Say what you want about the Tea Party

[AmericaIsGreat]

They organized and got people elected into Congress. The Tea Party candidates were the only reason the initial vote on the extension of the Patriot Act failed so almost immediately they made an impact on a big piece of legislation. They've got people on their platform running for President.

What have progressives done?

Not saying I'm not part of the problem, just that I get it now.

[Zenlitened]

1. " What have progressives done?" House of Reps, Senate, White House. - n/t

[movonne]

2. They are bought and paid for by the Koch bros....

[lukasahero]

9. ^^^^^ this ^^^^^^

As if the tea party was a grass roots movement....

[Chorophyll]

22. ^^^^Yes. That.^^^^

Massive corporate $$$ behind those Baggers.

[Chimichurri]

29. ^^^^No, really. Reread that.^^^^

[hlthe2b]

3. A group of exceedingly wealthy RW groups led by Dick Armey,

the Koch Brothers and others seized upon simmering (largely racist) resentment and overt ignorance among 20% or so of the populace and infiltrated these groups--throwing money at a poorly organized group of individuals and using their bought and sold media to propel them into national prominence. They were covered, not only by Faux news, but the rest of the national media to a degree that was obscenely out of proportion to their numbers--shows you what Koch $$ can buy.

That some still think this group is a "grass root" success story just shows you how powerful is the propaganda machine. sigh....

[polichick]

Yep - that's about it.

[TheCowsCameHome]

4. ...hence an army of dicks.

I hate them.

[my2sense]

5. +1

[hifiguy]

39. We have a winner

You are 100% correct.

[MrSlayer]

6. Progressives do not have billion dollar backers who want to be fair to people.

Whereas the so-called tea party, which is nothing more than an astroturf group of corporate fascists, has virtually unlimited funds to enact their destructive agenda. That's really what it comes down to. The 30 or so people that showed up at that recent Tea Party rally is the reality. There is no "Tea Party" of regular people. They only show up when they are paid to do so.

Another problem is that progressive people still operate under the delusion that the Democratic Party is their friend.

[AnOhioan]

10. "Another problem......."

"is that progressive people still operate under the delusion that the Democratic Party is their friend."


Thanks for that...it is obvious to some, but others still don't get it.

[MrScorpio]

7. Well, that's the kind of thing that happens when you're backed by corporations and billionaires

Most corporations and billionaires don't like progressive Democrats.

[proud patriot]

8. Okay Good , now that you get it you are ready for this

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x1647494

[Armstead]

11. Progressives have been working on that a long time...The difference is...

the GOP is ultimately supported by the Republican Party while progressives get slapped down by the Democratic Party

[Name removed]

12. Deleted message

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[FiveGoodMen]

13. The Tea Party has Koch funding and Faux support

When they hold a rally, few people show up.

Don't think you should give their rank-and-file credit for organizing anything.

[Ruby the Liberal]

14. Take away Koch/Armey checkbooks and get back to me.

[AmericaIsGreat]

18. Most likely true but

are there no wealthy liberals/progressives in this country? We have to get shit going here.

[FarLeftFist]

15. The American people chose this masochism

Imagine the TP wasn't elected to congress.

[robcon]

16. I think we should consider what Maureen Dowd wrote:

"Consider what the towel-snapping Tea Party crazies have already accomplished. They've changed the entire discussion. They've neutralized the White House. They've whipped their leadership into submission. They've taken taxes and revenues off the table. They've withered the stock and bond markets. They've made journalists speak to them as though they're John Calhoun and Alexander Hamilton.

Obama and Boehner have been completely outplayed by the "hobbits," as The Wall Street Journal and John McCain called them.

What if this is all a cruel joke on us? What if the people who hate government are good at it and the people who love government are bad at it?
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/31/opinion/sunday/dowd-tempest-in-a-tea-party.html?_r=2

[FarLeftFist]

17. Some things Liberals/Progressives have done:

8-Hour Workday
40 hour work week
Social Security
Minimum Wage Law
G.I. Bill of Rights
Marshall Plan
FDA
NATO
NASA
Internet
Peace Corps
Medicare
Medicaid
Operation Head Start
Civil Rights Act of 1964
Voting Rights Act of 1965
Water Quality Act
Clean Air Act
First Man on the Moon
Women’s Suffrage Amendment
Workers Compensation Act
Unemployment Compensation Act
Rural Electrification Act
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
Federal Home Loan Program
Securities and Exchange Act
Guaranteed Student Loan Program
Family & Medical leave Act
School lunch Program
Motor Voter Act
Balanced Budget in 1998 as a result of the Balanced Act 1993
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Law
National Weather service
Universal Public Education
Women's right to vote
Workplace safety laws
Food safety laws
Environmental Laws
Labor Laws

These are just SOME. Now the real question is: WHAT HAVE THE TEA PARTY DONE FOR AMERICA?!

[kittykitty]

20. They haven't been in power long enough to do anything but force Obama

Into a terrible compromise . But wait! They will work to eradicate everything on that wonderfully long list you have presented.

[Chorophyll]

24. ...

:applause:

[Ter]

34. Are NATO and the Internet things progressives did?

You also could add the IRS, Federal Reserve, UN, and many great Constitutional Amendments to that list. Conservatives gave us Prohibition, and that barely lasted a decade. :)

[otohara]

19. Only 26 Republicans Voted Against The PA

there are 52 members of the Republican Tea Party Caucus, whose chairperson, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn) voted for reauthorization along with most of the rest of her caucus. As Slate's Dave Weigel points out, only eight of the 26 were Republican freshmen elected last November. One hundred and twenty-two Democrats voted against reauthorization, I suspect most of them just because they could.

So how did the bill fail? Basically Republicans were trying to pass the bill under "suspension of the rules," which is considered the process for passing "noncontroversial" legislation. You need a two thirds majority of those present to pass bills that way. For one brief night, Republicans in the House learned what it was like to be a Democrat in the Senate. http://voices.washingtonpost.com/plum-line/2011/02/the_tea_party_didnt_kill_the_p.html

[treestar]

21. Progressives feel entitled to just have it handed to them

They are waiting for the "leader" they can follow.

They play right into Republicans hands, that the left feels entitled to have things given it.

[Chorophyll]

23. Excuse me, please???

"the left feels entitled to have things given it"

You should be ashamed of yourself. You really should. The "left" is responsible for everything that was decent about this country. Civil rights, women's rights, gay rights, the right to vote, Head Start, day care, social security, medicare, medicaid -- I could go and on.

We on the "left" are a bit in shock right now. We thought we worked our asses off to elect a reasonably liberal president. We were lied to.

And by the way, go substitute "the Blacks," or "the women," or "the gays" into your charming second sentence up there. See what it sounds like.

[treestar]

31. In 2011

The left is a very entitled bunch. They expect it all to be handed to them without effort.

Maybe it was too easy in the 70s? They have no stomach to deal with the right wing that has developed since then.

[Chorophyll]

38. The "left" is all around you at this web site.

I've seen people work their asses off to get Democrats elected over the last few years. President Obama knows exactly who got him in office, and now he disdains us.

What the hell are you talking about using the word "entitled" in this manner? Please give me some concrete examples. Seriously.

[treestar]

37. Today's left is nothing like that

In fact, today's left tends to claim LBJ did it all through his personality. He just gave it to them.

[FarLeftFist]

27. Are you just making shit up?!

Please stick to facts and reality.

[MrMickeysMom]

33. No...

... That would be so called, Democratic "leaders".

I don't think you understand the root word, so see post #32...

[Courtesy Flush]

25. while you may be speaking with tongue in cheek

There's no denying they not only motivate voters, they don't forget who sent them to Washington. They vote like they promised to.

[The Midway Rebel]

26. Smoke and mirrors.

The Tea Party is greatly over hyped by the media and really ain't squat. The largest caucus in congress is the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) and the media does not utter one peep about them. Few know they even exist.

[JVS]

28. They have funding and party leadership that accomodates them.

We have no money and party leadership that hates us and works against us at every turn.

[GoneOffShore]

30. Can you provide anything but a drive by post?

Or are you just shit stirring?

[MrMickeysMom]

32. "THEY"? Who is this, "THEY"????

If by "they", you mean the well feed money machine, astro-turf, Koch Brothers monitored system of organization, then you're not talking about a movement of people who have well formed ideas based on their debate and reason, certainly not reality. What you're talking about is the same significant bunch of people who would be persuaded in the most anti-intellectual ways possible play fiddles while humanity burns.

Progressives have been beating their heads against the wall. I think we're better connected to local communities and spend time in pursuit of bucking up against each other in search of an answer. It ain't that simply to progress, damn it.

I don't think you fully get it yet.

[EstimatedProphet]

35. They're a bunch of racist pieces of shit

They're all stupid and proud of bein stupid. It's the party of low bigots and bullies. They' should be forced out of the country.

Oh, I thought you said to say what I wanted about the tea party!

[saras]

36. Damn and double-damn. The one thing the Tea Party ever did right, and...umm...someone else...

...fucked it up but good.

"The Tea Party candidates were the only reason the initial vote on the extension of the Patriot Act failed"


If they had been responsible for the Patriot Act coming to a permanent end, I'd be halfway to forgiving them for the economy.

But only halfway. And it's not as though they WANTed the Patriot Act to end, they just wanted to piss on the motherboard, so to speak.

What the Tea Party did - the "real" one, pitiful though it was, was provide a group for the Kochs and others to take over - a group at least initially based in a criticism of government widely seen as "legitimate".

If the progressives create a similar group (as if they haven't already), it's not like some radical left-wing billionaire businessperson is going to provide the group with massive publicity and news coverage in in her privately owned news and entertainment networks in exchange for parroting her agenda.

The political universe does not exhibit bilateral symmetry.