The American Spectator : The Hayseed Rebellion

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The Hayseed Rebellion

By James P. Gannon on 10.25.10 @ 6:08AM

Hey, all you bigots and extremists, listen up!

One of the most striking things about this year’s political discourse (as if name-calling and wild accusations can be dignified with such a term) is that what used to be considered traditional and commonplace thinking is now labeled as extremism and bigotry. A few examples:

If you believe that the U.S. Constitution means only what it actually says, you are an extremist who ought to be wearing a powdered wig.

If you believe that marriage is exclusively the union of one man and one woman, you are a homophobe and a bigot.

If you think people should not be allowed to break into our country illegally, then get free education, health care and jobs and to march in our streets to protest the violation of their “rights,” you are a racist, a xenophobe, and your state should be boycotted.

If you have misgivings about the morality of abortion, or any doubts about the absolute right of a mother to kill her unborn child, you are a religious fanatic, an anti-feminist, and probably a right-wing Catholic.

If you admit to having some queasy feeling when boarding an airplane with people dressed in Muslim garb — you are not only a bigot but you are FIRED — if you work for National Public Radio (or probably any other institution aligned with the cultural/political Left in this country.)

If you watch Fox News, you are a freakin’ @#XX!&**mf2!!!

If you doubt any of the above is true, a close look at the TV commercials being run by the likes of Sen. Harry Reid, Barbara Boxer, Patty Murray or many of the other endangered Democratic incumbents running scared this election year will prove my point. Anyone who does not totally buy into the “progressive” agenda and orthodoxy of politically correct, left-leaning Democratic Party is, by definition, “extreme” if not outright bigoted or “crazy” (as Reid has labeled his opponent, Sharron Angle).

The point of all this is not simply to bemoan what’s happened to political debate in this country, but to point out how successful the Left has been in redefining the terms of that debate. Over the last 30 years, liberals, through their dominance in the media, the universities, the public school systems and major cultural institutions, including television and Hollywood, have redefined what is acceptable and unacceptable in American society. And the docile, largely silent majority of ordinary Americans, who don’t relish confrontation and controversy, have allowed these institutional forces to have their way in changing American culture. Up to now.

People who still cling to “traditional” views of family, marriage, morality, and personal responsibility probably still constitute a majority in this country, but they have been cowed into submission by the institutional forces dominated by liberal “progressives” who are intent on redefining America, reshaping everything from the economy and the educational system, marriage, the family, the meaning of citizenship and the role of government. They are in a position to do this because over the last 30 years they have gradually taken over the institutions of power and influence — all the elite universities, the mainstream media, the film and television industry, most of the big-name foundations and cultural institutions, the arts and fashion, and many of the mainstream Protestant religious denominations.

The people who adhere to traditional American values — which means everything that defined what America was and what it meant, up to the late 1960s — have largely stood on the sidelines watching this takeover, too busy going to work, raising their kids, tending to the suburban home, paying their bills (even their mortgages!) to do anything about it. And anyway, they were the kind of nice, non-confrontational people who didn’t want to raise a fuss and didn’t want to get into conflict with their university-educated children (who were now shacking up, living off welfare, marching in “gay pride” parades or protesting at the World Bank) and who thought that all this politically-correct stuff was a fad that would pass in time, when everyone came to their senses.

Memo to the naive majority: It ain’t gonna pass, it’s only going to get worse, because this is a Movement — a lifelong battle being waged by dedicated, determined, unscrupulous people because it is the only thing they have left to believe in, having abandoned religion as a superstition, patriotism as a joke, and morality as a strait-jacket. This is their religion, their family, their purpose in being, and they need to succeed in this life because at the end there is only Darkness.

Did you ever see the movie All the King’s Men? It’s a classic made in 1949 starring Broderick Crawford as Willie Stark, a country boy who turns to politics to run for governor — a portrait based on the life of Louisiana’s populist governor and U.S. Senator, Huey P. Long.

In a powerful scene that is the turning point in the story, the politically naive Willie suddenly realizes that he is being used by the influential powers in the state to split the “hick” vote so that the corrupt incumbents can remain in power. Willie rises to the moment in a rage at allowing himself to be played the fool in this plot, addressing an audience of overall-clad hayseeds by calling them all “hicks” and himself a “hick.” He sees that he has been totally snookered, used as a pawn, just as naive as all of the gawking good-ole-boys standing before him. It is then that he determines to stand and fight, and be just as ruthless and cynical as his would-be manipulators.

Hey, all you bigots and extremists and homophobes who still believe in all that stuff this country used to stand for — it’s time for your Willie Stark moment. It’s time to stop being so nice, so naive, so accommodating to the movement that is intent on changing your country radically and permanently. It’s time to stand up, speak out, reject the unfair labels being pinned on you and reject the redefinition of everything you care about. They are relying on us to remain the “hicks” they think we are, staring open-mouthed and paralyzed at the brazenness of the transformation they are jamming down our throats.

Willie Stark said it this way: “I’m the hick they were gonna use to split the hick vote. But I’m standing right here now on my hind legs! Even a dog can learn to do that. Are you standing on your hind legs? Have you learned to do that yet?”

The tea party movement is the first sign that average Americans, the people who still believe in what we were and how we lived and thought, just might get up on their hind legs on Nov. 2. It’s about time, hicks. It’s about time.

About the Author

James P. Gannon is a retired former Wall Street Journal reporter and newspaper editor. He lives in Virginia.

Letter to the Editor View all comments (184) | Leave a comment Leave a comment

Tim*| 10.25.10 @ 6:26AM

We Tea Party Rebels are Tanned, Rested & Ready to deliver The Midterm Beatdown .

The Tea Party Rebellion Escalates.

Rise Up In Rebellion.

ggoblue| 10.25.10 @ 7:33AM

and a beatdown it shall be!!!!

8 days...tic tic tic

Left Coast Conservative| 10.28.10 @ 1:58AM

Eric Blair (George Orwell was his pseudonym) identified the threat in his novel, 1984: it's all abou controlling communication (regardless of the media). Blair/Orwell forecast this with his "newspeak." Remember when gay meant you were happy rather than a sexual persuasion? When patriot was a positive appellation rather than a negative condemnation? The first goal of every governmental take-over is seize the radio/television stations; perceptions are shaped by communication. Why should we be surprised that all sides attempt to control the internet? It's all a matter of shaping the message. It appears Blair and Marshal McLuhan were spot on--the medium truly is the message. The first step is reclaiming the English language...

A Tea Party Reader| 10.25.10 @ 9:25AM

Here's a book for you Tea Party Book Lovers: Kiss and Tell by Lardono Jolie

Everyone can curl up in bed with one of Tiger Woods' mistresses now.

The first tell-all from one of Woods' many bedroom conquests claims the "largely endowed" golfer liked three-way sex with women, fantasized about men and was stuck in a marriage to an uncaring gold digger.

"He liked to watch girl-on-girl, and the girls would occasionally join us," Loredana Jolie dishes in "The Real Diary: Lessons from the Good Time Girl to Champion."

From reading your vulgar, obscene posts, this seems like the kind of book you AmSpec posters would enjoy. Tea Party Nation will be a pornocracy. Right?

John Navratil| 10.25.10 @ 9:31AM

Perhaps not! Your writing is the first I've heard of it. Practicing a little psychological projection, are you?

ds80| 10.25.10 @ 9:46AM

Apparently, Gannon was talking about you, "A Tea Party Reader" ...

" ... abandoned religion as a superstition, patriotism as a joke, and morality as a strait-jacket. This is their religion, their family, their purpose in being, and they need to succeed in this life because at the end there is only Darkness."

I get the distinct impression you'll be swearing at the Darkness - of your own making and choice.

Elizabeth Y.| 10.25.10 @ 9:48AM

Re: A Tea Party Reader,

You've made a point worthy of consideration.

I read the filthy, violent comments to "Don't Ask, Just Tell" this weekend, and I was disgusted with the vile language. Pornocracy? That's what it looks lie to me.

Just take a look at the comments laced with gutter language. Why AmSpec does not censor these coarse individuals, I do not know.

Are we not capable of civilized discourse? Why all the profanities and obscenities? I may be conservative--fiscally mainly--but I disassociate myself from the majority of posters here--too crude and low-class for my taste.

You extreme tea party fanatics make us civilized conservatives look so bad, because we are lumped in with you.

If you cannot express yourselves without resorting to obscenities, please keep your ignorant thoughts to yourself.

Edward White| 10.25.10 @ 10:00AM

Elizabeth Y.,

Filth? How right you are.

I've asked TAS to clean up its act, but they refuse. They continue to allow anonymous posters to write the most deranged, vicious, obscene nonsense.

The middle-school mentality on this site reflects the language and attitudes of juvenile bullies.

I rarely read AmSpec. National Review is infinitely superior.

Pvt. Hooper| 10.25.10 @ 10:07AM

Since I have two young children ages six and nine, I installed Parental Controls on my computer.

When I tried to access the story Elizabeth Y refers to, I got a flag saying "Obscenity/Violence" and this happens often.

I had to disengage the Parental Control before I could read the piece. The posters were, as Elizabeth Y. said, "filthy." There's no excuse for this. If readers cannot discuss something intelligently and politely, they should stay off this blog.

Tryon at Glenn Grove| 10.25.10 @ 10:15AM

I thought I was the only one with objections to the obscenities on American Spectator.

If enough of us complain, maybe the editors will take action. And Elizabeth Y. is right in saying that posts laced with filthy language makes us all look bad.

If AmSpec does not make an effort to clean up this site, it will degenerate into a cess pool of dirty talk and name-calling.

I've never seen anything like it.

Clean it up now! That's what I say.

Eric Cartman| 10.25.10 @ 10:42AM

Fuck off!

David W| 10.25.10 @ 11:23AM

Wow, what better example of someone who's head is firmly placed up their you-know-what. Ask for clean dialog and this is the best you can provide? No wonder liberals consider us conservatives to be nothing more than petulant children who have learned a new word. Unless you are an actual liberal who wants to act like a conservative.

PJ| 10.25.10 @ 11:46AM

Interesting that those most offended I have not seen before or have not seen on a regular basis.

Personally Eric, I like your response. It very effective & most apropos. I also like the show you star in!

King Louis XV| 10.25.10 @ 2:03PM

PJ, you say that you have not seen some of the posters on "a regular basis."

Some of us have more important things to do than to sit and post our 2 cents worth several times a day.

I know who the regular posters are, and I'm a little tired of their babble, their day-to-day gobbledygook.

Obviously, many of them are old retirees--contrarians who can't shut their mouths.

Eric Cartman| 10.25.10 @ 2:07PM

If you're going to use my name, please be more imaginative and original, huh? I mean, "Fuck off"? That's it? While it's to the point, it lacks my usual panache. Sounds like Seimone or vtwin is posting under different names again - as Liberal Aholes love to do on this site. As a matter of fact, it looks like Media Mutters' whole crew is posting - Hee hee hee! It means we live in their heads rent free! Weeeeeeeeee!

Eric Cartman| 10.25.10 @ 2:11PM

The above is another imposter.

I said "Fuck off" and I meant it.

Eric Cartman| 10.25.10 @ 2:20PM

Hey, I agree - Liberals deserve that and more, but c'mon vtwin, everyone knows my style. You're too dolty to copy it so all you can say is Fuck Off. Now, if it were me posting, I would say something like how there are not enough middle fingers in the world for Liberal Aholes like you and your pals at Media Mutters. But I agree with your sentiment.

Deuce Liberty| 10.27.10 @ 12:30PM

THANK YOU!!!

What happened to the Pledge to America? Constitutionality? Isn't Freedom of Speech our first right?

I love the people who tell you, almost as a caveat, how much they love and want to preserve this country's founding principles, right before calling for censorship. But hey, they'll tolerate their children posting for pornographic pictures, straddled with 3 generations of debt, and drinking Fluoride all in the name of "securing" them, so why not wipe their asses with the Constitution for the same cowardly end. As if their kids weren't doomed from the start by virtue of their gullible sheepish parents.

And if you all hate how the Tea Party reflects on you, then explain why your Republican Party has spent such money and effort to highjack it? Why do Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin ride its coattails, and why does Fox News lie to make every rally seem better attended and received?

Civilized discourse? Is that what you call warmongering? Civilized discourse would involve discussing things like how at its peak al-Quaeda only had 300 members. Or that WTC 7 was brought down in a controlled demolition in one hour when this usually takes weeks to rig. But your conditioned response to this is to call people who state such FACTS as crazy. And you are conditioned by your fear of knowing the truth and having to back up your big talk with the discomfort of action. Maybe it is you all who need to check your language and your thinking. Or maybe we should just move the topic to gays and abortion, where folks like most of you skip the foul language and jump straight to violence and damnation.

The only thing about this board that is offensive to me is the number of people passing off conditioned responses as their own rational thought. The only thing about this board offensive to me is to hear people that call themselves "patriots" and "conservatives" talking about censorship, government security, and crapping on the last people willing to fight these injustices because they freely used bad words while they still can.

These are your strings for the government to pull forever: fear and superiority.

As long as the government reinforces your belief that your religion makes you better than, say, ALL MUSLIMS or anyone who curses, the government can move you to willingly embrace whatever suicidal agenda they have in mind. And as long as they can turn this pride into fear, aka "those scoundrel Muslims want to kill you because you are such good Christian fag-killers they are jealous and angry", or "a bunch of Mexicans want all the privileges you 'earned' by joining a union and bankrupting the entire manufacturing base of this country", you will graciously submit to having your children pose for naked pictures by a nuclear camera.

Your holier than thou act is America's Murderer. It the same cowardice that causes a man to turn his back while his wife is raped. You'll accept violence, invasion of privacy and the disassembly of everything that made this country great, so long as nobody uses bad words. Because that would shatter the transparent facade you live behind, where you are smart, benevolent and people care what you have to say. You wish. Your delusions and gullibility are the problem. The Republicans own 99+% of the blame for the losses of our freedoms and wealth, and they pulled it off because you gave them away willingly out of FEAR AND COWARDICE.

So FUCK OFF!

Sheila| 10.25.10 @ 10:56AM

How is it that song goes, "jokers to the left of me, idiots to the right" or something of that sort? I have never used an "obscenity" here at TAS, but my refusal to adhere to the right's equally rigid PC code has other movement conservatives flinging "name calling" my way all the time. Lately, of course, all you self-proclaimed "I'm a conservative but ..." or "I'm a republican but ... " types hijacking the comment threads merely makes my web browsing shorter - I prefer to visit those "hateful" sites that don't censor thought or opinions. Tribalism + democracy + stupidity = racist idiocracy.

Professor Longhair| 10.25.10 @ 11:25AM

And I suppose you do not object to Eric Cartman's two-word retort to Tryon?

Eric proves what others have been saying: AmSpectator has some raunchy redneck right-wing posters who get away with saying anything, no matter how reckless or, well, redneck.

Eric has nothing to say, so he throws the F word about--a little redneck tea party bully having a temper tamtrum.

Elizabeth Y.| 10.25.10 @ 11:38AM

The Hayseed Rebellion.

Hayseed? Gannon got that right.

There is a class-divide when it comes to conservatives. You have on one hand the dignified, educated, mostly-fiscal conservatives, and on the other hand you have the right-wing riffraff--mostly tea-partiers-- which I find embarrassing and insulting.

Come on, conservatives. We need to denounce these crude right wingers who are taking over the Republican Party and dumbing it down. They spew hatred and intolerance of intellectual ideas, and make all of us look like idiots.

And some of you will call me a country club Republican. Well, yes, that's what I am, if you mean by that term that I behave with some sense of manners and restraint. So go ahead and denounce me as a "Country Club Republican."

Mimi| 10.25.10 @ 11:52AM

I concur with Elizabeth Y.

Do these people who post comments that are filled with profanities realize that the rude, dirty language undermines whatever point they're trying to make?

Many of the posters destroy their credibility by the shrill tones they choose to express themselves. And some of these people are mean; they exhibit little respect or tolerance for a healthy debate.

I, too, consider myself a "country club" Republican. I emphatically do not approve of the tea party's coarseness and imbecility. as evidenced on The American Spectator.

JOHN| 10.25.10 @ 1:14PM

Tell me how you think this ,since you are so educated ,dignified ,better then the crazy right wing republicans .Why are you so much better .The problem is its only in your mind .You are the reason we have the government we have today . Take a stand and get off the fence

simon templar| 10.25.10 @ 2:34PM

Crude right wingers taking over and dumbing down? I find your rhetoric just as offensive...actually worse than the explicatives of a few short tempered individuals that do not represent the style or temperment of most conservatives. Your rhetoric is riddled with very offensive falsehoods and insults wrapped in a false piety and soft sounding shell. As a adults..I think most of us can take some salty language without turning into school marms. But that would give you and Mimi too much credit and a credibility you both do not deserve. The tea party is neither coarse, imbecile, dumb, hayseeds, or any other 'nice' acceptable insult. A cute way of saying f*k you but the same neverthess. Just another from of PC used to shut people up and down. I find your manipulation, misdirection, misrepresentation, lying and projection just as pornographic and dirty. It undermines healthy debate, respect, and public trust more than a few salty but honest words bantered about by a few people who lost their heads for a few moments in the heat of argument. That reminds me...were you and Mimi out here blogging about your shock and disapproval several months ago about someone else and their language? Your blog and name sound familiar.....

Mimi| 10.25.10 @ 2:44PM

Simon Templar,

I am surprised that you defend the use of profanity and obscenity in getting political points across. Thank God, the majority of our politicians do not share your barbaric view.

In so many words, you are saying that polite language is "politically correct" language. Interesting.

If this is so, please cast me with the politically correct.

And one more thing: there is an assumption that all readers of AmSpec will toe the line on every political view the magazine espouses. Not so. Some of us are independent thinkers, and we refuse to subscribe to tea party doctrine.

Bernhard| 10.25.10 @ 2:45PM

Hear, hear, Mimi. Spot on.

Simon Templar| 10.25.10 @ 4:55PM

You have got to be a liberal troll because your misdirection and manipulative response smacks of a typical liberal blogger. No one is advocating pofanity or obscentity. What some of us are zeroing in on is your hypocrisy and vulgar falsehoods and your false piety in trying to link obscentity and profanity to the Tea Party movement. As far as the majority of politicians..LOL..you got to be kidding even for a liberal troll play acting as a country club republican! The majority of politicians are the most vulgar and obscene group of human garbage that this country as ever seen....without honor, values, integrity...and as corrupt as they come. So don't get you country club knickers in a twist... and Bernhard, go smoke your pipe..and yes, that was a obscene metaphor....children..please stop reading right now...

wvobiwan| 10.25.10 @ 11:54PM

Most of you 'holier than thou-ers' calling yourselves conservatives and GOPers are likely just mobys from HuffPo or DKOS. Don't know what a moby is? A moby is a sock-puppet pretending to be conservative on a blog, usually in an attempt to split the Tea Party from the GOP or to tar conservatives with vile posts. We're all in this together, we have to take our country back from the Democrats/Leftists. Man up or shut up.

CKAinRedStateUSA| 10.25.10 @ 10:47PM

Your insinutions are offensive, and your suggestions are loathsome.

They sound like they came straight from some Democrat/liberal/leftist talking-points white paper entitled "Disparaging the opposition."

By the way, even hayseeds have a sense of decorum and manners.

wvobiwan| 10.25.10 @ 11:50PM

You Republicans seem to think that Tea Partiers are your new pets. We are not - we are your replacements. You ran away form core conservative values in attempts to appeal to the left. YOU ARE PART OF THE PROBLEM. My experience with Tea Partiers is that they are far more intellectual than establishment GOPers give them credit for. They are TRUE mainstream Americans and not pretentious blowhards like you Elizabeth. Get over yourself and deal with a little crudity, the world is a crude place you dolt.

JAH| 10.27.10 @ 3:41AM

where do you come up with THAT divide among conservatives?
Originally, Tea Partiers were about sound money. That was 3 or 4 years ago when Ron Paul made it....but, Palin, Rove and Gingrich broke it, i.e., manufactured dissent.
But, to pronounce yourself as either Republican or Democrat shows how far you still have to go.

Chris | 10.27.10 @ 6:06PM

Its interesting how those who speak with the F-word every other word, they don't have anything else to say. They have a very limited vocabulary!! Its too bad, maybe they can't read books and give rational thought to the serious matters affecting our country. Unfortunately, they vote TOO!! Anyway for you Patriotic Christians out there, I have a thought for you. I started a website to help
Christians spread the message of support for our GOD and this country. Its time to make a critical stand for our rights. Please join me and others as this message spreads across this great country of ours. Go to, http://www.PatrioticChristiansToday.com and get your patriotic wristband with this important message. At no time in our history, as it been more important than NOW!! Please join us.

Bob| 10.27.10 @ 6:18PM

You should also address the reality that there is a divide on the liberal side that exactly mirrors the conservative one - educated liberals working in the public sector living off the revenue from the real producers in the country and the uneducated inner city inner-necks - stupid violent dumb and poor that not only don't communicate well but also live off the productive members of society via hand outs and state benefits.

If your going to chastise the conservatives for their ugly uncle jed and his atrocious behavior please do so in an unbiased and non-partisan manner.

Tim| 10.29.10 @ 6:16PM

I must say that the attitude expressed in the comment by Elizabeth Y. is indicitive of the problem we conservatives have. We denounce the left for their tactics while at the same time falling into the same ridiculous trap. I am not a "well educated" fiscal conservative, I am more of the typical "hayseed" American, who is simply sick of seeing our nation destroyed. I would rather stand with the tea partiers and force change than to sip tea and complain about things. If you want things to change you must cast off the trappings of superiority and join hands with the "hayseed"!

LL| 10.31.10 @ 10:52AM

Ma'am are you serious?

I am an extremely conservative independant, both fiscally and religiously. I never did make it through the 12th grade , yet I also feel it's rude to not censor yourself at the right time.

To be completely honest with you ma'am I would much rather live in my world, where common sense keeps me alive everyday as I work, where your word is always your bond and where your acceptance into such a primitive group is based solely on hard work, honesty and integrity.

Please continue to be a "Country Club Repub", but I have a feeling that the nation, as a whole, may just be ending up on my side of the fence.

NavyBrat | 10.25.10 @ 12:49PM

Prof. Longhair:

Spare us your self righeous indignatinon at Cartman's succint response. I've read much worse on the Flushington Post & The Daily Krap. And if were a regular here, you'd know that the guy posts more than swear words. Your supposed intellectualy superiority is a fraud.

m| 10.25.10 @ 12:58PM

I've read Cartman's hateful posts, and he does not hesitate to express himself in the most onerous profanities.

And when he's not profane, he's merely ridiculous.

Eric Cartman| 10.25.10 @ 2:50PM

Now, you can tell m has read my stuff. It' has a movie review quality about it, doesn't it. Here, let me help you, m:

See what readers are saying about Cartman!
"I've read Cartman's . . . posts . . . he's not profane . . . . (or) ridiculous", says m from the AmSpec blog!

It's a review I can live with :-)

Eric Cartman| 10.25.10 @ 2:24PM

Hey NB. What's up? It wasn't me posting, but you're right - it is succinct, ain't it? Seems like Media Mutters is a little scared, doesn't it? LOL.

BTW - seen that new "Meat and Potatoes" show? Guy ate an 8 lb burrito! YIKES!

Gran Torino| 10.25.10 @ 10:52PM

Professor Longhair,
Eric Cartman didn't say it, you ignorant wretch. That's the real Eric Cartman who posted at 2:07 p.m. The one who said "fuck off" is an impostor, or should I say a liberal faggot. Thr real Eric has the ability to articulate his conservative views. The impostor, on the other hand, is some liberal dork who is pissed because his life has no meaning, and all he can say is, "fuck off" while he pummels his chumley, chokes his chicken, boxes his clown, etc. etc.

Deuce Liberty| 10.27.10 @ 12:38PM

FUCK OFF DR. SMARTYPANTS.

The fact that you don't curse when there is so much to curse about shows what a phony you are. Sure you try to play it off as "enlightened", or "above it", but the fact that you choose THIS topic to comment on in light of 2 illegal wars, a polluted gulf, rampant unemployment, imminent hyperinflation, spiraling debt, and obscene invasions of privacy, shows what a pop gun your muzzled brain really is. No matter how much PR you do for your phony image of yourself.

Please, enlighten us some more with your fear of words and the effective use of them when they are most needed. We couldn't possibly find another 250 million scared sheep to repeat the same indoctrinated talking points...

Bob S| 10.25.10 @ 1:06PM

"clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right-
here I am, stuck in the middle with you."

I think that's what you're after.

Sheila| 10.25.10 @ 2:28PM

Thanks, Bob S - the quote is correct, but of course I'm hardly stuck in the middle. I'm an alternative right, HBDer, one of those derided by Elizabeth Y as an unidignified hayseed and by Margie as an antisemitic hater.

CKAinRedStateUSA| 10.25.10 @ 10:56PM

When I read posts such as the two above, from the "Country Club Republicans," I think what an effective job conservatives and Tea Party member are doing to shake the Republican Part from its slumber.

ds80| 10.25.10 @ 12:17PM

Elizabeth Y,

I agree that resorting to obscenities demonstrates puerility and ignorance.

But to say: "the right-wing riffraff--mostly tea-partiers paints with too broad a brush.

Elizabeth Y.| 10.25.10 @ 2:09PM

ds80,

I'm with you; I did "paint with too broad a brush."

I'm sure there are many tea partiers who do not fit my description. I should have tempered my remarks.

I just get frustrated with the rudeness.

Thanks for your comment.

Deuce Liberty| 10.27.10 @ 12:42PM

Finally after days of torment, I can rest having received Elizabeth's forgiveness. And she can rest easy too, knowing that I have reformed myself and no longer love the Constitution. Instead I have excepted the Republican version of it complete with censorship, child pornography, racism, and all the tenets of Big Global Government. Is this what you wanted Elizabeth?

Once more for the Gipper:
FUCK OFF!

Sheila| 10.25.10 @ 2:32PM

Well goooollly, Miss Elizabeth Y, now we right-wingers demonstrate "puerility and ignorance." Gee, I don't know if I can figger out your comments without a dickshionary, but I'll try. I know that my test scores, degrees, and overall achievements can't possibly measure up to yours, since I've obviously come to the wrong (right wing hater) conclusions, but perhaps you'll make some allowances here - after all, aren't you, as part of our elite, required to show some noblesse oblige? Oh please, please, spare me any more bitingly polite chastisements - I just can't bear it.

Bernhard| 10.25.10 @ 2:52PM

And a little less sarcasm, if you please.

Sheila, a little politeness goes a long way. Here in Charleston, we say that "manners are everything."
Manners, in fact, are morals.

I love the old Southern ladies and gentlemen of old Charleston. Now they had class . . . the kind of class that treasures "impeccable manners."

But they are dying off, and we are left with ill-mannered ruffians to contend with. A pity for civilization.

wvobiwan| 10.26.10 @ 12:01AM

Bernhard if you really believe that you need to get out more and maybe lay off the internet for a while. I pity your insularity - America is FULL of intelligent, well-spoken, well-mannered people of all stripes. We won't stop Obama and the socialists with good manners, that's how we got into this mess in the first place.

skip| 10.26.10 @ 1:45PM

All my life it was social gospel: never talk about religion or politics at the party, reunion, gathering, etc. Look where that got us. What is more important in anyone's life than 'politics'? Your life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness is at stake every day. 'Religion' is even more important, it not only involves your life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness in this life, but in the next one as well. Banish that idiotic maxim, this holiday season, the latest movie and sports results is fine and all for some small talk, but discuss religion and politics too.

JAH| 10.27.10 @ 3:45AM

politeness is a virtue in the absence of morality

Duck Dodgers | 10.27.10 @ 12:50PM

Charleston, like the rest of America is a broke Ghetto. And I have heard with my own two ears, these same distinguished ladies, behind closed doors uttering the most racist and despicable poison I've ever heard from the mouth of a human. You are a liar. The classic Republican. You want the world to be as perfect as the phony view of you and those like you, that you have all brainwashed yourselves into believing. Charleston is never going to be the capital of the Miss Manners revolution. It is still the slave port it has always been, and every white person views it as such. They just put on false airs because they are so morally empty that they think that fooling people into believing you are a good person is just as good as being one. This is the defining characteristic fraud of the whole Neocon movement. Global war, institutionalized racism, child pornography, murder of gays and abortionists, and big government seizure of wealth and freedom, all behind nice Sunday clothes, clean language and a pleasant "good day".

Nobody is fooled...

idalily| 10.25.10 @ 3:11PM

Don't let the screen door hit you in the ass on the way out, Elizabeth.

Gill O’Teen ✝✡$| 10.25.10 @ 10:19AM

Sounds more like a book that the only person to hold the office of U.S. President and be convicted of perjury might enjoy reading to his latest squeeze, or maybe former vee pee wannabe breck-boy edwards to his love child's mother. In preparing your ridiculous attack on the tea party, you obviously relished conducting your own personal research about this total waste of time. Must be on the Tides Foundation recommended reading list.

Why don’t you spend some time reading the book at the other end of the following link instead of wasting our time with your lame attempt at juvenile humor: {http://astore.amazon.com/theamericansp-20/detail/0451628810
Then read two archaic old-white-guys-only scraps of paper one of which begins, “IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.”; the other “We the People of the United States ...” Maybe then you’ll have a clue.

Gill O’Teen ✝✡$
Don’t Tread on Me.
gill.Oteen07041776@gmail.com
“Some scientists claim that hydrogen, because it is so plentiful, is the basic building block of the universe. I dispute that. I say there is more stupidity than hydrogen, and that is the basic building block of the universe.” - attributed to Frank Zappa at {http://www.quotegarden.com/ignorance.html}
Only 818 days to go

REB| 10.25.10 @ 10:25PM

Just a retard schill folks...thinks because he/shes a pervert the rest of us would care.....naaaa

Jim| 10.27.10 @ 10:16AM

biteme!

SonOfSam| 10.25.10 @ 9:25AM

please, Please, PLEASE....it simply cannot end with a beatdown. Once we defeat the ObamaNazis at the polls, we need to investigate, indict, prosecute, convict and then JAIL the whole damned stinking rats nest of them. That way, they can't come slithering back into the people's capital as lobbyists or consultants, and keep right on attacking our freedoms.

America will never be safe until all the ObamaNazis are in the ground, in prison or in exile.

Di | 10.25.10 @ 11:59PM

AMEN! STAND & DELIVER!!! :)

Alan Brooks| 10.26.10 @ 12:43AM

And if you are a Joe Sobran or Pat Buchanan,
you can "dislike" (hate) America's only real ally in the Mideast.

rick| 10.27.10 @ 12:12PM

Before America's blind devotion the that "Mideast ally" - she didn't have any Mideast enemies.

Deborah D | 10.25.10 @ 6:40AM

Hey, I've lost a few Facebook friends because of the articles I post there. I figure either they'll eventually see the light and thank me later or there's no big loss. Some things are more important. I don't care what they think of me. I care about the future of the country. Everything else is sooo 2007.

fb0m0724| 10.25.10 @ 7:00AM

Deborah - those people are not your friends.
Anyone who demands that you think exactly like them, act like them etc - is not a friend because they are taking away from you the uniqueness that makes Deborah D - Deborah D.

The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane.
Marcus Aurelius.

Deborah D | 10.25.10 @ 8:46AM

Thanks, fb0m074. I really like the Marcus Aurelius quote, by the way. I think I'll post it on my profile page today. Have a good, sane day!

Stephanie| 10.25.10 @ 9:10AM

Me too Deborah. Not many "comment" on my newsfeed anymore because of my " radical rightwing Christian" way of thinking. Oh, and that I believe in the Constitution. But I have to say, I have made a few new "friends" across the great United States through FB whom I didn't know before and have never met in person, but may some day! And if I have informed and changed the mind of just 1 person, that is good.
Onward and upward to Nov. 2!

wvobiwan| 10.26.10 @ 12:05AM

The MA quote is cute, but please have a little more drive to help your save your fellow citizens from the ravages of the socialists in power? It's NOT insane, trust me.

fbom0724| 10.25.10 @ 6:48AM

We have a rebellion every two years when we have an election. We have a self-proclaimed 'majority' of people who 'think' but do little eles - time to put them in the unemployed/underemployed/never employed line along with the 17%+ of the population who are suffering because of the policies. Government does not create jobs or wealth - it destroys them. More goes in than comes out.

"The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane." Marcus Aurelius

I choose not to be on the side of the self-proclaimed idiots currently in Washington, DC

Inky| 10.25.10 @ 8:15AM

Jim Gannon, would you please stop whining. You self-indulgent right-wing kooks have pulled political discourse so far to the right that the next thing we will see will be the rehabilitation of the Nazis.

Deborah D | 10.25.10 @ 8:40AM

Exhibit A -- you prove Mr. Gannon's point. Everything rational to a normal person is extreme to a lefty. Orwell's predictions are increasingly coming true. “War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.” -- Oh, yeah...sounds about right.

Mike Rogers| 10.25.10 @ 8:46AM

Conservatives would never rehabilitate the Nazis - Nazis were Socialists!
What we want to do is to send our power-drunk socialist incumbents into rehab!

Stephanie| 10.25.10 @ 9:14AM

Mike, your statement about the Nazis being Socialists probably blew Inky's mind, or he doesn't believe you. He was probably never taught the truth about Nazi history. Thank you for enlightening Inky.

SonOfSam| 10.25.10 @ 9:31AM

Inky has probably never read an actual history of the National SOCIALIST party, otherwise he wouldn't be so surprised. And ignorant. And "progressive". And voting Democrat

Please pardon the redundancy, but as an educator and computer programmer, i do so like to be thorough

stand strong until freedom dawns,
SOS

Richard| 10.25.10 @ 12:10PM

Hey Inky, Nazis are Leftists. "Nazi" and "Fascist" were both re-defined in the process the author discussed! Do some thinking, Sir!

Jim| 10.25.10 @ 1:14PM

Inky:
Nazis - National SOCIALISTS Workers Party!!
What part of "SOCIALIST" fits with what conservatives believe in?? Please read Jonah Goldberg's "Liberal Fascists", and you will see the libs are in favor of much of what Hitler was, not the Conservatives.

Inky| 10.25.10 @ 2:21PM

Jim, I hate to break your bubble of illusions, but you should know that Jonah Goldberg is a nitwit.

skip| 10.25.10 @ 5:32PM

"...Goldberg is a nitwit", posts the person who's previous post implied that when society moves too far right it descends into naziism. Naziism, communism, and socialism are all closely related, and occur when a society moves too far left. When a society moves too far right, what occurs is anarchy.

You nitwit.

It is mindboggling how many liberals take for granted a society too far right descends into naziism. Naziism is far, far, far LEFT.

Martin Treptow| 10.25.10 @ 6:09PM

"Jonah Goldberg is a nitwit..."
Really?
A comment like that is going to require a written submission of your career accomplishments, so that we can consider the source when you refer to a published author like Mr. Goldberg as a "nitwit".

"It's not that our Liberal friends are ignorant, it's just that they know so much that isn't so."
---RWR
Troll.

Fail.

Cheers!

skip| 10.25.10 @ 6:23PM

Goldberg is not only dead-on in his observations, he is often entertaining and humerous in doing so. I can't even remember an article I've substantially disagreed with offhand. What are the odds of that? His writings are intelligent and honest, no wonder liberals dislike him.

JmsA| 10.26.10 @ 12:36AM

That's a classic Reagan quote--thanks.

Samson| 10.25.10 @ 7:51PM

Wrong, wrong, wrong, Skip.

Far right politics usually involve supremacism — a belief that superiority and inferiority is an innate reality between individuals and groups — and a complete rejection of the concept of social equality as a norm. Far right politics often support segregation; the separation of groups deemed to be superior from groups deemed to be inferior. Far right politics also commonly include authoritarianism, nativism, racism and xenophobia.

The ideologies usually associated with the far right include fascism, Nazism and other ultra-nationalist, religiously extreme.

wvobiwan| 10.26.10 @ 12:13AM

Bwahahahah! You are the one who's wrong Samson. Hitler, a SOCIALIST (leftist) DEFINED what racial supremacy means, ask any Jew. Read a REAL history book you putz. The left has been pushing your mantra for decades, but it isn't any more true today than it was 50 years ago. Everything you mentioned describes the left more appropriate, according to the real history fo the world. Not to mention that more people have died due to socialist tyrants than even the entire history of religion.

skip| 10.26.10 @ 2:13PM

True or false:

The republican party represents the right in this nation.

The democratic party represents the left in this
nation.

The republican party was created to represent those unhappy with slavery and unhappy with both the democrat and whig positions on slavery.

Slavery in this nation was abolished because of the efforts of the republican party despite the opposition of other parties.

Civil rights of the 1960s was enacted by a majority of republicans.

Civil rights were repeatedly delayed and voted down by a majority of democrats.

Democrats including Obama, Reid, and Pelosi are currently waging class warfare on a daily basis by vilifying the'rich', creating inequalities that are harming this nation, and republicans oppose this.

Democrats including Obama, Reid, and Pelosi cause segregation on a dialy basis by forcing some people to financially support other people who refuse to support themselves, creating inequalities that are harming this nation, and republicans oppose this.

In the Bible Samson struck down his enemies with the jawbone of an ass, he did not exercise his own jawbone to sound like an ass.

If you answered 'true' to all of the above you get a gold star to take home to mommy.

Dude, liberalism has made you blind. It is your Delilah. It has seduced you and made you weak.

Simon Templar| 10.26.10 @ 2:54PM

Your blog comment is a classic example of the adage that liberals know so much that is not true. It is really a gem. It is really sad in a way that someone could be either so ignorant, mislead, or conciously lying. Pick one. It really is stunning. wvobiwan says it all...I need not add anything to his comment. Lets assume for a moment that you are really sincerely misinformed. If so, you must read Jonah Goldbergs book, Liberal Fascism. Read it. Come back to this site and tell us what you think about it and if it changed your views and understanding of history. While you read it keep in mind that no one here at this conservative web site is against poor people, other races, or thinks they are superior. Conservativism is quite simple...we do not believe that government can be trusted nor is it the solution to all human problems. It plays a necessary role but hopefully a limited role and is a necessary evil. Our trust is placed in ourselves as a self governing people, our families, our communities. When it makes sense for government to be involved and that involvement fits within constitutional limits, we are for its intervention..that's why we led the fight for civil rights. This may shock you but Republicans once were called liberals (libertarians) until progressives stole the name. Read, man.

simon templar| 10.26.10 @ 3:20PM

Samson..let me add one more comment..food for thought...Take a book out on Goldwater, one of the founding fathers of modern conservativism. You will be shocked. Did you know that his companies (he was a business man) were offering health care benefits and child care for his employees well before anyone was doing this. He was a great philanthropist, defender of the common man, and very honest and honorable man. You do not have to stop caring about people to be a conservative..you just have to stop looking to big government to solve every human problem...

JAH| 10.27.10 @ 3:58AM

anarchy?
-archy is a root word meaning "to be ruled".

what is it about the right wing's spending habits on defense that makes it "anarchist"?

the political spectrum is not limited to left vs. right. a left-right-only spectrum implies there's no difference between State and Liberty.

skip| 10.27.10 @ 10:20AM

The latin prefix 'an-' means 'no'. Anarchy: to not be ruled. Spending habits? The political spectrum not limited to left vs. right? Is there up vs. down? My point is that fascism, naziism, communism, and socialism are all conditions of a society that is very far left on the political spectrum, and that very far right is anarchy, and how so few liberals can even comprehend this concept. Your response of four non-sequiturs notwithstanding I thought my point was self-explanatory.

Derek D| 10.27.10 @ 1:12PM

I love that the worst CRIME a person, especially a Republican, can commit is to not vote Republican. Even if they're just a socialist calling themself a Republican.

So what part of CONSERVATIVE expansion of social security ISN'T Socialist. What part of CONSERVATIVE expansion of medicare and prescription benefits ISN'T Socialist? What part of No Child Left Behind ISN'T Socialist? What part of $780 billion in bailouts to banks ISN'T Socialist? What part of bailing out private airlines ISN'T socialist? What part of increasing the government workforce by 25% ISN'T Socialist? What part of billions of dollars in foreign aid ISN'T socialist? What part of funding pre-determined government science ISN'T Socialist?

Should I keep going?

What part of Stimulus spending ISN'T Socialist? What part of income tax ISN'T Socialist? What part of people who pay no tax receiving tax returns ISN'T Socialist? What part of paid government tax credits for having babies ISN'T Socialist? What part of overthrowing sovreign governments ISN'T Socialist? What part of funding for the arts, public television, and NPR ISN'T Socialist?

You are FUCKING FOOLS. You make me sick with your memorized talking points with a complete inability to draw your own logical conclusions from a set of facts. You anti-socialism freedom fighters either created or perpetuated every one of these things for 8 years, and ABSOLUTELY GUARANTEED will continue to do so should you again capture a congressional majority. THIS COUNTRY IS FULLY IN THE GRASP OF SOCIALISM. In fact it would be more obvious were it not for the fact that we are just as bad at it as we are at keeping our corporations on our own soil. The only reason you won't accept it is because your sheep-leader swears to you it isn't true and none of you have the capacity for thought or action to question it.

Thank you for the stupidest, most gullible, most reality defying post of all time. And congratulations, YOU my friend are a TRUE Republican. Your ignorance to the plainest most obvious aspects of reality has no equal in any other party...

skip| 10.27.10 @ 8:28PM

"This Country is fully in the grasp of socialism."

Maybe that is why the tree of liberty is in such desparate need of its natural manure.

And if I understand your logic, because the republicans are almost as bad as the democrats, we should just shut up and vote democrat and accept it?

Ted| 10.27.10 @ 11:27PM

NO! Vote 3rd party!

skip| 10.28.10 @ 10:10AM

That is exactly how we ended up with a couple of Clintons.

Louis Jenkins| 10.25.10 @ 8:15AM

And stand on our hind legs we shall! I for one am mad, fightin' mad. We've had enough of the criminal elements in the District of Criminals, and shall do our best to turn them out, send them packing, and work to make this country better. No more lies Mr. Pretender n Chief. No more lies Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid. You can call us crazy, xenophobe, racists, or call us neanderthals (which really is a compliment to neanderthals). The common people of America have the last say. Don't relax after the election, get fired up, and continue our work. No more standing on the side lines, coach, I'm ready to play.

Inky| 10.25.10 @ 8:17AM

Where kind of dog biscuits to you like, Louis?

Louis Jenkins| 10.25.10 @ 8:53AM

Milkbones! I'll be eating dog food if this garbage doesn't cease.

SonOfSam| 10.25.10 @ 9:33AM

the kind made out of dead "progressives". There's no backbone to get caught in our teeth, and the skulls are soft and mushy

btw, inky, I consider your posts here a valuable source of intellectual roughage.

Inky| 10.25.10 @ 11:02AM

Thanks for the compliment, SOS. And don't forget to chew your food thoroughly.

SonOfSam| 10.25.10 @ 11:28AM

no problem, inky. I plan on depositing what remains of you in the appropriate place the morning after the election

Inky| 10.25.10 @ 11:42AM

Hey, I'm not running for office. I'll still be the same on Nov 3.

wvobiwan| 10.26.10 @ 12:16AM

Denial is a serious problem Inky. Consider all the thoughtful conservatives on this blog a compassionate intervention. Don't hate us because we're saving the nation from tyrants.

Claypoole| 10.25.10 @ 1:41PM

Good one, SonOfSam!

Tim*| 10.25.10 @ 8:35AM

Uh Oh ! Inky's Gettin' Stinky.

Petronius| 10.25.10 @ 8:35AM

Don't forget the most important institution the liberals control; the courts. If these traitors were not prosecutors and judges, the 60's trash would be the ones having their heads beaten in instead of our decorated veterans and their families. And if you really don't believe the country is too far gone, discuss the Constitution with someone in law school. When the day comes that a Federal Judge after breaking the Constitutional Oath gets
impeached, tried, convicted, defrocked, and disbarred I'll have a little more confidence. Much as I hate to agree with a neocon like George Will, he's right about one thing. "The attacks on traditional American values and culture will not cease until these people are gone."

Mike Rogers| 10.25.10 @ 8:49AM

That can be fixed, too - I'm betting that some 60-70% of we the people, upon being reminded that "judges shall serve during good behavior", would be only too happy to see those who are not faithful to the Constitution impeached.

Roy| 10.25.10 @ 9:00AM

If you're seriously trying not to agree with George Will because he is a "neocon", then you're the type of person mentioned in the article that was readily manipulable through running Willie Stark.

George Will caved pretty quick once the war got tough, which I would have thought make him a "realist" in good standing.

Petronius| 10.25.10 @ 12:37PM

I know a charlatan when I see one. And George Will has a foot in both camps like those country club Republicans Liz Y and Mimi who have enough money to insulate themselves from us Teaparty extremists. They are scared to death that one of "Us" might accumulate enough wealth to try joining Winged Foot, Congressional, or any of the top ten. Pat Buchanan exposed them when he ran for President. Their snobbery matters not.
Their obstruction to our economic advancement and better quality of life does, tee times at The Country Club aside and I would not live anywhere near Boston. So I'll spell it out. There are moral and cultural imperatives that define and go with being a Real American. Those attributes are honesty, industry, and virtue. We are not predators, perverts, or parasites. And it is We who are taxed to penury to deal with the results of their behaviors which means a much lower standard of living than we deserve.
I seldom use epithets in my posts even when my BP is high. The prudery of others is their problem.
They can cover their vibrators in gold leaf for all I care.

wvobiwan| 10.26.10 @ 12:20AM

Excellent post Petronius. Many in the GOP, and ALL of the Democrats still believe that government is too important to be left in the hands of the 'little people'. It's an elitist disease that is destroying their own good judgement, and our nation.

Chuck| 10.25.10 @ 9:14AM

I would vote for Willie Stark over any of these goony wishy washy Republicans now on the public scene.

Ned| 10.25.10 @ 1:41PM

I'd vote for Mickey Mouse "over any of these goony wishy washy Republicans now on the public scene..." except that that hands the election to the Dim-O-crats... as a matter of fact, in most recent elections I usually vote *against* one candidate, as opposed to *for* the other one... McCain being a perfect example... and Dole... and Bush II the second time...

wvobiwan| 10.26.10 @ 12:23AM

Voting for a Democrat these days is just plain crazy. The Tea Party would have no chance at joining forces with the Dems, they're all socialists and elitists. However, the American people, in the form of the Tea Party and otherwise, are giving the GOP a last chance to return to Constitutional, small government. Should they try to revert back to their big government ways, the Tea Party will just form a 3rd political party and kick them ALL out.

KyMouse| 10.25.10 @ 9:35AM

"They are in a position to do this because over the last 30 years they have gradually taken over the institutions of power and influence -- all the elite universities, the mainstream media, the film and television industry, most of the big-name foundations and cultural institutions, the arts and fashion, and many of the mainstream Protestant religious denominations."

This reminds me of what people said to the Flower Power kids during the late '60s -- if you want to change things, "work within the system." And that's exactly what they've done.

wodiej| 10.25.10 @ 10:18AM

At first I was baffled as to why God would allow someone like Obama to become president along w a democratic controlled congress. This article solves that mystery.

For decades conservatives have allowed liberals to water down our ethics, values, responsibilities and accountability. What we have now is the harvest of that.

Ever heard the bible scripture "Satan wanders to and fro seeking whom he may devour"? This is not a game people. This is about the salvation of our country as it was founded-why we have prospered and been such a beacon of hope for the oppressed across the seas.

We have to get back to being a "maker" nation, not a "taker" nation. If we don't, we won't be able to help ourselves let alone anyone else.

canuckistani| 10.25.10 @ 11:00AM

I don't see where God has anything to do with the makeup of the Congress. His only civic commentary was to render unto caesar that which is caesar's, oh and get commerce out of the church.

The differences between the two parties are just marginal shades of gray, whereas God's own ministries depart from from eachother in real, tangible ways.
A Quaker's pacifism departs wildly from even the most liberal of Dems, are they ungodly?
The Episcopalian church actively welcomes gay priests and bishops, the Army does not. Is the Episcopalian church ungodly?
Jewish standard view on abortion is that life begins at the separation of child from mother, not before. True? or are they ungodly as well?

Last time I checked, Jesus was a healer, a forgiver and a sacrificer - not a war monger, profiteer or liar.
What would Jesus do witnessing the suffering of the jobless and the wanton profiteers in healthcare, defense and banking? If He were president, would he enter in wars of choice?

Would he condone the preservation of the 2nd amendment under any circumstance? Would he permit abortion under any circumstances?

The short answer is: you don't know. None of us knows. If you did, then you would be promoting what Jesus would, and cutting benefits and retaining a $750B defense budget is not.

I do not see Congress as an instrument of good, it is an instrument of practicalities and the necessary based on the times.

It is writers here that attempt to project the nation's business as providential, but truly it is the work of men and women doing the work to preserve a standard of civilization without respect to what is "right" in Jesus' eyes.

Perusha| 10.25.10 @ 12:01PM

Do you have any insight into freaks?

Does it take one to know one?

Bob S| 10.25.10 @ 1:17PM

canuckistani... you haven't a clue. Not one. Nice that you have the hubris to make up out of whole cloth a Jesus of your own fashion, and to chothe him with all your attributes, and say we should listen to him of your own creation. Reconcile gay clergy with the book of Leviticus and the letter of St. Paul to the Romans. Reconcile abortion with "Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you." Go ahead. Continue to bring your penknife to the gunfight.

canuckistani| 10.25.10 @ 2:40PM

You mistake my rhetorical questions to wodiej as my own values.
I believe life begins at conception, I believe the community has a responsibility to carry our brethren when they cannot, I believe in defending my country, not projecting it, and I believe I know nothing about the mystery of God.

I do choose, however, to deem the OT as a quaint accounting of Jewish mythology and a decent foundation for the ways and means Jesus proceeded as a man. It is not a universal playbook.
It is His prerogative alone that we continue - with killers, muslims, commies and thankfully those who live a pious, benefacting life.

My point is that one's political values don't necessarily reflect that of God or Jesus. I do not have the hubris or vanity to assume what our Lord would think of this mess. All I can do is refer to the record of what Jesus actually said and did when He was among us, and the platforms of each party - and the TP - do not have even the slightest relationship to His Truth.

Given what we know about mainstream churches and their dogmas, God permitting Obama to lead this land COULD be likely and COULD be by divine providence.
Other good followers of Christ have made the calculation Obama serves their interests better. I do not condemn them, as it may indeed be God's work.
If we are too rigid and old to not recognize this, then we are as flawed as our purported recipients of our righteous venom.
I do know a person without fear, hatred of the unknown or his brothers, and a willingness to make peace and not war is more Christ-like.

Those who claim to speak in His name and slander or even kill his children do not deserve protection.

wvobiwan| 10.26.10 @ 12:28AM

How about "Thou shall not steal." for civic commentary? I'm not religous, and I happen to agree that there is a tremendous need for GOOD government in this country, secular government. We haven't seen good government from the Democrats is decades, and not much from the GOP. Get on the Tea Party train or get run over - Americans have had enough.

Deborah D | 10.26.10 @ 2:41AM

Can I say "Amen" to that without some long diatribe from canukistan?

Gill O’Teen ✝✡$| 10.25.10 @ 10:44AM

American Spectator is correct to not censor what people post here. It’s called “Free Speech” and true conservatives must defend it whenever it is attacked. Under no circumstances must we empower others to suppress our thoughts, even a little bit. Just like pregnancy, there is no such thing as just a little bit enslaved. That said, I also respect that American Spectator’s investors have a right to control the content of whatever appears on the web site they own. They should be applauded, not criticized, for standing firmly on the side of OUR First Amendment rights.
Gill O’Teen ✝✡$
Don’t Tread on Me.
gill.Oteen07041776@gmail.com
“I am opposed to any form of tyranny over the mind of man.” - attributed to Thomas Jefferson at {http://www.angelfire.com/ga/page451/quotes.html}
Only 818 days to go

Occam's Tool| 10.25.10 @ 10:53AM

I try to avoid obscenity, and leave that to Tim* and his ilk. I believe in small government, free speech, bikinis, and sharia-free content in our politics. Tim* likes seeing his female relatives get beaten and cat-called. I don't believe that's proper.

See, Tim*---I just insulted the heck out of you with no obscenity. It's called wit. Try it.

canuckistani| 10.25.10 @ 11:03AM

He won't get it....skid marks, maybe.

Tim*| 10.25.10 @ 11:34AM

I try to use obscenity, and not leave that to Asswipe Tool Job and his ilk. I believe in much smaller government, Non-PC free speech, thongs, and Israel Firster-free content in our politics. Tool Job likes seeing his Mother get beaten and cat-clawed. I don't believe that's proper.

See, Tool Job---I just insulted the Crap out of you with obscenity. It's called "In Your Face -Pussy Face. Try it.

Get Bent AgendaBoy.

The Tea Party Rebellion Escalates.

Rise Up In Rebellion!

Tim*| 10.25.10 @ 11:41AM

Apparently, Fake Canuck's Blows Racing Stripes Into His Whitey Tighties.

The Tea Party Rebellion Escalates.

Rise Up In Rebellion !

RCV| 10.25.10 @ 11:54AM

Tim is considered a real wit by all the other junior highschoolers.

Tim*| 10.25.10 @ 12:08PM

On The Otherhand, ObamaBoy LawBoy RCV is considered A Real Shit by all the other junior highschoolers.

We Tea Party Rebels Rise Up On November 2nd.

canuckistani| 10.25.10 @ 2:48PM

I wonder what the women find more repellant, Tim*'s sweet prose or sweaty-perv disposition?

I'm banking on both.

Living in his momma's basement would also be another turnoff.

He may even now use hand puppets to give his tool some variety.

Way too much to consider in this space.......

Tim*| 10.25.10 @ 7:27PM

Uh Oh ! Faux Canuck, is Trash Talkin' about Tea Party Tim's women & living arrangements now.
I'm toughin' it out here on The Mainline .

If you're a real good boy and say your prayers, maybe someday you too could earn enough to afford our homes and our Women.

Until then, stop Humpin' Your Dog.

wvobiwan| 10.26.10 @ 12:33AM

Now THAT was funny, I don't care who you are. :>) Give it up canuckistani. If it really bothers you, just read the last line of most of Tim's posts: Rise Up Tea Party Rebels! Or maybe that's the part that bothers you the most?

Thownson Long| 10.25.10 @ 11:03AM

Huey Long was a demogogue who's economic knowledge was "progressive" FDR realized that Long was a real challenge as their appeal was similar. Long of course was murdered,but his family dominated Louisiana for decades with little real improvement to the state. THE TEA PARTY WILL WORK ONLY IF IT ADHEARS TO THE CONSTITUTION AND GENUINE ECONOMICS

canuckistani| 10.25.10 @ 11:24AM

Genuine economics = there is no free lunch = foreclosure free-for-alls for the next two years and another 10 years of debt restructuring, not at the gov level, but at the personal level.

This is huge, and the masses will demand government protections. The TP will have to finally organize and start crafting policy. This will be the true test of their durability.

I do not envy ANY candidate when reality starts to sink in on how far we have to go to get us righted.
Painful decisions on the way, folks.

Banking has shifted precipitously from retail to transactional institutional swaps at light speed. That's where the "money" is.
The retail banking sector needs the liferaft of government, that means Freddie, Fannie, Fed and guarantees, or no deals without high interest rates to hedge on risk. Is that what YOU want?

The TP is against all of these, what is your solution? Barter economy for the foreseeable future?
Genuine economics = no free lunch.
Are YOU prepared for that fact of life?
Are YOU prepared to tell seniors they didn't pony up enough and SS and MC gets cut, not in 10 years, now?
Are YOU prepared to tell domestic defense contractors they are living it up on government welfare? Contractors and bases that provide jobs in red state districts?
Kicking out illegals without a plan would require employers to hire Americans at standard wages and protections. That would cause an immediate increase in prices, force producers out of business and put more reliance on foreign imports.
Is this what YOU want?

Trying to reduce the most complex issues to a billboard is the hallmark of the TP. I feel sad for you when reality bites the TP in the petard on Nov 3rd.
The franticized hatred of gov will now include the TP. Welcome to the party.

Tim*| 10.25.10 @ 11:51AM

Tea Party Patriots Mission Statement and Core Values

Mission Statement
The impetus for the Tea Party movement is excessive government spending and taxation. Our mission is to attract, educate, organize, and mobilize our fellow citizens to secure public policy consistent with our three core values of Fiscal Responsibility, Constitutionally Limited Government and Free Markets.

Core Values

* Fiscal Responsibility
* Constitutionally Limited Government
* Free Markets

Fiscal Responsibility: Fiscal Responsibility by government honors and respects the freedom of the individual to spend the money that is the fruit of their own labor. A constitutionally limited government, designed to protect the blessings of liberty, must be fiscally responsible or it must subject its citizenry to high levels of taxation that unjustly restrict the liberty our Constitution was designed to protect. Such runaway deficit spending as we now see in Washington D.C. compels us to take action as the increasing national debt is a grave threat to our national sovereignty and the personal and economic liberty of future generations.

Constitutionally Limited Government: We, the members of The Tea Party Patriots, are inspired by our founding documents and regard the Constitution of the United States to be the supreme law of the land. We believe that it is possible to know the original intent of the government our founders set forth, and stand in support of that intent. Like the founders, we support states' rights for those powers not expressly stated in the Constitution. As the government is of the people, by the people and for the people, in all other matters we support the personal liberty of the individual, within the rule of law.

Free Markets: A free market is the economic consequence of personal liberty. The founders believed that personal and economic freedom were indivisible, as do we. Our current government's interference distorts the free market and inhibits the pursuit of individual and economic liberty. Therefore, we support a return to the free market principles on which this nation was founded and oppose government intervention into the operations of private business.

skip| 10.25.10 @ 6:42PM

It is unbelieveable anyone would disagree with fiscal responsibility, constitutionally limited government, and free markets as set forth in this statement.

It is unbelieveable this nation elected as president a person who as a candidate did not have the experience, or qualifications, to manage a convenience store.

It is unbelieveable the president, after twenty one months in office, does not have, to this day, the experience, or qualifications, to manage a convenience store.

Ken (Old Texican)| 10.25.10 @ 12:15PM

Canukistani,

thank you for that copy/paste. When we get power back, mommie kicks you out of her basement.

heh...you are going to have to go to work. What do you know how to do? heh.

axbucxdu| 10.25.10 @ 1:22PM

First, a disclaimer; I'm not a Tea Partier, but as an interested observer I require that each point of view be danced before me, prior to taking a decision.

Canuckistani wrote:
"I do not envy ANY candidate when reality starts to sink in on how far we have to go to get us righted. Painful decisions on the way, folks".

I take it then, that the more sophisticated and nuanced already present among you and now in a position to deal with these problems are both capable AND willing to take those difficult choices?

If the current ruling class considers the The Partiers a political descent from their sniffy heights, then what IS their excuse for their inability and/or disinterest in addressing these "painful" issues?

At a minimum, I'd say the sophisticates you prefer can't even do rudimentary arithmetic. It's unfortunate, given the Constitutional system we were bequeathed, that these problems were permitted to grow beyond realpolitik. But they have, nonetheless. You sense it, I know it.

As always, you are free to convince me otherwise.

canuckistani| 10.25.10 @ 3:23PM

I agree with you and Tim* (when he stays on point) that the ideals behind the TP are fair and a good target to aim for, but......

The current situation needs to be sorted out. It has taken about 80 years for the new deal to finally sink us. The solutions will take probably 10 to 20 years in difficult, painful steps - steps that the electorate will snap back on in a nanosecond if they perceive the cuts to be unfair.

Depending on the analyst, discretionary spending is only 15-20% of the budget, the rest is locked, unless you are willing to slaughter some sacred cows of the vast majority of voters. The TP revolution could be killed as quickly as it was formed.

What then?

Tim*| 10.25.10 @ 8:05PM

Actually, Discretionary Spending is 35.2% of The Federal Budget.Interest Payments are 5.3% and Mandatory Payments are 59.5%.

In Discretionary Spending, Discretionary Defense Spending is 20.3% of The Federal Budget and Discretionary Non-Defense Spending is 15% .

The Tea Party Rebellion Escalates Beyond November 2nd.

Rise Up In Rebellion!

axbucxdu| 10.25.10 @ 9:53PM

Thanks for the reply.

Re: What then?

canuck, the then you speak of is nearly here. International financial mathematics is going to leave us in the dust. The world is searching for an alternative reserve currency that's more reliable than the dollar. When it finds one, there will no longer be any choices for us to make: those sacred cows WILL be gored. I don't think it pleasant at all, but it's better that we do the culling. The internal numbers just do not add up.

If the electorate is so far gone that they cannot accept the financial circumstances before us, then I submit that all is already lost and it's now every individual for themselves and theirs.

With some estimates pegging our generational liabilities at 100T$ - 200T$, I have my doubts about this being sorted out efficiently anyway. Reducing numbers this size make optimization the enemy.

I agree that this will require fortitude. I just don't see it coming from the current ruling class. They may be capable, but they're hobbled by a profligate mindset that our decrepit monetary system can no longer support.

wvobiwan| 10.26.10 @ 12:40AM

Nobody disagrees that we have huge problems to solve. Fedzilla is a monstrous creation, 250 years in the making. But the first thing we have to do is STOP DIGGING with Democrats and to a lesser extent Republicans. The free market is the best place to solve all of these issues, get govt out of it. Like Reagan said, trust the people. Small government, low taxes, minimal (but ENFORCED) regulations, secure borders, end entitlements.

Yosemeti Sam| 10.25.10 @ 11:24AM

Yo - Leftoids:

Laughable bravado from you all.

You and your dearless leader BHO have made
these last 2 years PAINFUL to Americans!

Don't whimper now that you all find yourselves in an alley fight with said Americans!

MarkR| 10.25.10 @ 12:06PM

Memo to the naive majority: It ain't gonna pass, it's only going to get worse, because this is a Movement -- a lifelong battle being waged by dedicated, determined, unscrupulous people because it is the only thing they have left to believe in, having abandoned religion as a superstition, patriotism as a joke, and morality as a strait-jacket. This is their religion, their family, their purpose in being, and they need to succeed in this life because at the end there is only Darkness.----That is one of the most accurate paragraphs I have ever read on the values of the far left. Nihilism rules their world. They arent really nihilists in the traditional sense but in reality ultimately they are. The "darkness" is revealing. Without transcedence they are extremely dangerous and ultimately valueless in the sense that all they see before them is this present moment- the future is only about physical survival without a reason beyond self. This is the ultimate danger we face as people like these do not value life in the traditional sense. Soul and spirit are intrinsic values of human BEING. To far leftists physical and sensual and allowing passion to rule is key. They will destroy tomorrow for the sake of today- isnt that what Obama is doing anyway?

canuckistani| 10.25.10 @ 3:39PM

The majority is not naive, they are tired. They are tired of being ripped off by the power-elite of all stripes.
Some observers here believe the constitution is static, even though the founders placed a mechanism for the amendment of the constitution when deemed necessary by the people. Curious.

We are taught to believe people generally act in their own best interest, but this not true all of the time, and leadership must fill that void when the constitution and peoples' spines fail them or falls short.

NASA would be deemed unconstitutional.
Interstate highways - with its garantuan eminent domain interdictions - would be deemed unconstitutional.
Projected undeclared wars, unconstitutional.

Where does failing our veterans fit within this framework? or keeping redundant federal bases in peacetime? The TP resists adding defense cuts to the recipe, because they know it is a sacred cow. Not constitutionally protected, but a convenient reading-into of what the provisions cover.

The year after the constitution was ratified, the pres election has 39,000 voters out of 4M citizens. Is this the smaller government we envision, where only white, protestant land owners get a say? Or is it something more?

wvobiwan| 10.26.10 @ 12:49AM

The ENTIRE Defense and Intelligence budget is a drop in the Federal bucket. Entitlements are what is bankrupting American, not the military, NASA, or highways. By a calculator (or even better, a real education). American lost a LOT of it's citizens in two world wars because Defense was allowed to wither in the absence of an obvious threat. The national security is one of the VERY few things for which the Constitution prescibes taxes. We don't have a draft, no national service - as far as I'm concerned any qualified volunteer will be trained, equipped, and paid as best as we can.

voted against carter| 10.25.10 @ 12:57PM

Re: A Tea Party Reader,

Here is a BETTER book to read as you can learn something and has MORE pertinence to the topic of this article:
RULES for RADICAL CONSERVATIVES,
Beating the LEFT at it's own game to take BACK AMERICA by David Kahane. MUCH better topic than the light reading you suggest.

Just Say'n.

Seek| 10.25.10 @ 1:10PM

If conservatives "beat the Left at its own game" they will become...Leftists, and without even knowing it. If, for example, we demounce "liberal racism," we effectively are ratifying the left's idea that theere's somehow nothing worse than racism. Simply attaching the charge to liberals won't work.

Style and class do matter. Venom-spewing semi-literates are no more attractive on the Right than they are on the Left. If such a statement makes me a "country club" conservative, then so be it.

wvobiwan| 10.26.10 @ 12:52AM

It does. My condolences. Style and class are great for the bedroom and dinner parties. You want to defeat socialist dogs you have to get down in the gutter where they are. Thanks for nothing.

Perusha| 10.25.10 @ 1:23PM

Remember the Domino Theory?

Also, it is essential to constantly repeat “basic training”, or even complete it for the first time, and then repeat it. What is BT?

Change is constant! And, probably the MOST basic defining characteristic of being humanly alive is to “never give up!”, which expresses itself in always trying to maintain---the CONSTANT. I am, that I am, and a man’s a man, for all that.

However, process = change ALWAYS trumps stasis = constant.

Thus, picture a physical plane with many dominoes lined up so as to (over time, once ONE has been pushed into the one next to it) use gravity to begin the process of the logical chain reaction. Well, while this image stays constant in your mind’s eye, over time more change is ALWAYS inevitable.

The reliance on this theory that led to America’s Viet-Nam adventure played itself out. Behind it was the USSR, and, indeed, the other bad boy, China was also right in the neighborhood, ready to possibly copy what they did in Korea.

However, the changing Domino Theory processed future actions by ALL players, depending on rising and falling clout---and, all the changing time, the USA kept on getting smarter and stronger, despite fools like Carter, et al, from the fellow-traveling left, doing their worst to bring her down.

So, America left Nam in shame, to the eternal damnation of the poor people left in that hot country AND the leftists in America, the enemy within, who chickened out.

Even so, 35 years later, in the meantime---the very MEAN time!---the Soviet “Union” fell, freeing up millions of people, and China was forced to open up its economic system.

And that left a vacuum for the growing-rich-from-oil leaders of the Muslim cult to make their newly processed attempt to take over the world.

Enter today’s new Domino Theory.

The Middle East has always been an ammo dump, basically, filled with too many resentful human “bombs”, and change has brought modernity to that sorry acreage, at last! Now, they can process everything that’s new, and they’re seemingly doing it all at once---the NEW Domino Theory still exhibits many of the same characteristics of the old one.

The Axis of Evil would be fatally crippled, if, and only if, Iran went the way of Iraq. That country, taken over by fanatics, is truly the Arsenal of Terrorism!

History will not be kind to GWB or slick Willie, and especially BHO---they will be seen as the weak and indecisive non-leaders they were and are: caretakers of government, ALL. Not wise men, in the least, except for GWB, who at least was forced to react to the attacks of 9-11 and to take out Saddam.

What about “Nation Building”?

The whole concept reeks of stasis! That is, living, and processing-it-all humans, inherently remain attached to lessons learned from history, and the very mention of the words, “Nation Building”, Pavlov-dog-like, elicit CW notions of logical ideas of what it means.

Well, OBVIOUSLY, there has to be something called a “nation”, and, for better or worse, somebody has to “build” it.

However, what if the human race is reaching a tipping point, wrt what a nation is? Take Afghanistan, for example. Before it became a battleground “state” or “process”, that land with random boundaries was known to “contain” many tribes, who basically controlled their own fraction of the land. What “nation” existed?

So, in the same sense that it was wrong to force boundaries on peoples living in the Middle East that “created” an Iraq and a Jordan, let alone the conundrum known as “Palestine”, it SEEMS like the same thing is problematic, today.

My guess is that, over the unavoidable processing of time, probably the most vital expression of the “Tea Party” dynamic is happening in all those places that are damned by the name “nation building”.

Thus, the natural human desire for personal freedom is HAPPY to be free of overweening BIG GOVERNMENT! Why does anyone ever need such a monstrosity? FEAR!!!

It’s back to the mob verses the individual. Gangs in LA, or in Beijing.

What was the raison d’etre of the Roman Empire? To bring ORDER! And, without adequate force to protect it, what did we get---DISORDER!

Hence, there really isn’t any option to an impregnable USA, that keeps Absolute world order, as long as various malicious centers of power remain, eager to stick it to the “nation” that has “built” and maintains ORDER.

It turns out that the “Law and Order” party is the only one we should all want, and fight for, unless we are nihilistic fools or devils.

simon templar| 10.25.10 @ 2:03PM

Over the last 30 years, liberals, through their dominance in the media, the universities, the public school systems and major cultural institutions, including television and Hollywood, have redefined what is acceptable and unacceptable in American society....

Yes. So...what's going to change? This is the key. This is the backbone of their power and their success. Until freedom loving people and the conservatives realize that they must take back these institutions, nothing will change and the steady march to the destruction and transformation of this republic will continue. It is that simple. Wake up and get focused.

Fred| 10.25.10 @ 4:02PM

Face it guys, Canuckistani is right. Getting the country's finances in shape will take a lot of pain. That's why I'm extremely pessimistic that it will ever happen. What we have is a classic prisoner's dilemma. Each individual has an interest in receiving his or her gubmint goodies (and however great your work ethic or however hard you work, you do or will receive some form of government goodies even if only social security and medicare when you get old). But the cumulative effect of those individuals rationally pursuing their interests is bankruptcy for the country. But how willing are you really to let grandpa die because we can't afford medicare? To let grandma choose between medicine and food because we can't afford social security? To pay more taxes? To put the country in danger with cuts to the military?

Pat| 10.25.10 @ 4:19PM

Oh, golly gee darn, another “the Liberals are picking on us again” article. But before yelling for Mom to make brother Liberal stop touching us, consider how hard the infected ones are working to get our attention. The “mainstream media” is splashing around screaming “shark” because Conservatives are staying away in droves. And that’s not good for their egos or their bank accounts. And no matter how outrageous the captions, it’s ho-hum, another Liberal hissy fit, guess I’ll see what’s being said over on AmSpec or in the Wall St. Journal today.

Sure enough, Paul Krugman whipped out another sophomoric essay with the provocative headline: “Obama Should Spend An Additional Trillion Dollars to Bailout California, Massachusetts and New York – and Soon” or Eugene Robinson in the Washington Post claims: “Study Proves Conservatives Pick Their Noses More Than Liberals”, but the plain truth is the “mainstreamers” are getting desperate because no one is paying them attention and their advertising revenue is rapidly drying up. Advertisers are finally seeing the light and reducing their financial support of traditional media to go after potential customers watching the FOX Network and reading conservative internet sites – poor mainstream media, you used to be so young and beautiful, but now it’s facelift and liposuction time you wrinkled old hag.

It’s no fun being ignored and even harder on the paycheck if you’re working for the New York Times or the Washington Post. What’s next to grab our collective attention? Maureen Dowd in a wet t-shirt contest, Arianna Huffington takes on all comers in the World Wide Mud Wrestling finals or Robert Reich over at Salon demonstrates how to make 50 disgusting noises using just your armpit? Things are so bad FOX is turning down requests left and right from Democratic Party candidates demanding to be “interviewed” and asked the “hard” questions – for voter exposure it sure beats some fawning Q & A session on MSNBC in front of a total audience of 50 twits who received government jobs during the recent “Stimulus”.

wvobiwan| 10.26.10 @ 12:57AM

LOL! Excellent post.

Krupp88| 10.25.10 @ 5:34PM

Thanks, Mr. Gannon for a very succinct review of the situation...and a great article. But "the Saint" is correct, until conservatives can re-take our schools/media/entertainment industry we will have a rough go of it. Welcome to the cultural civil war.

Seek| 10.25.10 @ 6:17PM

Until conservatives learn to be more cultured and less immersed in "culture war," we can expect, justifiably, to be locked out of power. As for me, I find Lou Reed far more interesting than Ralph Reed. If that makes me a "pervert," then I'll live with that judgment.

Deborah D | 10.26.10 @ 2:58AM

A bizarre comment. Just an observation.

victor| 10.26.10 @ 3:12AM

Seek:
"I find Lou Reed far more interesting than Ralph Reed"

Just as I'm sure you find Agatha Christie dealing in fiction more interesting than Chris christie who deals in facts.

"Until conservatives learn to be more cultured"

Meaning what, that we learn to read Vanity Fair and develop "Queer Eye?"

"and less immersed in "culture war""

You mean accept and condone abortion, homo sexual marriage and legalized drugs?

You mean that sort of "Culture"?

RedneckWhiteskinBluecollar| 10.26.10 @ 7:00PM

It doesn't make you a pervert.

It does make you a dope.

BackToBasics| 10.25.10 @ 5:44PM

from article - "The point of all this is not simply to bemoan what's happened to political debate in this country, but to point out how successful the Left has been in redefining the terms of that debate."

Yes, and the bottom line of it is that those on the left do little more than just call those on the right all sorts of names to invoke some negative feelings on the part of the left and anyone else they can "capture" for some more knee-jerk votes. Even the title of the article has one of the names they use "Hayseed(s)."
They have "redefined the debate" by refusing to let there BE any debate.

Sid Vicious| 10.25.10 @ 6:13PM

The way to beat the socialists at their own game is to refuse to play it, loudly and emphatically, and to outline the reasons exactly why. Not long ago, I resigned as moderator of a Web site that has absolutely nothing to do with politics, but still manages to attract its share of misfits who live to stir up trouble – in no small part because of the administrator's refusal to acquire a moral compass and the testicular fortitude needed to put it to good use.

Early last spring, I pointed out the race-baiting antics of one particular troll to the admin and urged that he compel this particular member to sit on the bench for three days to think about how he might modify his behavior in the future. (This site is for technical hobbyists!) The admin declined, once again resorting to his usual, mealy-mouthed, "this-is-your-last-chance-and-I'm-not-kidding-this-time" warning.

Fast forward three months: Once again, I'm forced to tell said troll to knock it off – not an easy thing to do when the admin keeps undermining the authority of his mods – by saying his behavior is "completely off the reservation." Kaboom! You could light up New York for a year with all of the incandescent righteous indignation this sudden "Native American" (which of course he'd never previously revealed to anyone) expressed when he ran off to the admin to accuse me of, what else, racism. Next, the admin tells me I had to apologize to the troll. The troll got no apology, and the admin got a letter of resignation. I've refused to return to the site even once in the four months since this happened.

We may be able to turn this around, but only if we're willing to subject the spineless among us to similar harsh object lessons. It won't be easy, and success won't happen overnight. If we resolve to grow a pair, though, we will win this war – one small battle at a time, if need be.

Perusha| 10.25.10 @ 6:34PM

As bad as things are, right now, all the peeing and moaning about how much in debt the sucking people and their helpers have caused, over many decades, I have a feeling that somehow America will handle it all.

Remember, in this country it is okay to FAIL, even over and over again, and to recreate a successful life.

So, yes, indeedy---the USA is bankrupt! However, there are still so many physical, and most vitally, non-physical, assets that will still survive any restructuring that happens, if we ever OFFICIALLY go bankrupt.

Consider how Great Britain went from a first rate power after WW II, to settle into her role as a middling one---which was appropriate, given what she had in terms of GDP and population.

Do any of the naysayers on this site really think America is even somewhat go this way? Who will be the big dog? China? Ha ha!

I think the Tea Party movement is just the beginning of the beginning of the war of ideas, and as Reagan said, "You ain't seen nothing, yet!"

By the way, I use TP to indicate toilet paper. Well!!!

Picture the Tea Party "TP" movement as the ongoing human equivalent of that. Up until now, what else have we gotten from the surge of Progressive "crap", except---WASTE!

So, it's a lot like what's happening in China, these days, as regards their too fast growth. They are so hell bent on economic growth that they are cutting ALL corners, including handling--WASTE!

The country is dotted by myriad dumps, which are WASTING away near areas where the poor have-nots live, and have to put up with the disease and stench!

Just so in America, thanks to their fellow travelers, our lying Donkey party! However, we cvontinue to be blessed by both geography and population.

Demographics rules---study the maps of various states, especially their square miles and population, and compare population densities. America is practically empty in most states!

Also, for all you doomsayers thinking overpopulation is going to bring about apocolypse, NOW---every human on Earth could live in Texas, and the population density would be the same as what is true of London.

Hey, why don't we do this? Then the Earth Firsters could be oh so happy that mankind wasn't fouling hardly any of the Earth!

Yes, it's going to take a lot of TP to wipe clean the steaming sheis deposited all over the place!

In fact, for some of us old farts, who are deprogrammed, even just seeing--not having to hear!---such dreck bringers like Clinton or Obama, and especially reasonable sounding Juan Williams types, the mental stench is overpowering---give America FRESH AIR!

jstwndring| 10.25.10 @ 7:00PM

Tic-toc. Eight days left. Beginning of the end of Marxist, deem-it-passed, mis-representative style government. Don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out dems.

obadiah| 10.25.10 @ 7:11PM

democrats know only insults and exaggeration and personal attacks. thank goodness we have rush and glen and sean and mark to keep the conversation on a strictly factual, strictly adult level.

amusing| 10.25.10 @ 10:06PM

Indeed, obadiah. Good thing we can recognize these "truths"

skip| 10.26.10 @ 4:17PM

Obadiarrhea, in a perfect world we would all converse in a civil polite manner. Wait a minute, in a perfect world liberalism and liberals would not exist because in a perfect world there would only be intelligence and honesty.

RedneckWhiteskinBluecollar| 10.26.10 @ 12:34AM

Ya'll done missed the point of the article. It ain't about cussin' or not cussin'.

It's about how they (the socialists) have had a plan all along, and they've carried it through. Long march through the institutions? That ring any bells?

Doesn't matter if you're a hayseed or an intellectualoid; you're a dope if you can't see that the socialists will still own the institutions mentioned in the article, regardless of any electoral results.

Meanwhile on the right, neither the rubes nor the effete have any interest in those institutions whatsoever. THAT was the point of the article.

Or should have been. At present the left owns the cultural machinery, thus they dictate the terms of the debate. What plan exists on the right, to take back these institutions?

Answer: none whatsoever.

Most of the commentators to this article have got their panties in a wad about who's nice and who's not. Who has "manners" and who doesn't.

How about this: take your heads out of your asses and read up on Adorno, Gramsci, et al. Because THEY ARE WINNING.

Who on the right is discussing a plan for taking back the universities? The media, television, movies? The public schools? The mainstream churches? The institutions that define our culture?

No one. No one. No one. And no one.

What's the premier journalism school in the U.S.? Why is it owned, lock stock and barrel by leftists? Is it because of a stroke of luck on their part? Is it fate? Is it just not worth looking into?

When Theodor Adorno came to the U.S., where did he settle? Why?

wvobiwan| 10.26.10 @ 1:06AM

These institutions were purposely targeted by the Soviets starting back in 20s, for precisely this purpose. The tragic thing is Americans even paid them to do it. Are you suggesting we should start our own Venona Project? WE ALREADY HAVE, it's called the internet, and has adjuncts in talk radio, cable news, and some media outlets, and now the Tea Party. Give US 80 years too? It won't take that long tho...

Deborah D | 10.26.10 @ 3:04AM

Hey -- even George Clooney stood up for conservatives on Bill Maher's show the other night. We might be making a little dent ... eyes do open eventually. Mine did! I was a liberal. Rush saved me!

CJohnson| 10.26.10 @ 11:36AM

Hobbles and fences are for Sheeple, not the People.

RedneckWhiteskinBluecollar| 10.26.10 @ 1:28PM

Dear Wvobiwan,

Yes, I am indeed suggesting that the conservative movement begin targeting universities, publishing houses, etc., etc., as the left has been doing for decades. Ditto cinema. Ditto mainstream churches. By "targeting" I mean simply, populating them with conservatives, as the left has been populating them with socialists.

Currently, conservatives feel vindicated by a few minor victories at the ballot box or on the internet. But look at the trajectory of the U.S. over the last century. We are trending inexorably leftward.

Or, it wil be inexorable, unless we address long-term socialist strategy with a strategy of our own. That is, a strategy geared toward the long term, geared toward influencing the culture, not merely the politics of the nation.

At present there is no one on the right who is proposing such a strategy.

Except yours truly, and I'm just a red neck, white skin, blue collar working stiff.

Ollie Klozzoff| 10.26.10 @ 3:14PM

I wholeheartedly agree. We need to flood the zone and overwhelm the Left by reducing them to a minority in these key areas. It might be easier to just blow up the Columbia School of [So-Called] Journalism, but we will do it more gradually.

Ollie Klozzoff| 10.26.10 @ 3:09PM

OK, you hicks, LET'S ROLL! We need to get these statist bastards. VOTE!! And get your family, friends and neighbors out to the polls. These wackos are running away with our country. We outnumber them 2 to 1. Two more years of He Himself, and then we take over. And then, we eliminate the RINO's. Enough is enough.

Matt| 10.26.10 @ 8:26PM

That is what the Liberals want! They want Conservatives to try and play their game. The trick is to not play their game...start your own! Do what you know in your heart to be right, speak the truth that cannot be refuted, and by virtue of doing what is right and good and true, you will have won the day. Ronald Reagan didn't do mudslinging...he played his game and watched the opposition fumble to keep up.

Mark F.| 10.27.10 @ 2:01AM

Once again, conservatives are spreading the misleading idea that they are in favor of reducing government. However, with rare exceptions, Republicans can't name a single MAJOR government program they would cut back on significantly, let alone eliminate. (Cutting the NPR subsidy doesn't count.) Ronald Reagan didn't cut government in any significant way, nor did the GOP class of 1994, and the current "tea party" bunch won't do it either.

And as for the right's obsession with gays--you are on the losing side of that issue. Huge majorities favor allowing gays in the military and young people simply don't care about gay marriage. Look for same sex marriage to be the law of the land within a few years almost everywhere--with public approval.

Conservatives might look to the U.K., where abortion and gay rights are virtually non-issues and where the government is actually implementing some real government austerity.

Jeffersonianideal| 10.27.10 @ 10:58AM

It is unfortunately correct that although Ronald Reagan campaigned as a libertarian, he presided over the executive branch like a typical progressive. For all his rhetoric which eventually propelled his legend into sainthood status by neoconservatives, he only performed one feat of small government magic throughout his reign. He deregulated oil. He cannot take credit for starting the process, however. It was initiated, surprisingly enough by Jimmy Carter. Carter wanted to deregulate slowly and Reagan completed the task practically overnight. Reagan spent eight years in office and Americans who were expecting government to shrink in size and scope received only cheaper gasoline and a bill of goods.

Ron| 10.27.10 @ 7:45AM

Sorry folks but the Tea Party movement has been hijacked by Republican Neocons.

RCV| 10.27.10 @ 12:24PM

Indeed, it won't be long after the euphoria of next Tuesday's election results that bitterness and disillusionment will set in amongst the Tea Partiers. Boehner and McConnell will assume their leadership positions, the normal GOP lockstep will follow, and the Tea Partiers will be shocked to discover that the Dept of Education, HHS and EPA will still be functioning, no articles of impeachment will be brought, and the Republic will proceed much like before.

Xenophon| 10.27.10 @ 10:15AM

"Over the last 30 years, liberals, through their dominance in the media, the universities, the public school systems and major cultural institutions, including television and Hollywood, have redefined what is acceptable and unacceptable in American society."

This has been going on since the 1920s. The upper class anglo-sphere bought into it in the 1950s, and by the 60s, the fuse was lit. Although there has been an acceleration in that leftist agenda since 1980, make no mistake...the liberal wing of the Republican party (egged on by Marxists invoking the name of Lincoln) went along with the Democrat agenda step for step. Those of us now in middle age remember well those battles and who was on which side. If liberals are having hissy fits over the Tea Party, remember that this pot of political dynamite has been brewing for at least 50 years, not just 30. And those of you on this blog who call themselves "conservative" just by the reflexive habit of not being Democrats, I've got news for you. Your insipid game of buying off the rubes won't work any more. The rubes saw where the money went. And thanks to the internet, nothing in future will be hidden.

Jeffersonianideal| 10.27.10 @ 10:37AM

Following the November elections, America will in all likelihood bear witness to big, intrusive government, Republican style. Their reign will be replete with religious infiltration, moral legislation, placing the military industrial complex on perpetual life support and doling out for social programs in an effort to assure the workings of corporatism as well as their own reelection. Individual rights and personal liberties with not be restored but will instead continue to erode. It is not the shell game of left versus right as the two major political parties, their cronies and their constituents want everyone to believe can be won simply by handing off the baton of power. It is the significant and more grim reality of you against the State.

Loren Hunt| 10.27.10 @ 12:12PM

This is the same James Gannon, apparently, who is a male prostitute who pawned himself into the White House Press Corp in order to ask Bush II very soft and easy questions. Secret Service logs list over 200 visits to the White House at all hours of the day and night for about 18 months. Was he seeing George Bush for a date, Ken Mellman, Scott, or Karl Rove? This looks like another Republican outwardly homophobic, inwardly homosexual trying to fit it. Which is it James?

Don| 10.27.10 @ 2:01PM

I agree with your premis but to say that you believe in personal responsibility and in the same sentence exspouse religious nonsense means you also believe in not taking personal responsibility but rather doing what your religion dictates. That individual liberties end at the church's front door. That people should be free to decide on "non-religious" mandates like guns and speech but not be free to decide on religious mandates like abortion and marriage. That a huge contradiction my friend and lumps you right in with those that you say are "trying to change society". What's the difference between you trying to change society into your vision and them trying to change it into yours?

How about all of stop trying to tell others what to do about anything and just mind your own business and we'll mind ours. I can do that, can you?

Ckierst1| 10.27.10 @ 3:51PM

"The tea party movement is the first sign that average Americans, the people who still believe in what we were and how we lived and thought, just might get up on their hind legs on Nov. 2. It's about time, hicks. It's about time."

Maybe, but just understand - the Tea Party is itself split and one part will be easily manipulated by the camoflaged neocons and their fellow travelers, and these folks will not do what it takes to reverse the slide. They don't know what has to be done economically to rebuild the middle class. They will not restore business confidence. They are only good for status quo (deterioration) and more big government. There is NOTHING in the Republican Pledge that promises to eliminate a single federal government agency. At best, you might get a token bone like NEA, that will cause no end of Democrat to weeping and wailing over lost "culture" (Piss Christ???). Newt Gingrich is part of the problem. Sarah will be at the mercy of her handlers. Mitt is just another neocon globalist pragmatist suit. Do what needs to be done!

ckierst1| 10.27.10 @ 3:55PM

No Virginia, it isn't the Huckster either.

KennonG | 10.27.10 @ 5:18PM

For an overview of Libertarian approaches, please see: http://www.Libertarian-International.org

Paul X| 10.27.10 @ 10:06PM

If I read one more article saying the Left are the bad guys, I'm going to retch. The Right are every bit as bad. Everyone is out there trying to live on the income of everyone else. Virtually everyone in America is a whore. At least those on the Left have the honesty to admit it.

skip| 10.28.10 @ 10:17AM

What is your point. We should just live with it? I want income tax abolished. I am not looking to live off anyone else. Everyone is a whore? Liberalism is wholly lacking in intelligence and wholly lacking in honesty. (That means the left are bad guys.) Start retching you wretch.

Keith Griffin| 10.29.10 @ 3:39PM

Most everyone here falls into the trap
That trap being that they (both left and right Dems and Reps alike) are two heads of the one party system bent on destroying this country by keeping us all at each others throats.
Its working...
In case you had not noticed it the Tea Party has co-opted by corporate America they can have it.
We need a real third party NOT affiliated with anyone or any single thought line.
One another subject...It's called freedom of Fucking speech don't like it you are NOT a real American you are a wimp and seek to change this country to YOUR liking, you all are just another shade of sheeple looking for control
"Cartman" above said it best
I pity us all for allowing what has happened but who has time to get off a TSA no- fly terrorist list

Christian Louboutin | 6.23.11 @ 5:38AM

If you believe that the U.S. Constitution means only what it actually says, you are an extremist who ought to be wearing a powdered wig.

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