# The Tea Party is not socially conservative my ass **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 11, 2010, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tea-party-is-not-socially-conservative-my-ass/556760 "2010-10-11T06:09:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 16
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2010, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tea-party-is-not-socially-conservative-my-ass/556760/301 "2010-10-15T03:18:13Z")
OK - so a libertarian web site says its not racist. Guess that ends any discussion. ---
**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:** [October 15, 2010, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tea-party-is-not-socially-conservative-my-ass/556760/302 "2010-10-15T03:30:33Z")
Hey – does anyone remember **Wildest Bill**? I’ll bet you any amount of money he’s not only a VERY enthusiastic Tea-Partier but a Birther as well. > [@Plan\_B](#): > > [Survey of signs at Tea Party Rallies](http://http://reason.com/blog/2010/10/14/cant-you-read-the-signs) [Fixed link](http://reason.com/blog/2010/10/14/cant-you-read-the-signs) ---
**Author:** ![Plan\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Plan\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plan_B)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2010, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tea-party-is-not-socially-conservative-my-ass/556760/303 "2010-10-15T04:07:35Z")
> [@villa](#): > > OK - so a libertarian web site says its not racist. Guess that ends any discussion. No actually, if you had taken the time to read beyond the heading you would see that the research was done by a grad student at UCLA, Emily Elkins. Then it was reported by the Washington Post. It is to WaPo’s credit that they are daring to depart from the liberal script about what the Tea Party is. And **Guinastasia** thanks for fixing the link ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2010, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tea-party-is-not-socially-conservative-my-ass/556760/304 "2010-10-15T04:46:42Z")
So, that’s what happened to Victoria Jackson ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2010, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tea-party-is-not-socially-conservative-my-ass/556760/305 "2010-10-15T04:48:25Z")
So, a person did a survey of signs at ONE Tea Party rally, and it just happens to be the rally where they were specifically told NOT to bring crazy racist signs, and the survey found that most people did not bring those types of signs they were asked not to bring (because having them would look bad). And we’re supposed to take this as evidence that the Tea Party isn’t racist? After all the _other_ rallies, where such signs were in such abundance, that the people coming to the rally in September had to be asked not to bring them? Are you out of your fucking mind? I’ll accept it as evidence that the people at that rally didn’t bring those signs, but that’s about all. When come back, bring real facts and a preponderance of evidence. Not pictures from a staged event (the event I’m talking about being: “Keep your racism on the downlow! Leave the ‘nigger’ signs at home!”). ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2010, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tea-party-is-not-socially-conservative-my-ass/556760/306 "2010-10-15T06:32:25Z")
I don’t think SA is wrong. The Tea Party is very loosely organized. There’s a lot that people seem to agree on, but there does not seem to be any true leaders, at least, none that are not operating in the shadows. But we’re making a mistake here. We don’t need a leader. We just need someone who is considered to be representative of the group’s views. And that by definition would be the people they are voting for to operate in our representational government. Figure out what they have in common, and those are the views. It works for all political groups. Don’t get me wrong, I do believe there are many times that SA has engaged in less than well-formed arguments, and would likely benefit from a difference in style. But that does make everything he says inherently wrong. In fact, there usually is some point, even if it is not argued well. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2010, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tea-party-is-not-socially-conservative-my-ass/556760/307 "2010-10-15T07:00:42Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I don’t think SA is wrong. The Tea Party is very loosely organized. There’s a lot that people seem to agree on, but there does not seem to be any true leaders, at least,… If that’s true, then what’s the point? Democrats and Republicans, for all their faults, at least stand for something. They accept and expel members, they raise funds and support their campaigns, they hold primaries to select candidates, they debate, write, and release a platform statement, and the results of all this can be tracked by their public disclosures and by the voting records of their members. The Tea Party, to the point that anyone can even discuss what unites them, is angry at the government. They want to hold the members of the government accountable for some perceived failings or mismanagement. At the same time, we’re told that none of them are accountable for anything. It’s like nailing Jello to a tree. Come on, guys, grow a pair and step up to the plate. You want to play with the big boys? Fine, tell me where you stand. Or else what the hell is the Tea Party? ---
**Author:** ![Morella](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Morella](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morella)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2010, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tea-party-is-not-socially-conservative-my-ass/556760/308 "2010-10-15T07:55:58Z")
> [@](#): > > That’s all I’m going on, what you’ve posted here. That’s kinda what happens on message boards. Maybe in real life you’re an intelligent, well spoken, un-prejudiced brain surgeon with a 7 figure income. But here, on this message board, you appear to be an ignorant, prejudiced fuckwit who is wasting my time. I hate to bring up the dreaded R-word in an environment that is infested by liberals, but you are the one who is responsible for what you do with your time, not me. > [@](#): > > You ever see Monsters Inc.? There’s a throw away line where two monsters are making a bit of a fools of themselves, and one turns to the other and tells him “You’re making it worse!!!” I bought the DVD for my 6-year-old daughter, and she seemed to be enjoying it, but I must confess that I wasn’t really watching it. Why were you watching it? ---
**Author:** ![Morella](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Morella](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morella)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2010, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tea-party-is-not-socially-conservative-my-ass/556760/309 "2010-10-15T08:00:13Z")
> [@](#): > > Since the Tea Party is a diverse movement with many nuanced beliefs, and not a socially conservative group who want to oppose the current Democratic administration without having to address how bad the last Republican administration was, can anyone point to any socially liberal candidates endorsed by any Tea Party group? Do you ever engage the brain? The Tea Party is a diverse movement, yes, but it does have one central focus, which is getting rid of big government and waste. That is not a partisan issue. ---
**Author:** ![Morella](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Morella](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morella)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2010, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tea-party-is-not-socially-conservative-my-ass/556760/310 "2010-10-15T08:12:26Z")
> [@sqweels](#): > > > [@Morella](#): > > > > Enter the Tea Party, with the message…we need conservatives, not necessarily Republicans in Congress. I have no argument with that. > > To put a stop to the dreaded homosexual agenda, right? There is where I part company with the Tea Partiers. Actually, religion is where I draw the line. It is amazing, to me, how quickly a conservative can go from making sense, talking about responsibility, work ethic, and freedom, to babbling about religion and abortion, coming across as a total moron. If they could just leave the religion and abortion out of their agenda, the rest of the message would probably sell. As for the racism, there are a few assholes in every crowd. ---
**Author:** ![Morella](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Morella](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morella)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2010, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tea-party-is-not-socially-conservative-my-ass/556760/311 "2010-10-15T08:21:25Z")
> [@user\_hostile](#): > > > [@Morella](#): > > > > Granted, I can see how the “diaperhead” comment would be insulting to some people, especially people like my grandparents, but what the hell…they’re dead. > > You think your grandparents would be honored that you said this? (snip) I would think that the “what the hell, they’re dead” comment would explain this. It doesn’t matter whether they would be honored or not. They are dead. > [@](#): > > I just don’t get the _coolness_ factor of dissing your blood relatives. How cool would be if your grand-kids called you “sand-nigger?” I would tell them, that’s “dune coon” to you. Silly person, I am far above being offended by name-calling. ---
**Author:** ![Morella](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Morella](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morella)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2010, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tea-party-is-not-socially-conservative-my-ass/556760/312 "2010-10-15T08:46:26Z")
> [@anya\_marie](#): > > Let me ask you this: What can the tea party do for me? > > Can you help me get a job? What can you offer me that i cannnot get from democrats? What sort of handout are you looking for? > [@](#): > > Why are you now pitching a bitch that Obama wants to end wars we AS A COUNTRY can’t afford, end tax cuts we cannnot afford (snip) Obama wants to end wars? Who was the last politician who did not say, “I want to end this war and bring our troops home?” Would that be Reagan? As for “tax cuts we cannot afford”…I’m a small business owner, getting ready to send in my taxes (yeah, I know they’re late, they’ll send me a bill for that later). If I did not have to send this money to the IRS, to be wasted, flushed down the toilet, I could hire more employees this year. Do you understand why a tax cut might help with the unemployment situation? Cut my taxes in half right now and I will give you a job. Government can do nothing but leech money from the economy. They cannot give you anything. They can only take. The answer to finding a job, and everything else that you need, is within you. You don’t need the government, your mother, or Jesus Christ to do it for you. Take some initiative, educate yourself, take a bath, dress up nice, put down the fucking bong, and make something of yourself! Once you are successful, you can pick up the bong and fuck off again…that’s exactly what I intend to do. > [@](#): > > What’s up with your extreme pro-life agenda? What gives you the right to tell me how i have to spend my money, and why do i have to lose access to birth control because you don’t approve of it? How are you going to lose access to birth control? Are they taking the condom racks out of the convenience stores or what? ---
**Author:** ![Morella](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Morella](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morella)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2010, 8:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tea-party-is-not-socially-conservative-my-ass/556760/313 "2010-10-15T08:53:17Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > > [@miss\_elizabeth](#): > > > > I live in Mississippi, right outside of Memphis, and i can assure you, the Tea Party is as white here as anywhere else in the country (99+%). Yes, I have seen them with my own two eyes. > > I would humbly suggest that poster **Morella** has misrepresented factual information in order to advance an agenda. I would humbly suggest that you be specific about what facts I have misrepresented, and what facts you have to refute them. I posted several links about the black tea party, and no one has refuted any of the material. ---
**Author:** ![Morella](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Morella](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morella)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2010, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tea-party-is-not-socially-conservative-my-ass/556760/314 "2010-10-15T08:55:56Z")
> [@Plan\_B](#): > > [Survey of signs at Tea Party Rallies](http://http://reason.com/blog/2010/10/14/cant-you-read-the-signs) That is a good link, fixed: > **[Can't You Read the Signs?](https://reason.com/2010/10/14/cant-you-read-the-signs/)** > > I've frequently expressed skepticism of the Tea Party—here for its frequent indulgence of lazy economic populism and here for the… ---
**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:** [October 15, 2010, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tea-party-is-not-socially-conservative-my-ass/556760/315 "2010-10-15T10:00:51Z")
> [@Morella](#): > > As for “tax cuts we cannot afford”…I’m a small business owner, getting ready to send in my taxes (yeah, I know they’re late, they’ll send me a bill for that later). If I did not have to send this money to the IRS, to be wasted, flushed down the toilet, I could hire more employees this year. Bullshit. If you hire new employees just because you get a tax cut, you are a very poor businessman. Most businesses have plenty of capital to hire employees, but they lack demand for their products. What is the point of hiring employees if you don’t have enough work for the ones you have now? Tax cuts do not spur hiring, consumer demand does. We have had tax cuts for the wealthy for almost ten years now; where are all the jobs you say should have been created? Why didn’t the Bush tax cuts work the first time around? Why should we increase the deficit to line the pockets of corporations that aren’t going to hire anybody anyway? Tax cuts are just a give away to the wealthy. ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2010, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tea-party-is-not-socially-conservative-my-ass/556760/316 "2010-10-15T10:57:29Z")
> [@Morella](#): > > Once you are successful, you can pick up the bong and fuck off again…that’s exactly what I intend to do. Seems like you might be getting a bit of a head start. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2010, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tea-party-is-not-socially-conservative-my-ass/556760/317 "2010-10-15T12:07:41Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > > [@Morella](#): > > > > As for “tax cuts we cannot afford”…I’m a small business owner, getting ready to send in my taxes (yeah, I know they’re late, they’ll send me a bill for that later). If I did not have to send this money to the IRS, to be wasted, flushed down the toilet, I could hire more employees this year. > > Bullshit. If you hire new employees just because you get a tax cut, you are a very poor businessman. Most businesses have plenty of capital to hire employees, but they lack demand for their products. What is the point of hiring employees if you don’t have enough work for the ones you have now? Tax cuts do not spur hiring, consumer demand does. We have had tax cuts for the wealthy for almost ten years now; where are all the jobs you say should have been created? Why didn’t the Bush tax cuts work the first time around? Why should we increase the deficit to line the pockets of corporations that aren’t going to hire anybody anyway? Tax cuts are just a give away to the wealthy. Exactly. If tax cuts are what will cause more people to get hired by more businesses, why didn’t we have a net job gain during the Bush administrations, when the tax cuts were in effect? It’s all a lie, is why. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2010, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tea-party-is-not-socially-conservative-my-ass/556760/318 "2010-10-15T13:14:40Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > > [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > > > Bullshit. If you hire new employees just because you get a tax cut, you are a very poor businessman. Most businesses have plenty of capital to hire employees, but they lack demand for their products. What is the point of hiring employees if you don’t have enough work for the ones you have now? Tax cuts do not spur hiring, consumer demand does. We have had tax cuts for the wealthy for almost ten years now; where are all the jobs you say should have been created? Why didn’t the Bush tax cuts work the first time around? Why should we increase the deficit to line the pockets of corporations that aren’t going to hire anybody anyway? Tax cuts are just a give away to the wealthy. > > Exactly. If tax cuts are what will cause more people to get hired by more businesses, why didn’t we have a net job gain during the Bush administrations, when the tax cuts were in effect? It’s all a lie, is why. Go further back in time to Reagan and his Reaganomics trickle down theory - that the benefits of “corporate hand outs” would trickle down to everyone. It was a spectacular failure. Nothing trickled down. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2010, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tea-party-is-not-socially-conservative-my-ass/556760/319 "2010-10-15T13:16:04Z")
> [@Morella](#): > > Obama wants to end wars? Who was the last politician who did not say, “I want to end this war and bring our troops home?” Would that be Reagan? MY guess would be Nixon, when he called it quits in Viet Nam (?) not Reagan. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2010, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tea-party-is-not-socially-conservative-my-ass/556760/320 "2010-10-15T13:21:41Z")
> [@emacknight](#): > > An interesting note: Steinhouser describes the movement starting in the fall of 2008 to protest TARP started by then Pres. Bush. But then admits no one gave a shit until the spring after Obama took office. > > Blames the government for the rise in house prices. There we go. No one cared until Obama. Then suddenly, on the day he “moved in” the world ended. Partisan bullshit. Bush was one of them, a :god told me what to do" rightist supposedly conservative Repub. But that was OK. It was only when Obama got in (he WAS elected) that suddenly it changed to “we gotta get the country back”. I call bullshit on the Tea Baggers. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tea-party-is-not-socially-conservative-my-ass/556760.md?page=15) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tea-party-is-not-socially-conservative-my-ass/556760.md?page=17)