You should have the words "ad hominem alert!" posted at the top of your article.

Calling the people who are protesting $10T in real and proposed debt mounted by the political class in less than 12 months "book burners and frightened creationists". Is like calling all progressives eugenicists.

Did you see the progressive site imploring progressive to go to these parties and take a video of yourself acting in a crazy manner so progressives can propagate the falsified videos are "reality" and "news". Classy as always, eh?

Johnnie. What site would that be? Sheesh you right wingers are a paranoid bunch. Im going to the one in Salem tomorrow if i can get time off.

Not too bad, you are starting to sound like Fox News critquing the Democrats. You need to get some original material if people exercising fre speech frightens you so much.

Pat and all

Why do you even care if people are attending these "tea parties." You are not feeling threatened are you? I just cannot believe your wasting time, space and whatever else on writing about this. Bottom line is who cares. It will all pass anyways.

TA, the last eight years have been summarily whitewashed. Furthermore, Barack Hussein Obama is the Kenyan-born Muslim Islamofascist communistic anti-Christ. If you don't believe me, just ask Glenn Beck when he gets back from his "Secession 2009" tour.

Here are pertinent links to the Texas secession madness from the governor of Texas und Herr Beck.

Or maybe it's not madness. I could be persuaded to let the wingnuts have Dixie to run their fascinating little social experiment, while the sane get the rest of the country.

3 buck nuts.

Went to the dollar tree and bought a pair of 3.25 inch foam balls and 2 pink washcloths. Sewed the balls into the washcloths and presto, a mock scrotum for tomorrow. I'll have a sign with the definition of "Teabagging' and these balls bobbing off of the pole holding the sign.

Posted by: t.a. barnhart | Apr 14, 2009 9:33:10 PM

these protests are the phoniest, rankest bullshit. they have nothing to do with concern for the economy, the nation's ability to educate its children, the planet's physical health or anything beyond trying to underminde the President and win back political power.

gay pride parades, union protests, pro-abortion rallies, teacher unions demonstrations - pick your garden variety liberal special interest group - all take to the streets and the airways on a regular basis to make their point or to draw attention to their cause. That’s all good, but let the Taxed Enough Already crowd draw on the formative history of the country for their inspiration and they are demeaned and demoted. It’s that kind of elitist thinking that will push hundreds of thousands or more to town squares all across the country tomorrow

The idea that Somalia is a "libertarian paradise" is an absurdity on par with the notion that Obama is a Communist and merely betrays an understanding of libertarianism more informed by stereotypes and caricatures than facts.

Speaking of caricatures, isn't it a bit cartoonish of "progressives" get all indignant and thump their chests about these little "Tea Parties" and the crowd they attract given that the last eight years witnessed hundreds, if not thousands, of anti-[Bush/War/capitalist/whatever] protests that were, in many cases organized by such lovely groups as ANSWER and attended by everything from run-of-the-mill Marxists to ghoulish "peace" protesters advocating the "fragging" of American troops?

Incidentally, I think first commenter might have been referring to this posting over at the widely-read and decidedly "progressive" Huffington Post that specifically calls for "citizen journalists" to attend the "Tea Parties" and report back.

I understand that it's much easier to go on about "paranoid right-wingers," and such but even a cursory Google search can often save one from the embarrassment of looking dreadfully uninformed.

Kari and others. I'm not paranoid at all. Never have been. I'm just informed and understand progressive tactics. See:

"(The Huffington Post wants to have citizen journalists at as many of the April 15 tea party events as possible. If you're interested in attending one of the protests and reporting back to us with dispatches, photos, or video, click here to sign up. We'll contact you shortly with further instructions.)"

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/12/tea-party-insanity-burn-a_n_185991.html

Watch the posted videos and then search other videos posted by the people. A basic high school level school newspaper journalism effort (2 minute search) reveals other posts/websites (cached) that these people are Progressives masking as 9/12er's spouting things their own bigotry thinks 9/12'er are all about.

Progressive Citizen Reporter Unite. We will infiltrate the Tea Partys and spout insane things and report back how insane the Tea Party attendees are! Classy. But it doesn't suprise me.

Stunts like these will work on some "news" organizations like MSNBC. They'll be all over this fake news faster than the progressives were all over Trig is really Palin's grandson. Again, high school journalism efforts should have been employed. However, journalism is dead. It's all about propaganda now.

I won't be holding my "paranoid" breath for an apology?

T.A, Conservatives were disgusted with the GOP spending levels. A lot voted for BO to restore the promised "fiscal responsibility". Remember the GOP base helped drive out the GOP from power in 2006 and President Bush's approval ratings don't get that low without significant erosion of his base. So keep spinning that political "logic" in your head but know it's wrong. Put down the political kool-aide. It's not all about GOP vs. DNC. People understand that we are spending money on wealth that won't be created for a generation. I'm not a big fan of McCain, but he had it right when he called the current spending spree generational theft.

In early Nov, some progressive told me that I'd be pleasantly surprised on how an Obama administration would turn back the amount of Federal spending and National Debt the GOP propagated onto this country and restore fiscal responsibility. I did not realize I was suppose to be pleasantly surprised about a proposed budget with more national debt than all prior administrations combined. But hey, at least the title to the budget has the words fiscal responsibility in it.

There isn't enough wealth created now or with future generations to pay off the last 12 months of spending, even if you raised taxes to levels Progressive would think is oppressive.

All the references to the Urban Dictionary definition is very telling.

Matt Taibbi over at Smirking Chimp says is better than I can. This post is entitled " The peasant mentality lives in America":

"But actual rich people can’t ever be the target. It’s a classic peasant mentality: going into fits of groveling and bowing whenever the master’s carriage rides by, then fuming against the Turks in Crimea or the Jews in the Pale or whoever after spending fifteen hard hours in the fields. You know you’re a peasant when you worship the very people who are right now, this minute, conning you and taking your shit. Whatever the master does, you’re on board. When you get frisky, he sticks a big cross in the middle of your village, and you spend the rest of your life praying to it with big googly eyes. Or he puts out newspapers full of innuendo about this or that faraway group and you immediately salute and rush off to join the hate squad. A good peasant is loyal, simpleminded, and full of misdirected anger. And that’s what we’ve got now, a lot of misdirected anger searching around for a non-target to mis-punish… can’t be mad at AIG, can’t be mad at Citi or Goldman Sachs. The real villains have to be the anti-AIG protesters! After all, those people earned those bonuses! If ever there was a textbook case of peasant thinking, it’s struggling middle-class Americans burned up in defense of taxpayer-funded bonuses to millionaires. It’s really weird stuff. And bound to get weirder, I imagine, as this crisis gets worse and more complicated."

Go read the whole post. I always find Matt's work fun and enlightening. Here's the link: The peasant mentality lives in America

Happy Teabagging Day, America! Don't forget to check Teablogging.net throughout the day for bite-sized teaparty updates!

Oh get real Carla.

Your gee whiz version of the democrat crazed spending of trillions would be laughable if it were not so flagrant and hypocritical.

The fact that you're still condeming Bush for deficit spending in the face of your massive increase in same is beyond irrational. And how is it that D after D keep saying Republicans had no problem with Bush spending? Is that deliberate lying or are you that lame that you missed all the complaining. And every time you're corrected it goes in one ear and out the other?

This isn;t simiply "injection of money into the economy to keep us from spiraling". It's blatant, reckless and massive spending with bills not even read. Spending of trillions on every liberal cause under the shroud of saving the economy. All while obstructing every effort to allow taxpayers to keep and spend any of the money themselves.

Your summary that "it's closer to the right thing to do than the wrong" is without any basis other than liberal gibberish. Ushered along with your strawman notion that the only R alternative is "cutting spending". More BS. How about targetted and responsible spending versus the frenzied chaos your reckless politicians favor? Talk about foolhardy. And deficits far beyond any of your Bush caricatures.

It amazes me how totally, and deliberately, wrong you cast Republicans and conservatives.

I am one and know many at every imaginable level. Never have I come across ANY as you portray them. Our conversations and motivations resemble nothing depicted by you and yours. Your particluar demogobguery and sleazy politics knows no bounds.

Happy tea day. Don't be so blue.

I was responding to Posted by: Carla Axtman | Apr 15, 2009 6:42:22 AM

and in general to the thread.

But, no surprise, you managed to create something else.

JOhnnie. Well its common internet courtesy for YOU to post the links to what you refer to. I am not your servant LOL. So your all upset that many of us that are not Right wingers would be intrested in seeing how you guys protest. I already have been to a "Minuteman" demo, those guys were totally bats**T crazy. I will be there today in Salem. I will not be counter-protesting just looking around, maybe I wont see the Creationists or tin-hat brigade? That would be sad, those guys always bring a smile to ones face. But for all the protestations of bi-partizanship this thing is being pushed by some very right wing organizations. Freedomworks in particular.

Let's send the teabaggers off to battle Somali pirates. Kill two birds with one stone. (And yep, I fully expect an outraged irony-deprived wingnut to respond, claiming I'm pandering to murders or some damn thing.)

I am kinda hoping its one of those cool demos..with maybe a band playing and stuff, maybe a comedian. I am not holding my breath though. And also i noticed the Right wingers dont like marching demos. They like to stand still. Just odd. Some of the best i have been to include marching with bands playing/brass and pipe ( in the UK). Great fun and excersize too..especially when the "bobbies" wade in LOL.

...There's just not a stimulus package that wouldn't make a Dick Armey think of teabagging.

simply awesome

Carla - Got it. Never let a crisis go to waste. Now is the time to do things you'd never be able to do.

FDR established programs when there were tough economic times. Bush/Obama established unsustainable spending based on speculation. The current downturn in Oregon isn't yet at where it was in the early 80's and there wasn't nearly the amount of money printed and debt produced to get us out of those times. Guess what we survived. There was no talk by Carter and Regan how we may never recover, economic catastrophy, and other statements Obama has used.

Yeah it's "tough" out there but when the classified ads in The Oregonian are as blank as it was in the 80's, then lets talk. Good grief, we've been through tough times and we'll have more tough times in the future. No need to mortgage our future based on speculation. Remember, it was unsustainable speculation that got us into this mess.

Spare me the "regulators" issue. If the regulators couldn't stop Madoff with his 45 degree angle straight return on investment and information provided by whistle blowers, no amount of regulations or regulators would have stopped the latest housing bubble.

OregonScot - glad you feel the need to tell me I feel and think (paranoid, angry...). How very progressive of you. No, really it is. You know better than I about my thoughts/feeling. What's next Homeland Security requesting you to report me as a suspicious person? Hell at least the crook Bush limited it to suspicious behavior. Do you think it should be illegal to be a conservative or libertarian?

Again, progressive balk at my assertion, demanded links and yelled paranoia! When provided, just ignore it and yell louder. Proves my point of why I delayed providing the link, eh?

"OregonScot - glad you feel the need to tell me I feel and think (paranoid, angry...). How very progressive of you. No, really it is. You know better than I about my thoughts/feeling. What's next Homeland Security requesting you to report me as a suspicious person? Hell at least the crook Bush limited it to suspicious behavior. Do you think it should be illegal to be a conservative or libertarian?" Dear oh dear, its to easy. Im off to pick up my 6 year old, we should be at the north steps around 11:30AM Have fun

Pat Ryan:

How have I misrepresented the end result of reducing taxes to zero?

Bob T:

Reducing [income] taxes to zero does not get you Somolia. Maybe Somalia is an anarchist's dream. But then, most of those calling themselves "anarchists" have no idea what it is and think it means breaking windows of businesses and having national health care.

Pat Ryan:

Believe me, I've read my Heinlein and a lot of Rand beyond Atlas, as much Adam Smith as most of the Invisible Hand crowd. As I understand his outlook, it was that basically large monopolies in collusion with government would destroy civil society by choking out the small businesses and sole prorietors.

Bob T:

I agree with you that this is serious concern, but key words are "in collusion with government". When there's collusion with government, it's no longer free market or libertarianism or capitalism or whatever. Like I said before, it's difficult for most people to stick to that because most voters are too prone seduction by short-sighted rhetoric about how this or that "tweaking" or deal will "make the market work better" or some such nonsense, while a dedicated free marketer in politics will be called uncaring for not wanting to do something like, oh, cut a deal with a millionaire to get a two-stadium deal. No, we'll let the progressives give us that one.

Oh, by the way, a good example of this can be found in last week's Willy Week, about that ethonol plant in Clatskanie that was given millions of tax dollars. Governor Kulongoski supported this by saying that the deal will help create, "thousands of new high-quality jobs". He couldn't prove it, but too many people believed this garbage as usual and by the time reality hits it's too late, and Kulongoski gets a very nice pension. Politics is full of those kinds of brainless predictions that are made by people who have absolutely no grap of basic economics. All that matters to them, however, is the now.

So again, key words were "in collusion with government". So when will we see progressives propose doing something about taking away the powers of government to provide that collusion? Or opposing the decisions as they come along, until such time we can get laws changed? Progressives had a chance to oppose a very prominent and flashy deal last month regarding the two-stadium corporate welfare for a millionaire and his millionaire father, but they flopped. I guess it's more important to be uncritical of a mayor whose main draw for progressives is that he's "the first openly gay mayor of a major city". How shallow. It's so easy to just trash the Paulsons while still wearing the Sam Adams T-shirt. Again, the Paulsons can't get a DIME of tax dollars unless the politicians give it to them.

Oh, where did Ayn Rand ever support government collusion? Are you saying that having zero taxes is "government collusion"? That's silly. No, collusion is what Sam Adams provided.

Bob Tiernan Portland

Whaaa?!?!?!? Since when did libertarians claim they wanted a society "without" government? Sorry, Mr. Ryan --- you're as bad as that at which you rail...LOLOLOLOLOLOL

This maybe slightly off topic, but what the hell. . .

". . .just ask Glenn Beck when he gets back from his "Secession 2009" tour."

This whole right-wing tea-bagging thing is tied at the wrist and ankles with nut-jobs like Beck and Rick Perry and their incessant griping about the feds and implicit calls for secession -- so

I say let 'em.

And as soon as the separation is complete, we immediately build a nice fence on each new border, and we can start with The Republic of Texas. Forty feet high ought to do just fine.

Remember, gotta secure those borders.

It'll never get done Murphy...

...the progressives aren't interested in securing borders now so what makes you think they'll suddenly have a change of heart?

Beautifully appropriate:

The Greenville, S.C., Tea Party, will be selling the 'Obama burger' — you pay for one and they cut it in half and give the rest to the person behind you for free!!

I guess that's food stimulus?

Got back. Actually a nicer "feeling" demo than expected. Perhaps the lovely weather made it better. No REAL dingbats..a LOT of anti-Obama signs. Again despite other posters I was not expecting a bi-partizan bunch. I estimated at 12:30 around 700-800..pretty good for a Right wing demo.

OregonScot - This IS to easy.

"Actually a nicer "feeling" demo than expected" Why? don't you believe things I an other told you about these people?

"No REAL dingbats." Of course not, again, read my posts.

So your observations concurred with my comments. I guess now you'll go on ranting how I am paranoid, nutcase, or whatever.

Did you purchase an Obama Burger?

Nice job, Tiernan, you got in a mention of the saintly Ayn Rand!! You recall how in Brave New World they reckoned years in the "present" era as "A.F.", for "after (Henry) Ford", and had some benediction referring to "the year of our Ford"? Undoubtedly the Libertarian paradise will reckon years as "A.A." etc.

Carla, "Really? Every liberal cause.."? You mean like first responders and roads and military bridges...those kind of causes? Neat."

Perfect dance Carla. Are those the portions you have no problem with?

That leaves countless billions in lefty causes you must object to. So we're on the same page. Swell. If that was what you meant. But of course it wasn't. You were being playing facetious games as usual.

The sickening and unpresidented expansion of spending pales anything prior to Obama.

But I guess since you only have some problems with Obama/D congress spending it's OK because you still hate Bush?

Plus we may get some more streetcars around here! Those reduce congestion and pollution right? Ha. Sure they do.

"So it's okay for the tea party people to exercise their free speech (out of fear...or sore loser-ing...or whatever their motive..) but it's not okay for Pat and others to exercise free speech...because criticizing the speech of others is bad?

Clear that one up for me, please."

I don't think I said anything against Mr Ryan's, yours, mine or the tea baggers free speech rights, so I am confused.

I honestly hope Pres Obama does well, but it will have to be result of a consensus which recognizes and respects everyone's opinion.

So if I say Mr Ryan sounds as shrill as Fox commentators on extreme Demos, it is merely that an observation.

I don't know what teabag people want honestly. But I think they should have their say and merit some respect as an opinion as valid as anyone elses.

"No idiocy too great, or too often debunked, for you to keep repeating it!"

Then you'l have to debunk it again. Overnight the number has gone from $85M for two stadia (which they will never hit) to $250M for a entertainment venue. Now Mr Adams wants to spend another $12M on the CC Hotel (another $250M project.)

Meanwhile, unemployment is up, water rates are going up 16% in June, potholes gape, police precincts are cloing in NoPo, schools need funding and Sellwood Bridge is collapsing.

This is a sane way to spend almost $500M?

TorridJoe, you shoudl try to blog outside work ohours, your thoughts might be clearer.

Posted by: let's face it | Apr 15, 2009 10:28:22 AM

...There's just not a stimulus package that wouldn't make a Dick Armey think of teabagging.

Dick...teabagging...and he's been screwing us in the ass for years? Who writes this stuff?

The other odd coincidence is that I've wanted to see Armey hung by the balls and flogged for years!

Captain Jack Harkness:

The other odd coincidence is that I've wanted to see Armey hung by the balls and flogged for years!

Bob T:

Poorly written. Here's how it should have been composed:

The other odd coincidence is that [for years] I've wanted to see Armey hung by the balls and flogged!

Unless you want the flogging to go on for years.

Bob Tiernan Portland

joel dan walls:

Nice job, Tiernan, you got in a mention of the saintly Ayn Rand!!

Bob T:

I needed to do that. You see, too many free enterprise haters seem to think (assume) that she was all for giving out corporate welfare and calling it capitalism. If you read her stuff, she's as opposed to that as the most honest progressive sounds.

Problem is that giving out corporate welfare is part of "managing" the economy in order to appear to "make the free market work properly", so the progs have no problem with it in the end. That's my observation.

City commissioner Rand: "Sorry, Mr. Paulson, but you must find the land for your stadium, buy if from a willing buyer, and build it for your team. if you can't manage this, then bye bye".

Mayor Sam Adams: "Let's see what we can do to make this work for the city and the people."

Bob Tiernan Portland