How important/strong do you think the Tea Party is?

[Hamlette]

DH and a close friend think the Tea Party movement is powerful and we ignore them at our peril.

I think they are no more than the 27% crazification factor and are soon to go poof!

Who's right?

[izquierdista]

1. I think they will be laughed at

More than Eric Cartman was laughed at for having his tea party.

[donheld]

2. The MSM's love affair with them it the issue

[Webster Green]

3. Just strong enough to destroy the GOP.

Not strong enough to do much of anything else.

It's all good!

[Hamlette]

6. I'm with you Webster but I wanna know which one of you voted for my hubby???? Traitor, n/t

[Webster Green]

9. Heh!...Not me. I voted with the majority. (n/t)

[NanceGreggs]

4. Given the MSM coverage the Teabaggers receive ...

... I have to put them in the same category as the other "top" news stories given priority over the past few years.

In other words, they have as much import as runaway brides, celebrity break-ups, and who wore who at the last Oscars.

[saltpoint]

7. Wul hell, Ah just cain't git enuf of them celebrity breakups!

:hi:

[NanceGreggs]

10. It just burns my ass ...

... that my two divorces got NO coverage whatsoever - and there WERE juicy details galore!

Just shows to go ya that the truly news-worthy break-ups are always sadly overlooked.

:hi:

[saltpoint]

11. LOL!

:thumbsup:

[saltpoint]

5. It's a good question. I hope that a lot of the Bagger-types are

enthralled by the self-promotional theater of protest but are ultimately such poor citizens to begin with that they are unable to sustain that kind of protest long enough or skillfully enough to support a formidable third party.

I think they like hearing themselves yelp and sneer at "liberals" generally and Obama especially, but they don't seem terribly bright, and their success so far has been kind of spotty.

There would have to be a lot less anger and at least one sustaining idea for the Baggers to ever be more than a small percentage of people who hold a grudge against progressive and multicultural ideology. They're fueled by outrage, but there's no ethical foundation to the outrage.

They seem to be overwhelmingly white as well, suggesting a very powerful racist component to their outrage. When outrage is more bigotry than idea, its practitioners aren't going to make it for the long haul.

I think they're a tiny percentage disproportionately covered by the media. They're loud and angry and stupid and racist and very unpleasant to watch.

And their spelling sucks.

[The Second Stone]

8. The tea baggers are just rebranded Republicans

Who are too embarrassed after supporting Bush to admit that they loved the guy and all the damage the Bushies inflicted on the world. Over 98 percent a Republican movement.

[BeFree]

12. In that regard

They are like wounded dogs. Yelping in pain inflicted by bushco driving over them as they lay on the side of the road.

[NI4NI]

18. Bingo! You got it!

"Tea bagger" = "2%er = "Bushie"
Die hard Shrub supporters who didn't bitch one second about the spending spree their goofy ass hero took this country on for 8 years; Probably because Shrub didn't raise taxes but cut them instead.
However, Obama hasn't raised taxes either on the other 98% of us. So why all the anger now from tea bagging bumpheads who earn less than $250.000........

I quess it;s because just like Leo Getz (Joe Pesci) said in Lethal Weapon, "But, but, You're Black!

[elocs]

13. It's stupid to ignore them. Would any of us ignore cockroaches if we found them in our homes?

The Tea Party needs to be electorally stamped out, just as we would do with vermin like cockroaches, until their appearance becomes rare.

[JANdad]

14. I Agree...

Ignore them at your own peril...

[W_HAMILTON]

15. This group is just...

...the "backwash" (coined by Stephen Colbert back during the Bush administration) with a pretty new name. It's still the same ~25% of Americans that stuck with Bush until his last day.

[Warren Stupidity]

16. They are the organized far right faction of the rebagnut party

and they have a fair chance of taking control of one of the two major parties in our republic. That is a road to power. I agree with DH and have long held the position here that we mock and ignore the threat they pose at our peril.

[HopeHoops]

17. Important. Hmm. Politically: not at all; As fodder for comedians: EXTREMELY!

[JitterbugPerfume]

19. did they jump the shark with Rand Paul?

it will be interesting to watch . Rachel pretty much exposed him as far far far right and crazy as a BEDBUG.

[el_bryanto]

20. Important but transitory

They are important right now, and probably will be for a few years (maybe less).

Bryant