Archive for the Tea Party Category

Turning Left.  The Other Right. (August 12, 2019)

Posted in Affirmative Action, Constitution, Drugs, Freedom / Liberty, Gay Politics, Gender, Sanders, Tea Party, Trumpi on August 12, 2019 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K          “They say the country’s growing tolerance for LGBT rights and increasing decriminalization of marijuana are signals that the country is turning to the left.”

J          “Or turning to the right.  The other left.  Tolerating those who reveal LGBT inclinations is fundamentally a conservative idea to respect individual choice even if the individual does not make the choice.  Decriminalizing marijuana respects the fundamental liberty interest of every citizen to be free of government direction and tyranny.”

K          “So the country is turning to the other left.”

J          “Right.  The other left is the right.  Many folks find it right to turn left to turn right.”

. . .

[See the e-commentary at “The Big Decision (December 13, 2010)”, “Less Government Regulation Series:  Love and Marriage (May 19, 2008)”, “Less Government Regulation Series:  Drugs (March 2, 2009)”, “A Second Party:  Trump or Sanders? (March 14, 2016)”, “Tea Party And Innocence Project Form ‘Liberty Alliance’ (September 9, 2013)”, “Constitutional Remedies With An Expiration Date? Affirmative Action and Marriage Neutrality. Again. (December 10, 2012)” and “On Freedom and Liberty (May 24, 2010)”.]

Bumper stickers of the week:

Imagine using turn signals

So politics is a circle not a line or . . . a trapezoid with two parallel bases not a continuum?

A Second Party:  Trump or Sanders? (March 14, 2016)

Posted in Banks and Banking System, Democrats, Elections, Federal Courts, Freedom / Liberty, Republicans, Stock Market, Supreme Court, Tea Party, Voting, Wall Street, War, War and Wall Street Party on March 14, 2016 by e-commentary.org

. . .

J          “Do political ideas proceed along a line/continuum or around a circle?”

K          “The ACLU card-carrying citizen turns around and bumps into a ‘Who is John Galt?’ hat-wearing libertarian sporting an ‘Ayn Rand Paul’ button.  Each should wonder whether they have something in common.”

. . .

K          “Trump supporters yearn for someone who speaks his mind – right or wrong – rather than a politician who only lies and lies and lies and lies to them.”

J          “Can you blame them.  But it is still a message of hate and fear.  I can blame them.”

K          “Disturbing message and tone, I agree.  And then Sanders notes that socialism/crony capitalism has made the wealthy even wealthier and thus socialism without crony capitalism may offer some promise for the non-wealthy.”

J          “Two strains of populist messages at a strained time in the Republic.  Yet Trump’s authoritarian message is disturbing and threatening.  The message is no longer conveyed with dog whistles.”

. . .

J          “The two-ring circus to select the ‘D’ representative and the ‘R’ representative of the ‘War and Wall Street’ Party grinds forward.”

K          “Sanders is not the War candidate and not the Wall Street candidate, so he is doomed.”

J          “In the FIRE (‘Finance, Insurance, Real Estate’) World, Trump is more of a ‘Real Estate’ person than a Wall Street/‘Finance’ person, yet he is not interested in or even able to reign in the systematic criminal activities on Wall Street.  He is belligerent and he is bellicose, yet he does not fit in with the Neo-Cons who seek war everywhere all the time.”

K          “‘Belli’ means ‘war’.”

J          “Trump is mean and Trump means war on some groups.”

K          “So he is the Quasi-War and Quasi-Wall Street Party candidate.”

. . .

K          “The real war is over the Supreme Court.  In past years, the Democrats tended to appoint slightly less dishonest federal appellate and district court judges, although recent Democratic appointments are as dishonest as the Republican appointments.”

J          “They vitiated the last remaining tie breaker.  Now who do you vote for?”

. . .

J          “The Owners own Clinton, Cruz, Rubio, Bush, Romney and their ilk.  Sanders and Trump are speaking too freely.”

K          “Hillary Cruz, Ted Rubio, Marco Bush, Jeb Romney and Mittens Clinton.  No matter how you mix it up, it is all the same.”

. . .

[See the e-commentary at Tea Party And Innocence Project Form ‘Liberty Alliance’ (September 9, 2013) and The “War and Wall [Street] Party” On The War Path (February 1, 2016).]

Bumper sticker of the week:

Nihilism as a response to the deeply-entrenched Kleptocrary is not always irrational.

‘Romney – Negro Care’ Is Back In The News. Again. (September 30, 2013)

Posted in Health Care, O'Bama, Race, Tea Party on September 30, 2013 by e-commentary.org

. . .

1          “The hatred is so virulent.”

2          “And all because a Black guy is trying to stay the impact of viruses.”

1          “Hate and fear; hate and fear; hate and fear; hate and fear.  The overriding fear is that ‘Romney – O’Bama Care’ will work.”

2          “The hatred and fear is implicitly endorsed by so many of the folks described as mainstream commentators who do not discuss what is really at play.”

1          “Life is usually just high school writ large.  The Tea Party types and their ilk in the Republican Party have regressed through high school back to kindergarten.  Kindergarten writ small.  Spoiled little children who need to be spanked lovingly and sent to the time out room.”

2          “The Constitution does establish minimum age requirements to serve in the House and the Senate.”

1          “They only look at the date of birth rather than intellectual and emotional maturity.  When it is called ‘Obamacare,’ there is some resistance, but when it is called the ‘Affordable Care Act,’ there is great interest.”

2          “That is why the Tea Partiers would like to call it ‘N-word Care.’”

. . .

1          “No Republican voted for the Affordable Care Act.  Their votes were recorded and given full force and effect.  They lost.  The Act passed muster before the Republican-controlled Supreme Court.  The Republican members of the House have taken more that forty votes to repeal the legislation.  The Senate provides the mature insight.  It is settled for now.”

2          “The Republicans condemned the employer mandate and then condemned O’Bama for deferring the employer mandate for a year.  Dishonest or hypocritical?”

1          “And the Republican commentators who are now condemning O’Bama for exercising too much power reversed their notions of constitutional law and presidential power the day O’Bama was inaugurated.  Seems dishonest and hypocritical to me.”

. . .

Bumper stickers of the week:

Bark more, Wag less.  Right?

Destroying the Republic to save the Republic.

If O’Bama proposed a bill to advance motherhood, the Tea Party would attack it.

Tea Party And Innocence Project Form ‘Liberty Alliance’ (September 9, 2013)

Posted in Civil War, Crime/Punishment, Hypocrisy, Law, Prison/Criminology, Tea Party on September 9, 2013 by e-commentary.org

. . .

C1        “The ‘Liberty Alliance’ is so natural.  A political group concerned with liberty aligns with a judicial group also concerned with liberty.”

C2        “The Tea Party and the Innocence Project concluded a Memorandum of Understanding to advance and promote liberty.”

. . .

C1       “Breaking news.  The Young Americans for Freedom voted to join the ‘Liberty Alliance’ today.”

. . .

C1        “Braking News.  Some members of the Tea Party demanded that the ‘Liberty Alliance’ seek liberty and freedom for Whites only.”

C2        “There is always a catch.”

. . .

C1        “More Heart Breaking News.  Some members of the Young Americans for Freedom demanded that the ‘Liberty Alliance’ seek liberty and freedom for Whites only.”

C2        “It’s catching but not catchy.”

. . .

This article must be revised to reflect the following correction:

Neither the Tea Party nor the Young Americans for Freedom has formed an alliance with the Innocence Project.

. . .

[See the website of the Innocence Project at http://www.innocenceproject.org/ and the article at http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/12/us/justice-dept-seeks-to-curtail-stiff-drug-sentences.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0.]

Bumper stickers of the week:

Don’t tread on me [yes you a corrupt and expensive and inefficient and inequitable criminal justice system.]

Even if you don’t do the crime, you may do the time.

The People’s Amendment: The “Contract With America” (April 29, 2013)

Posted in Awards / Incentives, Balanced Budget Amendment, Coffee Party USA, Conflicts of Interest, Congress, Constitution, Immanentizing The Eschaton, Political Parties, Tea Party, Term Limits on April 29, 2013 by e-commentary.org

. . .

X          “What do Republicans and Democrats agree on?”

Y          “Nothing.”

X          “What do Republicans and Democrats disagree on?”

Y          “Everything.”

. . .

X          “There you go.  The People’s Amendment:  ‘If a law applies to the people, it applies to Congress; if an exception or exemption applies to Congress, it excepts and exempts the people.’  One simple commutative rule enshrined in a constitutional amendment.  Genius is always obvious and simple.”

Y          “And the provision applies equally to Republicans and Democrats.”

X          “Indubitably.  Courts could easily interpret it without all the arrogant activism and ideological warfare that characterizes the courts today.  Every tax payer has standing to enforce the People’s Amendment in court.  Individual Congresspersons and Senators who vote for legislation that violates the PA are held personally liable for the attorney’s fees of the tax payer who succeeds in enforcing the PA and a small percentage of the public damages.  Each representative’s self-interest is enlisted to provide for and protect the public interest.”

. . .

Y          “While you are at it, add a simple term limits provision.  Six two-year terms in the House and two six-year terms in the Senate are balanced and fair.  The provision applies equally to Republicans and Democrats.”    

. . .

X / Y  “However, a balanced budget amendment is hollow and shallow.  Congress can balance the budget without a balanced budget amendment if Congress wants to balance the budget.  Congress can circumvent a balanced budget amendment if Congress wants to circumvent a balanced budget amendment.”

. . .

[See the “e-ssays” titled The “Contract with America”; The Congressional Reform Act of 2010 (March 29, 2010), Term Limits (May 14, 2007) and Bringing Balance To The Balanced Budget Amendment Debate (July 18, 2011).]

[For an argument that John McCain and Lindsey Graham should not be considered “enemy combatants,” see the “e-ssay” titled Republicans are Enemy Combatants? (May 10, 2010).]

Bumper stickers of the week:

A Democrat for The People’s Amendment

A Republican for The People’s Amendment

An Independent for The People’s Amendment

A Libertarian for The People’s Amendment

A Green for The People’s Amendment

A Tea Partier for The People’s Amendment

A Coffee Partier for The People’s Amendment

A Partier for The People’s Amendment

My honor student supports The People’s Amendment

My average student supports The People’s Amendment

My below average student opposes The People’s Amendment

My dog supports The People’s Amendment

A sniper for The People’s Amendment

An LBGT for The People’s Amendment

A mom for The People’s Amendment

A dad for The People’s Amendment

A viscountess for The People’s Amendment

A Fan of Fred (Hayek) for The People’s Amendment

A visiting adjunct professor at the Barack Hussein O’Bama II School of Government at the University of Chicago for The People’s Amendment

Incite, Sarah, Indict? (January 10, 2011)

Posted in Courts, Crime/Punishment, Elections, First Amendment, Guns, Health Care, Law, Press/Media, Society, Supreme Court, Tea Party on January 10, 2011 by e-commentary.org

. . .

R          “You cannot get out of bed in the morning without violating some section of Title 18 of the United States Code, the federal criminal code.  In fact, and as a matter of law, you cannot stay in bed in the morning without violating some section of Title 18 of the United States Code.”

S          “So why not indict her?  She incited and directed others to kill and targeted the targets by first and last name and address.  She created a mindset and a market for death.  She legitimized killing.  The specific nature of the killer’s mind and his motives are still emerging.  Maybe he did not do it for her or for some specific political purpose.  Nonetheless, he took her specific message and tactics to heart.”

R          “Perhaps her twisted comments about death panels and the like confused a twisted and confused mind.  Others stridently proclaim they have not heard anything inflammatory, yet he heard the shrill dog whistle.”

S          “Her comments were one of the legal, moral and proximate causes of the death and maiming in Arizona.  Look, she took down the targets on her website recently which is an admission of guilt.”

R          “A subsequent remedial measure?”

S          “What about the bull’s eyes?  Listen to others who now opine that political discourse has taken a turn for the worse.  The political discourse has not changed course one degree in recent years.  The entreaties to kill have simply reached their predictable and inevitable outcome.  Why is everyone now so shocked and stupefied?  What happened was intended.  It was only a matter of time.”

R          “During the 2008 and 2010 elections, a few commentators noticed that she promoted and encouraged violence against specific candidates.  Her threats of violence against specific candidates were and are not protected by the First Amendment and were and are clear violations of provisions of Title 18 when they target federal officials or occur on federal property.”

S          “She is white and connected, so she will be given a pass.  U.S. Attorneys expend considerable tax dollars prosecuting some harmless jaywalker on federal property who has the misfortune to be non-white and unconnected.”

R          “The Supreme Court decreed that corporations are legal persons.  The nattering news network is a legal person.  Persons can be indicted.  Another option is to indict the network, the president, the board of directors and the pitch men and women on tv.  We need to return to personal responsibility as a governor of behavior.  Law plays a role.”

S          “White.  Extraordinarily well connected.  And capable of getting a U.S. Attorney fired.  Same story.  Same outcome.  Those in power get a pass.  Carte blanc, the White Card.”

R          “Her vitriolic rants against a sitting President may be her undoing.  Title 18 criminalizes threats against a sitting President.  The grand irony would be to watch on YouTube after one of her tirades as her Secret Service protective detail turns and cuffs her for direct threats against the President.”

S          “That might go viral.”

R          “America sports a billion laws and yet has become such a lawless nation.  In the absence of personal responsibility and without some rules and the rule of law, affairs can and will get worse.”

S          “So why not simply allow a dozen jurors to decide?”

. . .

[See the “e-ssay” titled “In The Land Of Fury And The Home Of The Fearful (November 1, 2010).”]

Bumper stickers of the week:

Incite, Sarah, Indict

Incite, Sarah, Indict Sarah

There oughta be a law; no, there are laws but there oughta be some law enforcement.

What happens when you take an arrow out of the quiver, nock it with care, draw back purposefully, release while slowly exhaling and then look up to see that you have hit the bull’s eye?

I was walking across a bridge one day and saw a man standing on the edge and about to jump off.  So I ran over and said, “Stop! Don’t do it!”  “Why shouldn’t I?” he said.  I said, “Well, there’s so much to live for!”  He said, “Like what?”  I said, “Well, are you religious or atheist?”  He said, “Religious.”  I said, “Me too!  Are you Christian or Buddhist?”  He said, “Christian.”  I said, “Me too!  Are you Catholic or Protestant?”  He said, “Protestant.”  I said, “Me too! Are you Episcopalian or Baptist?”  He said, “Baptist!”  I said, “Wow!  Me too!  Are you Baptist Church of God or Baptist Church of the Lord?”  He said, “Baptist Church of God!”  I said, “Me too!  Are you Original Baptist Church of God or are you Reformed Baptist Church of God?”  He said, “Reformed Baptist Church of God!”  I said, “Me too! Are you Reformed Baptist Church of God, Reformation of 1879, or Reformed Baptist Church of God, Reformation of 1915?”  He said, “Reformed Baptist Church of God, Reformation of 1915!”  I said, “Die, heretic scum!” and pushed him over the edge.

Immanentize The Eschaton: Move To Sunny Somalia (December 20, 2010)

Posted in Antitrust, Immanentizing The Eschaton, O'Bama, Political Parties, Politics, Tea Party on December 20, 2010 by e-commentary.org

. . .

I          “You can indeed immanentize the eschaton.”

T          “The what?”

I          “Immanentize the eschaton.  Achieve utopia.  Create heaven on Earth.  Promote your own Maslowian self-realization by immanentizing the eschaton.”

T          “What?”

I          “You don’t want any government regulation, right.”

T          “None.”

I          “The market cures all, you say.”

T          “Right.  The market rules.”

I          “You vote with your dollars and decide which businesses survive and which don’t.  Unless there is only one monopoly player in each industry.  In that situation, there is absolutely and unambiguously no market solution.”

T          “Don’t tread on me.”

I          “You cannot have free markets unless you have free markets.  Every business is in business to put its competitors and the free market out of business.  Only one countervailing force is available.  That is us working through and with another institution that we love to castigate.”

T          “I want my freedom.”

I          “A beast with ‘Inc.’ as its surname is as dangerous as one with ‘Bureau’ as its first name.  Big business can take away your freedom as easily as big government.  The Constitution constrains the government and protects you.  However, the Constitution only constrains big business and only protects you if the government is there to uphold and enforce the law.”

T          “I want my country back.”

I          “Then go back.  If you are so hot to trot, why not trot on over to where it is hot.  Trot on over to your utopia, your heaven on Earth, your eschaton.  Jump a Pan Am or TWA flight to sunny Somalia.”

T          “Somalia!  The utopia cannot be in Asia.  By definition.  It has to be here.  In ‘Merica.”

I          “By definition.”

T          “We are exceptional.”

I          “We certainly are.  What about Somali exceptionalism?”

T          “They aren’t exceptional, whoever they are.”

I          “I take exception.  They may not be the exception, the way we are heading.”

. . .

Bumper stickers of the week:

I’d rather not entrust the government of the United States to the first 400 people listed in the Boston telephone directory or to the faculty of Harvard University.

Why don’t those who have already immanetized the eschaton want others to immanentize the eschaton?

My grandparents went to Somalia and all I got was this lousy t-shirt that says:  “Don’t immanentize the eschaton.”

If O’Bama gets re-elected, I’m moving to Somalia

In The Land Of Fury And The Home Of The Fearful (November 1, 2010)

Posted in Elections, Politics, Race, Society, Tea Party on November 1, 2010 by e-commentary.org

. . .

J          “So much unfocused rage and undigested anger is raging across the countryside.”

K         “And Anger Mongering (AM) radio and Fox tv are the primary mouthpieces for the furor.  Follow the money.  A staggering amount of money is being amassed marketing hate and fear to the masses, one of the last growth industries in America.  Those inciting the masses are doing so for their own very narrow self-interest.  The cunning and the cynical are playing some voters for chumps and stooges.  Stun and cripple a person with fear and take his vote and his money.  Yet there is a perception that something is wrong grounded in the fact that something is wrong.  The frustration is magnified because it cannot be articulated.”

J          “And an articulate, informed and serene Black President who displays upper class sensibilities and syntax reminds Americans of the two underlying schisms and fissures in America – race and class.  Race is not an acknowledged issue, but race is an issue in most of the political races this year.”

K         “Confidence even devoid of arrogance and pretense threatens the insecure.  Look at the numbers.  Forty-five percent of the electorate responds to fear.  Market and exploit fear and appeal to another five percent and then get just one more vote.  Political victory.  That arithmetic really explains politics in America.  The real kicker is that the problems are far worse than all but the most informed realize and are far less likely to be resolved by current thinking.”

J          “It is all about jobs.  Ironic that some in France are rioting because they are to be given the opportunity to work an additional two years, albeit delaying their retirement, and Americans may riot to be given the opportunity to work.  When there are job openings, Americans are there hustling to get them.”

K         “True, yet Americans have not experienced any real hardship in recent decades and simply do not have the emotional software to deal with adversity with any perspective or dignity.”

J          “When the present and the future are so bleak, the past is strained through a filter to make it look far more idyllic than it ever was.”

K         “It is so much easier to hate and fear without reflection.”

. . .

Bumper stickers (signs) of the week:

45% + 5% + 1 = Victory

“The trouble with the world is the stupid are cocksure, and the intelligent are full of doubt.”                      Bertrand Russell

At the Stewart/Colbert Rally on October 30 on the National Mall:

I don’t want my country back, I want my country forward.

Those who work for the government should want the government to work.

God hates hate.

God fears fear.

God fears hate.

God hates fear.

Use your indoor voice

Although I don’t agree with you, I don’t think you’re Hitler

Tea Party Patriots? (Dec. 21, 2009)

Posted in Bailout/Bribe, Bush, Debt/Deficits, O'Bama, Race, Solstice, Tea Party, USA PATRIOT Act on December 21, 2009 by e-commentary.org

. . .

“Are the Tea Party Patriots really veiled members of the Klan (Ku Klux Klan) running around in their civvies?  Is ‘Nazi’ the code word for the ‘n-word’?”

“They certainly ‘drank the Kool-Aid’ for eight years of reckless Republican (and Democratic) spending without a rally or a ruckus before they drank the tea.”

“They are a little late to the party.  The Tea Party types never railed against the USA PATRIOT Act when it was parsed and passed.  The Tea Party types never demonstrated against the TARP imposed by Bush and Paulson.  Their anger, fright and frustration are legitimate, yet they seem at core really angry, frightened and frustrated that an African-Irish-American is in the White House.”

“There is a lot of undigested anger percolating out there.  Our futures are not promising and those of the kids are even bleaker.  The public senses that America in so many ways is in decline even if they can’t articulate why.”

“I don’t care if he, or she for that matter, is chartreuse, I want competence.  Ronnie Reagan’s statement that ‘Deficits don’t matter’ is one of the ten greatest lies in the history of the American Republic.”

“And the line was repeated repeatedly by former President Cheney and former Vice-President Bush.”

“They made deficit spending the national sport.  At least O’Bama recognizes that long-term deficits represent a threat to the financial integrity and security of the country.  His spending does trouble those few of us left in America who believe in fiscal responsibility.  O’Bama is making and taking a huge gamble.”

“O’Bama also represents a threat to some members of the public because of class differences and what passes for education in America.”

“The anti-intellectualism leaves me as an intellectual in the cold, although those who pass for the intellectuals in America are often charlatans and con artists.  The Tea Types don’t even realize that they should be railing against their rousers.  I would like to see just one of them carrying a sign that proclaims:  ‘It all started under Reagan.’  When the Tea Types start carrying caricatures of McConnell and Boehner and their clan, I will pay them some heed.  Until then, most of them seem to be little more than contemporary Klansmen in coveralls.  However there may be some unaffiliated iconoclasts who march with them because they have no other drummer to inspire them.”

. . .

[See the “e-ssay” dated June 1, 2009 titled “The Humongous Gamble” discussing the great gamble pursued by O’Bama and the risk to the future of America, dated January 19, 2009 titled “The TARP Is A Trap,” dated Oct. 6, 2008 titled “A Bleak Day: The Trillion Dollar Tragedy,” dated Sept. 29, 2008 titled “Futile Efforts” and dated April 4, 2005 titled “USA PATRIOT Act.”]

Bumper stickers of the week:

Fiscal responsibility:  Good; Racism Veiled as Fiscal Responsibility:  Bad

It’s evening in America.

It’s always darkest on the Winter Solstice.

Nonetheless, there is much to celebrate in this good country

As a political compromise, Alaska was admitted as a “Democratic” state (49th) and Hawaii as a “Republican” state (50th).  Alaska gave us Sarah Plain/Palin; Hawaii gave us Barack O’Bama.