The Tea Party is Not Racist

Apology said:
Because their highest profile representatives are obvious nut jobs like Orly Taitz, Sharon Angle, Sue Lowden, Michelle Bachman, and Rand Paul. They want to repeal the Civil Rights Act and Social Security, imply that if conservatives don't get the congressional seats they want it will result in gun violence, think we should pay doctors with chickens, want to march on Washington with guns, harass our native-born Mexican-American citizens on the off-chance that they might be here illegally, and refuse to accept the fact that Obama was really born in Hawaii (even though Taitz wasn't born here herself).

What did the Democrats do when they didn't get their way? They pried the W's off their computer keyboards and hid them in their offices as a prank. What did the conservatives do when they didn't get their way? Threatened Nancy Pelosi and other liberals with death, sawed through a gas line at the wrong house, and used racial slurs and derogatory terms regarding sexual orientation towards our fairly and legally elected Congress Members. This is not the behavior of rational people; it's the behavior of nutjobs. It goes far, far beyond sour grapes into the realm of psychosis.

I can't say that I'm really afraid of the Tea Party; I just find it disconcerting that people still support the Tea Party in spite of the daily ridiculous faux pas by their leadership.
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This is just ridiculous. Where has the GOP or tea party or any conservative leader stated they want to repeal those?
Have links?

Bush,Reagan etc never had death threats? They made a movie about Bush being assassinated. Reagan had an attempt on his life.
All politcal figures of every party get threats to some degree dont they? Holy cow.
 
HistoryGal said:
After all, the word "Tea" in Tea Party is an acronym:

Taxed
Enough
Already

Just my opinion - I make no claim as to there being any factual basis to my thoughts on this, except for the acronym part - that's absolutely a fact.
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What came first: the name or the acronym?

My perception was that the acronym was ad hoc'ed on later.

I've also had people swear the Tea Party isn't about taxes, which are still lower than under Reagan, but about deficit and/or spending.
 
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Neally said:
I'd agree they generally don't like Obama because of his policies, and as someone else pointed out, they'd probably not like Hillary if she won and pushed the same policies.
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Juniversal said:
It's still odd that they didn't manage to show up during Bushes embarissingly reckless and destructive run in office but the moment Obama enters office they arrive in droves apparently because they find his policies....destructive. Odd indeed.
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Which is why I firmly believe the Tea Party is more about Obama hatred than defending conservative principles which they weren't all that concerned about defending when it was a conservative violating them. Whether or not and to what degree their hatred for Obama is rooted in racism is probably something that can never be definitively known.
 
I find this to be hilarious.

Apparently, the Tea Party Express has recently "demoted" Mark Williams from chairman to spokesperson.

Here's the Google cache of the original page.

And here's the new and improved, updated page.

Because when you've got a racist in your organization, the position you want to assign him is "spokesperson".
 
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Drysdale said:
This is just ridiculous. Where has the GOP or tea party or any conservative leader stated they want to repeal those?
Have links?
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Sharon Angle want to "phase out" Social Security, meaning, stopping all enrollment and letting the program die. While that's not quite "repealing" it, it's the same eventual goal, which is eliminating the program.

Rand Paul, of course, didn't advocate repealing the Civil Rights Act, he merely stated that he thought businesses should be free to refuse service to non-whites.

And I know quite a few rank and file Teabaggers, and they all want to abolish programs like Social Security, Medicare, the Department of Education, etc. It's not a controversial position among that group.
 
Unabogie said:
Sharon Angle want to "phase out" Social Security, meaning, stopping all enrollment and letting the program die. While that's not quite "repealing" it, it's the same eventual goal, which is eliminating the program.

Rand Paul, of course, didn't advocate repealing the Civil Rights Act, he merely stated that he thought businesses should be free to refuse service to non-whites.

And I know quite a few rank and file Teabaggers, and they all want to abolish programs like Social Security, Medicare, the Department of Education, etc. It's not a controversial position among that group.
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Gosh, thank you, Unabogie! You said it better than I could have said it myself.

In addition to what Unabogie has said, Sharron Angle talked about "second amendment remedies" in a way that made it clear that she meant "gun violence":

Sharron Angle talks about Second Amendment Remedies

Here's a clip of the Rachel Maddow Show that lays out what Sharron Angle said pretty clearly, with audio clips and everything:

Rachel Maddow Show: "Dang I Wish I Hadn't Said That"

As for wanting an armed march on Washington, the Washington D.C. rally was gun-free, as is the law there, but there was an armed rally as close as they legally could get to the state/D.C. boundary line. A quote from said rally:

Across the Potomac River in Alexandria, former Alabama Minutemen leader Mike Vanderboegh told the crowd armed confrontation should be reserved only for instances of the government threatening people's lives.

However, he said it might be justified if people face arrest for refusing to buy insurance under the health care reform package recently passed by Congress.

"If I know I'm not going to get a fair trial in federal court ... I at least have the right to an unfair gunfight," Vanderboegh said.
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Don't Like Health Care? Treat Your Illnesses With Lead!

"Oh, but that's not the Tea Party, that's Second Amendment Activists!" you may say. Well, Time makes the connection to the Tea Party clearer, and at the time of the rally (April 19th) many of the attendees admitted they were Tea Party members when asked. Here's a quote from one of them:

...one attendee, Michael Rugh, called the rally part of "Tea Party: Phase II" — a more aggressive cousin to a movement he feels is now being laughed at by certain politicians.
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(Mr. Rugh, you are absolutely correct, certain politicians and others are indeed laughing at Tea Party antics.)

Time Magazine

I think that between Unabogie's post and this one, I've covered all of the allegations of wrongdoing against the Tea Party from my previous post. Let me know if I missed anything and I'll provide evidence for you, because I am surely not making any of this stuff up.
 
ProBonoShill said:
It was a fictional letter from the head of the NAACP to Abe Lincoln, meant to be satirical. Does it say anywhere those are the views of Mark Williams?

I happen to agree with Williams in the sense that black people don't need the Democrats, NAACP or anyone else to hold their hands. There are many great black Americans, it only demeans them when it is implied they need special treatment.

Pulling out the race card ad nauseum is getting a little tired.
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I've always thought the reason that such "special treatment" programs exist is because such other "races" often face undue hardships due to discrimination, etc. If the society was truly free of racism and didn't do any discrimination, esp. in employment, education, and so on, then there wouldn't be any need for special treatment programs.

Of course, if I'm wrong, then I'd like to know what the real reason is.
 
I think we need a new piece of terminology. The "race card card," or maybe the "reverse race card," or maybe the "dracecar."

The race card works by allowing a racial minority who is criticized to "play the race card" by falsely implying his critic is only motivated by racial animus.

The "race card card" works by allowing someone to defend an obvious racist by accusing his critics of playing the race card. See posts 19 and 25 in this thread for examples.

If the race card is the equivalent to the boy who cried wolf, then the race card card is the equivalent of refusing to believe the boy who cried wolf even though you can see the wolf walking around eating sheep.
 
Grizzly Bear said:
When it comes to politics, satire even if inappropriate amounts to making somebody racist. I don't think Williams' little satire was very intelligent considering how easily partisans construe it however they want. I'm not surprised. Put his rant in context with the NAACP's blind eye to the black panther's case and one might see one of the reasons he might have done the satire. Too bad Williams can't get it through his head that bludgeoning a hugely sensitive topic isn't a particularly intelligent way to put himself on the moral high ground though.
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The whole "What about the New Black Panthers" defense is pretty weak. I have no idea why people think the NAACP would accept them, when even the real Black Panthers despise them, especially when Kristen Clarke has already denied the Times' story in her testimony to the USCCR.
 
Super double official now: Tea Parties are not racist.

VP: Tea Party 'Not a Racist Organization' (ABC)

“Do you think elements of the Tea Party are racist?” This Week anchor Jake Tapper asked Vice President Joe Biden in an EXCLUSIVE interview. Biden equivocated at first, but then settled on a pretty firm no.

“Well, the truth is that at least elements that were involved in some of the Tea Party folks expressed racist views,” he said.

“I wouldn’t characterize the Tea Party as racist. There are individuals who are either members of or on the periphery of some of their things, their -- their protests -- that have expressed really unfortunate comments. And, again, it was all over TV, all over your network, you know? A black Congressman walking up the stairs of the Capitol,” he said, referring to alleged racist epithets said to an African-American Congressmen by alleged Tea Party members during the apogee of the debate over health care reform.

“I don’t believe, the president doesn’t believe that the Tea Party is -- is a racist organization. I don’t believe that,” Biden said. “Very conservative. Very different views on government and a whole lot of things. But it is not a racist organization.”
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:wink:
 
Ausmerican said:
Thus proving the NAACP correct in the first place?
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Only if you assume that these:

http://www2.counton2.com/cbd/news/n...t_on_tape_discussing_human_trafficking/66125/

San Diego ACORN fires employee caught on tape discussing human trafficking
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http://www.foxnews.com/us/2009/09/1...ls-helping-pimp-prostitute-washington-office/

Two more ACORN officials were fired Friday after a second video surfaced showing staffers in the community organizers' Washington office offering to help a man and woman posing as a pimp and prostitute acquire illegal home loans that would help them set up a brothel.
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http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/sep/16/acorn-suspends-plans-audit-wake-videos/

ACORN, an advocacy group, has fired at least four employees after hidden camera videos showed the group's workers giving financial advice to women posing as prostitutes. The firings occurred in the group's Washington and Baltimore offices.
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prove all the allegations that were made against ACORN are correct. Right?: :D
 
johnny karate said:
The Tea Party Federation have expelled Mark Williams and the Tea Party Express.

I'm curious to know the ramifications of this expulsion.
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This is just a confirmation of what I already thought was the case; The Tea Party is not a party at all. They have no unity or agenda. They have no real platform. The only thing that unifies them is that they are angry, but they're all angry about different things. Sure, most of it is peripherally about Obama, but not always. They've raled against the GOP too, and even torpedoed the GOPs preferred candidates.

But while they may spoil a few elections and even win a seat or two, they are not going to be players in the US political picture unless they can get their act together, and there is no indication that this is happening. Just the opposite. They're splitting up over stuff like this.
 
BeAChooser said:
Only if you assume that these:

http://www2.counton2.com/cbd/news/n...t_on_tape_discussing_human_trafficking/66125/



http://www.foxnews.com/us/2009/09/1...ls-helping-pimp-prostitute-washington-office/



http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/sep/16/acorn-suspends-plans-audit-wake-videos/




prove all the allegations that were made against ACORN are correct. Right?: :D
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Really?

1. NAACP notes that there are racist elements in the Tea party and that Tea Party leaders should crack down on them and repudiate them.

2. Tea Party Express leader, among others makes a big deal over the allegations and accuses the NAACP of being racist themselves.

3. Within a week the Tea Party has repudiated said Tea Party Express leader for a "cleary offensive" supposedly satirical race based letter he put on his blog and kicked him and his organization to the curb.

4. This only shows that the NAACP's original point was correct if one is to accept every wild, and even some disproven, off topic claims about ACORN as legitimate??

umm yeah OK. The logic there is irrefutable. Cos there is none.
 
HistoryGal said:
Perhaps it's simply that the Tea Party come into being once both the executive branch and both houses of the legislative branch belonged to the same party, and that people of a fiscally conservative bent felt that was not necessarily a good thing.
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johnny karate said:
Which is why I firmly believe the Tea Party is more about Obama hatred than defending conservative principles which they weren't all that concerned about defending when it was a conservative violating them. Whether or not and to what degree their hatred for Obama is rooted in racism is probably something that can never be definitively known.
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I'm starting to think the reason these Tea party types were nowhere to be seen during the Bush administration is because...they were Bush supporters!! They were probably the same faux Patriots who condemded any criticism of the Iraq war, plastered their car with a million American flag bumper stickers and anttena attachments and used the word "anti-American" with reckless abandon.

Now they're "patriots fighting against socialism" and fighting for "freedoms and rights" against an anti-american Kenyan born socialist. :rolleyes: If this is representitive of the majority of the constituency I don't doubt there's plenty of racist amongst them but i'd say the major motivator is their conservative worldview combatting the Liberal Administration. Moreso then taxation or even the race of our President.

mike3 said:
I've always thought the reason that such "special treatment" programs exist is because such other "races" often face undue hardships due to discrimination, etc. If the society was truly free of racism and didn't do any discrimination, esp. in employment, education, and so on, then there wouldn't be any need for special treatment programs.

Of course, if I'm wrong, then I'd like to know what the real reason is.
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That's true. Though I wouldn't neccesarily call the NAACP a "special treatment" program. According to wikipedia its mission is "to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to eliminate racial hatred and racial discrimination". Unless one considers combating disenfranchisment and segregation as "special treatment". Also the NAACP was created in 1912. Well before Brown v. Board of Education or the Civl Rights act of 1964.
 
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Ausmerican said:
Thus proving the NAACP correct in the first place?
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BeAChooser said:
Only if you assume that these:

http://www2.counton2.com/cbd/news/n...t_on_tape_discussing_human_trafficking/66125/



http://www.foxnews.com/us/2009/09/1...ls-helping-pimp-prostitute-washington-office/



http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/sep/16/acorn-suspends-plans-audit-wake-videos/



prove all the allegations that were made against ACORN are correct. Right?: :D
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Yes, except that the ACORN scandal was the product of deceptively edited videos supplied by a Conservative provocateur. Mark Williams was made to look like a racist all by himself.

But other than that, your analogy is flawless.
 
Grizzly Bear said:
Put his rant in context with the NAACP's blind eye to the black panther's case and one might see one of the reasons he might have done the satire.
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I don't think the NAACP has turned a blind eye to the Black Panthers. They pointed out that the Black Panthers is a tiny fringe organization with nowhere near the clout and widespread popularity of the Tea Party.
____


At any rate, I applaud the Tea Party Federation for heeding the NAACP's appeal to crack down on racism among some associated with their movement.
 
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