Colin Powell on GOP: "They still look down on minorities"

Started by Skynet, January 14, 2013, 05:57:28 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Skynet

He uses examples of GOP rhetoric, such as Palin's "shuck and jive" comments and other loaded language.

He says that if the party stays far-right wing and doesn't change, they're going to have lots of trouble in the near future.

This is notable because Powell is a Republican.  He joins the voices of Jeb Bush and other Republicans rightfully worried about the their Party's unwillingness to reach out to Latinos, African-Americans, and other people of color.

Callie Del Noire

He's right.. if you're not white with a white collar job and making more than 150,000 a year.. you're only suitable to be a puppet to them. I am AMAZED how many of my friends support the tea party then complain when their kid's schools get gutted and they gleefully cheer when organized labor and protective agencies get hammered.

You have to wonder..

That being said.. I'd wish he'd run for office.. but I get why he doesn't. He isn't a 'party follower'... he's a leader.

RubySlippers

He is dead one the Democrats are masters of culling the demographics and getting people out to vote most are not white well off people but working class and poor whites and most minority groups that matter. The GOP is dead unless they get real and fast as to the threat to their power its mostly now in the deep south and Texas might turn Blue in a few more voting cycles. If that happens the Democrat for president may walk in with the needed 270+ votes to win before the election starts.

Callie Del Noire

Quote from: RubySlippers on January 14, 2013, 10:20:09 PM
He is dead one the Democrats are masters of culling the demographics and getting people out to vote most are not white well off people but working class and poor whites and most minority groups that matter. The GOP is dead unless they get real and fast as to the threat to their power its mostly now in the deep south and Texas might turn Blue in a few more voting cycles. If that happens the Democrat for president may walk in with the needed 270+ votes to win before the election starts.

All you have to do is look is the spread of blue in 'red states' like Texas. The major population centers along the coast and around the Dallas/Fort Worth region. You kick folks as hard on their 'right' to be citizens as the Tea Party has insisted doing this last few years.. they have gone COMPLETELY nuts about immigration.. and it's going to only bite them in the ass more.


RubySlippers

That is all that is saving it as a toss up favoring the GOP, but with the racial shift in the state that will not go on forever.

As I see it the deep south will stay GOP but Florida and Texas the two lions with lots of electors are shifting in fact Florida was just blue and could stay there for some time and Texas I'll give it 8 to 16 years to toss over to Blue barring some GOP shift in politics, that catches favor with minorities. Not to likely right now.

Callie Del Noire

Quote from: RubySlippers on January 14, 2013, 11:17:10 PM
That is all that is saving it as a toss up favoring the GOP, but with the racial shift in the state that will not go on forever.

As I see it the deep south will stay GOP but Florida and Texas the two lions with lots of electors are shifting in fact Florida was just blue and could stay there for some time and Texas I'll give it 8 to 16 years to toss over to Blue barring some GOP shift in politics, that catches favor with minorities. Not to likely right now.

Florida is kind of werid. Up here (in Jax) the GOP has some pull and they always get good response by pointing out when the Dems want to end the embargo on Cuba. If they weren't so miliatnt about immigration they'd be able to resonate with some of the ethnic groups out there. Thing is..while some of their issues DO resonate with the Hispanic cultures.. they are coming down HARD on those groups too.

Florida is still split. I figure North Carolina, Florida and Possibly Virginia are teetering. You're right about Texas.. though I'd say 8 to 12 years rather than your time frame.

You got folks like Marco Rubio, the douchnozzle that he is, who could swing things around. I'm giving even money he's looking for a run or vp nod in '16

RubySlippers

Younger Cubans wqant the Embargo dropped down here and they are the largest faction among the Cuban community who vote for the Democrats, to them its odd we trade with China that lets face it has a horrible human rights record and is Communist. But we won't open up Cuba that is reforming, under a new progressive leader. And most are not overly religious in the community either once you get into the generation born and raised here, they are like most American Catholics more progressive also or not religious very much so the usually anti-gay message and the like are not taken seriously.

As for Rubio from what I can tell among the younger Hispanics he is not popular this is people I know aged eighteen to say the thirties. And to get elected here that is the group you need and the Democrats largely have.

Florida could go Blue if you look at the last election the younger Hispanics in Miami turned the election, the ones the GOP is pissing off.

Callie Del Noire

Quote from: RubySlippers on January 15, 2013, 12:00:23 AM
Younger Cubans wqant the Embargo dropped down here and they are the largest faction among the Cuban community who vote for the Democrats, to them its odd we trade with China that lets face it has a horrible human rights record and is Communist. But we won't open up Cuba that is reforming, under a new progressive leader. And most are not overly religious in the community either once you get into the generation born and raised here, they are like most American Catholics more progressive also or not religious very much so the usually anti-gay message and the like are not taken seriously.

As for Rubio from what I can tell among the younger Hispanics he is not popular this is people I know aged eighteen to say the thirties. And to get elected here that is the group you need and the Democrats largely have.

Florida could go Blue if you look at the last election the younger Hispanics in Miami turned the election, the ones the GOP is pissing off.

Exactly. They trusted Rubio (along with the rest of us) and he shat on us.

He's the GOPs golden boy though..and they will pour GOBS of money into the state to keep him elected. For some reason they think he'll get them the state if he runs for President in '16. (or gets picked as VP). I don't know why..he's a new comer.. a total tool and backstabber to the folks that he used to get elected. I'm curious to see how well he does the next time.

Stattick

Well, the last election, the nation voted for a Democratic House of Representatives. The Democrats got nearly a million more votes than the Republicans. If not for gerrymandering, we'd have a Democratic led House right now, albeit one with just a slight advantage of around 13 more seats than the Republicans (out of 435 voting members). In terms of overall votes, the Republicans lost big last election, and the majority of Americans voted for a Democratic led House. The amount of gerrymandering in this country is ridiculous right now, and not just on the federal level, but it's also seen extensively on the state level in many areas as well. There are quite a few states that have around an equal number of Republican and Democratic voters, where the overwhelming majority of the Representatives sent to the Hill are Republican. It's really broken.
O/O   A/A

Stattick

You know, I feel bad for Powell. His career was (one of many) destroyed by the Bush Administration.

There are several different versions of the story about the end of his political career. Personally, I believe Powell's version, and dismiss the others. In Powell's version, the Bush Administration was trying to get support for the invasion of Iraq. He was assured by the administration that we had solid evidence for Saddam Hussein having WMD's, and for them working with Al Qaeda. He wasn't shown the evidence, although he'd asked to see it. He was asked to go and testify before the UN about the evidence we had. Despite his misgivings, he did what the Administration asked him to do. It turns out that the evidence was fictional, and so he inadvertently lied to the UN on the behalf of the administration. When the facts came to light later, the administration let him be a scapegoat.

I don't know if Powell had political ambitions. I only remember him stating that he didn't intend a run for the White House. To me, he always came off as a straight shooter - a fair and honest man that didn't play most of the political games in Washington. After he retired from the military, his star just kept rising as he started getting appointed positions. Then the snakes in the Bush Jr Administration left him holding the bag, and ended his career.
O/O   A/A

RubySlippers

Here is a ticket for 2016 I would love to see: Presidential Nominee Hillary Clinton and Vice President Colin Powell.

Seriously it would be a very strong ticket against anything the GOP could stick out there.

Callie Del Noire

Quote from: RubySlippers on January 16, 2013, 08:58:58 AM
Here is a ticket for 2016 I would love to see: Presidential Nominee Hillary Clinton and Vice President Colin Powell.

Seriously it would be a very strong ticket against anything the GOP could stick out there.

Don't see her running in 16. How old will she be?

ShadowFox89

Quote from: RubySlippers on January 16, 2013, 08:58:58 AM
Here is a ticket for 2016 I would love to see: Presidential Nominee Hillary Clinton and Vice President Colin Powell.

Seriously it would be a very strong ticket against anything the GOP could stick out there.

Never going to happen. After her head injury and with her age, it is unlikely she'll get fully into politics like she had before.
Call me Shadow
My A/A

Callie Del Noire

Quote from: ShadowFox89 on January 16, 2013, 11:39:41 AM
Never going to happen. After her head injury and with her age, it is unlikely she'll get fully into politics like she had before.

What worries me.. I see LOTS of GOP candidates for '16 but fuck all for the Democrats.

TheRedFear

#15
Colin better schedule a meeting with Marco Rubio, Mia Love, Herman Cain, Susana Martinez, Nikki Haley, Clarence Thomas, Bobby Jindal, Allen West, and Tim Scott. Somebody has to clue those ignorant colored shmucks in about how deep the hatred in their party is for them. He'll have to pry his lips off the ass of the first (half)black president first of course.

Callie Del Noire

Quote from: TheRedFear on January 16, 2013, 11:27:51 PM
Colin better schedule a meeting with Marco Rubio, Mia Love, Herman Cain, Susana Martinez, Nikki Haley, Clarence Thomas, Bobby Jindal, Allen West, and Tim Scott. Somebody has to clue those ignorant colored shmucks in about how deep the hatred in their party is for them. He'll have to pry his lips of the ass off the first (half)black president first of course.

Okay.. let's take a look.

-Rubio isn't black, he's Cuban-American..and rode a way of sympathy of Cuban/Americans down here along with the tea party to get into office. Odds are.. he's not going to do so well down south in a couple years.
-Mia Love.. given how many times her parents were threatened with deportation growing up.. I'll bet she's not part of the GOP hardline on immigration law
-Herman Cain: While he worked his way up.. I find his current platform/outlook disturbing. There are MASSIVE fails with his outlook compared to what he benefited from on the way up. He's one of the Kohn's puppets.
-Susana Martinez: Mexican-American in a Mexican-American state? While socially conservative.. she understands this word. Compromise. She's hard nosed but talks with her opposites.
-Clarence Thomas: Ironically..he's peferect for the current GOP outlook as one of the most conseravtive justices out there. A strict Textualist some of his outlooks are dangerous to the fourth amendment. He is consistently rulling for the police over the citizens.
- Bobby Jindal: Another child of immigrants.. I'm curious to see what he thinks about the denial of citizenship to kids born in the US. While strongly pro-life..he's not militantly against medical issues/clauses.
- Allen West: He grew up in a 'conservative' democrat family.. WHEN he grew up.. it was a possiblity. Back then the democrats backed the more conservative blue collar workers.. such as West's family. A lot of that support vanished in the 70s.
-Tim Scott: He's an appointee.

You know.. attitudes and throwing out names don't fix the fact that the GOP IS RACIST. They are. A few token names/people doesn't a consensus make.

I respect some of these people for their success. I honor some of their service to our country.. but you know what.. I can, as a Republican, disagree with their militant/radical social conservatism and total acceptance of the party line to keep afloat. A few of these folks could do a LOT to change the party. Marco Rubio for example could do a lot to change attitudes in the party towards the Cuban community here in florida.. instead of supporting small business like he PROMISED..he's backed big business everytime against anything that allows innovators to florish. Cain is a massive 'big businessman'. Thomas is one of the strictest justices we have ever had.. it's a toss up between him and Scalia.

They know how to play the game.. and instead of changing things the way they are.. they back the status quo.

Powell is right. The GOP has no interest in changing their outlook in ANYWAY that their corporate and religious hijackers put in place.

Today.. Ronnie Reagan wouldn't get the nomination from the GOP.


TheRedFear

#17
Really? You're a republican? Who's worried about the so-called lack of '16 candidates in the Democratic party? Right.

you coulda frooled me because your arguement tactics are pure liberal all the way. As long as you say it REALLY LOUD(or in this case, with BIG CAPITAL LETTERS) it must be true. The end. No need to provide specific proof that the entirety(or even a singificant portion) of the party as opposed to a handful of cranks who the liberal media love to shine the spotlight on is indeed racist. And any examples that contradict your opinion are just tokens to be cavaleirly dismissed because they don't quite fit into your world view. No need to seriously reconsider your pre-conceived spoon-fed-by-the-media notions. They're just tokens. Their accomplishments, their personal testimonies, their WILD POPULARITY(Uh oh. I said it with all capital letters. It must be true. Well in this case it actually is true) in their own party....all of this can be casually handwaved away with the word "Token". Yanno, as much as idiots out there keep saying "Illegal Immigrant" is a racist term, i'm starting to think "Token" is the real racist term of our times. Maybe "Token" is the new "Nigger"(Yeah. I ain't afraid to say it. Earned a bloody nose or two with it too but I ain't much of a fan for pussyfooting my way through a discussion)?

We'll ignore the fact that it was the political right who ended slavery in the face of passionate left wing opposition. We'll ignore the reality that it was the political right who first tried to pass a Civil rights act, and that it was the political left(led with ferocity and zeal by none other than the dearly departed Lion of the Senate himself good ol' Teddy K) who cockblocked them at every turn so that THEY could pass it later and reap decades worth of bragging rights for their "accomplishment".

I know you guys have enjoyed decades worth of a heavily biased media gleefully rewriting history for you, but for those of us who make a point of being students of history the truth is not all that difficult to unearth. Granted nowadays asking people to spend a few hours in their library archives is tantamount to asking them to climb Mount Everest, so maybe i'm wrong about that.

But hey if instilling generations worth of dependancy and victimization into the once-proud, strong, and capable African American community is proof of how "tolerant" the Left is, then I aspire to be the most racist asswipe on the planet. If watching one minority "beneficiary" of liberal largess after another devolve into a crime-ridden, STD-rich, cultural cesspool with mind bogglingly high abortion rates(Planned Parenthood has killed more people of color than every skinhead and racist organization on the planet combined. Fact.) and asking myself who the real racists are makes me an ignorant prick, then i'm proud to be an ignorant prick. Left wing policies have done more catastrophic damage to the black community that the KKK ever could have fantasized about in their wildest wet dreams. Which makes sense really, since most of the KKK were democrats anyway, including the only known member of the KKK to ever sit in the senate. But I forgot...we ignore history nowadays. So we'll ignore that too. And it pains me as a Puerto Rican to watch those same policies wreak havoc on my own community. Lord knows I have my issues with the GOP...but racism ain't one of them. It's not even on the list. With friends like the Democrats, what possible use could any minority group have for enemies?

Callie Del Noire

Okay.. let's see..

I've voted Reagan, Bush, Bush... I voted for Jessie Helms when he ran and I lived in NC. I voted for Marco Rubio here in Florida when he spoke a big game for 'the little man' and fixing 'small business' then he turned around and walked the corporate line.

I'm NOT a Tea Party Republican (or as I tend to think of them the American Taliban). I'm for the Death Penalty, 'Right Sized' Government, less Social reform in my party politics, and (regrettably) Pro-Choice.

I fail to see how making my 11 month old niece prove her identity as an American citizen on the street because her mother's name was Garcia is 'American'. I realize that being a Goldwater/Reagan Conservative vice the current ruling cadre of Neo-Conservative double high Authoritarians means I'm a liberal to some.

Why? Because I think the corporate tax code needs to be fixed. Loop holes need to be taken out, GE makes GOBS of money and gets a tax credit while my friends can't get a small business loan to keep their business running? Once upon a time business looked on what their profits would be in five to ten years..and that was 'sound planning'. Today? We look at businesses who look to maximize their profits, while doing less and less.

We were a cornerstone in building the internet, one of the biggest business markets in history, and we aren't even in the top TEN for service/bandwidth quality.

You know who put us in the banking mess? It was the GOP who pushed forward (along a few democrats) who repealed the Glass/Stegall act. That separated Investment and Commercial banks. It was the GOP house that ran rampant over tax laws, pushing for the advantage of a few while the more fiscally conservative types (like Goldwater's son) tried to reign things in.

It took a series of policies to get rid of our debt that we entered the 80s with. 2 terms of Reagan, 1 of Bush, and 2 of Clinton. It took George Bush four years to piss a reserve away.

You want to know who is your 'enemy' in Congress? Look at what you make. If you make less than six figures a year.. odds are the Tea Party doesn't care about you..except to woo your vote.

I watched my brother.. a much more conservative man than me.. run for office back home. I got to see the same men in the GOP who for YEARS asked me to get him to run for office turn on him. Why? Because he wasn't going to be a man who did as the party said..he was going to do as one of the men he worked for did (Jesse Helms) ..and represent the people. The folks in command of the party..have been in control since the 60s-70s.. and they don't like a 48 year old taking THEIR power away. He's pro-life, low taxes and most of the Tea Party line.. save some of the immigrant laws and parenthood stupidity.

The reason I worry about democratic choices is this.. I've never voted for the Party.. I've voted for the Man/Women who was running. I like choices over foolish people like the mess the GOP offered. We had men who had NO reason to except to be nominated.. who would ruin our government and refuse to do the most essential thing I expect out of the oval office.

I want a leader. I want a man/woman who steps up and builds an accord for the people. Not for the Sierra Club or the Koch Brothers or the NRA or any other special interest. I want centrists who BUILD government that represents us.. not tear down what the people writing the checks wants gone.

If you work.. can you honestly say that doing away with the EPA, OSHA, DoE, DoT or the rest is in the best interests of John Q. American Citizen? You want to see what 'Self-Regulating Industry' looks like.. Read The Jungle by Upton Sinclair. Or read about the Battle of Blair Mountain for what lengths industry will go to keep things their way.

As for the assertion that the GOP is the same party in outlook as the one that 'freed the slaves'. I suggest you really think hard on that assertion. The only thing that remains of Lincoln's Party is the name.

I grew up seeing the best results come out of debate, discussion and compromise. Today those are dirty words, mostly in part to Newt Gingrich and his ilk. In the last session of congress.. NO BILL sponsored by a democrat made it out of the House. Not one. We had a speaker whose single foremost goal wasn't to serve the people.. but to ensure the defeat of the current resident of the White House. We have a party so bound up by the extreme right..that one man.. Grover Norquist, has more leverage than all the voters who put these men and women into office.

The party is sick.. and has been for a while. We need a dozen or so very senior state and national level GOP officials to suddenly drop dead and let some new blood step up. We have men who were Nixon's hatchet-men running things.

I find it strange that it is more important to know (according to the GOP) if the Democrat in the white house is getting some than finding the man who committed treason. Of course the betrayal of a CIA NOC who had the bad luck to be married to a democrat isn't as vitally important as whether Bill got his jollies on.

I resent being in a party where discussion and debate have died and pointing out the historical truths of the Reagan administration gets me uninvited from county/state level events. I don't plan on rolling over and dying.. it, like this country, are worth fighting for.

Because a healthy two party (or more)system is vital to the health of this country. And that is something we don't have right now. The Tea Party line of small government is a pipe dream.. just look at what they do. Anything that regulates business gets the axe... despite what the last decade has shown us..while they would regulate us out of the 14th and 17th amendments. All the while making it nearly impossible for people to regulate their own body if they have the misfortune of being a woman. (Check out some of the lovely person-hood amendments  being put out. My sister in law just miscarried. No ones fault.. just happened. The doctor said it happens. Right now she's being treated for depression.. in SOME states she could be hauled in for 'criminal misconduct' all the way to 'manslaughter'. For a miscarriage.)

Sorry.. I like the Party of Goldwater/Reagan over the Party of the American Taliban. I want LEADERS.. not party members.

And excuse me for deciding that I won't sustain a party who is more concerned with what the few money men want over the people they purport to support. So, yeah.. I've voted for democrats.. and Libertarians.. and Green party folks..and even a few other parties.. because I saw leaders who would ask the most important question that Jesse Helms used as his guide.

'What do I think will be best for my folks back home?' Not 'How does the speaker of the house' say I need to vote today?'


Cyrano Johnson

#19
Quote from: TheRedFear on January 17, 2013, 12:21:05 AM
Really? You're a republican? Who's worried about the so-called lack of '16 candidates in the Democratic party? Right.

you coulda frooled me because your arguement tactics are pure liberal all the way. As long as you say it REALLY LOUD(or in this case, with BIG CAPITAL LETTERS) it must be true.

* stopping right here *

Physician, heal thy-fucking-self. Nobody from a movement conservative establishment that countenances the likes of Drudge, Ann Coulter, Rush Limbaugh and Bill O'Reilly has a scintilla of a right to talk about this being somehow a "liberal" tactic. You people seem ignorant of how obvious it is that you're trying to distract attention from yourselves with complaints like this. Well, in case it is in any doubt: it is super-fucking obvious and your bullshit is fooling no-one. Tend to your own house before you spout.

I won't trouble to go further, Callie is obviously quite capable of disposing of the remainder of your crap. The thing is, there are still responsible and adult conservatives around. (Perhaps too unwilling to see the continuity between people like Goldwater, Nixon and Reagan and the current diseased movement, but at the very least they're still able to see the disease.) It should alarm you that they increasingly find the Republican tent too small to hold them... but then, that would require being something more than a reflexive dupe of the confidence scam masquerading as a political movement that you've decided to be a part of.
Artichoke the gorilla halibut! Freedom! Remember Bubba the Love Sponge!

Cyrano Johnson's ONs & OFFs
Cyrano Johnson's Apologies & Absences

Callie Del Noire

Quote from: Cyrano Johnson on January 17, 2013, 01:11:54 AM
* stopping right here *

Physician, heal thy-fucking-self. Nobody from a movement conservative establishment that countenances the likes of Drudge, Ann Coulter, Rush Limbaugh and Bill O'Reilly has a scintilla of a right to talk about this being somehow a "liberal" tactic. You people seem ignorant of how obvious it is that you're trying to distract attention from yourselves with complaints like this. Well, in case it is in any doubt: it is super-fucking obvious and your bullshit is fooling no-one. Tend to your own house before you spout.

I won't trouble to go further, Callie is obviously quite capable of disposing of the remainder of your crap. The thing is, there are still responsible and adult conservatives around. (Perhaps too unwilling to see the continuity between people like Goldwater, Nixon and Reagan and the current diseased movement, but at the very least they're still able to see the disease.) It should alarm you that they increasingly find the Republican tent too small to hold them... but then, that would require being something more than a reflexive dupe of the confidence scam masquerading as a political movement that you've decided to be a part of.

Now.. I'm not saying that I agree totally with the Late Barry Goldwater or Ronald Reagan.. but they weren't 'small government men' like the Tea Party. Nixon did some good.. I will admit he'd started the 'imperial White House' outlook that we're still suffering from. But he also empaneled the EPA and both him and Reagan were more.. 'Right size' that 'down size' in their approaches.

And as much as I hate to admit it.. he was the right man at the right time for the dealing with China in the time he was in office. In all honesty.. I think he'd have been a better Secretary of State than President.. but he had his moments.

And by god..they were leaders. None of them would be elected today.. too 'soft' on things.

TheRedFear

Right. Demanding fiscal responsibility, and leaving your Rally locations cleaner than they were when you found them now makes you equivalant to the child-beheading Taliban. Truly, your conservatism astounds sir.

Your voting history is all very intriguing...and utterly irrelevant to what we were discussing(granted, my style of discussion is a tad colorful, but it was discussion nonetheless). Since you appear to have completely abandoned that discussion, shall I assume you've conceded the point? Or at least been given something to chew on and consider?

TheRedFear

Quote from: Cyrano Johnson on January 17, 2013, 01:11:54 AM
* stopping right here *

Physician, heal thy-fucking-self. Nobody from a movement conservative establishment that countenances the likes of Drudge, Ann Coulter, Rush Limbaugh and Bill O'Reilly has a

I got bored and went off in search of internet porn right about there.

Big Busty Asians....mmmm....

Cyrano Johnson

Quote from: TheRedFear on January 17, 2013, 01:44:28 AM
I got bored and went off in search of internet porn right about there.

Oh I'll just bet you did.

Next time, maybe start with that step, hey?
Artichoke the gorilla halibut! Freedom! Remember Bubba the Love Sponge!

Cyrano Johnson's ONs & OFFs
Cyrano Johnson's Apologies & Absences

Callie Del Noire

#24
Quote from: TheRedFear on January 17, 2013, 01:41:35 AM
Right. Demanding fiscal responsibility, and leaving your Rally locations cleaner than they were when you found them now makes you equivalant to the child-beheading Taliban. Truly, your conservatism astounds sir.

Your voting history is all very intriguing...and utterly irrelevant to what we were discussing(granted, my style of discussion is a tad colorful, but it was discussion nonetheless). Since you appear to have completely abandoned that discussion, shall I assume you've conceded the point? Or at least been given something to chew on and consider?

Well let's see..

I was raised to see Republicans as people who supported..
-Fiscal responsible government. Sometimes that means smaller government, sometimes that means more taxes.
-A prohibitive military.. (Haven't seen one of those since Reagan took office)
-Common sense government.
-Some of the social programs of the last century worked (Medicare, Social Security) but others haven't.
-Free Market Capitalism. (The republicans I grew up listening to wouldn't have tried to regulate copyrights to the point where it is a LAW that musicians are now considered 'on pay' contractors by law..)

The stuff I've seen the Tea Party do...

"I must confess that anytime I see someone with an Obama bumper sticker, I see them as a danger to the gene pool'" Your man Allan West.

-Constant revisionism of history. They have misrepresented the founding fathers, Reagan and others. No one who looks can ever say that Ronnie was 'anti-tax' or 'small government'. He increased taxes on the rich (including estate taxes) something like eight times in his first term.

Now let's look at some of the tenants of the Tea party
-Ideologically opposed to any compromise. Ever.
-Pushing for literal/textual literalism on the constitution and in religious belief.
-Insistence that the US was founded to be a Christian nation (It wasn't.. Adams and Jefferson both had much to say to that point as did other founding fathers. They all recalled the mess that came out of the conflicts between Protestant/Catholic clashes in England and Europe.)
-Denial of science, a refusal to accept facts even when it is self-evident they are wrong.
-Anti-education
-The willingness to vilify anyone who is wiling to be a coalition builder (look at how they jumped on Gov Chris Christie of NJ after he praised the President for his fast actions and mauled the House for dragging their feet on the relief efforts.. the same thing LOTS of them did when they rose up after Katrina.)
-An insistence, despite their 'smaller government' to further regulate women's reproductive health. Do you know in one state it is, thanks to a person hood law, legal to consider a woman pregnant from onset of her first period to menopause.
-A refusal to debate, discuss or correct any law or bill they put forward and an unwillingness to discuss or approve any bill that their 'rivals' put forward. More bipartisan and democratic sponsored bills died on the house floor in the last session than any other time in congressional history. If the bill sponsor has a -D on the end of his/her name.. it's dead. End of story.

Tea Party Candidates have called for the repeal/destruction/removal of the 13th, 14th and 17th amendments. Immigration laws in republican states have gotten to the point that I worry for my niece.. because her mother's maiden name is Garcia. (she favors her mother's family). Ironically the Garcia's have been American as long as Texas has been part of the Union. Something that can't be said about some of the folks who put forth these atrocities.

They punish Hispanics over any other ethnic group in immigration, they seek to regulate reproductive issues to the point that in some areas the laws are so harshly written that they would potentially make the birth control pill illegal as well as any other method of birth control. I am waiting for something like the girl suffering from leukemia (Dominican Republic I believe) or the poor woman in Ireland here in the US. Condemned to die painfully because the law restricts doctors from saving their lives because they are pregnant, event when it is clear the fetus will not survive.

I worry when any group so blithely wants to do away with due process, the right to citizenship and even removing domestic liberties to ensure they can stay in power. Revising what is, and isn't, American by one groups definition is dangerous. Removing the right to assemble, the right to a transparent government,  restricting free speech, and the right to a fast and fair trial. These are a few of the rights they see as 'unneeded.'.

Do you realize that the laws the Tea Party has put in place to prevent counter protests in places like Wisconsin, Michigan, New York and elsewhere would have made THEIR protests in those same places in 2008 illegal? That's right.. now that they are in power.. it's wrong to want to see an 'open government' or even tape it in some state houses.

I think Trieste said a few months back.. that a family of six in Wisconsin at the statehouse is TECHNICALLY a demonstration now. (If I am wrong.. let me know Trieste)

The Tea Party isn't about liberty..except for them.

The Tea Party isn't about Justice.. except for them..

The Tea Party in another time and place.. would have worn brown shirts or carried little 'party membership' cards.

I don't judge by rhetoric.. I judge by statements and actions.

And by that rubric..the Tea Party has strayed a long way from their origins. Any group that goes to the lengths they have to surpress rivals, disenfranchise voters, hide the process of public government and role back 100+ years worth of public safety laws aren't out for the public good.