Disabuse yourself of the notion that there is any such thing as the "Tea Party"

[ThomWV]

A year ago, two years ago, some very wealthy men put out a paltry amount of money to haul busloads of firebrands to town meetings and a few rallies around the country. They did this for a few months and have been reaping the rewards ever since.

You could not find a bus-load of tea-partiers anywhere in the country today. You couldn't find them today, this week, or this month. There is no Tea Party. It is just an idea brought into existence with money and once the video clips were safely filed away for future use there was no need for the people any more. And what is this myth of a Tea Party good for? Well, it serves several functions. First and foremost it provides cover for Republican politicians to come out with the most outrageous of proposals. They take their direction directly from the Koch brothers or their likes and then claim that their decisions and votes simply reflect the desires of their Tea Party constituents. Then they show a year-old film clip of a Tea Party rally to back up their claim. The second purpose the myth of the Tea Party is simpler. It acts as a vow of fidelity to vote for the most right wing Republican on the ticket - no matter what, its still a Republican.

So the myth of the Tea Party continues, but only because it is useful to Republican over-lords. But as far as the actual Tea Party goes, there really is no such thing.

[Romulox]

1. A useful bogie-man. nt

[Blue_Tires]

2. THANK YOU...I've been screaming this from day one...

[EstimatedProphet]

3. This. Plus:

The publicity the "tea party" gets allows the the uber-rich the opportunity to swing mentally-deficient people over to their more asinine and monstrous ideas.

[Gormy Cuss]

4. There is no formal political party with that name, but there continues to be a Tea Party.

I have the misfortune of knowing active participants even today. Yes, you could see a busload of them. You're not seeing them now because it's an off year. Wait for the next election cycle to heat up.

[kiranon]

5. Busload of tea baggers was in the SF Bay Area last week. Agree

with almost all of your points - just not that the busloads are no where to be found now. A few tea baggers are still about.

[Javaman]

11. .

[Javaman]

13. Depends, what where they "protesting"? nt

[HereSince1628]

6. That doesn't stop people from believing they ARE tea-partyists

They self-identify all the time on political talk radio. You could say that these are paid operatives and I couldn't prove they aren't, but I have a 30+ daughter who identifies as a t-hadist/Paul Ryan fan.

My point is only this, the Kochs have some useful idiots out there who think there is a t-party even if there isn't.

[ThomWV]

9. That's the 'vow of fidelity' I mentioned

And of course they keep Army and that other fool on the pay-roll to keep the myth alive that something does exist and is out there doing something. They probably still own a few busses too, in case they get the chance to hijack someone else's gathering.

[leftstreet]

7. K&R It's also useful to Democrats. Makes them seem less right-leaning

than they actually are

[Sarah Ibarruri]

8. That's what I keep telling everyone. Tea Party is only the Repuke party with a new, ugly hat

Nothing new about them.

[Cool Logic]

10. You are correct, they are not on the list...

American Nazi Party
American Party
American Populist Party
American Reform Party
American Third Position Party
America's Independent Party
Boston Tea Party (not to be confused with the Tea Party)
Christian Liberty Party
Citizens Party of the United States
Constitution Party
Communist Party of the United States of America
Democratic Party
Freedom Road Socialist Organization (freedomroad.org faction)
Freedom Road Socialist Organization (frso.org faction)
Freedom Socialist Party
Green Party of the United States
Independence Party of America
Independent American Party
Jefferson Republican Party
Labor Party
Libertarian National Socialist Green Party
Libertarian Party
Modern Whig Party
National Socialist Movement
New Union Party
Objectivist Party
Party for Socialism and Liberation
Peace and Freedom Party
Populist Party of America
Progressive Labor Party
Prohibition Party
Raza Unida Party
Reform Party of the United States of America
Republican Party
Revolutionary Communist Party, USA
Socialist Action
Socialist Alternative
Socialist Equality Party
Socialist Labor Party of America*
Socialist Party USA
Socialist Workers Party
U.S. Marxist–Leninist Organization
United States Marijuana Party
United States Pirate Party
Unity Party of America
Workers Party
Workers World Party
Working Families Party
World Socialist Party of the United States

[Name removed]

12. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[global1]

14. One Additional Benefit To Repugs For The Tea Party......

If things go really south on the Repugs - they have a group to blame it on - the Tea Party.

[Avalux]

15. But....CNN tells me they're a formidable political group with tons of momentum!!

Why would CNN say such a thing if it isn't true? Oh wait.... ;-)

[valerief]

16. They've offshored the Tea Party like everything else. nt

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

17. It's a modern-day Ku Klux Klan. Period! n/t