Democratic Underground Latest Greatest Lobby Journals Search Options Help Login
Google

Head of the St. Louis Tea Party vows to "destroy the left"

Printer-friendly format Printer-friendly format
Printer-friendly format Email this thread to a friend
Printer-friendly format Bookmark this thread
This topic is archived.
Home » Discuss » Archives » General Discussion (1/22-2007 thru 12/14/2010) Donate to DU
 
meegbear Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri May-07-10 01:31 PM
Original message
Head of the St. Louis Tea Party vows to "destroy the left"
Bill Hennessy is co-founder of the St. Louis Tea Party, self-published political guru and a sales guy who also works in tech. He's also an angry man with a message: Blame "the left" for everything wrong in the world. Hennessy has a platform and a voice and he's not afraid to use it, particularly in furtherance of his primary goal, which he lays out in a post castigating fellow Tea Party agitators for failing to put a stop to a sales tax increase:

The tea party is out to destroy the left in America. If we’re not going to do that—if we’re going to just wave yellow flags and wear clever t-shirts—then let’s go back to our regular programming.

Seriously, ask yourself not what you believe, but what you will DO. The time for standing in a park shouting is over. It’s time for action.


Ordinarily Hennessy's threat would be a shruggable event. The politics of personal destruction don't play all that well on the main stage, and the idea of "destroying the left" reeks of John Bircherism with a large dose of indoctrination by right-wing anti-taxers.

Except for this: Bill Hennessey, right-wing radio pundit Dana Loesch, and Big Government publisher Andrew Breitbart are using Kenneth Gladney's bogus injuries as their proxy for race-baiting and union bashing to leverage gains in the upcoming midterm elections.

After all, war is war. When you're out to destroy people, truth just doesn't seem to make that much of a difference. It doesn't seem to matter that Gladney's injuries didn't come close to matching up with what he claims was done to him, or that his original "lawyer" was also his employer, or that the whole dustup began over insulting imagery on buttons he was handing out at a town hall meeting. For these folks, and Hennessy in particular, it's war. All-out, scorched-earth kind of war.

Adam at St. Louis Activist Hub has put together a timeline of false accusations, outright lies, and machinations to promote Gladney's case and discredit not only the Obama administration, but anyone whose politics fall to the left of, well, just about anyone. It's pretty damning, no matter how many blustery posts they write claiming otherwise.

Still. I could shake my fist in the air and write it all off as more of the same, but there's this one thing that keeps nagging at me. Andrew Breitbart, Bill Hennessy and Dana Loesch are also associated with American Majority. American Majority is funded by the Sam Adams Alliance. The Sam Adams Alliance has a newly-established relationship with close Dick Armey associate and former chief of staff Denis Calabrese. Denis Calabrese is also founder and principal of The Patriot Group, a lobbying firm established with the goal of "lobbying with backbone."

Hennessy's most recent post links to the American Majority 'grassroots summit' in Kansas City this weekend. One of the featured speakers is Eric O'Keefe, Chairman of the Sam Adams Alliance, also on the board of Wisconsin Club for Growth and a former director of Americans for Limited Government. ALG has been associated with Howard Rich and Grover Norquist.

Scroll down a bit further on the page and you'll find the Koch connection through the Americans for Prosperity Missouri, Kansas and Nebraska sponsorships.

So it goes once again. These so-called grass roots activists are really all just part of the thug wing of the Republican party. If we were to analyze the DNA of the St. Louis Tea Party, we'd find Jack Abramoff, Grover Norquist, Charles Koch, and a bunch of College Republicans on the main strand.

http://crooksandliars.com/karoli/head-st-louis-tea-party-vows-destroy-left
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
onehandle Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri May-07-10 01:37 PM
Response to Original message
1. Bring it on, asshole.
Wheeze your way on over.

Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
roguevalley Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri May-07-10 02:22 PM
Response to Reply #1
10. they are under the impression we don't own guns.
rv, who owns guns
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Arkana Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri May-07-10 02:23 PM
Response to Reply #10
12. I own a gun. So does my father.
I feel great pity for the first fool teabagger who comes around my house looking for trouble.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
frylock Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri May-07-10 02:32 PM
Response to Reply #1
13. word
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
and-justice-for-all Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri May-07-10 02:36 PM
Response to Reply #1
14. I second that! nt
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
TheKentuckian Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri May-07-10 01:40 PM
Response to Original message
2. I fart in Bill Hennessy's general direction
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
maxsolomon Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri May-07-10 01:45 PM
Response to Original message
3. what does he mean by the left?
cuz the actual american left, the Eugene Debs american left, got destroyed 100 years ago.

what we have now are liberals and centrists.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
ananda Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri May-07-10 01:49 PM
Response to Original message
4. What left?
There is no left left ...
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
HughBeaumont Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri May-07-10 01:54 PM
Response to Original message
5. So . . . is murder on the table?
Rhetoric like this will send the wrong person over the top in the wrong place. Does anyone THINK before talking anymore?
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
CurtEastPoint Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri May-07-10 02:15 PM
Response to Original message
6. Typical smarmbucket f**k.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
roguevalley Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri May-07-10 02:23 PM
Response to Reply #6
11. looks like a 4-F to me. Go sit on the group W bench, mother fucker
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Kingofalldems Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri May-07-10 02:18 PM
Response to Original message
7. Another repub fake tough guy
I'm 'ascared'!
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
cognoscere Donating Member (381 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri May-07-10 02:20 PM
Response to Original message
8. Hey Hennessee, ESAD.
Eat shit and die.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Arkana Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri May-07-10 02:22 PM
Response to Original message
9. In the words of your immortal retarded standard-bearer, teabaggers:
"Bring it on."
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Rex Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri May-07-10 02:38 PM
Response to Original message
15. Hahaha...insignificant bug.
Fleas should be an irritant, not a danger imo.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
struggle4progress Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri May-07-10 05:03 PM
Response to Original message
16. These guys practice huff-n-puff: twist and misrepresent minor events, try to provoke provoke people
to engineer more minor events to twist and misrepresent, rinse, and repeat; if the story line isn't working, then change it slightly and try again; if it still doesn't work, change it some more and try yet again. Their game is to provide a constant barrage of negative noise and provocations, which keeps the spotlight focussed on them, until some idiot over reacts, at which point they go into overdrive and scream I told you so!

The correct response is never to take them on directly, if that's possible: ignore them when you can; organize around them and behind them; pick off and convert whatever confused followers of theirs you can actually reason with; be calm and rational and informed when you are forced to confront them in public spaces where your behavior might send signals to onlookers; if forced actually to stand up to them, stand up without allowing yourself to be provoked; and never ever ever let them set the agenda
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
DU AdBot (1000+ posts) Click to send private message to this author Click to view 
this author's profile Click to add 
this author to your buddy list Click to add 
this author to your Ignore list Fri Apr 26th 2024, 01:41 PM
Response to Original message
Advertisements [?]
 Top

Home » Discuss » Archives » General Discussion (1/22-2007 thru 12/14/2010) Donate to DU

Powered by DCForum+ Version 1.1 Copyright 1997-2002 DCScripts.com
Software has been extensively modified by the DU administrators


Important Notices: By participating on this discussion board, visitors agree to abide by the rules outlined on our Rules page. Messages posted on the Democratic Underground Discussion Forums are the opinions of the individuals who post them, and do not necessarily represent the opinions of Democratic Underground, LLC.

Home  |  Discussion Forums  |  Journals |  Store  |  Donate

About DU  |  Contact Us  |  Privacy Policy

Got a message for Democratic Underground? Click here to send us a message.

© 2001 - 2011 Democratic Underground, LLC