Extremism, the new poltiical stance

John Cleese seems to be describing America here. Sad. We need to all calm down. That and work together. Remember when we were all Americans?

Quote of the day: Americans need to come together

"The greatest threat to our economy is neither corporations nor the government. The greatest threat to our economy is both of them working together. There are currently two sizable coalitions of angry citizens that are almost on the same page about that, and they're too busy insulting each other to notice." --James Sinclair Link: http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2011/10/a-very-simple-venn-diagram-of-where-the-tea-party-and-occupy-wall-street-agree/246687/

Quote of the day--on voting against your own best interests

...in light of what Bob Herbert calls "the most painful evidence imaginable of the failure of laissez-faire economics and the destructive force of the alliance of big business and government against the interests of ordinary Americans," the Tea Party movement wants to abolish government and expand even more the deregulated capitalism that has unsettled the lives of so many of its members. Ignorance prevails around both the movement's policy recommendations and its often racist protest against "the election of a "foreign born' - African-American to the presidency." Link to original post: http://www.truth-out.org/the-disappearing-intellectual-age-economic-darwinism61287

Quote of the day--"Other than the ones that want to kill us, Tea Party members are just 'average...Americans'"

Rep. John Boehner: I’ve been to my share of tea party events. … Let me tell you about these events. Yeah, there’s some disaffected Republicans there. There are always some Democrats there. Always a couple of anarchists who want to kill all of us in public office. But I’ll tell you this: 75 percent of the people who show up at these events are the most average, everyday Americans you’ve ever met. … As I said earlier this year, we should listen to them, we should work with them, and we should walk amongst them. Link to original post: http://thinkprogress.org/2010/07/22/boehner-tea-party-violent-anarchist/

Quote of the day--The Tea Party

"You have to understand the" Tea Party "mindset. They have this nostalgia for the America that they think was stolen from them, the used to be, that was better. It's really the 1950's, okay? That's what they think was 'Shangri-La' and you know what they never get is that it's kind of insulting to a lot of Americans to pine for this era because it wasn't that good for a lot of people. It was good for you if you were a white man. It wasn't that good if you were a Mexican. Or Black. Or Jewish. Or Disabled. Or Gay. Or a woman." --Bill Maher, from his latest HBO special "But I'm Not Wrong"

Republicans, Libertarians and now Tea Party members

Seven demographic characteristics of Tea Party supporters: --78% are Republicans or independents who lean Republican; --77% are non-Hispanic whites; --69% are conservatives; --62% are married; --56% are men; --47% are 55 or older; --23% are under 35; What they believe Seven defining attitudes of Tea Party supporters: --92% believe the federal government debt is a very serious/extremely serious threat to the nation’s future well-being; --90% believe terrorism is a very/extremely serious threat to the nation’s future well-being; --90% are dissatisfied with the way things are going in this country; --87% disapprove of the job congressional Democrats are doing; --85% believe the size and power of the federal government are a very/extremely serious threat to the nation’s future well-being; --83% say most members of Congress don’t deserve re-election; --83% say President Obama doesn’t deserve re-election; Source: USA TODAY/Gallup Polls taken May 24-25 and June 11-13 of 697 Tea Party supporters. Margin of error +/–5 percentage points. Analysis by Jim Norman. Link to original post: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ynews_spec/20100701/pl_ynews_spec/ynews_spec_pl3006;_ylt=AuTyFFo0tMwX7xWzJOYkgDayFz4D;_ylu=X3oDMTJvZmwxdWY5BGFzc2V0A3luZXdzX3NwZWMvMjAxMDA3MDEveW5ld3Nfc3BlY19wbDMwMDYEY3BvcwMyBHBvcwM1BHNlYwN5bl90b3Bfc3RvcnkEc2xrA3dob3RoZXlhcmU-

2 HuffPo articles on the "Tea Party" and its lack of a future

The first headline: Lindsey Graham On Tea Party: 'Just Unsustainable,' No 'Coherent Vision,' Will 'Die Out' Here's hoping he's right. I believe he is. And a quote from the second by writer Richard Geldard: It is a misnomer to call the Tea Party a protest movement. It's just a bumper sticker movement spawned in irrational anger but without coherent protest. Genuine protest produces poetry, not slogans. And then, once it's dead, let's hope these people reclaim their mantlehood of and as Americans and they rejoin the rest of us--Conservatives, Libertarians and yes, even the Liberals, Leftists, Moderates and all others of various beliefs, colors, creeds and sexual orientations, and help us both define and then solve our problems. Link to original posts here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/01/lindsey-graham-on-tea-par_n_632480.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/richard-geldard/why-the-tea-party-has-no_b_632658.html

A week old but still good and certainly appropos

Have a great weekend, y'all.