When my dear friend Gladys in Warrensburg MO asked my thoughts on the Republicans' dilemma with the right-wing Tea Baggers in their midst - embrace them or ignore them - Burdine Atkinson's brother-in-law Lyle came to mind.
Far as we know, Lyle isn't a card-carrying Tea Bagger, but he might as well be. Loud, obnoxious, an embarrassment at any social gathering. His priorities are money, God, and the NRA, in that order. Only marginally smarter than a rock, he believes Rush Limbaugh and Fox Noise would never ever broadcast lies.
But Lyle happens to own the car dealership between Wal-Mart and the feed store, the only dealership between here and Des Moines. So we put up with him because we get much better deals on vehicles from Lyle than we could get in Des Moines. Much the same reason the Repugs put up with Tea Baggers. Right now, it's a win-win for all. But that could change if Lyle gets greedy, or the TBs want a bigger piece of the Party's action.
Travel is fatal to prejudice,
bigotry and narrow-mindedness.
..............................................Mark Twain
I'd amend Mr. Twain's remark to 'Travel and intelligent use of the internet...'.
It is the 21st century after all. The Information Age. If villagers living in mud huts in Third World countries can access the internet on laptops and iPhones to catch up to the modern world, there's no good reason Tea Baggers can't do the same, instead of blindly following the Palins, Limbaughs and Fox Noise.
Baaaaa.
A mind is like a parachute,
it only works when it's open.
............................................Frank Zappa
It totally infuriates me when Baggers who were born and raised in the military complain about socialism when they've been the beneficiaries of it from Day One.
Same for Senior Citizens already on Medicare who "don't want no government run health care". Fine. Turn in your Medicare cards and have "Stoopid" tattooed on your forehead.
And of those who believe the record deficit is Obama and the Democrats' doing, I ask: Were you asleep during the Bush years??
Two in-depth articles on Tea Baggers:
Tea-Partying, the Myth of Intellectual Progress, Bipartisanship, and Sister Sarah
The GOP's 'tea party' dance
Also: Are We Becoming a Banana Republic?
Till next time,
Ima@Wick's End
Far as we know, Lyle isn't a card-carrying Tea Bagger, but he might as well be. Loud, obnoxious, an embarrassment at any social gathering. His priorities are money, God, and the NRA, in that order. Only marginally smarter than a rock, he believes Rush Limbaugh and Fox Noise would never ever broadcast lies.
But Lyle happens to own the car dealership between Wal-Mart and the feed store, the only dealership between here and Des Moines. So we put up with him because we get much better deals on vehicles from Lyle than we could get in Des Moines. Much the same reason the Repugs put up with Tea Baggers. Right now, it's a win-win for all. But that could change if Lyle gets greedy, or the TBs want a bigger piece of the Party's action.
bigotry and narrow-mindedness.
..............................................Mark Twain
I'd amend Mr. Twain's remark to 'Travel and intelligent use of the internet...'.
It is the 21st century after all. The Information Age. If villagers living in mud huts in Third World countries can access the internet on laptops and iPhones to catch up to the modern world, there's no good reason Tea Baggers can't do the same, instead of blindly following the Palins, Limbaughs and Fox Noise.
Baaaaa.
it only works when it's open.
............................................Frank Zappa
It totally infuriates me when Baggers who were born and raised in the military complain about socialism when they've been the beneficiaries of it from Day One.
Same for Senior Citizens already on Medicare who "don't want no government run health care". Fine. Turn in your Medicare cards and have "Stoopid" tattooed on your forehead.
And of those who believe the record deficit is Obama and the Democrats' doing, I ask: Were you asleep during the Bush years??
Two in-depth articles on Tea Baggers:
Tea-Partying, the Myth of Intellectual Progress, Bipartisanship, and Sister Sarah
The GOP's 'tea party' dance
Also: Are We Becoming a Banana Republic?
Till next time,
Ima@Wick's End
That last link you put in, by the way is a great article, the banana republic one.
Here's what else I've noticed. While so many of us tolerating, whatever our reasons,the tea party people don't. And I can't say as I've ever heard a story about a tea bagger that someone knows personally that didn't offer the observation that tea baggers seem to be obsessive compulsive people in their homes and their lists and their dos and don'ts and their dress. It's really weird.
Non-tolerance and control is exactly what tea baggers are about, Frieda. The goal is not only control their own lives and the lives of family members, but anyone else who happens to be breathing (as well as those who haven't taken a breath yet). No tolerance for anyone who looks or thinks differently than they do.
Variety provides the texture in life. It would be a boring world, indeed, if we all looked and thought alike. Squelching personal freedom and free thinking didn't work for the Puritans in 15th century England or in the pre-Revolution New World, and it won't work today in a far larger and much more diverse population.
But for what it's worth, control freaks control NOTHING.