# 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:** 6
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2010, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tea-party-is-not-socially-conservative-my-ass/556760/101 "2010-10-12T00:38:23Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Nobody, to my knowledge, has had anything nearly as intelligent and insightful to say about the Tea Party as Johnathon Raban, in the _New York Review of Books_ > > [At the Tea Party | Jonathan Raban | The New York Review of Books](http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2010/mar/25/at-the-tea-party/) > > Fuckin’ brilliant. Joe Bob **'luc** says “Check it out!” Interesting piece. If you’re interested, I would also recommend **Matt Taibbi’s** coverage of the Tea Party also. It includes gems like: “A hall full of elderly white people in Medicare-paid scooters, railing against government spending and imagining themselves revolutionaries as they cheer on the vice-presidential puppet hand-picked by the GOP establishment. If there exists a better snapshot of everything the Tea Party represents, I can’t imagine it.” and “t’s not like the Tea Partiers hate black people. It’s just that they’re shockingly willing to believe the appalling horseshit fantasy about how white people in the age of Obama are some kind of oppressed minority. That may not be racism, but it is incredibly, earth-shatteringly stupid. I hear this theme over and over — as I do on a recent trip to northern Kentucky, where I decide to stick on a Rand Paul button and sit in on a Tea Party event at a local amusement park. Before long, a group of about a half-dozen Tea Partiers begin speculating about how Obamacare will force emergency-room doctors to consult “death panels” that will evaluate your worth as a human being before deciding to treat you.” [The article](http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/17390/210904). ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2010, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tea-party-is-not-socially-conservative-my-ass/556760/102 "2010-10-12T00:41:34Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > It does give one pause. But when you look at the fiscal discipline shown by the college-educated millionaires we’ve had running the government the last 80 years or so, it’s hard to believe they’ll be much worse. If you care to go by the history of the past 80 years, as you know, then you would predict that they would be worse. You’d predict this because, on average, any economic indicator you could choose has done better under Democrats than Republicans. ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2010, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tea-party-is-not-socially-conservative-my-ass/556760/103 "2010-10-12T00:48:42Z")
> [@Morella](#): > > > [@mhendo](#): > > > > Let’s assume for a moment that what you say is true (it’s not). > > > > And let’s also assume for a moment that the Tea Party, as a whole, really is mostly concerned about government spending and intervention in the economy (it’s not). > > > > Why is it that this movement didn’t emerge when Obama’s predecessor was spending like a drunken sailor, and running the sort of deficits that generally get a Democratic president associated with the anti-christ? > > Congress spends money, not the president. During the GWB Administration, Congress was in the hands of the Republicans when the bulk of the reckless spending was done. When the Democrats took over, the deficit decreased. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2010, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tea-party-is-not-socially-conservative-my-ass/556760/104 "2010-10-12T00:57:19Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Nobody, to my knowledge, has had anything nearly as intelligent and insightful to say about the Tea Party as Johnathon Raban, in the _New York Review of Books_ > > [At the Tea Party | Jonathan Raban | The New York Review of Books](http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2010/mar/25/at-the-tea-party/) > > Fuckin’ brilliant. Joe Bob **'luc** says “Check it out!” > [@](#): > > “Then something really odd happened,” Tancredo said, “mostly because, I think, we do not have a civics literacy test before people can vote in this country. People who could not spell the word ‘vote,’ or say it in English, put a committed socialist ideologue in the White House. His name is Barack Hussein Obama.” The level of delusion implied in this passage is almost scary. _We_ are the only true Americans. _The people who voted Barack Hussein Obama into office_ are filthy _foreigners_ who have _invaded our country_. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2010, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tea-party-is-not-socially-conservative-my-ass/556760/105 "2010-10-12T01:13:04Z")
> [@Hamlet](#): > > > [@elucidator](#): > > > > Nobody, to my knowledge, has had anything nearly as intelligent and insightful to say about the Tea Party as Johnathon Raban, in the _New York Review of Books_ > > > > [At the Tea Party | Jonathan Raban | The New York Review of Books](http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2010/mar/25/at-the-tea-party/) > > > > Fuckin’ brilliant. Joe Bob **'luc** says “Check it out!” > > Interesting piece. If you’re interested, I would also recommend **Matt Taibbi’s** coverage of the Tea Party also. It includes gems like: > > “A hall full of elderly white people in Medicare-paid scooters, railing against government spending and imagining themselves revolutionaries as they cheer on the vice-presidential puppet hand-picked by the GOP establishment. If there exists a better snapshot of everything the Tea Party represents, I can’t imagine it.” > > and > > “t’s not like the Tea Partiers hate black people. It’s just that they’re shockingly willing to believe the appalling horseshit fantasy about how white people in the age of Obama are some kind of oppressed minority. That may not be racism, but it is incredibly, earth-shatteringly stupid. I hear this theme over and over — as I do on a recent trip to northern Kentucky, where I decide to stick on a Rand Paul button and sit in on a Tea Party event at a local amusement park. Before long, a group of about a half-dozen Tea Partiers begin speculating about how Obamacare will force emergency-room doctors to consult “death panels” that will evaluate your worth as a human being before deciding to treat you.” > > [The article](http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/17390/210904). Hmm, Health or death, based on worth as a human being. I better bite my tongue harder _We are the only true Americans. The people who voted Barack Hussein Obama into office are filthy foreigners who have invaded our country_ Hmmmm, maybe treatment should be based on level of stupidity. ---
**Author:** ![emacknight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3ec8ea/32.png) [@emacknight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emacknight)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2010, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tea-party-is-not-socially-conservative-my-ass/556760/106 "2010-10-12T02:41:19Z")
Okay, so I currently have a working theory that Republicans are going through the list of logical fallacies, and testing to see how far they can push. Starving Artist has so perfectly illustrated the No True Scotsman Fallacy. And so I can’t help but feel the Republican Party has built the Tea Party as a way of making sure that no member can speak for any other member. If Joe Blow spouts a bunch of shit about how great the Nazis were, the tea party can dismiss him as “not a real Tea Party member.” No one is ever a true member, until they are, and even then they might not be. Keep an eye out for other examples, it could be amusing. ---
**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:** [October 12, 2010, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tea-party-is-not-socially-conservative-my-ass/556760/107 "2010-10-12T03:52:42Z")
Starving Artist, would you care to name a Tea Party member who, you feel, _does_ speak for them in an intelligent and articulate manner, who can summarize their genuine and valid concerns? I’m basically asking if you’ve the guts to hitch your wagon to someone who may later make a speech betraying utter insanity. ---
**Author:** ![Morella](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Morella](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morella)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2010, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tea-party-is-not-socially-conservative-my-ass/556760/108 "2010-10-12T04:15:53Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > > [@Morella](#): > > > > Congress spends money, not the president. > > And, of course, the President has nothing to do with formulating the policies that result in Congress appropriating and spending money, right? Presidential policies are completely irrelevant to the ways in which the federal government involves itself in the nation’s economy? Actually, I was responding to the accusation that Bush spent too much money. I remember all of the crap that Reagan and Bush(s) went through to try to get Congress to curb their spending, including shutting down the government, and so this accusation seems totally asinine to me. > [@](#): > > The fact is that the White House has considerable sway over these issues, and that, while talking of high-spending and low-spending Presidents might not be procedurally correct, it is a completely understandable shorthand for their economic policies that anyone will more than three brain cells can > comprehend. Are you in that group of people? If you’re asking whether or not I have more than three brain cells, yes, I believe that I do. However, I do not accept the “shorthand”, as you call it, of blaming the president for runaway spending by Congress. The president has very little control over it. ---
**Author:** ![Morella](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Morella](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morella)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2010, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tea-party-is-not-socially-conservative-my-ass/556760/109 "2010-10-12T04:20:06Z")
> [@Lamar\_Mundane](#): > > > [@Morella](#): > > > > Congress spends money, not the president. > > During the GWB Administration, Congress was in the hands of the Republicans when the bulk of the reckless spending was done. When the Democrats took over, the deficit decreased. Now we’re getting somewhere. Runaway spending is not a partison issue. Enter the Tea Party, with the message…we need conservatives, not necessarily Republicans in Congress. I have no argument with that. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2010, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tea-party-is-not-socially-conservative-my-ass/556760/110 "2010-10-12T04:21:33Z")
> [@Morella](#): > > Enter the Tea Party, with the message…we need conservatives, not necessarily Republicans in Congress. I have no argument with that. That’s their argument? Really? ---
**Author:** ![Morella](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Morella](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morella)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2010, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tea-party-is-not-socially-conservative-my-ass/556760/111 "2010-10-12T04:24:26Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > > [@Morella](#): > > > > Enter the Tea Party, with the message…we need conservatives, not necessarily Republicans in Congress. I have no argument with that. > > That’s their argument? Really? How would you summarize the Tea Party? What are they all about? Before you start off with “they’re all about hating niggers and putting them in their place”, keep in mind that the Democratic Party was basically put together for that purpose. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2010, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tea-party-is-not-socially-conservative-my-ass/556760/112 "2010-10-12T04:27:41Z")
> [@Morella](#): > > Actually, I was responding to the accusation that Bush spent too much money. I remember all of the crap that Reagan and Bush(s) went through to try to get Congress to curb their spending, including shutting down the government, and so this accusation seems totally asinine to me. > > If you’re asking whether or not I have more than three brain cells, yes, I believe that I do. However, I do not accept the “shorthand”, as you call it, of blaming the president for runaway spending by Congress. The president has very little control over it. Who got us mired in 2 wars that have cost us over a trillion dollars already and are nowhere near being through with financially draining us? And that’s not to mention the human cost of those wars. Obama hasn’t killed anyone yet, except through the passive act of not bringing all of our troops home, but I think any reasonable person would agree that that’s impractical. I know Congress bent over and let this happen, but they weren’t the ones pushing for it. ---
**Author:** ![Morella](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Morella](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morella)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2010, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tea-party-is-not-socially-conservative-my-ass/556760/113 "2010-10-12T04:35:01Z")
> [@](#): > > Who got us mired in 2 wars that have cost us over a trillion dollars already and are nowhere near being through with financially draining us? And that’s not to mention the human cost of those wars. Obama hasn’t killed anyone yet, except through the passive act of not bringing all of our troops home Passive act? > [@](#): > > I know Congress bent over and let this happen, but they weren’t the ones pushing for it. Make up your mind. Are you going to blame Congress, or the president, for the war? Personally, I blame the diaperheads, and religion. ---
**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:** [October 12, 2010, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tea-party-is-not-socially-conservative-my-ass/556760/114 "2010-10-12T04:44:45Z")
> [@Morella](#): > > Before you start off with “they’re all about hating niggers and putting them in their place”, keep in mind that the Democratic Party was basically put together for that purpose. Even generously assuming that to be true, it happened in the early-to-mid 1800s. What’s the Tea Party’s excuse for embracing it in 2010? ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2010, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tea-party-is-not-socially-conservative-my-ass/556760/115 "2010-10-12T04:49:32Z")
> [@Morella](#): > > Personally, I blame the diaperheads Well then. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2010, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tea-party-is-not-socially-conservative-my-ass/556760/116 "2010-10-12T04:55:16Z")
> [@Morella](#): > > [Personally, I blame the diaperheads, and religion. I bow to your insightful and erudite grasp of global issues. I think you should run for office on the Tea Party ticket. ETA: are you you one of the people who threatened [sikhs after 911?](http://www.harisingh.com/newsBacklash.htm) ---
**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:** [October 12, 2010, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tea-party-is-not-socially-conservative-my-ass/556760/117 "2010-10-12T05:04:56Z")
I thought he meant soccer moms. ---
**Author:** ![Morella](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Morella](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morella)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2010, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tea-party-is-not-socially-conservative-my-ass/556760/118 "2010-10-12T05:07:04Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > > [@Morella](#): > > > > Before you start off with “they’re all about hating niggers and putting them in their place”, keep in mind that the Democratic Party was basically put together for that purpose. > > Even generously assuming that to be true, it happened in the early-to-mid 1800s. What’s the Tea Party’s excuse for embracing it in 2010? What makes you think that the Tea Party embraces racism? I assume you are referring to racism, but keep in mind that it works both ways. The race baiting that has been going on with Obama is disgusting. It’s sick. Anyone who does not go along with Obamacare, who believes that people should work for a living, who believes that taxes are crippling the economy, must be a racist? Sometimes I wonder if Obama was deliberately put into the White House just to make sure that no black man has a chance of becoming president again in our lifetime. This is the sort of crap that the Democratic Party has always been pulling, and has continued to do. They tell black people that the reason that they are down economically is because white people are keeping them in their place. That is most certainly horse shit, but they go along with it because it is easier than working hard, getting an education, and bettering themselves. Fortunately, more black people are turning conservative now, recognizing the shit for what it is, and making something of themselves, and I think that is a great thing. ---
**Author:** ![Morella](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Morella](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morella)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2010, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tea-party-is-not-socially-conservative-my-ass/556760/119 "2010-10-12T05:11:23Z")
> [@](#): > > I bow to your insightful and erudite grasp of global issues. I think you should run for office on the Tea Party ticket. I think not. Once my opinions of religion were made public, I wouldn’t stand a chance. Besides, I’m the wrong color…right? > [@](#): > > ETA: are you you one of the people who threatened [sikhs after 911?](http://www.harisingh.com/newsBacklash.htm) If you saw my picture, you would laugh at your own comment. ---
**Author:** ![Kolga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e56c9b/32.png) [@Kolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolga)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2010, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tea-party-is-not-socially-conservative-my-ass/556760/120 "2010-10-12T05:11:43Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > “Then something really odd happened,” Tancredo said, “mostly because, I think, we do not have a civics literacy test before people can vote in this country. People who could not spell the word ‘vote,’ or say it in English, put a committed socialist ideologue in the White House. His name is Barack Hussein Obama.” > > The level of delusion implied in this passage is almost scary. > > _We_ are the only true Americans. _The people who voted Barack Hussein Obama into office_ are filthy _foreigners_ who have _invaded our country_. And that fucknugget is currently in second place for governor of the great state of Colorado. He also called for the bombing of Mecca, just 'cause. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tea-party-is-not-socially-conservative-my-ass/556760.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tea-party-is-not-socially-conservative-my-ass/556760.md?page=7)