James Hoffa's call to 'take out' the Tea Party: 'Inexcusable'?

[Yon_Yonson]

Source: theweek.com

James Hoffa's call to 'take out' the Tea Party: 'Inexcusable'?

Conservatives accuse the Teamsters' leader of urging pro-union voters to take violent action against Tea Party Republicans
posted on September 6, 2011, at 9:55 AM

Best Opinion: Gateway Pundit, Little Green Footballs, Patterico's Pontifications

The video: In a fiery Labor Day speech, Teamsters Union President James Hoffa accused the Tea Party of starting a "war on workers," and promised President Obama an army of voters to take the country back. (See the video below.) "We are ready to march," Hoffa said shortly before Obama took the stage at a Michigan rally Monday. "Everybody here's got to vote. If we go back, and we keep the eye on the prize, let's take these son of a bitches out and give America back to an America where we belong." Tea Party leaders quickly condemned Hoffa's remarks as an "inexcusable" call "for violence on peaceful Tea Party members." Hoffa says his rhetoric is no worse than what conservatives employ.



Read more: http://theweek.com/article/index/218936/james-hoffas-call-to-take-out-the-tea-party-inexcusable

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Listening to Ed Schultz show and there is a call by the Tea Party to have James Hoffa applogize for his comments. DON'T YOU DARE Mr. Hoffa

[LiberalFighter]

1. Tell the teabaggers that when they give back all of their Social Security

and Medicare then Hoffa will apologize. Not one cent sooner.

[bigworld]

2. The whole quote....

"Everybody here's got to vote. If we go back, and we keep the eye on the prize, let's take these son of a bitches out and give America back to an America where we belong."

Not entirely happy with the SOB language, but it is obviously about voting. And I wish Obama would start sounding a bit like this!

[rurallib]

3. the SOB language - he's a Teamster

it is just an expression for goodness sakes.

Oh and the Repubs are a bunch of sons of bitches.

[TwilightGardener]

14. I know--that's the language I grew up with, in my working class rust belt family.

That's what you call politicians you dislike. Along with bastards and jackasses.

[Journeyman]

9. When you're talking about "sons of bitches" how else do you refer to them?. . .

Though I'll concede Hoffa could have found a more creative expression. I'm partial to Herman Melville's turn of phrase, "son of a bachelor."

[razorman]

20. If this is excused as normal political discourse, I am afraid we will have no reason to complain

when some Tea Party Republican uses the same language about President Obama. It will happen.

[Journeyman]

47. I have no problem with that. . .

Presidents have been called many, many things over the years. The invective thrown at President Obama has been relatively mild, given historical precedents. "Son of a bitch" has a certain Democratic flair as well, or at least historical antecedent, since it's the term JFK famously used to describe U.S. Steel executives. Truman was fond of it as well, and once dismissed his critics by saying, "To hell with them. When history is written they will be the sons of bitches - not I."

So no, I've no problem with the phrase. The public will determine if its warranted, and the appropriate praise or blame be assessed.

[loyalsister]

52. I have seen it

I alerted when a former facebook "friend" said that she hoped someone would "take him out" in reference to pres. Obama. It was a violent reference in that case, and and it is a violent reference in this case.
Hate begets hate until someone draws the line.

[razorman]

55. I think you are right. Now, no one near Mr. Hoffa has a right to talk about "civility", unless

they address it to him first. That includes the president. Fortunately, I believe he will soon make it plain that he does not consider such statements worthy, regardless of which side utters them.

[Tx4obama]

68. Taking republicans out of office by VOTING is NOT violence. n/t

[loyalsister]

70. How is it really different?

If I had called her on it and she defended it with a "what I really meant was vote them out" argument would that have made it acceptable?

I would rather be in a position where I can legitimately dispute that argument coming from republicans when I hear language with violent references.

Hypocrisy is hypocrisy.

[Tx4obama]

75. The difference is that Hoffa DID say VOTE in his quote.

In my opinion Hoffa should sue FoxNews for slander / defamation of character due to their editing and misrepresenting his quote.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

4. The Tea Party: Republicans with a slightly lower I.Q. nt

[left on green only]

18. IQ's That Challenge The Speed Limit

And that's how we know for sure that Rick Perry is the "education candidate". See, he increased the speed limit in Texas to 85. :toast:

[Sarah Ibarruri]

23. LOL! That's right! nt

[Swede]

5. Gee -"get out and vote" and "take em out" seems pretty clear to me.

Teapartiers are looking into their own violent souls here.

[Mz Pip]

6. WHere was their outrage

over Sharonn Angle's "second amendment remedies" remark????

or Sarah Palin's "reload" crap?

[kctim]

15. They justified it to themselves by claiming it was about voting.

[sabrina 1]

7. Not only should he not apologize, EVERYONE should start

using that statement in the spirit of 'we are all James Hoffa'. I'm sure he will be pressured to apologize, because Dems are so afraid of being criticized by the Right.

There should be bumper stickers and tee-shirts and signs for demonstrations with his words on it. That's how you deal with cowardly bullies, push them back and each time they whine, say it again.

I'm truly sick of being in a party that is forever apologizing when they are right.

[Yon_Yonson]

8. Where can I buy the bumper sticker becuse I am right on with Hoffas commets

[sabrina 1]

12. Lol, I don't know of any are available yet, but someone should

make them up fast. I would buy one too.

[otohara]

10. I Ready to Rumble

armed and dangerous with my voter registration forms.

[newfie11]

11. Hell no he should not apologize

That is NOTHING compared to the crap that has been spewed for the last 3 years by teabaggers/repugs!

[blogslut]

13. No

[marmar]

16. The Tea Party can go Cheney itself.

nt

[rhett o rick]

35. Well put marmar. nm

[orpupilofnature57]

60. And kiss my Shrub!

[Waiting For Everyman]

17. #1 It's a lie, and those who say it should be called on it. #2 They have no room to talk.

Voting is not violent. These are the people who openly talk about "second amemdment remedies" and expect that to be ok.

This is just another brazen fraud from the fraudsters. And it's the media's job to expose such lies, not to assist in them. That's what is inexcusable.

[librechik]

19. What the Tea party means by "Targetting" and "Crosshairs"

is not what the ldems mean by "get out the vote" and "take them out"

So stop saying that, RWers.

[Historic NY]

21. I thought it was perfectly tempered to what most people are feeling..so my

answer is F---'em.........

[A wise Man]

22. F...the teapartiers and the whole republican idiots

most of us here knows what he meant.....we all have felt the same..its time to speak volumes to true feelings. Dammit stand up and challenge these assholes and stop being affraid of the solutions...NOT WHAT THE KKK TEAPARTY REPUBLICANS THINK. Iassure you that is not only what they think but what they are saying about us DEMS. Dammit call them out in the media and every avenue possible and let them know that we are not going to take that bullshit from them anymore.

[loyalsister]

24. Yes

Violent imagery is creepy and hateful no matter the source.

[sabrina 1]

33. They started a war on the American worker and used violent

language such as 'in the crosshairs' from the beginning. They promised if they did not get their way they would use the 'second amendment solution', they spoke of 'targeting' anyone who didn't agree with them. They went to Town Hall meetings carrying weapons hoping to intimidate the opposition. Now they are crying over someone suggesting that people vote and 'take them out' of office?

Let's not turn this around and shoot ourselves in the process as we usually do. They wanted a war and so far they have been doing all the rhetorical shooting. I don't like this form of discourse either. So, if they are so disturbed over what Hoffa said, let's hear them apologize first for setting the tone, and let them make a pledge to focus on the issues from now on and forget the violent language and weapons they thought were so impressive, but now seem to not like so much.

They are hypocrites who need to be thoroughly exposed because their methods worked. They are currently controlling the debate in DC and that will ensure the total destruction of this country if they are not 'taken out' of the political system. Bought and paid for by Phil Gramm and his cabal of rightwing funders. This is not democracy by any stretch of the imagination.

Most of all they are bullies, and backing down and apologizing to bullies has never been a winning strategy. Which is why they are making this demand.

[loyalsister]

38. They will never be exposed if we act like them

FOX news serves up enough hate and violent imagery. I'm grateful that they aren't advocating my opinion.
What is hypocritical is to complain about them and turn around and act like them.

[sabrina 1]

41. If they want a war, then give it to them. Clearly thought they do not

now that they've learned that when you start a war, the other side WILL fight back. They not doubt believed that Democrats are 'wimps' another Fox News meme, and have since learned that may not be true after all. Now they are whining like babies over a pretty tame statement, typical of bullies when someone doesn't run away.

People's jobs, lives, futures are at stake. In other countries, they've had bloody revolutions, in fact we had one here when their governments became the enemy. And there is no question that these people are enemies of the American people. So a few harsh words V what they say they want, a real, live revolution, is just fine with me at this point. Nothing is more guaranteed to fail than being polite to bullies. Hoffa's pretty mild statement has them crying like babies. I say keep it up until they can't take it anymore and we get this country back to some semblance of a democracy. Our nice, polite behavior got us Bush for two terms and now the Teabaggers and many people are dead as a result.

When they learn to behave themselves, they will be treated with the respect they are now, ironically, demanding. Let them know that, it's up to them. We can do it their way or our way. But as long as they continue to damage this country with their political violence, someone has to stand up to them. They don't understand 'could you please be nice'. They clearly understood Hoffa's language and they are afraid for the first time.

[loyalsister]

45. Doesn't work for me

There is already enough glorification of violence in this country. The day my preferred political leaders start using it, I lose all respect.

[sabrina 1]

49. There is nothing violent about what Hoffa said, is there?

What he did was use strong language. And sorry, but being polite in politics has earned Democrats the reputation of being weak, weak on defense, weak on domestic issues, wimps, weak, and not to be trusted with the running of the country. That has not served this country well.

I want to hear MY politicians talk like Hoffa rather than like Obama who no matter how nasty and vicious his opponents are, insists that he must compromise with them.

Interesting that you interpret strength as violence though. Violence is weak and because we know that, I have no idea why Democrats have been caving to the violent bullies on the right for so long. It's way past time to talk to them in language that leaves no doubt, their antics are not going to work.

[loyalsister]

51. Apparently one person's weak is another persons dignity

and grace. How someone would justify it as "take them out" not being violent is beyond me as we have heard that phrase thousands of times to refer to killing a person.
My perception of republican speak hate and violent language is last resort trashiness used when a person doesn't have the intellectual goods to win an argument based on logic.
Bully language coming from Democrats sounds equally trashy and ignorant.

[comtec]

61. Being dignified, graceful, and 'better' is what has lost us elections

until we are in power in serious numbers, we have to fight on their level.
Here's the thing... we ARE better than they are, which means when we fight at their level we WILL WIN!

When we've won we can then put rules of engagement into place, and raise the education level of this country.

But because we were respectful and graceful in the 80s in dealing with ray-gun and then bush I, we let education get raped.
this idiot part, is the result.
you can't reason with them because they never learned reason.
you can't be dignified, and win. They don't play by the rule because HEY NEVER LEARNED WHAT THE RULES ARE!!!

no, im sorry but you have to get in the mud and sling it better than them, and harder, and be MORE brutal and vicious.

they are like rabid dogs... they have to be put down and there is NO CLEAN WAY to do that!

and if you're offended by some foul language... oh wow do you need to grow up! Welcome to the REAL WORLD

[loyalsister]

62. sooo

Is the argument really that we have lost because our political leaders didn't behave enough like an ignorant cowboy macho man- like Bush? Ignorance wins the day! Loses respect of other countries and educated Americans.

It's classless and tacky.

[comtec]

63. Gray Davis in California WON re-election because he used their tactics...

but he used the TRUTH!
He wallpapered the state with what the gop did wrong
THAT is why he was recalled, among other things.
The recall effort began the day after he was re-sworn in!

We have to fight at their level, there is no way above that, but we CAN fight more efficiently!

get your head out of your ass and realize there are ways to beat them at their own game.
keeping your nice white suit clean won't win elections!

[loyalsister]

64. Yeah Gray Davis "won"

for a little while. The fact that he was recalled in a left leaning state supports my argument.
I have helped elect several candidates who have run very smart and dignified campaigns. They were very willing to criticize policy, but didn't use gutter trash talk or personal attacks.
Of course, living in a city with a large number of educated people may have forced us into some kind of bizarre reality where we want candidates who are intelligent and act like it.

[comtec]

65. you just made my point

the majority of the US ISN'T educated well or otherwise.
pity you won't see that.
we can't win on the issues alone, we can't.
We've been loosing ground since ray-gun.
the ray-gun conservatives changed the game and we were too uppity to lower ourselves... and we lost.
we lost when our "hero" Clinton turned out to be a better republican than the gop.
we have lost beyond words with this president.

because of obama, the ecological game has been lost and we're all dead.

enjoy your ivory tower.

it's cost us all everything.

[loyalsister]

66. According to historical facts

The republicans gains you're talking about started soon the 1968 Civil Rights Act was passed. I guess LBJ didn't try hard enough to hang on to the racist voters.
I suppose if Carter had used the "n" word he might have won them back. At the very least he would have set up the "rules of engagement" as a competition of who could be the most hateful and racist.

[comtec]

71. I have no idea how you got there to i'll pat you on the head and walk away,

I give
you win
i can't compete with your level of whatever.
grats

obama is great and wonder
he is munificent and always has our interests at heat
what was i ever thinking to look at how he acts, i should only look at his words
obama is great
bama is my lord and savoir
all praise lords obama

[backscatter712]

25. They spent the past two years on a campaign of stochastic terrorism...

And now that Hoffa says something that might be construed aggressively, now they're all butthurt?

I say we all mail the tea-party leadership cases of Preparation H...

[DrunkenBoat]

26. Ridiculous; manufactured controversy.

[spanone]

27. 'take out' as in vote out....only the stupid would interpret it as.....oh, the teaparty

[Overseas]

28. Hope reporters will ask how his comments compare with the Anti-American goals

of the GOP leaders who have declared their main objective as making sure President Obama is a one-term president.

And the hours of hate speech issued by their Guru Rush Limbaugh.

[socialist_n_TN]

29. The Teamsters seem to be harkening back to the

Minneapolis days of the 30s with James Cannon. More power to ya, Hoffa! Don't you DARE fucking apologize to these proto fascist thugs.

[SusanaMontana41]

30. Given the hate they spew, 'baggers appear to be pretty thin skinned.

I don't see Hoffa backing down. I would like to see some anti-corporatists backing him up.

[Eddie Haskell]

31. Take em out

I think he wanted them removed from the building. Is that a crime?

[totodeinhere]

32. James Hoffa has nothing to apologize for. It's about time we started fighting back against the

baggers. And to suggest that he was inciting violence is absolutely ridiculous.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

34. Are the teabaggers getting teste? nr

[malaise]

36. The UNions are taking back the country

Fugg them

[Lucian]

37. Well, the baggers use the same approach.

But when it's used against them, they whine and bitch and moan about it.

Well boo hoo. I hope Hoffa doesn't apologize. He has no need to.

[6000eliot]

39. Only if you can't say "Scumbag fucks."

You call them "Sons of bitches."

[Erose999]

42. I like to call them "racist cheesedicks". And the classic "Teabaggers" has always worked well too.

[Iggo]

40. Completely excusable.

Awkard. Cringe-worthy.

That's it.

It's get-over-it time.

[Hutzpa]

43. Go tell the Teahardist that the union has unionize and is coming for their A$$. n/t

[Dawson Leery]

44. This is the same tea party/klan that brought guns to events

where the President of the United States was speaking.

[Bluenorthwest]

46. I've been on the picket line with the Teamsters and the right wing

better get used to the idea of a strong opposition who will not be bullied by hypocritical bastards like the political effete class in the Beltway can be. The men and women of the Teamsters Union have faced down far better foes than this current batch of fuckers without breaking a sweat. I personally have a great deal of affection for the Teamsters and their dedication to the job, and when necessary, to the picket line and to political action. I'll stand with them any day, proudly.

[Yon_Yonson]

48. Couldn't have said it better myself

[TeamsterDem]

50. And we likewise will be very happy to have you with us! nt

[SusanaMontana41]

53. Yeah, baby! nt

[samsingh]

54. tea baggers are evil

[The Gunslinger]

56. The right wing media machine is really stretching this time.

Taken in context it is obvious that he is talking about "taking them out" via elections. It will be interesting to see which Democrats cave on this one.

[upi402]

57. Obama rejects Hoffa ...here it is;

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-hoffa-carney-tea-party-20110906,0,1343002.story

“Mr. Hoffa speaks for himself, he speaks for the labor movement, AFL-CIO,” Carney said, in response to a reporter’s question. “The president speaks for himself. I speak for the president."

[Tx4obama]

67. That is NOT a rejection. It is only a clarification. n/t

[HappyMe]

58. Hoffa has no reason to apologize.

He was clearly talking about getting out there and voting. As far as the son of a bitch goes, oh well. The shoe fits. Hoffa was addressing a room full of adults, not kindergartners.

[orpupilofnature57]

59. What did Sons of bitches do to deserve that!

[Tx4obama]

69. Yes, everyone needs to VOTE and take those republican SOBs out of office! n/t

[Initech]

72. The teabaggers are inexcusable.

[hifiguy]

73. Hoffa's are the words of an old-fashioned patriot.

He has not one thing to apologize for, walk back, or disassociate himself from. NOT. ONE. THING.

I salute you, Mr. Hoffa, though "shitweasel" is my favorite descriptor of these "people."
:patriot::applause::woohoo:

[malaise]

74. Fuck them

That is all