The Tea Klux Klan sweep of the Repuke Primaries tells us one thin,

[OffWithTheirHeads]

The Klan WILL show up to vote!

It is imperative that we do too!

[Skip Intro]

1. It is stupid to paint the entire tea party as racist.

The entire movement isn't racist. Many of these people have strong views that don't pivot on racism. Ignoring that, and using a broad brush to paint them all as the worst that you can imagine is an exercise in self delusion. Doesn't do us any good.

[Hannah Bell]

2. they sure voted for one, though. i've not seen anything as bad as those emails from a public figure

in a very long time.

[OffWithTheirHeads]

3. Bullshit.

They are racist, they are ignorant, they are corporate tools and they can't spell.

Oh yeah, fuck bi-partisanship too!

[Skip Intro]

5. One big monolithic thing to hate for all the reasons that inspire hatred in you and us

No, I'm sorry. It's just not that black and white.

[OffWithTheirHeads]

6. Actually, it's not that big, not that monolithic.

Just a hand full of racist nuts propped up by a few billionaires and the corporate media that they own.

But hey, they are not racist


Looks pretty black and white to me.

[Skip Intro]

8. racism isn't hard to find any political party or region of the nation

to label the entire tea party as racist is dishonest and doesn't serve us well, it's a broad brush against a libertarian movement that is having some real success in elections thus far. Sure, some of them are clearly racist, but I don't believe the depth and breadth of that movement is based on racism. Not smart, imho, to paint them all as such.

[OffWithTheirHeads]

9. You say tomato, I say cracker

You can believe whatever you want but I've seen enough to form my opinion.

[Skip Intro]

12. Cracker? What does that mean?

[Name removed]

14. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Skip Intro]

16. I have no idea. Are you calling me a racist?

[Skip Intro]

19. .

[Skip Intro]

20. No reply. Lost your courage? nt

[Violet_Crumble]

11. Of course the teabaggers are a bunch of angry racists...

They hate Muslims and hispanics for example. And I've read what their attitudes are towards Obama. They're worse than the already bad Republicans. You talk about them as though they're some sort of respectable political group because they have some success in elections. So what? The Nazis were also successful in elections...

[Skip Intro]

13. I talk about them as a real political force because they are. Hear me out.

Sure, racists find a home with them, sure they do. But there is a real movement in this nation that seeks to limit the federal government, and as they see it, the federal government has no right to command the states of the union to adhere to various laws coming out of the federal government, like the health care bill, which no one is happy with. They challenge the feds on a states rights basis. They have a real point of view. Brandishing them all as racists is self delusion, because their arguments are not based on race. It's a stupid, and short sighted thing to do to call them all racist. They have a legitimate point of view. I don't agree with it, but our labeling them all racists gives us no ground on which to challenge their ideas. They're racist, and I won't demean myself to argue with them. It's a stupid stance because it ignores reality. I'm not on some witch hunt to place horrible labels on some group that holds opinions that are different from my own. To try to sweep them all away under the banner of racism is just not congruent with the reality of the situation. It just isn't. I can't believe, on DU, that more people don't understand the folly of the broad brush, deny it, to the point of being just as judgmental as those we criticize.

[Erose999]

28. The racists in the 1960's used the "states rights" argument to defend segregation and the Jim Crow

laws. While the entire movement might not be racist, I have yet to meet a self-identified "tea partier" who isn't racist. And I know quite a few of them.

[Erose999]

29. See also: the Southern Strategy. The Tea Party is nothing new, its just a rebranding of

George Wallace and Lester Maddox.

[Steely_Dan]

53. Well Stated...

I can't see why (some) others are having trouble seeing this. We have racists in the Dem party...surprize!

-P

[Name removed]

45. Deleted message

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[Dappleganger]

37. Oh give it up, the teabaggers haven't been libertarian

in a very long time. They've been completely swallowed up by the bat-shit crazies and you know it.

Their movement IS based upon fear...fear that the white man will no longer be in control of Murika.

[Enthusiast]

24. Most are racist.

I can spot a bigot a mile away. The Tea Party is full of ignorant bigots.

[EFerrari]

4. The so called tea party is funded by millionaires

and seeded to draw out the racists from under their rocks. That's been the default strategy of the Republican party for my whole lifetime. Denying it is an exercise in self delusion.

[Skittles]

7. strong views that magically became vocal when a black man was elected prez

yes INDEED

[Skip Intro]

15. I'm sorry Skittles. A rare occaision where I disagree with you.

Yes, some of it is racist. Yes, some if it is perceived as racist because we are eager to call anyone that opposes Obama a racist. This is true.

My point is that to broadbrush this group, and shunt them aside, as all being racist is just bullshit. There is a strong contingent in the tea party that believes in states' rights. There is a strong majority, dare I say, that believes that the federal government should be limited in power. I think that the tea party movement is far more motivated by those ideals than racism. And we are fools to write them all off, to write that movement off, as mere racism. While there is clearly that element, I don't believe it defines the tea party. I think we broadbrush them, and shun them, as such, at our peril.

[ejpoeta]

17. i agree that they are not ALL racist. and people have a right to be angry at the government.

they should have been angry at bush and the republicans, but they were scared and the republicans gave them something to aim that at. i agree that there are people with legitimate complaints. but the fact that you don't see any of those people standing up to the racists and their bs just makes them complicit with the racism. and it hurts their argument. frankly, i think the reason we see the racist signs and all that is because that makes good tv. and they show it enough to make it look like there are a lot more of them then there are. i am hopeful that i am right and that even though the primaries seem to have propped up these folks... that in the general election their minority will truly be shown and they will be shown the door.

i think people are scared. these tea partiers are scared of being marginalized as the minorities have been marginalized. they see a black president and hispanic supreme court justices.... they see THEIR america disappearing and it scares the hell out of them. it shows itself in ways which are not exactly flattering. it is propped up by people who stand to benefit from these distractions. it is funded by the people that these folks SHOULD be mad at. and i hope they fail miserably and maybe then they will find a new way to put forward change.

[Skip Intro]

18. Oh, my good friend, I truly hope their successes in tonight's primaries are nails in their coffins

come Nov. We are on the same side. However, I must insist that calling them all racist and sweeping the political threat they definitely do hold away as merely racist is dumb on our part. This is a real political movement, not based on racism, at the core, and they are out there, and real. Their political point of view should be considered, and debated, on the merits, rather than just throwing some labeled blanket over them all and calling them racist. I don't believe that is their motivation. I don't believe, on the whole, that it's all about a black man as president. I do believe they have a certain political point of view that needs to be addressed, not ridiculed as if it didn't exist. It does exist.

edited to correct a spelling error.

[NYC Liberal]

35. Yes, at the CORE, it is based on racism.

And, the only "threat" these people pose is to their own party - the Republican party. They do not pose a threat to Democrats and in fact, Teabagger primary victories (which are, in fact, merely victories of right-wing Republican challengers over right-wing Republican incumbents) will be a boon for the Democratic candidates. Let's be clear here: these people are not diverse, they are not not independents or disaffected Democrats. They are through-and-through Republicans, simple as that.

Quote

Sure, racists find a home with them, sure they do.

It's the other way around: they find a home with racists. Because that is exactly who this "movement" caters to, the people who cannot stand that a black man is president. Sure, they have other goals but their MOTIVATION for going out and waving their signs around is that a black man is president. Where was all this nonsense when Bill Clinton was president? Sure the right-wingers hated him, but the hatred of Clinton was nowhere near the level of vitriol spewed against Obama. Why is it the teabaggers think he wasn't born in this country? It's because he isn't white and has a funny name and therefore he cannot be a "real" American.

Quote

But there is a real movement in this nation that seeks to limit the federal government, and as they see it, the federal government has no right to command the states of the union to adhere to various laws coming out of the federal government, like the health care bill, which no one is happy with.

And where was this "movement" for the last 8 years when George W. Bush and the Republican Party expanded the federal government's powers in unprecedented ways? When they took a huge surplus and turned it into a record deficit? When they spent over a trillion dollars waging a useless war? If this "movement" really was concerned about "limiting the federal government," they should have been out in force all throughout the Bush years. Hell, they should have been out in force during the Reagan years. But they weren't, because these people are just right-wing Republicans. They vote for conservative Republicans, they hate Democrats of all stripes.

"the federal government has no right to command the states of the union to adhere to various laws coming out of the federal government" - an absurd notion that goes against the fundamental basis of the Constitution and the entire structure of government in this country.

Quote

They have a legitimate point of view.

No they don't. They think Obama is a socialist Muslim born in Africa, want him impeached for treason and thrown in jail. Go to a teabagger rally and ask: (1) Is Obama a Muslim? (2) Was he born in the US? (3) Is he a "traitor"? I'm wagering that greater than 90% of a random sampling of teabaggers will answer Yes, No, Yes.

[Skip Intro]

36. I disagree.

I've explained my views upthread. We just disagree, then. On it's face, to me, it seems beyond belief that the entire tea party, which I read as a libertarian movement, or at least a movement based on a particular view of of fiscal responsibility and states' rights, hard to believe it is all based on racism. It's just a bizarre leap of faith to believe that it's all racist. And tagging that entire movement as such gives us zero ability to combat it. My opinion. You have yours. I just disagree.

[Skittles]

41. OMG

I cannot believe you'd use "fiscal responsibility" - WTF - these repuke bastards RAN US OFF AN ECONOMIC CLIFF - there is NOTHING "fiscally responsible" about repukes OR their teabagging spawn - they just think money used to HELP THE PEOPLE is MONEY WASTED while throwing money at stuff like WAR and PRISONS is just fucking DANDY!!! :puke:

[Skittles]

22. they're NUTS

anyone of those "states rights" idiots would be BEGGING for federal help if a disaster hits or old age or, aw fuck them, they're HYPOCRITES

[MilesColtrane]

26. Yes, they're not all racists.

Some are only closeted racists.

Given the average teabagger's anger toward immigrants, they could be more accurately described as xenophobes.

[lapfog_1]

30. Have you been to a Teabagger rally?

I went to a town hall on health care reform a little over a year ago, the Teabaggers were there to disrupt and take over the meeting (this was in Arizona).

And, yeah, they are racist. To a person. They were shouting at any Hispanic Americans that showed up to "go back to Mexico, wetback". This was in Douglas AZ. One of the border towns. One that has had Hispanics living in it for hundreds of years, long before the retirees from the North showed, long before this area was PURCHASED from Mexico and made part of the US.

They were shouting at a man and his wife and baby daughter. Someone who has lived in the US for his entire life, and is a 4th generation native born American (I asked him about his history) and who's family has lived in Douglas for at least 7 generations. Someone who's father had fought in Vietnam, and who's grandfather fought in WWII.

And they were all shouting at him to "go home".

Disgusting.

And this was also the "town hall" where one of them dropped a gun on the floor... it made the news.

They are a bunch of ignorant bible thumping racists.

[krabigirl]

52. disgusting people.

[ThatPoetGuy]

39. What a crock.

Nothing you say is true.

I want to be clear:

You are saying things. They're not true. At all.

No, these people don't think the federal government should be limited in power. I'd guess less than a tenth of one per cent of them do. They only think the negro in the White House should be limited in power.

These are the people, the same people, who had no problem with Bush wiretapping the telephones. Because it's only a problem if you have nothing to hide. Because Bush is a good guy, a white guy.

I don't know you, but I suspect you're only seeking attention. I suspect you're pursuing this false, idiotic, dishonest line of argument because you want people to engage with you. You're helping no one by concealing the truth.

[ThatPoetGuy]

10. Skittles (#7) is right.

These are people who are outraged, OUTRAGED, over... something. They are unified only by their hatred for Obama, no matter what Obama does. None of them were the least bit upset over GWB's lack of fiscal discipline.

The only unifying factor of the Tea Party, their sole raison d'etre, is that they want to take America back from that dark-skinned guy with the weird name.

If you want to argue that accusing them of racism makes us look like hypersensitive dorkwads, go for it; there's probably a legitimate argument there. But if you mean to argue that a group of overwhelmingly white people, united in their outrage over a black president doing things they don't even try to understand -- a group spawned by nothing but racism, seething in racism, motivated by nothing but racism, AREN'T racist, then it's time to get some help.

[Skittles]

23. I've confronted them

they're all the same - it's some variation of "WE NEED TO TAKE OUR COUNTRY BACK". When I press them on exactly WHAT they need America taken from - they stutter and stammer and it's pretty obvious the answer is THAT DARK MUSLIM PRESIDENT but, well, they can't say THAT can they? So they throw in the deficit nonense (WHILE SUPPORTING THE WARS) and STATES RIGHTS bullshit (HELLO CONFEDERACY.) Fucking racist, stupid bastards riled up by the same rich rightwing wackos that brought us FOX NEWS :thumbsdown: NO RESPECTABLE, SANE person would align themselves with such a FUCKED UP movement.

[Ohio Joe]

33. You are correct

I've talked to enough of them in person as well as watched their online postings, you have them pegged perfectly.

[Skittles]

40. I am getting weary, OhioJoe

I'm tired of hearing how these are "legitimately concerned Americans" who are "angry" - well FUCK, I've been angry and concerned a LOT LONGER than they have - because I know who CAUSED this mess - the very same fuckers these teabagging bastards are supporting :mad:

[Occulus]

32. Fine. They're all Authoritarian Followers.

And yes, Virginia, we can paint that group in a very broad manner, because they share similar personality traits and similar views regarding power. As I said in another post, this is why Teabaggers cannot answer certain questions, such as those regarding "lost rights" under Obama or to what point, exactly, they wish to take "their" country "back to".

They have no answers to these questions because, as A-F's, they cannot formulate their own answers, but rather must be fed those answers by an Authority they trust.

This isn't my opinion, by the way, but rather my conclusion based on Altmeyer's work.

[lunatica]

38. Can you name the teabaggers who are not racist?

I haven't heard anyone come out against the racist remarks or posters in their new found party. And I've heard and seen a great deal of racism coming from that crowd and their champions and mentors Beck and Limbaugh.

[Initech]

47. They actually had to tell an entire rally to leave racist signs at home.

[Lucian]

49. You're an idiot.

You know damn well the entire Tea Party Movement is racially-bound and are all racists. Why do you think they came around once Obama was elected President?

[krabigirl]

51. I would say that most of the current ones are, if not racist, then just hateful against "the other."

Whether that be skin color, the incorrect religious belief, the wrong income level, etc.

I don't think it was started like this though at all.

[chillspike]

21. I think some are consciously racist and

some are unconsciously racist. But it seems most of the teabaggers are racist.

[oswaldactedalone]

25. Forget seems...

Totally racist bunch of mouth breathing, high school dropouts. If we can't show up in majorities big enough to beat them back, then that doesn't say much for us.

[winstars]

27. Hey, not all are racists, only about....

98% are IMHO... and BTW, the President, he's you know, ahhhh, ....BLACK!!!! OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!

[DeeDeeNY]

31. Teabaggers are not the brightest bulbs around

Their most dominant quality is ignorance, which in most cases leads to racism. They choose to be ignorant and shut down their brains, and let their lying leaders tell them how to think.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pargon/sets/72157623594187379

[Erose999]

34. Racism/xenophobis/homophobia is the common thread that holds the Tea Part together

Listen to the average Tea Partier talk, they have no idea what they are talking about, they just regurgitate whatever their talking heads like Glenn Dreck or Sarah Failin' tell them to say. They hold contradictory positions on everything. They tell you how bad gov't influence is and then they say that gov't needs to have more religion. If gov't is so "bad" why put your religion into it?

The racism is so bad that you have GB telling them not to bring signs to events. When has that EVER happened at a Dem or mainstream Repub event?

[LAGC]

42. Actually, I think the reason Glenn Beck didn't want signs...

Was because he didn't want there to be a spectacle out of all the mis-spelled words. I don't think the fear of racist signs ever bothered Glenn Beck.

[Name removed]

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[Name removed]

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[HipChick]

50. In what sense Charlie?

[JoeKidd]

46. double post

[Name removed]

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