The main reason is that so many of its members simply don’t know what they are talking about; they seem to think that strong opinions are a substitute for facts, research and analysis. Consequently, many Tea Party members hold views on various topics that are, frankly, nuts, and these views have been embraced by some Republican voters as well.
For example, a March 15, 2011, poll by Public Policy Polling found that 25 percent of Republicans expect that a group called ACORN is going to steal the election for Obama next year and 31 percent aren’t sure; only 43 percent of Republicans believe this is false. In point of fact, ACORN no longer even exists, and it’s doubtful that it could have stolen a local election for dog catcher even if it wanted to.
An August 27, 2010, poll by Princeton Survey Research Associates International found that 52 percent of Republicans believe that Obama sympathizes with Islamic fundamentalists and favors imposing Islamic law around the world; only 7 percent thought this was definitely untrue.
A March 24, 2010, Harris poll found that 67 percent of Republicans believe that Obama is a socialist, 61 percent think he wants to take away the right to own guns, 57 percent believe he is a Muslim, 45 percent say he was not born in the U.S. and has no right to be president, and 41 percent think he is just looking for an excuse to seize dictatorial power.
As a consequence, even solid conservatives like Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) are considered dangerous liberals. And slightly less conservative Republicans such as former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman are treated as dangerous radicals. In a March 14 New York Times report, Utah Tea Party leader Jacqueline Smith said of Huntsman, “On a good day, he’s a socialist. On a bad day, he’s a communist.”
This sort of rhetoric serves no useful purpose and is at best distracting. It also elevates minor differences on policy or strategy among Republicans into deep disagreements over principle. This has made it impossible for Congress to finish work on the 2011 budget, which should have been done last summer. Hard line Tea Party members keep insisting on impossibly large budget cuts despite the fact that the vast bulk of the budget is effectively off limits.
I mostly agree. The Tea-Party has some generally stupid beliefs and they will hurt the Republicans eventually but I don't think they can separated from the GOP as easily as this article believes. The Republican Party started the stupid and I'm afraid they're going to have to live with it.
Just a few years ago I considered myself a Republican. Hell, I voted for Bush Jr. the first time, but they, the Republican party, scared me away with the crap they've pulled over the last three years. Republican crap, not Tea-party crap. The key screw-ups were, Sarah Palin for VP, The lies of the campaign, and the post-election, Fox News-fed hissy-fit. Again, these were Republican actions that drove me, and I assume others, away.
I was excited about Palin at first but after listening to her a while, it was pretty obvious she's just not that sharp. The Republican leadership knew she wasn't that sharp yet they spent most of a year trying to convince the country she was qualified. They were willing to lie to the voters and put dizzy Sarah Palin that close to the controls of the country to win the election. That's about as responsible as a parent giving their sixteen year old kid a case of beer, a bag of dope, and a loaded gun, then handing them the keys to the car and telling him to go have some fun. Absolutely irresponsible. Where were the adults? And,.... they think I'm dumb enough not to see through it. They took me for a fool.
Then the lies started. I think there were more crazy lies in the last election than any other in my lifetime, the Obama is a socialist, Muslim, pals around with terrorists, no birth certificate crap. Lies that were so easy to see through that you'd have to be a complete idiot to believe them. There's just no way can I vote for someone who thinks I'm stupid enough to believe that crap. The bullshit was too deep. This was during the campaign, pre-Tea Party, so again was Republican BS not Tea-Party BS.
After the election, the Fox News fed hissy-fit started and the Tea Party was born. I've never seen so much whining from a political group in my life. The Republicans refused to give up control and threw everything they could at Obama. They put up a helluva fight. They saved their party and gave birth to the Tea Party with a propaganda-fed, scare campaign that this country hadn't seen in my lifetime. For two years, every day, 24/7, there were the Fox News talking heads, in the background, like Orwell's big-brother, creating and blasting out their "truth", just to scare people, to tear down a legitimately elected administration, to make it impossible for them to govern. It's like the Steelers, after losing the Super Bowl, went to Green Bay and beat the hell out of the Packers, took their trophy and rings just because they thought THEY should have won. I can't support anyone who refuses to play by the rules and plays this dirty.
Now they're blaming the crazy on the Tea Party when in reality the Republicans themselves were responsible. They knew Palin was an idiot. They knew Obama wasn't a socialist, Marxist, terrorist Kenyan. They could have been good sports and played by the rules. They could have been good losers, took their defeat in stride and started working on a new platform with some fresh ideas. They didn't. Instead, they threw a two year tantrum that helped create the very Tea Party that they're now trying to distance themselves from.
The Republican party is responsible. They started the crazy but it got away from them. Fox news took it way out there and created the Tea-Party which helped them in the last election but now that crazy is beginning to scare them. If it continues, it could cost them the more-sane, middle-ground voter in the next election, or even split the party, so,... they're trying to pin the crazy on the Tea-baggers and present themselves as a separate, sane group. The problem is, at this time they're not. There's about this much (hold thumb and index finger about 1/8 inch apart) difference between the Republican party and the Tea-Party. America has to take them together as a package deal.
I suppose distancing themselves from the Tea-Party could work. I'd have never guessed that voters would believe all the stupid crap of the last two years but they did. Maybe, with some crappy media on the left and the full support of Fox News, the voters will believe this crap too. The Republicans won't get my vote next time but I've learned that you can't under-estimate the stupidity of the American voter.
tnb
No comments:
Post a Comment