When did the Tea Party "jump the shark" to become a bunch of phonies?

[Democrats_win]

1. Never! They will always remain true to their message: It's about the deficit stupid.

2. From day one when they complained only after big spender and big disaster Bush was gone.

3. When their rhetoric overshadowed their message.

4. When they turned against their own Republican party in New York's congressional district 23 race which allowed the Democrat, Bill Owens, to take the seat. (The seat had been in Republican hands since 1873.)

5. When they paid Sarah Palin $100,000 to speak at their convention.

6. When we learned they were funded by Freedomworks which includes establisment right wingers like Steve Forbes, and according to Paul Krugman, "Koch, Scaife, Bradley, Olin and other reliable funders of right wing infrastructure including Exxon Mobil."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jane-hamsher/the-corporate-lobbyists-b_b_186367.html

7. When their message was quickly changed from concern over the deficit to hatred of the government. Crooked corporations: good. Government regulating the crime out of corporations: bad.

8. Remaining silent during corporate-caused disasters such as the mining deaths and the BP oil spill. Even trying to blame Obama for these corporate crimes.

[DJ13]

1. .......

[RagAss]

2. From the start...when they went out in public without their white hoods.

[Zoeisright]

10. +100000

They have always been phonies.

[Ozymanithrax]

3. They are a creation of the Republican party...

Doing what the party wants them to do.

[pinboy3niner]

12. They are the creation of astroturfing corporate interests

Which is nearly the same thing you expressed, really. And I'm not one to go around yelling the word, "corporate" at every opportunity.

Perhaps this was intended to be a poll.

I hate polls. :)

[rwheeler31]

4. 2

[gateley]

5. I went to vote but this isn't a poll.

I love polls. :(

[Bravo Zulu]

6. You never heard a peep out of them during the eight years,

bu$h and shooter were destroying America!

[Initech]

7. They have *ALWAYS* been a bunch of phonies.

[FrenchieCat]

8. Right after they realized they lost the 08 election

and saw that they might not get back in for a while.

[safeinOhio]

9. When they found out their new President

is half Irish.

[opihimoimoi]

11. The phony GOP Bullies have revealed so many BULLY TRAITS that confirms the title

And what do grown up Bullies do? .....the same as spoiled preteen bullies do

Try to dominate/control

Their DElusional Factor allows them Fantasy....that they are what they THINK they are...in Psycho speak its called Delusions of Grandeur

Stats indicate they won't change on their own...very few do....

[Are_grits_groceries]

13. As far as I'm concerned,

the shark ate their cause when it first appeared. They need a bigger boat.

[Xenotime]

14. Their message is worthless now. Nobody listens to them.

[Ultraviolet Cat]

15. They started on the wrong side of the shark to begin with!

For evidence, I present:

1) Their first "protest" was just months after Pres. Obama took office in the middle of the most serious economic crisis in a generation.

2) They have never had a coherent message to speak of. In fact, they seem to see that as a point of pride (how many of their "leaders" claimed that there was no official organization or platform -- a convenient way of getting around the requirement to actually have a point!).

3) They have always presented "problems" (taxes are too high, government spending is too high, government intrusion is too high, Obama's skin melanin is too high) without ever offering any actual solutions. Whining is not a political movement.

4) They are about as hypocritical as you can get -- government spending for others = bad, government spending on me = awesome (and you had better keep your government hands off of my government provided entitlements!).

I do think that if I had to pick a distinct point, though, it would be this year when they protested high taxes -- even though taxes were at the lowest level in their lifetimes.

By the way -- "jump the shark" is one of my favorite pop-culture references! These tri-cornered hat wearing fools in the Tea Party only wish they could be as cool as the Fonz.

[zbdent]

16. Are you asking when "officially" (the moment of conception), or "according to

the media" (still waiting)?