Hypothetically, what do you suppose the response would be if the Tea Party was left wing?

[Marr]

I mean, what do you suppose the establishment response would be if a left wing equivalent of the Tea Party said they were going to wreck the economy unless we ended our defense industry welfare programs and ended the Iraq/Afghan occupations? Or if you don't like that one, imagine this group was demanding the reinstatement of the Glass-Steagall Act, and maybe a reinstatement of sane commodities trading laws.

Do you think politicians would negotiate for weeks on how best to accomplish such goals before this group forced a default?

[Drale]

1. If the repukes had congress and the presidency when that happened

they would start rounding up all liberals and either killing them on the spot or putting them in camps.

[Marr]

3. Maybe so. I certainly don't think their demands would be accepted as sane by both

parties, and immediately catered to. I suspect the 14th amendment would be invoked inside of an hour, at the very least.

[KurtNYC]

2. Sex scandals for all the key players, arrests

demands of apology. Recalls. Charges would be filed.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

4. They would be beaten up, jailed and prosecuted on the spot.

People would be accused (and vehemently deny) of having a third cousin whose plumber's ex-wife's boss's nephew's best friend is a Teabagger. Such an accusation would destroy careers.

[pampango]

5. If we won enough seats in congress and they couldn't pass anything without us,

I think we'd have the same leverage if we stuck together and played hardball like the RW teabaggers do. (Lots of "ifs" in that, but it's a hypothetical.)

If Boehner could do what he wanted without tea party votes now, they wouldn't have much leverage. He can't so they do.

[Davis_X_Machina]

8. You are right, but that rasies...

...the hideous specter of work.

[blm]

6. They would be IGNORED...then they'd be ignored some more....corpmedia assures only RW outrage gets

covered as news events. Hell....corpmedia tried to pretend that millions in the streets protesting invasion of Iraq wasn't worth indepth coverage.

[Davis_X_Machina]

7. Your hypothetical left-wing Tea Party is here, today....

....on this board.

Fundamental mistrust of government? Check. Impatience with the political process? Check. Contempt for the rule of law, and ignorance of the Constitution? Fondness for man-on-a-white-horse solutions? Check. Everyone-is-wrong-but-me-and-thee-and-I-fear-for-thee thinking. Check.

But it doesn't have the infrastructure, or the big-money backing, of the actually-existing Tea Party.

Do you think politicians would negotiate for weeks on how best to accomplish such goals before this group forced a default?

No, they would cave immediately, because the essential justice of such a group's claims would sweep all opposition before it. In the face of truth, everything else is powerless. :eyes:

[arcane1]

9. When we had record-breaking anti-war protests, they ignored us

But a teabagger talking to 5 other teabaggers warrants 10 news crews.

[TDale313]

13. Bingo.

A hypothetical lw tea party would never gain the power because they'd be totally ignored/marginalized by the msm. Unless our hypothesis also included the mythical liberal media bias we always hear right wingers talk about, which would change everything.

[piratefish08]

10. "the Tea Who?"

we're here now, by the way. the fringe.

we used to be Progressives.

before that they called us Democrats.


call it what you want. a voice ignored is a vote ignored in 2012.


i'm in a shitty mood today.


i have an unemployed 58yo man doing odd jobs in my house today (we need to get our house listed quickly).

we paying him less than he's worth, i'm sure, and still more than we can afford.... he is scared SHITLESS about the bullshit SS games that are being played.


i just can't support the nonsense on either side anymore.

[hifiguy]

11. Gitmo and concentration camps

as quickly as possible. And probably more than a few "extrajudicial" executions.

[loyalsister]

12. Probably similar

The lack of credibility with the public would keep them from having the kind of power tea partiers dreamed they would have when they ran.

[Armstead]

14. TheDemocrats would cut them loose at the first sign of any misbehavior

Remember how the knives came out at the first sign that some Democrats might not support Corporate Health Care reform because it lacked a public option?

[AndyTiedye]

15. Any that Made it to Congress Would be Wellstoned

[The Magistrate]

16. A Wave Of Arrests, Sir, Sedition Charges, Standing Grand Jury Invrstigations

[The Magistrate]

17. A Wave Of Arrests, Sir, Sedition Charges, Standing Grand Jury Invrstigations

[LanternWaste]

18. I imagine they'd be blamed for the 2000 election debacle...

I imagine they'd be blamed for the 2000 election debacle going on eleven years later...

[kctim]

19. Would be 80+% support of them here