Friday, October 25, 2013

Invitation

I'm thinking of attending a Tea Party meeting one of these days, and would like to know what it is like, and what to expect. Any insights would be appreciated.

53 comments:

The Dude said...

Molon Labe!

I wouldn't know - I don't join things or go to meetings - you might get on a list or something.

Always has it been thus.

The Dude said...

I meant "Molon Labe, Dude!"

Those who know me know that's how I would say it.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Of course I get all my information from MSNBC but I understand you shouldn't leave home without a white hood.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

Talk of limited accountable constitutional government. Really really scary!

There's a constant tea party party going on in my heart.

AllenS said...

I've never been to one, but I did send them $100 today.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

I've never been to a Tea Party official meeting other than ones that are concerning activities of the local governmental agency where I am on the Board of Directors. I did go to the Candidates Night that they sponsored some time ago to allow the candidates for County Supervisor to speak to our community.

Basically, Pledge of Allegiance and then the event or the agenda of topics. There probably or might be a presentation on the Constitution, Ammendments or Federalist Papers. Our local Tea Party is mostly concerned with local issues or occasionally a State issue.

From the people that I know who are active in the group, they seem like a more politically oriented Rotary Club or Chamber of Commerce. Fiscally conservative, small government, strict adherence to the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. They could give a shit about social conservative issues like gay marriage, religion or abortion except for it being a States issue instead of a sweeping Federal issue. They lean more libertarian than anything and are CERTAINLY NOT a Republican organization.

deborah said...

DBQ, that seems very sensible. Concentrate on state and local, and the federal level will think twice before over-stepping.

Ignorance is Bliss said...

deborah said...

Concentrate on state and local, and the federal level will think twice before over-stepping.

That would depend greatly on who is elected to the federal level.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

I'd recommend you stick to your regular meal schedule because the Tea Party only puts out thing like watercress sandwiches and scones.

Shouting Thomas said...

According to the Woodstock Times, they bring all their guns, plan on hanging black people from the light posts, and organize for the Ku Klux Klan.

Chip Ahoy said...

Expect weirdos on the periphery that are attracted to gatherings. I notice a lot of city vans overlain with pictures of aborted fetuses. Shock pictures. Anti abortion group that glommed onto the tea party gathering so heavily it appears to be anti abortion group. It is not.

Plus strange bag lady types with pouches of political leaflets. Kill the fed and such. Lots of hangers-on attracted to gatherings. The oddballs do stick out.

Then all the rest, the vast majority normal people. Normal like Walmart shoppers. That is my impression. Concerned regular parents with their children. Children holding flags. Kids are big on flags, I say, give a kid a large flag and they're set all day.

Plus, I learned, people do not mind being photographed especially when you engage. Twice I saw children with flags that were cute as H - E - double heck.

The first one was cold outside and nobody knew what they were doing. Organizing, putting together a mailing list (I never join things) Democrats there too checking things out. Speeches about who they are and why they're activated. No bag ladies or outside activists because they weren't famous enough yet. Very nice people all around. Very gracious. Engaging.

So you go, "That's adorable, may I take your picture for my blog? " They look to Daddy to see if it's okay. Daddy nods. click click click.

Or, "that's an interesting sign. May I photograph you holding your sign?" They did bother to make the sign, they are there for exposure, so yes, of course they want you to photograph them.

"Here's where they will be uploaded (hands card with flickr address) if you care to have them. Just drag and drop and print if you like." Who wouldn't want a copy this precious moment recording the moment you came alive, the moment you introduced your child to civics?

ricpic said...

Deb, if you like being in the presence of civilized (and by that I mean simply courteous and civil) people you'll love a Tea Party meeting or rally or get-together. You'll also see how absolutely grotesque the Dem/MSM mischaracterization of them has been. And if you disagree with me you're a hater ha ha ha ha ha.

bagoh20 said...

I went to one of the first ones way back on 4-15-09 in the People Republic of Santa Monica. It was called a "Tax Day Protest" back then, organized by the local Tea Party, and this was my introduction to the movement. I think I still have the T-shirt.

It was passionate, but peaceful and respectful. It was not mostly about Obama, but rather TARP and government corruption in general, especially as it related to the financial sector. This particular rally was very mixed demographic of old and young, left and right, as the city is very liberal, and I remember standing next to a group of Lesbian Democrats who were very vocal anti-tax and government. The thrust was a protest of how tax money was being sucked up by connected people through government, and that's still what the Tea Party is about.

Obama has become more of a focus now because he's done that more of this revenue directing than anyone in history, but it's still not about him. He's just the poster boy for what's wrong.

deborah said...

Sixty:
"Molon Labe"

I don't know what that means, but wash your mouth out with soap, anyway, you perv.

Thanks for the details all. I'd already gotten the message that it was good folks, and your reports only confirm. I think I might try that photo-journalism thing...looks like fun :)

Or maybe all of us who have never attended could try to go to one? I am such an introspective slug, it would do me good to do something civic. Civical? Civil?

Shouting Thomas said...

I'm a political inactivist by temperament.

The slander and sabotage aimed at the Tea Party by the Obama admin has just about convinced me that those guys must really be onto something, and that they might be worth a look.

I'm Full of Soup said...

Deborah- I like Bill Whittle's new tag line "The Common Sense Resistance" and suggest tea parties re-brand themselves using that slogan because they have been horribly but successfully smeared by the MSM.

If I were you,you should bring another young person in addition to yourself - we need to bolster the ranks and develop replacement troops for the common sense resistance.

deborah said...

AJ, do you attend?

Shouting Thomas said...

@AJ Lynch

The "all disagreement with Obama is racism" thing isn't going to go away because of rebranding.

Bigot-O-Mania, as I call it, has become a smokescreen for graft and corruption. As well as the rationale for the entrenchment and expansion of a racial and sexual spoils system.

Big money involved in that BS.

Revenant said...

I'm not sure what the rallies are like these days.

What was interesting about the original wave of rallies back in 2009/2010 was their composition. I have never been to a protest rally before where the crowd was overwhelmingly composed of working men and women there of their own accord. Not because their employer wanted them there or told them to be there. Not because they were activists or college kids with copious free time. Ordinary working Americans, most of whom had never been to a protest before in their lives.

It was kind of amazing to see.

bagoh20 said...

I went to a rally in DC in Sept. 07 that was a big ANSWER/Code Pink anti-war thing, which was counter-protested by thousands with the Gathering of Eagles organization and Free Republic supporting the surge and a victory in Iraq rather than a withdrawal.

The streets were packed with close to 100,000 people on both sides taking opposite sides of Pennsylvania Ave. and just yelling at each other all afternoon. A bunch of lefties, one after another, tried to invade the Capitol building and got arrested.

It was a beautiful sunny warm day, and just a lot of fun to watch the carnival back when the left hated war and warring Presidents.

Unfortunately, I went alone, because it would have been a good time to share with someone.

These things do just involve people mostly talking right past each other, and not much openness to the other side's arguments. That said, I did hear and participate in a few good discussions with people who did talk respectfully from opposite sides.

bagoh20 said...

I highly suggest you go Deborah. Mostly good people who are very unlikely to spit on you or crap on your car, or call you a racist, which are really just different forms of the same thing.

sakredkow said...
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sakredkow said...
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The Dude said...

Do your research, Deborah, learn the source of those words and what they meant to those involved. It's not as simple as leftists would like to make it. It's about freedom and a willingness to fight for that freedom.

deborah said...

Bago:
"The streets were packed with close to 100,000 people on both sides taking opposite sides of Pennsylvania Ave. and just yelling at each other all afternoon."

That actually sounds sweet...it not breaking into an all-out riot, and all.

I'm sorry, Sixty, I was just being silly. I'll look it up now :)

deborah said...

Yes, Chip Ahoy is a magnificent bastard.

Methadras said...

AReasonableMan said...

Of course I get all my information from MSNBC but I understand you shouldn't leave home without a white hood.


Why don't you lend him yours. It may be a little dusty, but surely it's gotten good usage. And yes, I called you surely.

sakredkow said...
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sakredkow said...
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deborah said...

Disagree, phx. He posts a lot of off-the-wall fun stuff, but also intelligent, unique insights. He's a wrenasance man, to be more accurate.

sakredkow said...
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Chip Ahoy said...

That's right, I am a wren seance dude.

Did that history of dude talk about cowboys? Because that's where it came from. I know that because it's like a Western movie over here.

They even have dude ranches around here.

Where you can go and be gay I mean to say go and ride a horse.

No. It goes from Chinese to camaraderie to women using it too, then on to a dude named Ellis (owner of popular tourist island) not liking the outlandish way gays are depicted as irregular dudes. No cowboys. I realize this should go down there ↓↓↓ but I thought of it just now. The post down there ↓↓↓ needs more cowboys.

Fred, the fellow of great doctorly gravitas, and I were in Fred's Benz and pulled up to the front of Frank's shop. Fred lowers the window on my side and Frank comes bouncing out of the shop, sticks his face in the area vacated by glass and says, "So how are you two duds?"

Mumpsimus said...

I went to one Tea Party event, in '10 I think, down on the National Mall in DC. I didn't stay long. All I can remember now is Victoria Jackson screaming into a microphone "There's a Communist in the White House! There's a Communist in the White House!" So I wandered off to check out the WWII Memorial.

I think most Tea Partiers are just not into the mass demonstration thing, and those who are are not very good at it.

(The WWII Memorial is awful, aesthetically. Looks like a collaboration between Albert Speer and whoever designed the Bellagio in Las Vegas.)

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

The Tea Party is 100% financial. It's about fiscal reasonability and smaller government.
The left do not want to debate financial issues fairly, so they blanket vilify the whole deal and call everyone a racist. As we all see everyday from fake "news" outlets like Msnbc.

Chip - I think that aborted fetus truck shows up every time there's a political gathering. I don't think it's exclusive to the Tea Party.

I went to one or two Tea Party gatherings. I loved all the crazy signs. The anti-Barney Frank signs were the best.

I'm Full of Soup said...

"AJ, do you attend?"

Nah too many people might be there and I don't like people.

chickelit said...

@deborah: Here's a photo I took at a Tea Party event I attended in 2010. link. You may recognize the location. Also note all the Confederate signage--proof positive that we're part of the New Confederacy out here.

The Crack Emcee said...

Expect it to become evangelistic.

bagoh20 said...

"Expect it to become evangelistic."

Oh, bullshit. They're higher educated than the average American, more successful, and a lot more independent thinking than any other political group, including even libertarians, which many Tea Partiers are to a large degree.

chickelit said...
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I'm Full of Soup said...

I probably fit the profile for a Tea Party supporter and I go to church only for weddings and funerals. Does that make me an evangelist Crack?

I'm Full of Soup said...

CL - there is no need to swear!

chickelit said...

AJ: I was quoting Meth.

"Peristaltic closure" is medical euphemism for full of sh*t.

I'm Full of Soup said...

CL - I was messing with you.

And I would have never guessed what that meant,

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...
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Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

They're higher educated...

Three words that disprove their own meaning.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Tea Party Patronage

chickelit said...

Ritmo rote: Three words that disprove their own meaning.

Pedantic shutuppery.

deborah said...

On further thought, Chip, we need to go with the fancy pronunciation Reneesonce; you're that kool.

lol AJ. I hear ya.

Chick, can't say I remember that place, though I have vague memories of a pier, maybe. Thanks for the pic, rabble rouser.

Mumps, I remember hearing the WWII memorial was dreadful...just rectangular monoliths, or something.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...
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Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Pedantic shutuppery.

Translation: Why can't uneducated fools still have opinions that are somehow important!?

Shouting Thomas said...

You can always count on Ritmo to be an asshole. Never fails.

And, he's glad to tell you what an incredible intellectual he is, too.

Tiresome asshole.

He consistently "translates" other's statements in accordance with the voices he hears in his head.

bagoh20 said...

"They're higher educated..."

"Three words that disprove their own meaning."


I'm not highly educated, but nobody proves like you that education can fail to develop wisdom. To be fair though, I bet you were an asshole before you got educated. School just made you think otherwise.

I'm Full of Soup said...

ST said:

"You can always count on Ritmo to be an asshole. Never fails."

Heh good one ST. He must have some kind of mental condition.