What Happened To The Tea Party?.......

[global1]

IMHO they are now having to run for re-election and they realize that if they come off today like they came off in 2010 - they will not win. So what are they doing - they are running to save their jobs. They are toning down their rhetoric - because they want to stay in Congress.

An example: even Joe Walsh (ILLINOIS) settled his deadbeat dad fiasco with his ex-wife - so he comes off looking good this time around and doesn't have the deadbeat dad moniker hanging around his neck like an albatross. Seems to me that some how he was able to muster up the money to pay off and silence his ex-wife - before this coming November.

The tea party has become comfy as the establishment and they are running a more toned down campaign just to save their cushy jobs. That's my opinion.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

1. To be honest

I still don't know who/what the "Tea Party" is other than essentially rabid far-right Republicans whom REALLY don't like President Obama and were able to ride a wave of "angry white male" resentment to victory in 2010 over the fact that an African-American/Democrat was able to become POTUS in 2008. Anybody else have a better grasp on what the "Tea Party" really is?

[MissMarple]

2. For some, racism may play a part but there is also an element of what they see as "fair".

Liberals and conservatives tend to see fairness in different ways. Conservatives firmly believe in Karma, or you get what you deserve. Liberals tend to want to ameliorate bad circumstances. The tea party people are far more concerned with not giving things to the undeserving and the lazy. The corporate Republican Party knows just how to get these people riled up and angry. They do it quite well. Educated liberals have an incredibly hard time understanding conservative motivation. We need to do a much better job of that, otherwise framing issues as Lakoff suggests will be fruitless. Conservatives think we are speaking nonsense. And just like liberals not all conservatives are the same.

I recommend Jonathan Haidt. He is a moral psychologist who has done tons of research into human motivation and value formation. Lots of links here and just google his name. http://people.virginia.edu/~jdh6n/

He has a talk on TED and Bill Moyers. http://www.ted.com/talks/jonathan_haidt_on_the_moral_mind.html

[Tippy]

7. I describe them as "Gun totin racists"

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

9. .

GO peddle that bullshit somewhere else.

[cyberswede]

10. ...or rather

they're a bunch of self-deluded fuckwits.

[Sheepshank]

3. Tea Party Relevance.....

got flushed down the crapper when unrealistic ideological rhetoric failed to morph into reality.

It's as it should be.

Now If only Mike Lee and his idiotic sychophants would realize this, the world would be a better place.

[Carla in Sequim]

4. Not that Bachmann is, in my opinion, even qualified

to have her current job, but only one of her 60-member tea party caucus endorsed her for president. Franks.

Also, if it was as strong as some would like it to be, Romney would not have won the primary. Insanitorium should have. Melissa Harris-Perry had a spokesperson on who said it was just on line now. Telling.

[opihimoimoi]

5. The People are starting to realize Truth trumps Fantasy....Positivitiy trumps Negativity

Teaparty peeps big FAIL at solving....Lack of Wisdom evident in their budgets and social

decisions....too sad to watch....so much waste...prevents solutions to emerge

[Yavin4]

6. The Tea Party Had Some Legitimate Roots but It Got Quickly Co-Opted by the Oligarchs

and the Oligarchs pandered to their racial tribalism instead of their issues.

Now, it's dead, and the nomination of Mitt Romney confirms that.