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The Tea Party's 5 Key Players
Joshua Lott / Reuters
From Sarah Palin to Tom Tancredo to Alabama’s culture warrior in the courts, Wingnuts author John Avlon offers a guide to the most important attendees at the Tea Party movement’s big convention in Nashville.
Plus, read more on Avlon’s new book.
It’s Super Bowl weekend, but the big event in politics is the first national Tea Party Convention in Nashville.
As with all pre-game press, there’s plenty of hype that offers more heat than light. There have been last minute injuries and substitutions—wingnut Rep. Michele Bachmann dropped out from her long promised speaking role, while Sarah Palin has stuck with her $100,000 speaking fee and been rewarded with prime-time speech coverage from cable outlets during the Saturday night banquet. There is plenty of second guessing and insider scandals—the convention’s for-profit status has rubbed many grassroots activists the wrong way. They see themselves as defenders of the American Revolution, and this twist has some asking whether John Hancock would have rented out Independence Hall and tried to make money off the concessions.
Palin is the marquee attraction, the only possible presidential candidate speaking, and quite possibly the only person emerging with a profit.
But the big game, the “Thrilla in Vanilla,” goes on. If you’re keeping score at home on cable news or via The Daily Beast, here are the top five key Tea Party players to keep an eye out for.
• Big Fat Story: 6 Tea Party Dramas to Watch
• John Avlon: The GOP’s Radical Mainstream 5. Judge Roy Moore: You might remember Friday’s lunch speaker as the Alabama Supreme Court chief justice who was removed from office in 2003 for installing and then refusing to remove a 5,000-pound stone monument to the Ten Commandments from the state courthouse grounds at federal request. The action made Moore a folk hero to the far right, a culture warrior in the courts, and a member of the state’s rights resistance. A sometime poet and now a candidate for Alabama governor in 2010, Moore embodies one of the oldest conservative populist claims: that God’s law supersedes man’s law in the U.S. It’s an argument that was used in efforts to defend slavery and segregation in the past; now it’s cited more frequently in critiques of abortion and gay rights. But for social conservatives who believe that liberalism is leading to America’s demise, Moore is a martyr to the cause.
Wingnuts: How the Lunatic Fringe is Hijacking America. By John Avlon. Beast Books. $15.95
4. Tom Tancredo: The former Colorado congressman and anti-illegal immigrant activist has been a hero to the new Know-Nothings for years, but he’s kept a low profile since leaving office, emerging only a few times in ’09 to bash then-Supreme Court nominee Sonya Sotomayor, accusing her of being a racist and characterizing her membership in La Raza as being “nothing more than a... Latino KKK without the hoods or the nooses.” Anti-immigrant fervor has traditionally been a part of recession-era wingnut eruptions in years past, but it has not been a focus of Tea Party populist anger to date. It will be interesting to see what role Tom Tancredo plays among the Tea Party faithful—is he a third-rail throwback or a prodigal son turned Pied Piper? His reception will offer insights into the direction that the Tea Party movement may take in 2010.
3. Joseph Farah: In the isolation of the Internet echo-chamber, the influence of fringe news sites has increased, and the tallest midget in that corner of the wingnut world is WorldNetDaily, or WND.com. It is the brainchild of Farah, a mustachioed lifelong newspaperman from Paterson, New Jersey, turned outer-limits conservative activist. Farah first made a name for himself as a Clinton hater during the analog era, but he’s really hit his stride in the online self-styled Obama resistance. On Inauguration Day, he urged readers to pray for the new president’s failure, because “his agenda is 100% at odds with God’s.” WND has become a prime news source for conspiracy theorists, pumping up the birther claims. Farrah rented 20 “Where’s the Birth Certificate?” roadside billboards at a cost of $300,000 and collected online donations to help fund the effort, alongside other items like lawn signs that say “America was founded by right wing extremists.” Farah is Friday’s featured dinner speaker.
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Peter Beinart, senior political writer for The Daily Beast, is associate professor of journalism and political science at City University of New York and a senior fellow at the New America Foundation. His new book, The Icarus Syndrome: A History of American Hubris, will be published by HarperCollins in June. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook.
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John Avlon's new book Wingnuts: How the Lunatic Fringe is Hijacking America is available now by Beast Books both on the Web and in paperback. He is also the author of Independent Nation: How Centrists Can Change American Politics. Previously, he served as chief speechwriter for New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and was a columnist and associate editor for The New York Sun.
The Next 'Jihad Jamie'?
John Avlon's new book Wingnuts: How the Lunatic Fringe is Hijacking America is available now by Beast Books both on the Web and in paperback. He is also the author of Independent Nation: How Centrists Can Change American Politics. Previously, he served as chief speechwriter for New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and was a columnist and associate editor for The New York Sun.
The GOP's War on Teddy Roosevelt
John Avlon's new book Wingnuts: How the Lunatic Fringe is Hijacking America is available now by Beast Books both on the Web and in paperback. He is also the author of Independent Nation: How Centrists Can Change American Politics. Previously, he served as chief speechwriter for New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and was a columnist and associate editor for The New York Sun.
SpeakEnglish
Completely dislike Avlon and his ugly little bias and snotty smugness, but it does seem the "Tea Party Movement" has just been usurped..and is now irrelevant.
I do think Paul Krueger got it right when he said there will only ever be two labels, Democrat or Republican. Independents must craft a working position within either party. Carving out platform concessions seems easier than suffering eithercPalin or Obama speaking for me.
ccrider27
But it's going to be so much fun to watch these people destroy each other. No one is 'pure' enough to be the next nominee.
They love to blame, as in how they blame Obama for the bailout that Bush/Paulson started.
Their problem is they don't know what they are FOR. But they do know there's beer after the demonstration. Very entertaining.
sophia5
" Their problem is they don't know what they are FOR "
They know exactly what they are for.
SMALL GOVERNMENT AND NO WASTEFUL SPENDING.
"Most bad government has grown out of too much government."
-Thomas Jefferson
"The two enemies of the people are criminals and government, so let us tie the second down with the chains of the constitution so the second will not become the legalized version of the first."
-Thomas Jefferson
( " The LEGALIZED version of the first " ) Sound Familiar ?
Closed door " DEALS " ( Legalized version of a bribe )
Mary Landreu, Ben Nelson, SEIU ?
AlanD2
If teabaggers are for small government and no wasteful spending, sophia5, they should be Democrats.
Republicans Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, and George W. Bush all grew our government. They also managed to add $9 trillion to our national debt.
Democrat Bill Clinton decreased our debt by $14.2 billion, and got rid of 373,000 government employees.
Judge parties by results, sophia5, not by Fox News talking points.
Grimmace
"Democrat Bill Clinton decreased our debt by $14.2 billion, and got rid of 373,000 government employees"
Most of those "Government employees" were members of the military. It was the "peace dividend" that resulted from Reagan and Bush's military buildup. In other words, Clinton got to cash in the investment that his predecesers made. As ususal it went too far, and the military had to be rebuilt to deal with Islamic terrorism under the next administration.
I'll give Clinton some credit, but you can't deny that he was fortunate to have been President during the holiday from history with minor conflicts and a bubble economy built on the idea that anything dotcom was destined for multibillion dollar valuations. Clinton rode the wave of good times quite well -- good for him.
But then the reality of the world came back in the first decade of the 21st century. Even if you would have done things differently than W Bush, there is no doubt that it was going to be expensive to deal with the new threats, conflicts, and busting of the dotcoms and real estate sector.
If you want to blame it all on Bush and the Republicans then that is your perogative, but so far I see no serious solutions offered by the Messiah that will turn around our economy and deal with the deadly defecit staring us in the face.
Grimmace
sophia, no doubt that Jefferson and many of the other founding fathers would have qualified as "wingnuts" according to Avalon.
dbro0009
sophia, jefferson was only against big government until he took office as president (louisiana purchase, keeping the alien and sedition act.) don't copy and paste a bunch of talking points when you don't know jack about American history except what you learned from the romantacized rants of glenn beck.
grimmace, it is amazing you gave clinton credit and i have noticed that you are not just another one of these duches (sophia mr. mommy plantagenet) that takes a frivolous shot at everyone who doesn't agree with right wing ideology and then dodges any and all intelligent rebuttals.
here is my two cents in response to your glorified view of reagan. compared to reagan clinton was a right wing extremist: made bigger cuts to the welfare state, nafta, forcing haiti not to enact a raise in the minium wage (21 cents to 42 cents for the sake of their cheap labor in the textile market) and seeing over the creation of sweatshops in los angeles.
reagan compared to obama would have been screamed at for being a communist. he even raised taxes because he cared about something the right wing has completely disregarded.. practical ways of balancing the budget
WHO ARE THESE DUMBASSES THAT THINK THE FOUNDERS WERE RIGHT WING NUTJOBS?! the word conservative is derived from the word conservation.. as in preservation.. as in preservation of the status quo.. as in preventing change..
what ever happend to the days of intellectual conservativism? william f buckley must be rolling in his grave at you idiots
AlanD2
Grimmace: While it is true that a lot of them were military, Clinton also reduced the non-defense part of government by 105,000 employees.
No matter how you look at it, he did a better job at what conservatives say they want than any Republican President in the last 60 years.
Frenchmanaz
Hey Sophia,
I guess Sarah is adhering to the " small government and no wasteful spending " by cheating on her taxes eh ? I guess she is trying to shrink government by chocking it out of tax revenues and considers contributing taxes, as wasteful spending. Go Sarah !
See interesting little story today about how she has evaded construction permits and failed to declare two properties she owns.
How all of you SP fans can't see right through that fake folksy, woman of the people, lying self serving snake is beyond me. She would steam roll all over you fools if you stood in the way of her getting what she wanted.
You fans matter to her for one reason...votes and money.
Proof positive that propaganda tactics really do work. Say something enough times to a bunch of people who follow blindly and voila, you become a movement.
I know...let's vote this hick whose intellect is equivalent to Homer Simpson, to be our VP....YEAH !
Not in my worst nightmare can I imagine what this country would have become with her two steps from the oval office.
crypto
ccrider I think you are a little premature. The entertaining part comes in November when these "wingnut miget groups" feed the snotty nosed punk Avlon his own crap. But you won't go hungry. There will be plenty to go round.
MadCharles
Sadly, people don't understand there are no leaders i n the t party movement. They're just regular American folks degraded by the main stream media and it's allies. The problem is they are the 62% majority of the country that wants the change Obama promised but didn't deliver. They won't form a Perot crank but they will vote conservative from now on.
SensiStar
By the look of those signs I doubt very seriously that they were ever Dems.
They look like the ordinary everyday racist republicans that showed up to the Palin rallies.
Hence. She is speaking at there psychiatric ward.
FairNYC
These loons were never Democrats, they are astro-turfers for Dick Armey and Freedom Works.
soapyrub
MadCharles: You must truly be MAD or maybe you didn't read the articles describing the TP convention. When a group pays $100000 for a speaker I would not call that Leaderless. Regular American folk don't spend millions of dollars on billboards promoting a "birther" conspiracy that is totally groundless and debunked by every rational American. Most regular American are working middle class who want nothing more than for this 'land of the free" to prosper. My own experience with "teabaggers" is they are primarily interested in protecting what they have, most of which is an entitlement from the government. They have no plan other than driving up the deficit with more tax cuts for the wealthy.
bobzaguy
BINGO! FairNYC!
Dick Armey is the Lizard of Oz in this Astroturfing Tea Party.
Hid behind the curtain of Freedom, he maneuvers the baggers to do his bidding, which is to vote republican.
floridabob
5 Key players. I guess that will be the total number that attend.
americanredwhiteblue
I read alot of blogs about our government and rep. and dems.. The one thing I see that is always the same, is a people divided can be conquered. The tactics behind what is happening in american society is obvious, but when you have a society so divided it will be conquered. The rep and dems are the same people. They will keep the pot stirring until the american people are brought to submission. I have voted in every election and the promises are never kept we are always lied to. Congress's benefits and wages always get bigger, and they dig in like bloodsuckers deeper and protect their own. When you vote one out usually one more corupt comes in. There is no way to overcome the movement of our gov. They are to large, and if a real person and not a puppet could raise up and lead our people in a direction other than the path the special interest groups and multibillionairs wants the gov to go in, he or she would be assasinated speedily. We all are caught in a web of deception and we are the ones who have woven it due to our own greed and selfishness, and nobody wants to hear that WE ARE TO BLAME , but we would rather blame someone else. So when your little red wagon gets its wheels knocked off, remember, you and me were the ones that left it in the street, SO DON'T CRY. IT IS your and my fault because we cannot join as one and fight the tyranny that has and will continue to divide us.
Bamos99
Do you have any content driven reason to dislike him or is it all style?
Chuckv
They are not fools? They have read the Founding Fathers? I would like to see the proof of that.
Our founding fathers were men of learning and sophisticated nuanced thought. If there is any such thing in the Tea Party Movement, I would like someone to point it out to me.
Aranxa
And they can't seem to spell their signs correctly.
gameon
What part of the bill of rights is "nuanced"? Sophisticated maybe, but nuanced it is not. Nuanced is a word lawyers and liberals use in order to deceive .
Example: "A well regulated militia,being necessary to the security of a free State,the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed." Doesn't sound too sophisticated or nuanced to me,sounds pretty simple and straight forward actually.
Just because you wish there was an alternative meaning to what the founding fathers promoted doesn't make it so.They put out simple concepts for the express purpose of making it understandable to the average man because they knew there would be people like you who try to distort the true meaning of their work. I think the Tea-party is perfectly capable of understanding and protecting their ideals without having the elitist credentials you apparently require for any movement to be taken seriously. Not to mention everyone I know in the Tea-party are successful business people and members of the community, so where do you get off calling us fools ? We're the ones who pay for your social experiments.
"Nothing astonishes men so much as common sense and plain dealing". Emerson.
tumbleweed
Why is it the ones who claim to be defenders of the Revolution know the least about it? Most of what I have read of their movement goes against the founding father's and the reasons they had a revolution. They are all for injecting religion into politics when it that's why most of our founders came to this country in the first place. They need to learn to read the history of our country. Most of them have the same bizarre notions the Republican's have.
SpeakEnglish
As George Washington said: "Government is not reason, it is not eloquence; it is a force...a fearful master". Wanting a smaller government, wanting personal freedoms, and wanting less "fruits of our labor" forcibly taken from workers are not bizarre "notions" of Republicans.
These ideas are the base of Independent/Libertarian philosophoical thought and the foundation on which the Founding Fathers established their new country. I do think the name-calling and bashing, just because you can, is unproductive and unseemly. Extremisim will not flourish in America--from either side..
jernigc
An excellent response to tumbleweed and the author for that matter. These folks don't get that the Tea Party Movement is about the restoration of "classic liberalism" with its belief in personal sovereignty, individual freedom grounded in property right and the rule-of-law (something I doubt that they actually understand), and a desire for limited government, i.e. article 1, section 8.
They insist on believing that its about value voters cramming down their values on those who don't share them. Apparently it takes one progressive to be paranoid about what another form of progressive might do to them in the name of the "common good"
dbro0009
yes that was a famous quote but then you look at Washington's actions once he became president (for example, endorsing Hamilton in centralizing banks and the whiskey rebellion) and it is obvious he was speaking about the monarchy that was trying to take away the power of colonist elites in the legislature of the colonies.
you and jernigc know very little about American history. it is almost sad. as i often say about you frivolous commentors. it is like watching a retard throw ice at the sun.
gameon
This is perfect.Let the liberals underestimate the Tea-party movement, it makes it easier to defeat them.
Chuck ,are the dems. the party of "learning and sophisticated thought"? I would like to remind you of the glazed eyed ,stoned numbnuts who panted after Obama under the b.s. mantra of "Hope and Change". Wow ,the dems are so deep and intellectual,i'm impressed.
reardongalt
Right. It is funny isn't it. Mr. Nuanced up there voted for a Chicago mobster and stood back and "Hoped they Change". ROTFLMAO!
I keep saying: And they think we're the ones that are stupid. Too funny.
GinaRN
It IS funny, especially when you claim not to be stupid.
You are possibly one of the stupidest Hatriots on here.
Ignorant of history, a boor, bigot and a homophobe, and utterly confident of your "rightness".
Great handle. I admired Ayn Rand, when I was 16 years old. When I was 18 I realized she wrote romantic melodramas for selfish children.
Shouldn't you be hiding in a cave somewhere trying to
"stop the engine of the world"?
reardongalt
"Shouldn't you be hiding in a cave somewhere trying to "stop the engine of the world"?"
It's funny how things work out. As it turns out Obama is doing it for us!
Shouldn't you be checking rectums?
"Romanticism is the conceptual school of art. It deals, not with the random trivia of the day, but with the timeless, fundamental, universal problems and values of human existence. It does not record or photograph; it creates and projects. It is concerned-in the words of Aristotle-not with things as they are, but with things as they might be and ought to be." Ayn Rand
But Libs don't do well with abstract concepts, do they? I guess you missed the point. You thought it was a "Romantic Novel"!!
Here. This is more your style:
"The loft was warm, dusty and redolent of apples; the autumn sunshine peeping through its one dusty window tinted the odds and ends hanging on the walls with a golden light, so that the strings of onions, cast-off skates, old raincoats, lengths of rope, worn-out leather straps and an old hat or two had acquired a gilded patina. Most of the bare floor was taken up with orderly rows of apples, arranged according to their kind, but there was still space enough left for the girl sitting in the centre, a half-eaten apple in one hand, the other buried in the old hat box beside her."
"The cosy homeliness of the manse where her parents and five brothers and sisters lived in the tiny village on the northernmost coast of Scotland was bliss. It was only a pity that on this particular week's holiday, both her elder brothers, James and Donald, should be away from home, leaving Henry, the youngest and only eight years old, recovering from chickenpox, with no one to amuse him but herself. She doted on him, but they had been fishing all the morning, and after lunch had been cleared away she had gone to the loft for an hour's peace before getting the tea, and now here he was again, no doubt with some boyish scheme or other which would probably entail climbing trees or walking miles looking for seashells." Roses From Christmas, 1976
dbro0009
reardongalt,
no ginarn is right. you are dumb. you think romanticism is a good thing because aristotle said so? you do realize aristotle was a pedaphile and an elitist. no you didn't know that because you are dumb. you do realize that hitler used romanticism to galvanize the german's into ultra-nationalism. no you don't, because you are dumb
please reardongalt. take your romance novels and go sit in a cave somewhere. stop bothering people
jomama
Around the world everyone agrees that America is a piece of crap, mostly for the kinds of people like Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin, i.e. step outside and ask objective observers who really have no interest one way or the other what they think: America is a land run by hard-core capitalists, and is 1/2 enlightened and aspirational, 1/2 redneck and scary as hell. I applaud anyone promoting the very basic premise of personal liberties and small government - but that's not what this is about - otherwise, they would have been protesting Bush's massive military increases, drug plan, and deficits - but no - that was fine. Now that a Black man is in charge - the same rednecks who beat peaceful student protesters with batons are back, with an illiterate understanding of anything they think they stand for. Obama has the chance to be the greatest president since Kennedy. I for one, hope he gets some big stuff done and then the tea partiers hang him like the Klansmen - because then his voice will then reverberate through future history to quash legions of moronic, illiterate apes for a thousand years.
jomama
reardonjerl - that's not 'Romanticism', that's 'romantic' or maybe 'romanticism' dude. Romanticism was a counter-rational movement of the 1800s. Beethoven was an early Romanticist.
timeisnow
gameon
I have to agree with you, let the libs underestimate the Tea Party, its good for business. We are 3 for 0 so far and they were monumental wins.
AlanD2
Why do conservatives have such a short memory, timeisnow?
You've already forgotten about New York district 23 and the other two Democratic victory in Congressional special elections.
indieinva
My, my Alan- when has actual data or facts ever been relevant to these folks?
I get a feeling the thought process they put into their political/social ideology is no different than the thought process that went into picking their favorite football team or NASCAR driver. Cheer for your favorite team, NO MATTER WHAT. And if the team loses, it's the referees fault so it doesn't count.
reardongalt
Alan, hanging your hat on NY 23 is a false hope. We accomplished exactly what we wanted there. We knew it was probably a losing cause so our goal was to send a message that we won't tolerate Democrats running as Republicans. Scuzzyfova was a Democrat, and we defeated her. True we couldn't beat two Dems at once in a three way race, but we still did what we set out to do.
If you continue to believe you won something in NY 23, you're in for a world of hurt come November.
timeisnow
Alan
I havnt forgotten about Bush, and the Republicans, and God knows you and that President in Blame reminds us daily, and NY 23, which meant nothing.
Obama is worse than Bush ever was, his a Socialist.
The wins in NJ,VA, MASS were monumental, they went big time for Obama, and NJ & MASS are Heavly RED STATES. You losers lost the KENNEDY SEAT, you cant play it down, no matter how hard you try.
Wake up man and smell the trouble in River City, your party is in BIG Trouble
dbro0009
timeisnow,
you do not know what socialism is so please stop citing the concept.
if you want to challenge me i would be glad to take you to school in all aspects of political theory and governance and show you for the dumbass you are. just turn off the comp, and turn up the limbaugh. enjoy your little cocoon of ideology as it protects you from reality. it's so warm and cumfy. soak it in
gameon
O.K. alan, if Kennedy's seat is the same thing as district 23 then i'll trade you one Senate seat for one house seat all day.Or how about one Governorship for one House seat ? In terms of political relevance,Democrats losing Kennedy's senate seat was akin to you losing the Presidency. Big time F'up for Obama.
Your socialist dreams have been dashed,along with your hopes of a voting block dependant upon your handouts.
So now that it's obvoius that you dems. picked a loser you have resorted to calling people bigots,stupid and all the grade school rhetoric in a failed attempt to assign blame for your bad choices on others.
It has become obvious to me that letting you be yourselves is the best way to defeat you. You are your own worst enemy..etc.,etc.
Big Government is a cancer on this country. The Tea-Party is the chemo.
dbro0009
my post above this one goes for you too gameon
gameon
I'm sorry dbr,do you have something to add of substance or are you just looking for a public forum in which to stroke yourself ? If I wanted to hear your "political theory" i'd watch MSNBC.
dbro0009
yes that's right gameon, pretend your lack of knowledge makes you better than me you know-nothing.
just admit. you don't know what socialism is. it's ok
gameon
I would debate you if I thought you were interesting,but you're not ,so I won't. Being a college geek has made you an angry, insecure person . I wish you the best, the best therapy that is.
jomama
Uhm, '3 for 0' and you still have control of nothing, the power to do nothing, and the party of 'NO'. I truly admire and at the same time despise Conservatives consistently positive outlook. I guess when they look in the mirror instead of seeing the apes that they are, they must see something more. Go back to mud race cars and biker repair TV show dramas please.
gameon
I'm actually sipping on a glass of pinot noir listening to a Pavarotti aria. but don't let me ruin your precious stereotype.
Chuckv
The best defense is a good offense. Or maybe you can't follow a logical thought. I wrote nothing about Democrats. I ask again: is there a tea party leader anywhere near the stature of the Founding Fathers?
But since you asked: Obama is a man of learning and sophisticated thought. And there are conservative intellectuals: George F. Will is an example. When I see him at a tea party I will be impressed.
chiefbigknife
Gov. Sarah Palin is all about faith, family, friendship, freedom, fortitude, and fervent fealty to feminism. Her Convention speech will draw higher ratings than the Superbowl.
Reefdancer
Bwwaaaa haaaa haaaa. Another delusional nut case
timeisnow
Reefdancer
We will see! Lets talk on Sunsay night
dbro0009
wow.. sarah palin praisers.. what did God say about worshipping people other than him? you people talk about how you are fundamental christians but in reality jesus would be horrified to see that those who society considereds fundamental followers of him are nothing but a bunch of superstituous small minded hatriots that don't follow any of his teachings
you bomb people
hate people
don't want to share
and have no qualms about overconsuming and vanity
P.S. you have no idea what is in the original bible because it is in hebrew... just ask a Rabbi who has read the unbasterdized version of the bible. there isn't even anything in there about gays. learn to think critically and watch your delecate world unravel... losers
gameon
DBR~ "Delecate" is spelled delicate."Superstituous" is spelled superstitious. I usually hate spell checkers , since you just wrote ten posts claiming how intelligent you are and calling people dumb I thought it appropriate. Apparently your poli-sci professor doesn't teach humbleness.
rustywheeler
It might if they let the press in...
timeisnow
The press from around the world is going to be there. CNN,MSNBC,Fox, ABC,CBS, etc...
AlanD2
What alternate reality do you live in, chiefbigknife?
indieinva
She certainly is hard not to watch- like a horrible train wreck or an interstate pile-up......
timeisnow
chief
I am looking forward to her on Saturday, and she is going to be on Fox Sunday morning with Chris Wallace I think.
flyoverland
While I agree with thees people on a lot of things, I have never been to one of their events. It is, however, unlikely I would ever attend a political convention that has been reported to be a profit making enterprise. Is this still the case? I am waiting for someone to come out saying they've trademarked the name.
daveinboise
What?
flyoverland
read the newspapers and you will know.
daveinboise
My bad. I was responding to the claim that Palin's speech we draw a bigger audience than the Super Bowl.
timeisnow
I agree with them and have only been to a town hall, and it was great, all parties were there, but most didnt want Gov Run Health Care.
indieinva
Well, that's good because nothing that has passed the House or Senate is "Gov't Run Health Care." I guess everyone is finally on the same page.
sailormoon
Aneone carrying defaced pictures and posters, of our President,looses all voice and respect in anything they stand for.I defend anyones rights and evryones rights, to be treated fairly, even if we disagree. But the defacement of our President, is extremely offensive to others.It is a horrible example to our children, Our President is the President of the United States of America.Aneone,speaking and envolved in these events, and does not request those porters removed, looses the following and respect of many others.amapola101 I am no lover of politicians in both parties and feel we have been failed by all.But no president's face should be,deformed.
flyoverland
I guess that was Sailor Jupiter who was saying all that stuff about Bush.
msshay
Cut it out, with all "our president, bs" he's the black president. He's historic, everything he does is historic cause he's black. We got three more years of this bs, unless we get a miracle!
AlanD2
Sorry, msshay. Better make that "seven more years".
timeisnow
Alan,
You need to take a nap, because if you think this Historical President is gona last anymore than 3 more years your crazy.
He is a Lame Duck President already. I call him the President in Blame, he is weak and in over his head and itsnt capable of doing the job..
AlanD2
I'm crazy, timeisnow?
I suppose you plan to elect Sarah Palin in 2012. Or would you rather have Glenn Beck?
Rob Tyree
I'm really getting tired of people who say something should not be done because it's "offensive". Perhaps I missed it, but I've never seen the section of the Constitution that guarantees the right to not be offended. If someone feels the need to make a political statement by defacing the president's picture, so be it. Like it or not, it's their right to do so.
Reefdancer
In college, Joe Farrah was a jazz drummer who interviewed Rubin Hurricane Carter in prison and lobbied for his release because Farrah believed Carter was framed. I think he turned into a right winger hate nut because he couldn't cut it as a drummer, much like Hitler turned into what he became because he was a failed artist. Can't make it in Bohemia? Turn into a nut machine. BTW, Farrah is not from Paterson. He is from a lily-white suburb.
DoctorB
Interesting notion. Can't make it in Bohemia, so reinvent yourself as a nut job. Anger over feeling you were treated unfairly (by not being given credit for the quality of your artistic work) can produce some dangerous reactions.
About 60 years ago, there was a Caribbean baseball player. He was a pretty good pitcher. He dreamed of making it in the Major Leagues here in the US. He was good enough to get a tryout with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Alas, Pittsburgh declined to offer him a contract, so he went back home & became a politician.
Just think of how different history might have been in Fidel Castro had a better curveball.
wareagle82
funny, but I don't recall the 'wingnut' stories during the Dem primaries last year when the question was whether candidates would go to the netroots convention. Curious how anything involving Avlon invariably centers on the right wing.
co-intheknow
Already one of the "key" players has feet of clay - Tom Tancredo should be booted from the Teabagger Clown Car for his hypocracy on illegal immigrants. For those that don't know, Teabagger Tom employed illegals to re-do his basement several years back, while he was banging the anti-immigration drum. What's good for the goose and all that - right?
And honestly, if these Hatriots really choose to believe Farah at WorldNutDaily and his made up stories - not the "hard, investigative" reporting they claim, then more power to them - they deserve the BS stories about the birth certificate, and all the other crap spewed from Farah and his wife.
Let the blue-hair teabaggers give up their "government run" healthcare - ala Medicare - since they're all bitching about government healthcare and see how much they'll whine and likely die off; however, most good 'baggers will never do that because 'they've got theirs' and screw any uninsured that needs help - greedy OLD pigs.
Finally Fair Sarah - the adoration paid to this woman just amazes me. For all the nutters here like Plant, whiney, tranny/mommy and those that blather about the adoration given to Obama, I see the exact same from the sheeple that follow Palin...but you never hear them talk about it because that would be - what's the word - HYPOCRITICAL!
Party on, teabaggers - I hope your $550 ticket to the RW Circus was worth it....someone will be laughing all the way to the bank come Monday.
jerichothedrifter
if SP looked like Janet Reno, she wouldn't be where she is. Sad but true.
JohnConnughton
So Sarah's going to keep the $100,000 after all. I hope the people paying $550 a head to be there realize that's not a tax-deductible contribution to any political movement. It's a straight out gift to Sarah personally, along with the guy who saw this opportunity, and I'd give very good odds none of it goes into her political war chest.
DragonScorpion
I don't quite understand all the indignation over paying Sarah Palin, charging for attendance and it basically being a for-profit event. I thought these people embraced capitalism and the so-called "free market"?
JohnConnughton
Dragon, who is indignant? It's not costing ME a penny,
However, pay attention here. There is a legal line intended to keep political campaigning and profit apart. The for-profit status is why those 2 Republican congresswomen decided not to attend. Their concern was being linked to that for-profit entrapeneur later when they would be in no position to control what he does with the money. Similarly, and especially by doing the business with him, Sarah Palin makes herself somewhat a hostage in the future to whatever HIS plans are. That's her choice and her risk, but about the last person in the world I'd put my blind trust in is a political entrepreneur.
DragonScorpion
I'm all for keeping political campaigning and profit apart, but I thought, according to the conservatives & libertarians, of which most of the Tea partiers are, that such laws were unconstitutional and un-American and all that? I thought profit was generally good in the minds of these people? And considering the support among right-wingers of the recent SCOTUS giveaway to unions and big corporations, I thought the influence of money on politics was a good thing also? "Free speech", even.
I don't recall any caveats in there about 'except for political entrepreneurs'....
It's just looking kind of, well, inconsistent. Maybe even hypocritical. Maybe these folks need to realize that not all regulations are unnecessary. And their purist adherence to ideology, whilst setting aside practicality, isn't very wise, at all.
podex101
Tom Tancredo as a great defender of our nation?????
This is an email I sent to him a few months back:
Mr Tancredo
Sir, after spending 22 years in the military I would like to thank you for your support. But I would like to know how is it possible to criticize the Veterans Administration (VA) when you sir, have never used it?
My family and I are using th VA and have never had serious problems with it.
Another question; now that many service-members are returning from combat, are you going to support the mental health problems facing them? Since you sir, avoided military service when called by our country to do so due to mental illness?
As you can tell by my Latin American name, I am from a little country down south, way south. If not given the chance, by this great country to serve, somebody in the USA would have taken my place at the front. I know it could have not been you, because as a typical republican, you will support our country's wars by sending other people's children to fight it.
Thank you for your great support sir, 7083 miles behind the combat lines.
Have a great day, sir.
MrMommy
We will see you on election day. Until then Kiss my A$$.
dbro0009
oh... some seduction from mr.transvestite..
when did it all become about elections? why isn't it about policy anymore? why isn't it about bettering America and not our party. why is it about this fascist thought process about what it is to be american and what ideology you must folllow to be American. we are all american! just because someone believes in gravity and science and looks at dirt poor foreigners as equal human beings and doesn't want them to be bombed doesn't make them unamerican.
you are a disgrace to christ and america. enjoy that incubator of cable news while you can cause someday God is gonna chop you down
JohnConnughton
Well said, dbro0009.
As I see it elections (the people, the messenger) are all about form, while policy is about substance. So the problem is that the message IS the media, and people have been trained by Madison Ave to look no deeper than the flat screen TV or billboard or bumper sticker.
In order not to cry about that I will make a joke of sorts: we are on the edge of full 3D television as well as movies, so maybe it will swing back the other way now and put some depth back into people.
maspring
"Thrilla in Vanilla"
Funny!
Thank you.
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