Friday, February 26, 2010

The Coffee Party: The Anti-Tea Party



The genesis of the idea for the Coffee Party Movement and its purpose is best explained by the video above. It all started with documentary filmmaker Annabel Park venting her frustrations on her Facebook page about media coverage that made it seem that the Tea Parties were representative of the “real America.” She vehemently disagreed and her comments on Facebook got a lot of feedback from people who similarly felt pent-up and frustrated.

Their name the “Coffee Party” directly references the Tea Party movement and presents itself as an alternative. Park argues elected officials who represent us should work towards positive solutions to the problems the country faces instead of adopting obstructionist political tactics that play on peoples’ fears and which are driven by deliberate misinformation.

The Coffee Party is currently organizing nationwide. It is stressing the message that its members are voters who intend to hold elected officials accountable to holding up progress. Its members will participate and be engaged in the political process.

In addition, the Coffee Party values diversity, is, itself, diverse and completely comfortable with the changing ethnic demographics of the US. Park argues that politicians are exploiting the anxieties people feel regarding these changing demographics for political gain and that it is wrong.

Cooperation is needed to solve problems and that no practical solutions can be reached when there is no cooperation in Congress. Dialogue is impossible when one side—a reference to the Republicans and the Tea Party movement in the healthcare town hall meetings over the summer of 2009—is engaged in tactics designed to shut down discussion.

Park says the Congress works for us – the American people – not corporations and not just a sliver of the total demographic. Congress should stop the endless fighting and get down to work on problem-solving and representing our interests as their constituents. The Coffee Party Movement is an open invitation to participate to anyone who believes that government should be part of problem-solving and representing our interests.

The Movement is Growing

I was able to speak with an organizer of the Coffee Party. He argued that many Americans are tired of the Tea Partiers portrayal in the media as the representation of the "Real America." Many Americans oppose the Tea Party and their tactics and rhetoric and need a vehicle to represent their side on the debates and issues of a country in crisis.

In addition, the Coffee Partiers want to give voice to real economic populism that is designed to address the concerns of middle and working class Americans. The Coffee Party organizers don't want the Right to have a monopoly of the populist side of the debate on economics and economic issues.

Their main struggle at this point is to come to a consensus on core principles and areas of focus. Their Facebook note on developing a platform for the movement reflects a desire to demonstrate, through practice and example, their commitment to (a) inclusivity and respect for a diversity of opinion and (b) a commitment to small "d" democracy and consensus-building.
We will try to show by example what a participatory democracy can and ought to look like. We need to show that we can come together as a community, despite our differences, and engage in a constructive dialogue that leads to solutions.

The movement is currently centered around social media networks. They have a website, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube pages.

Since they started the social media sites in early February, there are now over 40 chapters nationwide and growing everyday. Their Facebook group had over 20,000 fans as of the time I am writing this (late February) and growing rapidly.

Potential and Challenge for the Future

The Coffee Party Movement has the potential to really take off and spread like wildfire much the same way the Tea Parties started through social media and grassroots networks. I am very pleased that a citizen-centered, grassroots uprising other than a right-wing one is in the works which seeks to address the gridlock and polarization in Congress and the dysfunctional politics in general in Washington DC.

The very fact that within a month of launching that they have established nearly 40 chapters nationwide and have passed the 20,000 member mark in the Facebook page bodes well for their future.

The real test for the Coffee Party will come when they have reached critical mass, have established an organizational structure and then are in a position to DO something. Either support or oppose some political measure, or apply pressure on a politician by giving or withholding support. Once the Coffee Party Movement has passed the stage of conversations and meetings and are in a position to execute their ideas into practice will determine what type of organization and movement they will be.

Another big test would be how they are portrayed in the mass media and if the media portrayals create momentum that will allow the Coffee Party to control the narrative in the public consciousness regarding the issues it wishes to address. The American mass media is notorious for leaning towards sensationalism and soundbites instead of substantive, in-depth treatment of serious issues. And let us not forget the influence of Fox News, Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck in allowing the Right to set the stage, climate and control the debate and to derail the momentum of any fledgling movement that they oppose.

Their organizers told me that they are non-partisan and fully intend to reach out and appeal to Republicans and conservatives as well as independents. Reading their Facebook wall comments and general thrust of their communications, they appear to have a primarily left-leaning membership and leadership (so far) with a focus on supporting the aims of the more progressive policies of the Obama administration.

The question in my mind is this a grassroots movement that independents can participate in?

The Coffee Party would do well to heed the findings and statistics in this study:

People who self-identify as independents now outnumber those who self-identify as either Republican or Democrat. They have found both major parties inadequate, and are cynical about the two major national parties for solutions or leadership. Independents like me are independent precisely because we reject that the frame and scope of political debate and discourse in the U.S. should be limited to the Republicans and Democrats. Like the Coffee Party, we want solutions and problem-solving, not gridlock and endless partisan bickering.

If the Coffee Party Movement will succeed in truly transcending narrow partisanship it would have to watch out about becoming subsumed into or being perceived by the public as an appendage of the Democratic Party. Being a primarily liberal or Democratic organization and one which seeks to apply pressure to politicians to adopt more progressive positions is fine. The danger for the Coffee Party in appealing to non-Democrats lies in being seen as just another vehicle to elect Democratic politicians into office.

I gather that the Coffee Party Movement intends to be independent of the major parties. It bodes well for them to keep that vision in mind as they grow and develop their organization.

26 comments:

Brian said...

A lot of good, interesting information. Thanks for doing this post.

I would like to believe that there is a group of sane Americans that represent a silent majority...but when I look at the polling data... it tells me that I am trapped in a Country full of idiots. The Republicans- through their effective media apparatus- have been able to not only provide their message unimpeded, but they have also been able to actually shape public opinion the way they see fit (through misinformation, intense messaging, good PR strategy, extensive outreach, huge media/pundit network & infrastructure, etc). The Republicans are good at what they do.

I don't see much good in the future of this Country in terms of getting big things done. Not with this Tea Party nonsense.
It appears (as of right now) that they will have considerable influence over the 2010 midterm elections and beyond. Taking the Country backwards...by handing power right back to the idiots who are largely responsible for getting the U.S. into the mess that it is currently in. Brainless voters = a nation that is screwed.

Even Hillary Clinton is recognizing that the decline of America is real... that the U.S. is losing its position in the World due to the political gridlock. She came out with comments to that effect last week.

So hopefully this or some other sensible opposition to the insanity catches on. This Coffee Party project will at least show people that it is o.k. to have a different view. Progressives don't seem very energized or organized at the moment.

Anonymous said...

First of all, let me be perfectly clear. Annabel Park is a brain dead, vacuous idiot. As much as I decry ad hominem attacks, in this case, it is true. I have had the misfortune of watching her operate up close and personal during her fauxmentary “9500 Liberty” here in Prince William County. Disingenuous, untruthful, agitprop. And low grade Agit-Prop at that. Pravda does a better job, and at least everyone knows they're in the propaganda peddling trade.

Second, help me sort this out. According to the Progressives and the Obama administration, the Tea Party doesn't exist. No one turned out on the Mall last September. No one. Gibbs had no idea what anyone was talking about. Then they launched in disgusting sexual innuendo slurs of large groups of ordinary, middle class Americans who were exercising their right to free speech.

So, if the Tea Party is so inconsequential as we have been told over the past year, why the need for an Obamatron flak to astro-turf a lame counter-measure? I'm confused.

As for the late hour call for “civility”, I literally sprayed tea all over my computer screen. This is from the people who screeched “Bush-Hitler” for the past 8 years. And who called those who opposed Obama on principled grounds, “low information voters” or worse. And let's not forget, anyone who disagrees with the Progressive agenda is a “racist” or “hater”. Oh yeah, I'm soooo inclined to want to enter into “dialogue” with such enlightened people. And I'm not a Republican or Democrat – I'm an Independent and despise lying Politicians of every stripe.

And let's not forget how the PUMAS still feel about the whole Progressive takeover of the Democratic party and what they endured at the hands of the Obamatrons. Donna Brazile told them, and wide swaths of white, blue collar Democrats that they weren't wanted or needed. Remember? She was building a “new” party. So the PUMAS got to stand by and watch as the Obama Chicago Machine gang-raped Democracy during the Primaries. And in the aftermath, they're just supposed to “get over it”. Nothing like continuing to point the finger and blame the victim. How very 13th century of you all.

In summation, “Progressive” is just a code word for street thug who sizes up a victim, and decides that you have something that they want, and demands that you fork it over, “or else”. There is no difference. Progressives always decide how much “YOU” should pay, or what “YOU” can afford, or what “YOUR” priorities for your own income will be. And if you don't agree with Progressives, or have alternative views about what constitutes “public good” or ways to fund it, then, well.....
you're a RAAAAACIST or HATER or LOW INFORMATION VOTER.

Yeah, sign me up for double helpings of the “Concerned Citizen” Park's “Coffee Grinder”.

FAIL.

See you on the barricades,
PWC Gal

redante said...

Hi AI

It appears to be catching on. As of today -- a couple of days since I posted the article -- they have gotten more than 34,000 members on their Facebook page. 14,000 more than what I quoted in the article.

This project appears to have legs, momentum and a mass appeal. I am extremely interested in how this develops and am keeping a close eye. I attended the first meeting of the DC chapter this weekend and had a very positive experience. I urge you to seek out a chapter near you and to check them out!

Dean Rittenhouse said...

I for one am absolutely fed up with how the national discourse has been pushed so far to the right.

When I was a twenty something in the seventies I was considered a moderate.

Now my same views are considered left wing.

What happened to the diversity of opinion in this country?

Why are we constantly told to seek the center?

Baloney I say.

Think for yourself and believe what your heart tells you is true.

If you get called a "Socialist" -- that should make you smile because you know you are not just another corporate brainwashed sheep.

Anonymous said...

PWC Gal closes her letter with "see you at the barricades". This just shows how utterly disinterested in civil dialogue and democracy she and her type actually are.

To address her points, no question that the Tea Party was initially largely an astroturf organization, and no question that the Democrats initially doubted its veracity. At this point, everyone agrees it exists.

What you call a "late hour call" for civility -- way off the mark. After TOTALLY DESTROYING Republicans in the the 2008 election, the winners, Democrats, led by Obama, literally reached out and tried to involve Republicans in governance, in an attempt to end a divisive atmosphere that has ruled Washington since the Republican Revolution of 1994, when Gingrich led Republicans to Congressional rule, forcing Clinton to adopt more conservative policies.

The thing is, as citizens, we are not Republicans or Democrats. We must vote IN OUR OWN INTEREST -- REGARDLESS OF PARTY. Your interest as a citizen is a civil discourse. Without civil DISCOURSE there is civil WAR: barricades, guns, backstabbing, death, etc. There are no malls, no video games, no fresh fruits, no McDonalds. Just major suffering all around. Some of the people on the "other" side will be your uncles, cousins, brothers, sisters, etc.

If this isn't what you want, Tea Partiers, cut the $hit and sit down and discuss, like NORMAL people, why you don't think a national health care plan is a good idea. Don't just say "because that would be socialism" or "that would be communism" because, quite frankly, it wouldn't. If you don't understand why I'm saying that, you need to start studying what the terms socialism and communism actually refer to.

I've really had enough of this ¢rap. Time for Obama to stop acting like a politician and more like the PRESIDENT. That is what he was elected to do.

brianvet said...

We must be carefull not to demonize the members of the working class who support the Tea Party movement. Obviously they have been co-opted by the Republican Party and the corporate plutocracy. They are hurting like us. Thom Hartmann tells us to use the talking point of health insurance company CEOS making upwards of $100,000,000 per year while conservative estimates indicate roughly 68 people daily pass away due to a lack of affordable health insurance. If we can open a dialog with our fellow citizens who are informationally-challenged we may be able to educate them as to the real reason our country is suffering.

Brian

Unknown said...

The coffee party is not anti-tea party - it is an alternative point of view whereby Americans who support their federal government and OUR President take responsibility for making it serve all the people better.

Also the majority of people drink coffee

Anonymous said...

What's the matter,can't come up with a original idea?? This is just an appendage of the demokrat party with progressive members, probably funded by Soros. Just a copy cat trying to get attention for the progressive policies of nazi social justice to bring this republic down. I'm sure the commies at MSNBC will give you glowing coverage; can't wait to see you go down. This group is nonsense, there's no moral principals behind it and for that reason, you will fail.

TO THE ANGRY INDEPENDENT:
You're the IDIOT, calling people names that don't agree with you, but that's the progressive way... don't agree with me and I will attack you personally. Face the truth, this administration is stealing our freedom. Fine if you want to be a slave, but I don't.

Unknown said...

Seems like to me the movement that wasn't really is?? The tea party who are uneducated, gun tooting hillbillies are getting under the skin of the progressives? This little group that Pelosi continues to degrade and how about all the radio fouled mouth commentators. Now the 'coffee party" wants some kind of civil dialogue??? Does anyone here know what a progressive is?? It is a socialist. You are all socialists?? You want a socialist govt.? Not the republic we were founded on? You want to change the constitution? Wow. Where were you all when republican bill after bill was presented to congress on health care and immediate votes, without debate were taken to vote them down. Where were you when republican were locked out? I mean door locks changed???? Where were you when the lights were turned out and electricity turned off in Congress by progressives? Oh they did that too in NY. What makes me so proud is the WORLD is listening. UK is having tea parties. They aren't going away but those progressive politicians are. WooHoo. I still see the hate in twitter and blog posts. You can't change. Just continue to spew your hate. I think tea people are getting use to the words trolls and tea baggers. Maybe you can apply for stimulus money to keep the group going???

Unknown said...

Ok so I just left a comment but this one is strictly divine intervention. This group with the help of Ms. Parks is BUSTED!!!!! There was just something funny about sitting at my computer on FB and thinking the world needs a good socialist in it to make the tea party go away. LOL, LOL, LOL, LOL. Here is a link from NewsBusters about your sweet as pie group trying to make a better world for you and I. Let's all hold hands now, I think I am in for a group song. How about the one from wizard of Oz..."if I only had a brain". That could be "The Coffee Party's" intro song for all your media invites. I needed a good laugh and this was the best. Buh Bye, thanks for considering to play. Parks takes good pics. don't ya think?? http://newsbusters.org/blogs/p-j-gladnick/2010/03/02/grassroots-coffee-party-organizer-exposed-obama-political-operative#comment-1186817

Anonymous said...

So funny (and desperate) on the part of the liberal progressives. To be more accurate, they should have called it the 'triple shot latte party'. This woman (Annabel?) probably has drunk the 'Global Warming' kool-aid, too...look at all that global warming in the background of her video! Oops!

Anonymous said...

Annabel Park: We are purely grassroots movement, independent of any party, corporation, or lobbying organization.

Actually, Annabel is a strategy analyst for the New York Times who was one of the organizers for United for Obama.

FAIL.

SunshineInShadow said...

In response to Debra, NewsBusters.org is where the conservative movement shares videos, photos, and opinions.

That website clearly has a right wing agenda. FAIL.

Anonymous said...

NB has a "right-wing agenda" - and your point is? I have a right-wing agenda. If I said Oslo is in Norway it would be as true as if anyone else said it. Oh yeah, FAIL.

1111cbcb said...

To all calling out those of us in the coffee party with insults- we are not the ones making policy decisions. Its pointless directing anger at each other and yelling at each other. We are fellow Americans in this same economy and with a goverment that ignores the Constitution and its intent. That is the starting point of agreement for both sides- Tea Party and Coffee party.

We are going to call out all politicians who ignore us for political gain- whether its Patterson who misused funds or a republican. We have real problems and we pay these people to represent us. Both sides are more concerned about the lobbyist's interests and their political futures than about the future of this country.

So - lets stop wasting time on name calling and start calling out individual politicians one by one who are not doing the job we hired them for.

Wyden of Oregon and Brown of Massachusetts are positive examples of doing what we pay them for whether or not you like the politics.

Anonymous said...

This is just a mirror image of what happened in D.C. when Obama tried to include the right. You can't reason with unreasonable people- just look at all the comments on here from those of the tea party ilk. They parrot talking points over and over, louder and louder- just like a child who sticks their fingers in their ears and screams so they don't have to listen to what's being said. Kind of pathetic.

I am fed up with BOTH parties AND the president (for whom I voted out of vain hope that something might actually change for once-it hasn't). I am also sick of being deemed a socialist or communist by people who have NO idea what those words really mean just because I actually give a sh*t if my neighbors have food on their table and are able to afford to go to the doctor when they need to. I recognize that the polarity that exists within the U.S. population has been carefully cultivated in order to divide and conquer we the people and full-on hand over the country to the rich and to corporate powers. You don't like "socialism"? How about plutocracy? How about totalitarianism? Buy a freakin' dictionary and look them up, parrots, because that's the course we're currently on and you're going to be screwed with the rest of us.

I am cautiously optimistic about the Coffee Party. I sincerely hope they hold the Dems' feet to the fire as well as the Repubs because most of them haven't been serving the people, either. I hope they live up to their potential instead of wasting it by becoming entrenched with the Dems. I am going to keep an eye on where they go and maybe I will get involved if I like what I see (even though I don't drink coffee). If they play their cards right, they may just become the desperately-needed mouthpiece for what has been a largely silent majority in this country thusfar.

Anonymous said...

The Angry Independent wrote:

This Coffee Party project will at least show people that it is o.k. to have a different view.
________________________

*** A different view than WHAT? Haven't you heard? The Coffee Party just got busted -- its founder is a hard-core Obama operative who's also heavily involved with Virginia Sen. Jim Webb.

Read this if you can handle the truth:
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2010/03/ny_times_wapo_willing_tools_of.html

I guess your definition of "different view" is "the right to agree with the Obama administration."

I also find it laughable that you blame gridlock on this nation's decline. That's another way of saying, "Why won't the Republicans stop thinking for themselves and start doing everything Obama says?"

If Obama's record deficits and debt are your idea of making the nation better, maybe you should move to Greece, where you could enjoy the full fruits of government overspending.

Anonymous said...

1111cbcb said...

To all calling out those of us in the coffee party with insults- we are not the ones making policy decisions. Its pointless directing anger at each other and yelling at each other. We are fellow Americans in this same economy and with a goverment that ignores the Constitution and its intent. That is the starting point of agreement for both sides- Tea Party and Coffee party.
______________________


-- Give it up already, 1111cbcb -- the Coffee Party's game is up!

Your Coffee Party founder, Annabel Park, was found to have posted Twitter Tweets that referred to Tea Party members as "tea baggers" (how mature!) and revealed that she formed the Coffee Party because of the "Need to push back ag the tide of tea party in an organized way."

You can read it all here:
http://twitter.com/annabelpark

No one's going to regard the Coffee Party as a grassroots organization again, now that we all realize it's been Democrat Astroturf all along.

pixigirl said...

Democrat’s Accomplishments:
Endangered Species Act
GI Bill
Environmental Laws
The Space Program
The Peace Corps
Americorps
The Civil Rights Movement
Earned Income Tax Credit
Family & Medical Leave Act
Consumer Product Safety Commission
Americans With Disabilities Act
Freedom of Information Act
Women's right to control their reproductive future
Allowing citizens to view their own credit records
The Internet
Balancing the federal budget
The Brady Bill (5-day wait on handgun purchases for background checks)
Lobbying Disclosure Act
"Motor-Voter" Act
The Voting Rights Act
Unemployment Insurance
Medicare/Medicaid
Food Stamps/WIC
Social Security
Peace between Israel and Egypt
Peace between Israel and Jordan
The Department of Education
The Department of Energy
The Department of Transportation
The Department of Housing and Urban Development
Labor Laws
The Marshall Plan
Winning World War II
Food Safety Laws
Workplace Safety Laws
The Tennessee Valley Project
The Civilian Conservation Corps
The Securites and Exchange Commission
Women's Right to Vote
Universal Public Education
National Weather Service
Product Labeling Laws
Truth in Advertising Laws
Morrill Land Grant Act
Rural Electrification
Public Universities
Bank Deposit Insurance (FDIC)
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Public Broadcasting
Supporting the establishment of Israel
The United Nations
NATO


Republican Accomplishments during WWII:
Influential right-wing industrialists and financers such as Irenee du Pont, Prescott Bush and the virulently anti-semitic Henry Ford not only fought publicly to keep America from joining the war against Germany, they actually helped finance Hitler’s war machine..

The conservative press--led by Henry Luce (who applauded Mussolini’s invasion of Ethiopia)--worked to influence public opinion in favor of isolationism.

American hero and right-winger Charles Lindbergh admired the "virility" and "dictatorial direction" of Nazi Germany so much so that he used his substantial influence as a vocal Nazi propagandist.

The Senate--led by Republican Gerald P. Nye--was determined to remain isolated from the European conflict. Nye and his colleagues spearheaded the Neutrality Act of 1935.

William Dudley Pelley mobilized like-minded right-wing conservatives into a pro-Nazi legion he called the Silver Shirts and which others referred to as the "Christian American Patriots". By July 1938, he had mailed out 3.5 tons of pro-Nazi, anti-semitic propaganda. After the U.S. joined the war, Pelley was jailed for sedition.

The godfather of right-wing hate radio/media wackos, Father Charles Coughlin used his radio show and magazine to stir-up anti-semitic, pro-Nazi sentiment in the U.S.

Now, the Republicans are against healthcare. Does it surprise me - NO. They have always been against what I have always been for.

Unknown said...

All the items posted, "what the Dems accomplished" is nothing to brag about. All of those things listed is in violation of our constitution. I would have posted a list myself but you beat me the punch. Your forgot to add that it was the REPUBLICANS who rid us of SLAVERY. The DEMs took us to 2 DEPRESSIONS and COUNTLESS RECESSIONS. Read the Constitution! In case you didn't know but there was a huge movement in this country during the 30's for Communism and Nazism with the American flag in tow. People were running all over the USA in uniforms promoting it. Pamphlets distributed. Now we have Obama siding with the Socialist dictators and throwing our allies to the wolves. Several times they have slammed the UK (Falkland Is. is the latest) and multiple times Israel. Forgot Poland and Ukraine.We are going to have any allies left by the end of his term. He loves those dictators and socialist. Bow, bow, bow and kiss a hand. You can't spend your way out of debt. You must give business breaks so they will employ people. Thanks to Clinton and NAFTA we have lost our industrial base to Asia, India & Brazil. Once the greatest nation industrially and it is all gone. READ the CONSTITUTION!!!!!

Unknown said...

The figure for personal debt PER CITIZEN is $53,925 (a week ago). The figure for the liability PER CITIZEN is $348,588(a week ago). Multiply that number by how many family members you have. WOW that can be real money, huh? I get to multiply those numbers by 2 how about you? Here is the link on the US Debt Clock but please don't watch the numbers too long, you may black out as they spin constantly: http://www.usdebtclock.org/. How long does it take to pay back a trillion dollars? Oh, so glad you asked.

Million, billion, trillion – in financial terms, for most of us, it means a lot of money, really a lot of money, but that is about as specific a picture as most ordinary people can grasp.

Let's put all these "illions" into perspective. A million seconds is roughly 12 days, whereas a billion seconds is approximately 32 years.

We understand dollars. And we understand time. So it would take 12 days to pay back a million dollars at a dollar a second. But if you started right now, you'd pay back a BILLION dollars, at a dollar a second, in the year 2039.

A trillion seconds is roughly 32 thousand years. At a dollar a second, you'd pay back a TRILLION dollars in the year 34007.
To put a trillion dollars in context, if you spend a million dollars every day since Jesus was born, you still wouldn't have spent a trillion. A million dollars a day for 2,000 years is only three-quarters of a trillion dollars. It's a big number no matter how you slice it. One trillion $1 bills stacked one on top of the other would reach nearly 68,000 miles into the sky, or about a third of the way from the Earth to the moon. A million seconds is about 11½ days. How much a trillion dollars weighs, here is the answer:

1,102,311 tons.

It would take 44,080 eighteen-wheel trucks carrying a load of 25 tons each to transport a trillion dollars (in single bills). Not only that your line of 18 wheelers, at 60' each, would stretch 500 miles from bumper to bumper and at 70 mph would take more than 7 hours to drive past! WHEW!!!!!!!! Is anyone out there getting this???????

Our debt has tripled since last year by idealogical progressives (who are really socialist but they know the public is still afraid of that name). $12,433,731,000,000 and counting. My suggestion to anyone who doesn't understand and I hope, wants to understand for the sake of our children and grand children is read the book 5000 Year Leap. There you will find your answers on the destruction of our government since 1912 when Woodrow Wilson took office.

Brian said...

Debra,

Several of the "facts" you listed are just plain wrong. I am not going to debate a Tea Party person on facts though, because there is really no point in doing so. Plus, I honestly don't have the time.

But I would ask you to explain your suggestion that Democratic policies/Obama admin. policies are unconstitutional. Be specific about what is unconstitutional and explain why it's unconstitutional....citing what article of the Constitution is being violated. Don't just say something is unconstitutional without backing it up. Cite similar cases where the U.S. Supreme Court has struck down similar law or policy. Be specific and provide your sources.

Why haven't your legal scholars taken the government to the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn these unconstitutional policies and laws?

I honestly don't believe you know much about the Constitution, how the Supreme Court works, or about the lawmaking process.

It's not your fault though. The Tea Party folks are being taken advantage of by the right and have been filled with all sorts of misinformation.

I would rather see you make your points rationally and thoughtfully instead of parroting the propaganda from Beck, Hannity, Savage, Limbaugh, Ingraham, Bill Cunningham, Matt Drudge and the rest of them.

Their strategy (as I have been saying for years) is to fill you with fear and misinformation. Their fundraising strategy says exactly that. The RNC was busted when a powerpoint presentation of their strategy was uncovered this week. They think of you are dumb sheep.

I don't hate any of the Tea Party folks personally, although they are scary folks. They are Americans. What I hate is the way they are being taken advantage of. Most of them don't know any better. Some do know better, but use the movement as cover for their prejudices towards Obama and minorities. I would say that is a significant portion. The rest simply don't know what to believe, but have latched onto right wing media, because they identify with Fox News, and the various radio and TV personalities who are feeding them garbage.

Just for the record.... some aspects of some laws/policies may in fact be unconstitutional. Not unusual for the Supreme Court to make corrections to the actions of the executive and legislative branches of government. That's one of the core jobs of the court.

I just want folks like Debra to explain exactly what laws are unconstitutional and why.

Unknown said...

Actually Angry, there are filings in the courts. If you know anything about the courts, which I doubt, but I do, it could take years for anything to get heard or rulings to be made.Goggle it!!! The facts I gave are from CNN, you can Google that too. I agree....I will not do my work for you. You have been given the facts and rather than dismissing them maybe you should get off you butt and check them out????

Unknown said...

Ms. pityposey or who ever she was with her list of all the entitlement programs formed over the years is, along with you and others, are misinformed about our Constitution. The general welfare clause. The part you must read and research is Article 1 section 8. There are only 18 items listed by our founding fathers that congress can do. Read them. There is a video I found which you may understand, that explains Article 1 section 8. What I have never understood is why the left pounds at the right with out divulging any facts to their statements. It is all words with zero substance. Hopefully you and others will read the constitution, view the video and take a trip to Barnes & Noble to purchase the book, "5000 Year Leap". There you will find ALL you answers on the intent by our founding fathers. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7zvGxJ8J1I

Anonymous said...

Will there be kool-aid? I like kool-aid.

Anonymous said...

"The facts I gave are from CNN" HA. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!