# I'm not sure why, but the "Tea Party" Tax Protests really rub me the wrong way. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 15, 2009, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-sure-why-but-the-tea-party-tax-protests-really-rub-me-the-wrong-way/493149 "2009-04-15T05:01:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 14
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2009, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-sure-why-but-the-tea-party-tax-protests-really-rub-me-the-wrong-way/493149/261 "2009-04-17T14:12:27Z")
I think it is a special type of Porkulus, maybe with a Boston-kosher stamp? ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2009, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-sure-why-but-the-tea-party-tax-protests-really-rub-me-the-wrong-way/493149/262 "2009-04-17T14:21:18Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > What the hell is the “Uhbamuh AdminUhstration”, anyway? Obama, uh, talks this way when, uh, he’s talking off the, uh, cuff. I say we impeach. ---
**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:** [April 17, 2009, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-sure-why-but-the-tea-party-tax-protests-really-rub-me-the-wrong-way/493149/263 "2009-04-17T14:32:34Z")
> [@Kalhoun](#): > > Obama, uh, talks this way when, uh, he’s talking off the, uh, cuff. I say we impeach. I don’t think that rises to the level of high crimes and misdemeanours. Now, if he starts saying “like” every three seconds or TyPeS hIs MeMoS lYkE dIs, I’m writing my Congressman. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2009, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-sure-why-but-the-tea-party-tax-protests-really-rub-me-the-wrong-way/493149/264 "2009-04-17T14:47:59Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > I don’t think that rises to the level of high crimes and misdemeanours. > > Now, if he starts saying “like” every three seconds or TyPeS hIs MeMoS lYkE dIs, I’m writing my Congressman. TO: Somalian Pirates FROM: B.H.Obama, Prezident of the USofA, Motherfuckers RE: Recent stuff im in u base killing ur doodz. l0l! PS. my doodz are 1337, urz r newbz -Joe ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2009, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-sure-why-but-the-tea-party-tax-protests-really-rub-me-the-wrong-way/493149/265 "2009-04-17T14:50:53Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > I don’t think that rises to the level of high crimes and misdemeanours. > > Now, if he starts saying “like” every three seconds or TyPeS hIs MeMoS lYkE dIs, I’m writing my Congressman. Only if he forgets the lapel pin. THAT’S the real dealbreaker. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2009, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-sure-why-but-the-tea-party-tax-protests-really-rub-me-the-wrong-way/493149/266 "2009-04-17T14:52:52Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Now, if he starts saying “like” every three seconds or TyPeS hIs MeMoS lYkE dIs, I’m writing my Congressman. Starting every sentence with “Look, …” is okay, though? ---
**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:** [April 17, 2009, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-sure-why-but-the-tea-party-tax-protests-really-rub-me-the-wrong-way/493149/267 "2009-04-17T15:14:18Z")
Who does that? ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2009, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-sure-why-but-the-tea-party-tax-protests-really-rub-me-the-wrong-way/493149/268 "2009-04-17T15:41:17Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Who does that? Obama, maybe the only funny thing ever on the Jimmy Fallon Show was a clip of him showing Obama saying “look…” to start a sentence about a dozen times during a press conference. ---
**Author:** ![DoctorJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctorj/32/2904_2.png) [@DoctorJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorJ)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2009, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-sure-why-but-the-tea-party-tax-protests-really-rub-me-the-wrong-way/493149/269 "2009-04-17T15:49:28Z")
The whiny conservative from _Equipoise’s_ link above: > [@](#): > > As it happens, when talking to an engaged, informed, and patriotic American, when a tea party is discussed the images of Boston Harbor, taxes and American history immediately come to mind. I, on the other hand, immediately think of Eric Cartman sitting at a table with Polly Prissy Pants and Clyde Frog. ---
**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:** [April 17, 2009, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-sure-why-but-the-tea-party-tax-protests-really-rub-me-the-wrong-way/493149/270 "2009-04-17T15:50:43Z")
Viewed in context, does “Look,…” translate to “What kind of dumbass question is that?”. Or is it just a timefiller while he thinks of something to say? My admittedly biased view is that Obama talks like a lawyer and pauses to choose his words very deliberately and carefully so as not to commit himself to something he didn’t mean (whereas Bush often paused because he couldn’t think of a word (or worse, a name - I remember him forgetting Tony Blair’s name on at least one occasion when Blair was standing next to him)). It can be annoying to listen to but the answers tend to be better thought-out. OTOH when he speaks off-the-cuff we get Special Olympics-style gaffes. QED. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2009, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-sure-why-but-the-tea-party-tax-protests-really-rub-me-the-wrong-way/493149/271 "2009-04-17T15:57:51Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > OTOH when he speaks off-the-cuff we get Special Olympics-style gaffes. QED. Which are misinterpreted into ridiculousness. What he actually said was self-deprecatory, not making fun of the Special Olympics at all. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2009, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-sure-why-but-the-tea-party-tax-protests-really-rub-me-the-wrong-way/493149/272 "2009-04-17T16:06:24Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > What the hell is the “Uhbamuh AdminUhstration”, anyway? Anyone with more than two brain cells knows that President Obama (god I love typing that) is intelligent, knowledgeable and articulate, so the assholes on the right use his verbal tics and use of a teleprompter (HORRORS!!!) during _prepared statements_ (completely overlooking that he doesn’t use one during town hall and press conference answers) to try and make him look bad. Being that most people (not on the right or in the media) have more than two brain cells, this stupidity isn’t working either. It’s just another in a long line of RW memes that slides off the man’s back and makes those who throw them out there look like idiots. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2009, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-sure-why-but-the-tea-party-tax-protests-really-rub-me-the-wrong-way/493149/273 "2009-04-17T16:20:35Z")
[Indirect cite from Fox courtesy of Kos:](http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/04/16/cable-anchors-guests-use-tea-parties-platform-frat-house-humor/) > [@](#): > > For thousands of Americans, Tax Day was a moment to protest what they see as bloated budgets and a pile of debt being passed on to their children. > > For CNN, MSNBC and other media outlets, it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to use the word “teabagging” in a sentence. > > CNN anchor Anderson Cooper interspersed “teabagging” references with analyst David Gergen’s more staid commentary on how Republicans are still “searching for their voice.” > > “It’s hard to talk when you’re teabagging,” Cooper explained. Gergen laughed, but Cooper kept a straight face. > > The protests, he [Shuster] explained, amount to “Teabagging day for the right wing and they are going nuts for it.” > > He described the parties as simultaneously “full-throated” and “toothless,” and continued: “They want to give President Obama a strong tongue-lashing and lick government spending.” Shuster also noted how the protesters “whipped out” the demonstrations this past weekend. As Jon Stewart noted last night on Comedy Central, “MSNBC is now … us!” ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2009, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-sure-why-but-the-tea-party-tax-protests-really-rub-me-the-wrong-way/493149/274 "2009-04-17T16:31:21Z")
> [@Captain\_Carrot](#): > > Which are misinterpreted into ridiculousness. What he actually said was self-deprecatory, not making fun of the Special Olympics at all. It was a _little_ self-deprecatory, I thought, with more of it directed at Leno for the over-gushing praise. Personally, I think it would have been a lot funnier if Leno had heaped sarcastic praise on Obama and Obama said “That’s mighty white of you…” ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2009, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-sure-why-but-the-tea-party-tax-protests-really-rub-me-the-wrong-way/493149/275 "2009-04-17T18:31:27Z")
> [@Equipoise](#): > > Ah damn, sorry. [Here it is.](http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x8345880) Thanks. (BTW, what kind of car is that? I confess-I don’t know jackshit about cars) **Crafter\_Man** , thing is, your definition of socialism and mine, and say, **Equipoise** ’s, might be completely different. And how do you define “inalienable rights”? “Individual sovereignty & liberty?” That’s where it gets tricky. For example, there was some guy on Free Republic, talking about how he’d like to back and start with repealing the Meat Inspection Act. Think about it. The Meat Inspection Act. Now think about when the MIA was put into law. Think about WHY. And think about how damned SCARY it would be without it. I’m not saying YOU’RE a Freeper (or are you?) but… ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Tompkins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/258eb7/32.png) [@Jeff\_Tompkins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Tompkins)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2009, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-sure-why-but-the-tea-party-tax-protests-really-rub-me-the-wrong-way/493149/276 "2009-04-17T18:37:56Z")
If anyone wants to see a collection of funny misspelled signs from the protests, I have posted them [here.](http://jefftompkins.blogspot.com/2009/04/2009-teabagging-championships.html) ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2009, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-sure-why-but-the-tea-party-tax-protests-really-rub-me-the-wrong-way/493149/277 "2009-04-17T19:23:43Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Thanks. (BTW, what kind of car is that? I confess-I don’t know jackshit about cars) I don’t either, but someone in that thread said it was a Honda Fit. I still want to know the story behind those underpants. Did they get stolen from a giant lady? Did someone take the time to make them just for the loonfest? So weird! Jeff, great blog, very funny, thanks for the link! ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2009, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-sure-why-but-the-tea-party-tax-protests-really-rub-me-the-wrong-way/493149/278 "2009-04-17T19:38:53Z")
[ginandtacos.com](http://www.ginandtacos.com/) has some interesting pictures (not a lot, but the ones they have are pretty decent). Equipoise-They probably went to some place like Wal-Mart or Kmart-they do sell them there in the Plus sizes. Any place that sells cheap, plus size stuff. (I agree, the misspellings were awesome! Reminds me of “get a brain, morans!”) I’m betting if you went up to the Carl Marx guy and pointed out politely that it was spelled **K** arl, he’d probably accuse you of being some kind of commie for knowing that. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2009, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-sure-why-but-the-tea-party-tax-protests-really-rub-me-the-wrong-way/493149/279 "2009-04-17T20:06:06Z")
> [@DoctorJ](#): > > The whiny conservative from _Equipoise’s_ link above: > > I, on the other hand, immediately think of Eric Cartman sitting at a table with Polly Prissy Pants and Clyde Frog. [I think of this](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0q-9aFzIbU). ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2009, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-sure-why-but-the-tea-party-tax-protests-really-rub-me-the-wrong-way/493149/280 "2009-04-17T20:19:29Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Equipoise-They probably went to some place like Wal-Mart or Kmart-they do sell them there in the Plus sizes. Any place that sells cheap, plus size stuff. (I agree, the misspellings were awesome! Reminds me of “get a brain, morans!”) _laugh_ I don’t think even Wal-Mart has size 2,000. Are we looking at the [This sign]([http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve](http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve) [URL="[Tea Party Fallout: Independents Turned Off, Some GOPers Worried | HuffPost Latest News](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/17/tea-party-fallout-indepen_n_188235.html)) is one of the more kookoo. Interesting article too. Those Independents continue to be totally impressed by the right’s antics. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-sure-why-but-the-tea-party-tax-protests-really-rub-me-the-wrong-way/493149.md?page=13) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-sure-why-but-the-tea-party-tax-protests-really-rub-me-the-wrong-way/493149.md?page=15)