# Has this been done yet? Maine GOP adopts Tea Party platform. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 11, 2010, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-this-been-done-yet-maine-gop-adopts-tea-party-platform/539075 "2010-05-11T18:13:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2010, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-this-been-done-yet-maine-gop-adopts-tea-party-platform/539075/41 "2010-05-13T00:28:07Z")
_::Rimshot::_ ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2010, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-this-been-done-yet-maine-gop-adopts-tea-party-platform/539075/42 "2010-05-13T01:32:37Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Okay, time out. Who is Chris Matthews? > > … > > And on what basis does he have standing to make statements about the Maine Republican Party? He is a political commentator on MSNBC. That’s what they do. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2010, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-this-been-done-yet-maine-gop-adopts-tea-party-platform/539075/43 "2010-05-13T01:39:46Z")
Oh. News. On television. There’re still people who think that’s a good idea, eh? ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2010, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-this-been-done-yet-maine-gop-adopts-tea-party-platform/539075/44 "2010-05-13T01:42:46Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > So, I guess it’s fair to call it a “Tea Party Platform”, although we really don’t know how these few Maniac Tea Partiers are representative of the movement, as a whole. Well, they were representative enough to get their platform passed as the platform of the GOP in one of the several states. At what point will you accept that the Tea Party movement is representative of the GOP? Now that, you know, they’ve driven a moderately conservative Crist out of the party, refused to renominate an absolutely conservative Bennett, and in Maine adopted a platform in which the primary points appear to be opposition to ACORN and a One World Government. How long will you go on? ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2010, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-this-been-done-yet-maine-gop-adopts-tea-party-platform/539075/45 "2010-05-13T04:10:21Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > New Englander checking in. Really? I thought you were in SF Bay Area. Wrong bay, then? ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2010, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-this-been-done-yet-maine-gop-adopts-tea-party-platform/539075/46 "2010-05-13T10:49:45Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Oh. News. On television. > > There’re still people who think that’s a good idea, eh? Let me guess: you don’t own a television, so those that do are philistines. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Proudest\_Monkey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/proudest_monkey/32/13257_2.png) [@Proudest\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Proudest_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2010, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-this-been-done-yet-maine-gop-adopts-tea-party-platform/539075/47 "2010-05-13T22:13:40Z")
I’m a bit north of Portland yet still have all my teeth. 😃 See? Here’s another bit of fun some of the party faithful were up to during their recent convention. [http://www.kjonline.com/news/republican-officialapologizes-forclassroom-behavior\_2010-05-12.html](http://www.kjonline.com/news/republican-officialapologizes-forclassroom-behavior_2010-05-12.html) ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2010, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-this-been-done-yet-maine-gop-adopts-tea-party-platform/539075/48 "2010-05-13T22:30:30Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Let me guess: you don’t own a television, so those that do are philistines. :rolleyes: Wrong. I own two televisions. It’s just been my experience that attempts to deliver news of the day’s events using it as a medium always devolve into exercises in alternately terrorizing and titillating the audience. For the sake of advertising revenue. I prefer to use my television as a source of entertainment, from which I do not [del]pretend[/del] aspire to glean edification or awareness of the world around me. Worthwhile programming, in other words, such as Spongebob, The Venture Bros., Phineas and Ferb, and (of course) the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![boytyperanma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@boytyperanma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boytyperanma)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2010, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-this-been-done-yet-maine-gop-adopts-tea-party-platform/539075/49 "2010-05-13T23:09:24Z")
> [@Proudest\_Monkey](#): > > I’m a bit north of Portland yet still have all my teeth. 😃 See? > > Here’s another bit of fun some of the party faithful were up to during their recent convention. [http://www.kjonline.com/news/republican-officialapologizes-forclassroom-behavior\_2010-05-12.html](http://www.kjonline.com/news/republican-officialapologizes-forclassroom-behavior_2010-05-12.html) Same story here has a few more details that make the GOP’ers look even more shameful. [http://www.pressherald.com/news/call-it-class-struggle-how-politics-went-too-far\_2010-05-12.html](http://www.pressherald.com/news/call-it-class-struggle-how-politics-went-too-far_2010-05-12.html) ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2010, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-this-been-done-yet-maine-gop-adopts-tea-party-platform/539075/50 "2010-05-13T23:10:15Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > Well, they were representative enough to get their platform passed as the platform of the GOP in one of the several states. At what point will you accept that the Tea Party movement is representative of the GOP? Now that, you know, they’ve driven a moderately conservative Crist out of the party, refused to renominate an absolutely conservative Bennett, and in Maine adopted a platform in which the primary points appear to be opposition to ACORN and a One World Government. > > How long will you go on? I’m not hanging on to anything. Maybe I wasn’t clear, but what I was trying to say is that this was just a few TPers who wrote up the platform, so we don’t know how representative they are of the TP movement as a whole. Do the TPers now represent the GOP? You tell me-- I really don’t know or care. They seem to be gaining in influence, state by state. I think the real test will be who gets the nomination for the GOP next time. **Tamerlane** : Native New Englander, grew up there, went to college there, most of my family still lives there, but I have lived in CA for a long time. ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_Stimulus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Digital\_Stimulus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_Stimulus)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2010, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-this-been-done-yet-maine-gop-adopts-tea-party-platform/539075/51 "2010-05-13T23:45:53Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > …just a few TPers…the TP movement…the TPers… Oh, man – referring to them as “TPers” is almost as entertaining as their self-reference “tea baggers”. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2010, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-this-been-done-yet-maine-gop-adopts-tea-party-platform/539075/52 "2010-05-14T00:45:37Z")
:eek: ☹ Holy crap! What is happening to people? Do they really honestly believe that there’s any serious threat of one world government? Do they really honestly believe that there’s some kind of movement to give foreign citizens the right to vote? WTF? I’m surprised it doesn’t have a demand that the President immediately either release his “long form” birth certificate or step down. I really think that the election of a black man with a foreign sounding name has unhinged a large portion of our population. “OMG! His middle name is Hussein! One World Government is just around the corner!” ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2010, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-this-been-done-yet-maine-gop-adopts-tea-party-platform/539075/53 "2010-05-14T01:03:22Z")
To borrow from Chris Rock: _that’s when I started listening, because I knew niggers and Jews were next._ ---
**Author:** ![Sinaptics](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@Sinaptics](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sinaptics)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2010, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-this-been-done-yet-maine-gop-adopts-tea-party-platform/539075/54 "2010-05-14T14:24:14Z")
And it keeps getting better: [http://www.pressherald.com/news/call-it-class-struggle-how-politics-went-too-far\_2010-05-12.html](http://www.pressherald.com/news/call-it-class-struggle-how-politics-went-too-far_2010-05-12.html) To summarize, after Maine’s Repub convention, they had county caucuses. The one in Knox county was held in an 8th grade classroom. They stole the teaches History of the Labor Movement collage and left a bumper sticker in it’s place that said, “Working people vote Republican.” They opened closed boxes in the classroom, one of which contained copies of the Constitution donated by the ACLU. Of course, being involved in any way with the ACLU is as close as you can get to breaking all 10 of the commandments, so they felt obligated to leave note stating, “A Republican was here,” it read. “What gives you the right to propagandize impressionable kids?” I do admire their chutzpa, though. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2010, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-this-been-done-yet-maine-gop-adopts-tea-party-platform/539075/55 "2010-05-14T15:31:02Z")
> [@](#): > > Responded eighth-grader Lilly O’Leary, one of several students who sent e-mails to this newspaper decrying the behavior of their weekend guests, “I am not being brainwashed in his class under any circumstances. I am being told that I have the right to my own opinion.” And if that’s not brainwashing, I don’t know what is. 😛 > [@](#): > > She added, “ **These people were adults and they were acting very immaturely**.” Schooled by an eighth-grader. Sad. ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2010, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-this-been-done-yet-maine-gop-adopts-tea-party-platform/539075/56 "2010-05-14T16:49:46Z")
Hmm. You know, I can really give a lot of credit to my high school history teacher for making me actually think. I’m pleased that some of the kids have responded to this; apparently, their own history teacher has “propagandized” them well. ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2010, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-this-been-done-yet-maine-gop-adopts-tea-party-platform/539075/57 "2010-05-14T20:52:20Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > And if that’s not brainwashing, I don’t know what is. 😛 > Schooled by an eighth-grader. Sad. I would correct you and “pwned by an eighth-grader” but I don’t want to be accused of trying to usurp the use of English as primary language by introducing a foreign word. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2010, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-this-been-done-yet-maine-gop-adopts-tea-party-platform/539075/58 "2010-05-17T09:20:45Z")
> [@descamisado](#): > > I would correct you and “pwned by an eighth-grader” but I don’t want to be accused of trying to usurp the use of English as primary language by introducing a foreign word. That’s what I originally wrote, believe it or not, but the context seemed to demand “schooled”. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2010, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-this-been-done-yet-maine-gop-adopts-tea-party-platform/539075/59 "2010-05-17T23:25:29Z")
What a bunch of petty petulant assclowns. They didn’t care about what the kids were being taught. If they did they would have thought about the example _they_ were setting for those kids with their acts of theft and vandalism. All they cared about was having their own way and not having to be exposed to other viewpoints. Asswipes. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![cosmosdan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@cosmosdan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cosmosdan)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-this-been-done-yet-maine-gop-adopts-tea-party-platform/539075/60 "2010-05-18T03:14:18Z")
A Bahai friend of mine posted this quote and it reminded me of this thread and the Maine republicans. > [@](#): > > “Passivity is bred by the forces of society today. A desire to be entertained is nurtured from childhood, with increasing efficiency, cultivating generations willing to be led by whoever proves skillful at appealing to superficial emotions.” - Universal House of Justice, Ridvan 2010 Message [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-this-been-done-yet-maine-gop-adopts-tea-party-platform/539075.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-this-been-done-yet-maine-gop-adopts-tea-party-platform/539075.md?page=4)