Tea Party activism is not about political dissent - It's about vile, storm trooper sound bites

[cali]

Mike Lupica - News

Monday, March 29th 2010, 4:00 AM

We are 100 yards, no more than that, from the front entrance to the school. There is a stop sign here, and underneath the word "Stop" someone has spray-painted "Obama."

Stop Obama.

Why has somebody done it? Because in the current climate, people have been convinced they can. Or, more likely, that they should.

My son is in the seat next to me in the car. He says, "This isn't the only one. There are others in different parts of town."

At least here it is only vandalism about this President and the country's new health care bill, not phone threats left for some members of Congress. It is not an honorable old hero of the civil rights movement like Rep. John Lewis hearing the kind of racial insults he heard nearly 50 years ago in America. Or other congressmen being spat upon, all in the name of democracy at work.

At least here it is not Rep. Bart Stupak, a Democrat from Michigan, being called a "baby killer," or a brick through a lawmaker's window. It is not Sarah Palin on her Twitter page - this woman who officially puts the twit in Twitter - posting the following message:

"Commonsense Conservatives & lovers of America: Don't Retreat, Instead - RELOAD."

As always, you wonder where this patriotism and righteousness and Tea Party activism was during Bush-Cheney. You wonder if all the people who want to take to the streets - and to the television cameras now - decided they weren't needed for eight years because they thought the country was going so good. Or maybe they have just convinced themselves that the Obama who must now be stopped didn't just inherit this America, he created it.

This is no longer about political dissent. It is about storm trooper sound bites, and hate. This isn't the kind of honest debate on which our system of government has been built. It is vile, back-alley fighting, getting worse by the day, with no end in sight. People say that opposition to all Presidents, even the most unpopular white ones, sounds like this. No, it doesn't.

<snip>

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2010/03/29/2010-03-29_hate_just_drips_from_tea_party.html#ixzz0jafHqLOB

[cbdo2007]

1. "political dissent" is about having an argument - these people have no argument.

They just don't like Obama.

[calimary]

2. And isn't that adorable? She even invented a whole new word! "Commonsense."

Wow, sarah. You've coined your very own cute little word there!

[aikoaiko]

3. I'm of the opinion that the 1st Amendment protects hateful speech

up to but not including direct threats or inciting unlawful behavior, etc.

However, anyone stepping over that line, whether it be right wing militia, tea party mobs, religious sects (christian or nonchristian), criminal gangs, civilian mobs, left-wing anarchists, etc, deserves to be fully prosecuted and good people should take the means to defend themselves from unjustified violence. The right-wing in America has always been much more violent that the lefties.

[RKP5637]

4. +1000, n/t

[PVnRT]

5. Wow - Lupica wrote a column without mentioning New York sports teams?

K&R