Eastern Long Island's Tea Party movement is gaining momentum — and national attention
But will it last?
20 comments below
Suffolk 9/12 organizers aren't saying who is behind anti-Tim Bishop posters like this one on a light pole in downtown Riverhead.
"Do you think people will expect me to say something?" his wife, a teacher, recalled him asking as they headed south from their Baiting Hollow home. In a lighthearted attempt to comfort her husband, Ms. Meyer assured him they would likely be dining alone that night.
"He wrote a few things down, but we were thinking we would probably be the only ones to show up," she said of the minutes before the Glenn Beck viewing party they had arranged over the Internet.
Laura Prochaska of East Northport and her dog Buffy were at Polish Hall in Riverhead last week for the campaign launch of Gary Bernsten, a would-be GOP challenger to Congressman Tim Bishop in the 1st Congressional District. Buffy has been a mascot for the Conservative Society for Action since last April, Ms. Prochaska said.
Meanwhile, in West Islip, trade magazine publisher Stephen Flanagan, 55, had already started to organize a group of his own.
While the Meyers, both 44, were happy just to be meeting with like-minded people, the focus of Mr. Flanagan's Conservative Society for Action had already taken shape. He and his members wanted to oust incumbent lawmakers they felt weren't representing their constituents' conservative values, namely congressmen Tim Bishop (D-Southampton) and Steve Israel (D-Huntington).
Then came tax day, April 15. The Meyers and Mr. Flanagan found themselves doing the same thing at the same time, in different parts of Suffolk County.
The Meyers were in downtown Riverhead with other members of their group, some dressed in Revolutionary garb, at one of hundreds of TEA (Taxed Enough Already) Parties held across the U.S. Mr. Flanagan and his CSA sponsored an even larger and more raucous TEA Party outside county government offices in Hauppauge. People attending these events told reporters they were rallying against Wall Street bailouts, government involvement in private enterprise, socialized medicine and, above all, high taxes.
From then on, members of both organizations became known as "tea-partyers." It wasn't long before the groups, which now count almost 4,700 members between them, began collaborating. They've since arranged dozens of joint protests and rallies across Suffolk and elsewhere.
"Every step of the way, we've been working together," Mr. Flanagan said. "We're brothers in arms as far as I'm concerned."
Now, aside from different meeting halls, they're virtually the same group, with the same goals and objectives: To get conservative-minded people elected to local, state and federal offices, while working against perceived liberal incumbents -- chief among them, Congressman Bishop.
TEA PARTY POWER
Eastern Long Island's tea-partyers already appear to be enjoying political success. Although there's no definitive evidence, tea-partyers here believe their rowdy showing outside a Tim Bishop Town Hall meeting in Setauket last year helped spark similar health care protests across the U.S. Mr. Bishop for a time cancelled Town Hall appearances.
"Essentially, we fired the shot that was heard across the country," Mr. Meyer said of the June rally, from which a four-minute video clip went viral through YouTube. "Within two, three weeks you started seeing similar protests all across the country. That all started right here in Setauket."
"Obviously, the rallies worked," Mr. Flanagan said. "That health care bill was supposed to be passed before Aug. 1. But we scared enough of the entrenched elected incumbents that they started to think twice."
The groups also take credit for helping get Sean Walter, former head of the town's Conservative Party, narrowly elected as Riverhead Town supervisor in November, along with a full Republican Town Board.
And both organizations were recognized on a recent Fox News segment for their role in the election of state Assemblyman Dean Murray, a longtime county Republican committee member who himself organized a TEA Party protest in April in Medford.
Mr. Murray, credited as the first official tea-partyer elected to office, edged Democrat Lauren Thoden in a special election in the 3rd Assembly District last month. Local tea-partyers helped the effort by knocking on doors, handing out campaign literature and attending campaign events and fundraisers.
"It is the message that is resonating from ordinary, everyday tax-paying citizens," Mr. Murray, a CSA member, told Fox News during a segment on "Tea party power at the polls."
"Whether they are active in the Tea Party movement or not, we want a smaller government, we want fiscal responsibility," he said. "We want accountability from our political leaders and we want personal responsibility."
ABOUT THE TEA PARTY
It's not a political party. It's not even one group. Tea Party is an umbrella term for hundreds, possibly thousands, of conservative groups that began to spring up during Barack Obama's run for the presidency. Like most of those groups, the CSA and Suffolk 9/12 have joined larger national organizations such as Tea Party Patriots, which reportedly receives funding from conservative lobbying groups such as FreedomWorks, founded by former House majority leader Dick Armey.
National Tea Party groups' Web sites -- TeaPartyPatriots.org and TaxDayTeaParty.com, for example -- serve as organizational and educational resources that help give the smaller groups guidance and a united voice. There is no leader. There is no specific platform. Ms. Meyer and Mr. Flanagan said their groups receive no money from larger organizations or lobbying outfits. Both groups are unincorporated.
As for the local members -- unlike Mr. Murray, who has been heavily involved in Republican Party politics and had previously run for public office -- most local tea-partyers have never been politically active.
Before the meeting at Digger's in Riverhead, Mr. Meyer said he considered himself, like many others in Suffolk 9/12, just a "couch warrior," one who held strong political views but never did anything about it. For the most part, he and his members feel the country, with President Obama at the helm, is marching toward socialism and bankruptcy -- not necessarily in that order -- and without the Tea Party, there would be little anyone could do to stop it.
"I knew there was a hunger for this out there," Mr. Meyer said. "That a lot of people like myself were sick and tired of yelling at the TV every night. People started realizing that, 'If I wait, possibly in five years from now I might not even have the opportunity to voice my opinion.' "
Still, the tea-partyers say they are trying to remain nonpartisan. It's not about the party, but the candidate, they insist. Some feel the Republican Party abandoned them during the free-spending years of George W. Bush, and say they are prepared to lobby against people they help elect if those officials renege on promises of limited government and limited spending.
"Candidates will be held accountable, as long as we're proactive," said Catherine Tenek, 46, a county worker from Manorville and a Suffolk 9/12 member who attended last month's Tea Party Convention in Nashville, Tenn. "We feel that up to this point, once candidates got in, they were just corrupted. We're hoping with the massive change in 2010, with the backing of the people, they can make these hard decisions."
Tea-partyers even insist they would support a Democrat, though they have not done so to date.
"If a Democratic candidate had conservative values, we would support them," Mr. Meyer said. "We just haven't seen that yet. I have not had one single Democrat approach me, so you just get the feeling they disagree with what we're all about."
CAN IT LAST?
Look for the Suffolk tea-partyers to have an impact in November's elections.
"A much smarter man than me once said, 'All politics is local.' So, I would say yes," they will have an impact "on the elections," said Long Island University professor Stanley Klein, who teaches classes on political parties and local politics at C.W. Post. "You don't have a lot of votes at a local level, so a couple of thousand votes turn an election."
Whether the groups will continue to grow, as they hope, is much harder to predict. Historically, such movements tend to get swallowed up by the major political parties, Dr. Klein said.
"Eventually, whatever these people are upset with, which is a pretty amorphous thing, disappears," he said. "And then they fall back into regular parties."
As for a potential lasting impact on policy, Dr. Klein doubted the movement would have any real effect. Government will continue to grow, he said, so long as citizens keep demanding more and more services.
He also pointed out that many tea-partyers, here and nationally, happen to be older retirees or government workers.
"I would guess many of them receive a sizeable amount of money from Social Security and they're on Medicaid, yet they want smaller government," he said. "Are they out of their minds?
"It's also not a group that has the conservative leadership like we had in Congress back in the '90s," he continued. "It is not a group that is based on a philosophy. All they know is they want smaller government, yet they want to keep their services -- but they don't want to talk about that -- and they want the rascals out who created all the problems. And if they looked in the mirror, they would know who is creating the problems."
The Tea Party's future may also hinge on the economic failures or successes of the Obama administration and the Democrats in Congress.
"I don't think anybody who is sitting in [the presidency] right now would have great approval ratings, because we're spending money," said Riverhead's Democratic Committee chairman Butch Langhorn. "Whether that's the answer to the country's problems or not, we can't be sure. I don't like spending money, but if that's what has to happen to get us on track ... then we'll just have wait and see."
He also played down the effects the Tea Party may have had on elections last November and since then, including Republican Scott Brown winning the Massachusetts U.S. Senate seat left open by the death of Democrat Ted Kennedy.
"I don't know whether it was the Tea Party or just the general feeling of the way policies are going today," he said.
ENEMY NUMBER ONE: TIM BISHOP
Southold tea-partyer Craig Johnson gives the same reason most of his fellow Suffolk 9/12 members offer when explaining why Congressman Bishop, whose district covers much of Suffolk County, is enemy number one for the local Tea Party.
"Because of the way he's voted," explained Mr. Johnson, a 55-year-old construction worker and father of four boys. "Basically, he's a rubber stamp for [House speaker] Nancy Pelosi and [Senate majority leader] Harry Reid. Anything that Reid and Pelosi want, he would go with along with it."
Both the GOP machine and tea-partyers look at Mr. Bishop as vulnerable in 2010 due to the recent anti-incumbent and anti-Democratic trend, the high Republican registration in the 1st Congressional District and the last election results: Mr. Bishop beat political newcomer Lee Zeldin with the second-lowest margin of victory among Democratic incumbent congressmen in the state, 58 percent.
There are already eight challengers hoping to face Mr. Bishop in November, and the number seems to grow by the day. Most have met with the Suffolk 9/12 and CSA groups.
"We're vetting these candidates and we'll try to get behind one of them, or maybe not just one of them but several, if a candidate who aligns with our principles can be found," said banker Richard Burns, 30, who heads the groups' efforts in Riverhead. "We're certainly going to lend our support and act as a ground campaign because it's evident that Tim Bishop is not really aligning with the values and principles of the group."
In recent weeks, Wild West-style signs that read "Not Wanted: Tim Bishop," along with his picture, have been popping up around the district. Though the Meyers said they knew who was behind the posters, they said it wasn't them. And they wouldn't name names.
Mr. Bishop declined to be interviewed for this story.
In a News-Review story covering last April's TEA Party in Riverhead, the congressman said he could understand people's frustration with the recklessness that led to the housing and Wall Street collapses, but he felt the TEA revelers were misinformed about perceived tax hikes.
"As we're sitting here in April 2009, 95 percent of Americans have gotten a tax cut thanks to this administration and Democrats in Congress, and not a single person has had a tax increase," the four-term congressman said.
Mr. Klein, the LIU professor, agreed that Mr. Bishop was probably more vulnerable than his 2nd Congressional District counterpart, Steve Israel.
Still, he said, he wouldn't bet against him.
"I don't think they're giving Bishop credit for the fact that his family goes back to colonial days," he said. "His ancestors were among the original settlers of the East End, way back in the 17th century. He's got a lot of friends out there, and relatives and acquaintances that are quite impressed with his lineage.
"And the DAR stick together. That's Daughters of the American Revolution."
mwhite@timesreview.com
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20 comments found
teanuts : 3/17/2010
Most of these people are probably retired government workers who received socialized health care in the form of my tax dollars for their entire careers, or people who already have their insurance paid for by their employers. As usual, the small buainess owner or independent contractor is told to root, hog or die! The motto of the right: I got mine now go get your own.
Obama : 3/7/2010
One thing we all have to agree about. Obama woke up the American people!May God bless America - especially the Tea Party!!
incredible : 3/6/2010
Incredible: Guess you don't get it. "Turd blossom" is Bush's well known pet name for Karl Rove. Don't you read the papers?
The reference in the comment stemmed from the fantastical, sick flourish of excretory references in your venal attack,i.e., "Clearly, you've marked your territory by leaving little piles of leftist droppings all over the net ..." Wow! How clever! Did that phraseology come to you in a frenzied vision?
What a mind, what a mind! The joke was,when little piles of leftist droppings and markings fell on such a fertile mind as yours,they seem to have produced turd blossoms. Is that clear enough for you, bunky?
The rest of your "I know you are but what am I' rant speaks for itself. Where'd you get that from, Pee Wee Herman?
Your over the top labels "far left," "typical liberal,""hatred of an entire swath of people," etc. etc. are pompous, false figments of your imagination, which seems twisted with hatred.
The rest of your mindless rant is beneath notice, so babble on all you want. All you do is embarrass yourself.
Hope you can get over it.
This correspondence is over. Can't argue with blindered ideological zealots who can't do anything but lie and smear.
Hope you don't sit up too late composing a last word.
Bu'bye! Have a nice day.
Brad Berthold
Incredible : 3/6/2010
Brad,
The most substantive thing you can write in response in a link the 'allegations' in Wikipedia, yet you completely ignore the puppeteers who formed and support your leftist ideologies You decry insults after making them. Like the typical liberal, you believe your hatred of an entire swath of people is justified, therefore righteous, and no accusation, truth being irrelevant, is unwarranted in their all out war to deconstruct 'Evil America'.
Why is it that when far left liberals like yourself run out of things I am reluctant to even categorize as arguments, you descend into a weird kind of disgusting 'baby talk'? 'Turd Blossoms'? Did you get that from Steven Colbert?
An objective observer would conclude that your ability to write is proof positive that you've been educated far beyond your intelligence, or you've spent too much time at altitude without oxygen, captain.
tea party outrages : 3/5/2010
Boy, the personal attack on me reads a lot into my criticisms that simply is not there, and parrots the empty style and personal smears typical of tea party rants. No financing from big organizations?
Get outta here!
Calling me out, you say? Financing allegations are lies, you say?
Without belaboring the point, those who wish can check out the wikipedia entry on tea party financing:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea_Party_movement
See the section on "Astroturfing allegations."
The list of financiers, e.g., the Koch brothers, Dick Armey's "Freedom works" and others has actually been well documented.
Smug, smarmy comments pretending to "call out" what the writer convinces himself are lies exposes the hypocrisy of the tea party organizers who deny moneyed forces are financing efforts to channel good people's frustrations toward their own ends.
I clearly didn't disparage the white middle class. And no mention of Bush.
Fertilized imaginations grow turd blossoms, it seems.
Could the writer be one of our esteemed town officials?
Sure hope not!
Tea Party : 3/5/2010
"They claim to hate "big government" but are pro-military, which is an almost $1 trillion budget - which one is it?" Shall we have no military?
"Jim Bunning actually blocked legislations for $10B of unemployment extensions and new job creations, stopping tens of thousands of people from working?"
Were you not paying attention? Bunning did not oppose the bill, but opposed yet another huge unfunded expense..
"I would guess many of them receive a sizeable amount of money from Social Security and they're on Medicaid, yet they want smaller government," he said. "Are they out of their minds?"
I believe Prof. Klein meant to say Medicare. (Medicaid being the program covering healthcare for the poor..you know, those people Obama is trying to insure) Those retired paid into this system throughout their lifetime of work. Not optional btw, but the once separate account was moved into the general accounting by a liberal democrat president and it was then pilfered by the government, covering immigrants who never contributed a dime. And this is what happens when big government takes over. The use of Medicare is also not optional, but manditory. We are told there are Billions (with a "b") of fraudulent claims for which we seem to need an act of congress to do anything about. Once again, what happens when big government takes over.
"I don't think they're giving Bishop credit for the fact that his family goes back to colonial days," he said. "His ancestors were among the original settlers of the East End, way back in the 17th century. He's got a lot of friends out there, and relatives and acquaintances that are quite impressed with his lineage"
Now trust a university professor to make the most ridiculous assertion of all. Who is "out of their mind(s) professor? When exactly did we become a government of offices passed down in a lineage?
What the Tea Party people prepresent is something which has the Progressives and Liberals in a dither. While they make their best attempt at making us (yes, I am proudly of them) appear to be intellectually vacant, they know that is far up field from the case. Do not confuse "grassroots" with uneducated, for our people are, in additon to highly motivated, are highly informed. Doubt that if you will, but next November will speak for itself.
I can also assure the professor this movement is not going away any time soon. There is much work to be done, work which will not culminate in the few acute concerns of the day, but this awakened "sleeping giant" shall be on patrol from here on.
Join the Fight : 3/5/2010
I am proud to associated with both groups, and be a part of this movement. We are citizens who want to see real change occur in our Government. We do not want higher taxes, bigger government, taking over of specific industries (auto, healthcare, etc). We want our elected officials to be held accountable for their votes. Come November 2010 there WILL BE real change in our Government. WE THE PEOPLE will be SILENT NO MORE. Join both groups to take back our Country: Suffolk County 9/12 Project : http://www.meetup.com/Suffolk-County-9-12-Project/ AND Conservative Society for Action: http://www.csa-1776.org SILENT NO MORE
Judy Pepenella
Tea Party : 3/5/2010
wow... the left vs the right is very apparent in these discussions. Taking sides on such important matters is ridiculous. We all want the same thing: a viable America.
I am a Tea Partier! I proudly admit that I have attended rallies, the DC protest on September 12 and have made numerous calls/letter/emails to government. I was a member of the Suffolk County 9-12 Group that Bob and Mary Meyer organize - my walk is a little different than theirs and I left the group.
I still respect the group: it is true grassroots. I feel that this group was floundering and latched on to a GOP hack (or was it the other way around) that started leading the group down the wrong path. Not surprisingly, that person was just appointed to the ZBA! Sadly, I expect to see more of this cronyism and hope that the 9-12 group realizes what happened.
They have good, impassioned people - many of whom think outside the box and can make a positive difference- many others that bleat on about the latest the latest neo-con internet half-truth.
If they can get their act together they will be a real agent for change!
Robin Flannery
Brad Berthold : 3/5/2010
Brad, I understand that since Bush is not in office, your frothing hatred has to find an outlet, but try to maintain a little intellectual honesty, ok?
Clearly, you've marked your territory by leaving little piles of leftist droppings all over the net in the form of passionate, but factually anemic postings.
So you equate 'white, middle class' with something negative. I suppose when La Raza holds a protest you'll be decrying the sea of brown faces as being exclusionary, right? I suppose it never occurred to you that the demographics of the protest represent those who will have the fruits of their labor taken away from their families by the force of government for the benefit of those who suck resources out of our communities while giving little or nothing back.
You state the Tea Party is really funded by 'nefarious' right wing groups. That's a lie, and I'm calling you on it. The vast bulk of funding comes from individuals. Contrast this against the forces that lead your left wing, America loathing agenda. DailyKos, MoveOn, Mediamatters are not primarily funded by small donations, but by a few wealthy liberals, including foreigners like the 'destroyer of national currencies' , George Soros.
Your desperation to maintain a sense of moral and intellectual superiority has led you to finally melt down. Wipe the foam off your mouth, becuase when November comes you and your 'useful idiot' comrades are going to be taking up a lot Internet real estate trying to convince each other that hundred of races across the country were rigged. After all, in the light of your brilliance, what other explanation can there be for the freight train that's about to run down your recycled 60's ideology.
Brad, well said : 3/5/2010
Brad-
Couldn't agree more - it's sad that our electorate isn't astute enough to see through the Tea Party hysteria and nonsense.
No wonder we are ridiculed by other countries around the world - most people are more interested in voting for "American Idol" than the representatives that can impact their daily lives.
Tea? No Thanks : 3/5/2010
I've joined the Coffee Party USA.
The Coffee Party Movement gives voice to Americans who want to see cooperation in government. We recognize that the federal government is not the enemy of the people, but the expression of our collective will, and that we must participate in the democratic process in order to address the challenges that we face as Americans. As voters and grassroots volunteers, we will support leaders who work toward positive solutions, and hold accountable those who obstruct them.
Tea Party outrages : 3/5/2010
Tea Party Crowd: Are they kidding?
What gall for the Suffolk County tea party dupes to claim "It all started here," and that "We fired the shot that was heard across the country," as if their rude,rag tag mob's know- nothing, outrageous shout downs at Town Hall meetings somehow were the progenitors of a national movement! Their "viral clips" on Youtube were just a few of many, all showing the frightening vehemence of their troupe of misguided, flailing adherents. What ego to think they were the national leaders! Demonstrably false. Big heads, little brains, apparently.
Listening to their comments, reading their signs (check out the sign photo in your paper from the traffic circle hospital protest last year), and watching their costumed poseurs was amusing, but cause for concern. The national rally displayed too many grotesqueries to list.
Simply enlisting as the "9/12 Movement," engendered by the media clown Glen Beck, tells the tale, and throws into immediate question whatever shred of credibility remained of the notions the most preposterous elements of these frustrated, confused people are shouting about.
Fringers who follow Beck should certainly know better. Why are so many tea party supporters seemingly middle class, middle aged white folks? What is it they really want? Are we so uneducated and unsophisticated we allow ourselves to be influenced by people like Glen Beck, Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, and the rest of the parrots of Rupert Murdoch's babbling brigades ?
(How times have changed! I remember when the NY Post under legendary owner Dorothy Schiff was the "liberal" paper in New York City. My father used to buy it at Jamesport. The shopkeeper wouldn't even unwrap the paper to put it on the newsstand, and chastised my father for reading "that Communist paper."Now, thanks to Rupert Murdoch,, the Post, as well as his radio empire and TV's Faux "News" seems a fount of outright lies and misinformation for the gullible tea party crowd and other slavish followers of some of the most outrageous nonsense we've seen since the McCarthy era.)
As for the tea party misfits who consistently claim they have no national funding, it is obvious huge support for the "movement" comes in large part from right wing sources with nefarious motives and agendas, which shows how innocent the crowds are, and how ignorant the press chooses to be in not reporting where the money and support comes from.
At the rallies and town hall shout downs, the comments and signs ("death panels," birther allegations,”socialism,” “fascism,” “communism,” etc. etc.) shows the ignorance, gullibility, and naiveté of the crowds who are being duped by the those behind scenes financiers of this misguided, confused, angry example of voter frustration.
I venture the tea party crowd may well regret bragging about installing the likes of Sean Walter, who has long been recognized as an ideological zealot, as supervisor. They astoundingly vote against their own self interests.
As LIU professor Klein said, "Are they crazy?"
The answer, dear friends, is clearly "Yes!"
Hope it's not all downhill from here. The nation has enough troubles without circus side shows by crazies such as the tea party "patriots."
God bless America? Evidently, not yet.
Brad Berthold
Real Problem is with the 545 in DC : 3/4/2010
Vote out all of the 545 reps/congress/senators. Let's send a VERY CLEAR message that NO MATTER what political party each and every one of them better start REALLY listening and representing US or out they go too asap!
Sick of all the talk and not doing the walk! Want to see an effective health plan passed and quickly for all..have all 545 start from zero health, pensions, benefits like the rest of us and only allowed to have what we have. Anyone know of anyone with the power and backbone to bring this to the 545 NOW...if so, please post contact information and pass that along with our enough is NOW definitely ENOUGH emails.
Thank you
Give me a break : 3/4/2010
Does anyone who is anti-tea-party have ANYTHING at all to say that DOESN'T involve Fox News? ANYTHING???? Give it up, you've been brainwashed into thinking we're the problem and all of everything we believe stems from a tv network. What you don't realize because people like Chris shiver-up-my-leg Matthews won't report it is that what actually caused the current crisis was DEMOCRATS putting through legislation forcing banks to loan to high risk individuals because "everyone has the right to own a house". Do yourself a favor, go to youtube and search on "McCain's Early Recognition of Fannie/Freddie Crisis" and watch it.
OH, WHAT'S THAT? Republicans CALLING FOR REGULATION? Democrats BLOCKING IT WITH PARTY LINE VOTES?? Obama NOT SAYING ANYTHING ABOUT IT AT THE TIME??? The Bush administration recognizing the problem almost as soon as they got in office? Say it ain't so you big teaser...
Of course I'm sure you'll just watch 2 seconds, see the Fox logo, call it "faux news" and close it.
Dr klein : 3/4/2010
Most older tea party members understand that we all will have to bit the bullet to reverse the progress ive damage done to this country.Dr. Kleins problem is that he's looking at conservatives thru his selfish liberal eyes. Another thing, who cares if Bishop goes back to Adam. He's Pelosi Jr. I hope Klein's students understand he has an agenda.
Silent No More!!!
to: UGLINESS : 3/4/2010
Please stop tossing out the 'extreme' right wing and 'hatred' accusations. The real hatred in our country today is in the hearts of the extreme leftists (oh, sorry, I mean "progressives"). Hatred for America, hatred for whites, hatred towards minorities who don't tow the liberal line, hatred towards our military, hatred towards the south, hatred towards gun owners, hatred toward the most productive in our society, hatred for business, and hatred for Christians. Fox is monitored with a microscope, yet go to MSNBC and listen to the vile, violence inciting rants that they spew on a regular basis. There is no equivalent on Fox. I heard Ed Schultz call Sarah Palin a 'c**t' a few days ago, and you leftists didn't say a peep. You need to open your eyes if you think the slanderous label of 'hate' belongs anywhere but in the lap of liberals. I'm no fan of Fox or Palin, but the hypocritical maligning of conservative and vicious ad hominem attacks by you leftists is an insult to anyone who can see, hear, and think.
Great article! : 3/4/2010
Proud that Americans are finally standing up to Big Government and fake, phony liberals! Mr. Klein's assertations about Medicaid and Social Security benefits are only one side of the story. These people have WORKED for the benefits all of their lives--they should recieve their benefits--not the illegals and criminals who loot the system. And enough with the FOX news bashing--uh I bet they read alot more than you. Amazing how the same people who say they espouse 1st Amendment freedoms are the same people who begin with the "angy mob" nonsense. These people are Patriots and I think they smell the coffee--just fine.
ugliness : 3/4/2010
Most members of the Tea Party are decent ordinary people who are fed up, and they should be, but I wish they'd wake up and smell the coffee. FOX is nothing more than the extreme right wing's propaganda machine, with fear-mongering and hatred as its real core values. FOX is cunning in how it's actually able to enlist citizens into joining forces with the interests that got us into the mess we're in today: unregulated free market capitalism and a government that is bought and paid for from the halls of Congress to the Justice Court. We don't need an angry mob, we need clear-eyed, rational adults to get to work fixing this mess.
Joining Tea Party : 3/4/2010
Where do I sign up?
Tea Party : 3/4/2010
Tea Party supporters are an interesting bunch of people that have one thing in common rather than driving actual reform - they watch WAY too much FOX News and are out of their heads hysterical.
They claim to hate "big government" but are pro-military, which is an almost $1 trillion budget - which one is it?
They cry "socialism" but wouldn't know true socialism if it smacked them in the face - how about spending some time in 1968 Czechoslovakia or Russia/Cuba in the '70's?
Oh, btw, Medicare is a national program that polls show that seniors are ok with, warts and all.
Where were these Tea Party hysterics when we sent troops to Iraq twice and spent hundreds of billions for no reason?
Where are these Tea Party people now when GOP senators like Jim Bunning actually blocked legislations for $10B of unemployment extensions and new job creations, stopping tens of thousands of people from working?
What is the composite demographic makeup of a Tea Totaler? Like 99.9% white.
BTW I believe that Tim Bishop and Steve Israel voted for more troops in Afghanistan and voted for tax cuts for education, housing, etc, which align with Tea Party principles. Bishop is a whipping boy because he befriended a couple of migrant workers.
When the poster child of Tea Party people is Sarah Palin and the poster channel is Fox News, they lose the steam of credibility on the kettle driving the tea being heated.
