50K per year.

It's a gathering of the "vote against our own best interests" crowd. Losers.

I think that those assessments are somewhat presumptuous. You weren't there. I didn't ask people their income.

All of the overall sarcasm aside, I do understand the positions that some of the people, like Missing_KSKD are taking on this issue. They oppose any kind of a tax protest, especially under a Democrat Presidential administration, because such a protest would rally against the funding source for projects that they hope will be implemented during this Presidential term. If I am incorrect in this assessment, please feel free to correct me.

In my opinion, there should have been tax protests when George Bush ran up the debt. There should have been tax protests when the $700 billion bailout package was being considered. By the time the latter occurred, some people were starting to catch on. I feel somewhat guilty that I wasn't out there back then!

Presumptuous, maybe. But think about it. How many high earning people have the time to blow at some stupid gathering during the work day? Most of those people are underemployed, retired, or work odd hours or part time. That whole crowd falls into the $35K-$50k crowd that barely pays taxes anyway. I saw the news of the crowds. People looked old, uneducated, and not very well off.

Didn't see one tea party all day. However I did drop off my quarterly taxes in the mail. No tea party at the post office either.

Alfredo-Great answers to Broadway's questions. Classic!

The Beaverton Tea Party ran approximately 5:30-6:30 PM. Getting there from work was a challenge but not impossible. I probably joined the group at 5:50. Perhaps, I should post a post a photo of myself and ask, "if you saw somebody who looked like this, would you say, what inferences would you make about that person? Is he uneducated? Is he 'not very well off'?"

[Edit: as I noted in the fashion thread, I got rid of the Tony Orlando hair and moustache!]

alfredo sez: I feel somewhat guilty that I wasn't out there back then!

I wouldn't feel guilty. The Bush administration wasn't exactly receptive to views opposing theirs. He wasn't going to change his mind come Hell or high water. And Hell did come. After time went on, most of us realized that the only thing we could do was count down the days till his term ended.

>>My existence is quite physical
>>The earth rotates on its axis
>>The heart is made of muscle cells
hey...all a miracle of life and our universe...maybe made by someone supernatural?
This is what I think.

Gotta say Dan I like that your are owning your posts. I for one appreciate it.

"Individual tax refunds are up about 16%, or $30 billion, compared with last year."

-- Wall Street Journal

The largest tax cut in the history of the United States is met with a national celebration of testicle sucking and a one day boost to the earnings of Indian tea farmers. Who would have thought that the Republican party was so dedicated to promoting gay sex and third world agriculture? I guess the log cabin must have been pretty hoppin' yesterday.

I stopped off in Billings, MT yesterday off of I-90 on the way home to Portland and there was a nice big Tea Party going on downtown, people with signs and flags. Given that most of those people looked like they probably make under $250K/year and are going to get tax cuts under Obama, I'm not quite sure what they were protesting. But I'm guessing most of them have no clue about that. All I hear is that they are protesting "high taxes" even though surely their tax burden has decreased considerably in the last ten years.

[Posting LIVE today from Brian's Pizza Schmizza in beautiful Coeur D Alene, ID.]

"are going to get tax cuts under Obama"

$10 per week. What are they bitching about?

Exactly. Their taxes AREN'T going up, Deane. How many of these Einsteins get that fact? I'll bet almost none.

Pensacola Tea Party 4-15-09

Olbermann's coverage of the teabagers was priceless.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVAkz7GFB_w

Particularly the picture of the Tallahassee Statehouse, and the cities where you could attend teabagger's parties.

Skybill wrote:
Can you please share some of the kool-aid you are drinking?


It's the same thing Bush was serving you. You sound like such a hypocrite.

don't smoke. just pointed out that TAXES went up for some people who weren't supposed to see their taxes rise. Same thing when gas taxes rise to pay for alt energy and global warming.

Was another Boosh who said read my lips no new taxes..... he didn't keep that promise either....

As for the teabag protests. Are they really any different than any other gathering to protest something? Gay rights, abortion rights, animal rights, and anti- war protests are ok, Anti abortion gatherings, and "tea protests" are right wing nuts, or according to the great american patriot Janine Garafolo, Racist anti americans....... If you think the t-baggers are nutz, then aren't ANY of the protests and rallys
for ANY cause Also populated by nutz and malcontented rabble rousers? Or some protests and causes are ok to roll out the sign toters but others aren't................

There my friends is the REAL PROBLEM....
No understanding. no tolerance, even from those who profess equality and tolerance. No one willing to let someone have a different opinion.

Obama lovers who can't understand people who supported Boosh.....

Booshies who see Obama as the deliverer of American Socialism.

Baby murdering, Church hating gays, who fear those war mongering, gun toting, evangelicals.

Doesn't seem to be any gray areas. No room for disagreement. If ya doesn't agree with us, ya must be one of them, and we think them is wrong and we hates 'em.

Wow, what about the person who thinks govenment is too big and intrusive, thinks ones sexual preference should be a private matter for themselves, thinks there should be some limits on guns, believes abortion is for those involved to decide, and Iraq '03 was a bad decision, but Iraq Gulf version didn't go far enough. No on Carbon credits, yes on better relations with Cuba.
thinks we are all the same, black/white/gay straight/blind/crippled/this/that, and have the same goals and desires, UNTIL you point out that you are different and deserve to be treated equally... THEN you have separated yourself and are demanding to be recognised for your difference.

There's a person BOTH SIDES can get together and HATE!!!!!

See, common ground. Or each side give a little and respect the others point of view.

I think the Tea Baggers were silly, just like those idiots who were part of that group "World Can't Wait" protesting against Bush/Cheney a couple of years ago, insisting they must be impeached immediately. But I've never questioned their right to protest or look silly.

Skybill wrote:
Can you please share some of the kool-aid you are drinking?


How about the drugs you were taking for the last 8 years while DUHbya and Co was flushing America right down the crapper.......