Tea Party Boise Dons Tin-Foil Chapeaux
As the novelty of the Tea Party wears off and people begin to realize that candidates espousing the doctrinaire beliefs of that group are completely unelectable on a national level, you're starting to see the "true believers" who remain active reveal their true colors. One such group seems to be the leadership of Tea Party Boise. Here's a flyer for a meeting they're holding this weekend in Nampa, for which getting people to attend seems to be a problem.
One problem seems to be the "Featured Keynote Speakers". The guy they have on Saturday is listed on the flier as an "Expert in International Conspiracies", but it's the Friday guy who seems to be causing (deservedly) the most backlash. It's Dr. Steven Jones, who I've been mocking and belittling since 2005.
Both of them are "Truthers" -- people who believe that 9/11 was a U.S. Government plot. And by having them as featured speakers, Tea Party Boise is legitimizing this crackpot theory.
Both of them are "Truthers" -- people who believe that 9/11 was a U.S. Government plot. And by having them as featured speakers, Tea Party Boise is legitimizing this crackpot theory.
I'm not doubting that the government lies -- they clearly did when they said that Osama bin Laden was buried at sea so as to satisfy Muslim traditions that burial take place within 24 hours when it was obviously done before Monday morning (U.S. time) to make sure that some lawyer couldn't file suit for possession of the body on behalf of some family member. People like the "Truthers", however, believe that the government always lies, and anything that doesn't match their own narrow worldview must be the product of some huge conspiracy. People like the leadership of Tea Party Boise just can't understand how President Obama hasn't tried to confiscate their guns yet -- after all, didn't all those people who jacked up the price of ammo in December 2008 say he was going to? The more their predictions of doom fail to come true, the more they retreat into a delusional world where it's all part of an even more sinister and detailed conspiracy (usually led by Jews). The 9/11 Truth movement is the apex of this line of thinking, so it's not surprising that they're headed into that territory.
It's not just Tea Party Boise that's fallen into this trap. Even a respected group such as the Elmore County Republican Central Committee has started to eat their own, passing a resolution calling for the State GOP to investigate Gov. "Butch" Otter and his "Project 60" because of fears that he's supporting a Chinese enclave just south of Boise that will be a perfect base for a "Red Dawn"-style invasion. (Of note, then-Rep. Otter proved his Libertarian bona fides by being one of 3 Republicans to vote against the original Patriot Act -- even that isn't enough to protect him now from xenophobic Idaho Republican activists.) Like most Tea Party ideas, this one spread quickly via E-mail, finally hitting the Drudge Report, without anyone stopping to verify facts or realize that the whole idea was so far-fetched as to be unbelievable -- it was enough for them that it was more "evidence" of the government being evil.
I find it interesting that many of these people, when confronted with irrefutable evidence that a given pet conspiracy theory is wrong, will defend themselves with words to the effect of "Well, Obama is such a horrible person that I'm justified in believing he'd do that"; or, in other words, "It's Obama's fault that I believe this unbelievable thing". Coming from adherents of the philosophy of "Personal Responsibility", that's quite amusing. (Progressives did the same thing during the Bush era, but it's not as hypocritical coming from them because they aren't generally into "not blaming others for one's mistakes" so much.)
So what do you think? Will the Tea Party finally crash and burn when they eventually get so far into Tin-Foil Hat Land that eventually even the True Believers start having second thoughts? Or will it take the shock of actually nominating a Tea Party Presidential candidate and having them lose by 300 electoral votes?
(And for those who think that the government actually could pull off a stunt like wiring the WTC towers with explosives and doing the rest of 9/11 while being able to keep it a secret -- the world just doesn't work like that. You'll have to trust me on that one. We keep things like submarine operations fairly secret because, in the big scheme of things, nobody really gives a crap. For stuff like shooting down TWA 800 with a missile from a Navy ship or hiding aliens in Area 51, enough people do care, and at least one smart person among the thousands who would have to be involved would figure out a way to smuggle the evidence out in a flash drive.)
posted by Bubblehead at 7:08 PM
28 Comments:
I don't think that you can say that Tea Party candidates are not electable from just a few bad apples.
Democrats have Michael Moore, yet their party has a sitting President.
Republicans have Delbert Scott, and they had a sitting President for most of the last decade.
While I agree that it's more likely that the ideals of the Tea Party movement become assimilated into one of the bigger national parties than for a true Tea Party member to win an election, this isn't the reason. Rather, our way of doing elections only allows a major two party system, and the Republicans/Democrats are too big to go away.
7/07/2011 7:21 PM
Yes, but Michael Moore isn't President. I'm saying that people who run for President with a "full-monty" Tea Party platform, like Rep. Bachmann, are unelectable.
7/07/2011 7:28 PM
There are moonbats on both sides of the aisle. More so on the left than the right. However, fringe elements usually self destruct given time......regardless of political affiliation.
7/07/2011 8:20 PM
Just about every county has some sort of TEA Party organization. Some are whacked out like yours. Some are fronts for Democrat operatives to split the Republican vote.
Most are just plain citizens who think the Government has gotten too big, too intrusive, and too expensive.
Ultimately these people will fall into the Republican fold, probably causing another shift in Party Ideology as Fiscal Conservatives gain a louder voice, and more seats at the top table, while Social Conservatives take a back seat.
7/07/2011 8:53 PM
Break away & check out the Modern Whig Party - http://www.modernwhig.org/issues.html
7/07/2011 10:43 PM
The only thing they are right about is that Obama IS a terrible person, they just have the reasons wrong. He is an Uncle Tom, bait and switch fool, who constantly sells out his base.
He is essentially G. W. Bush, except at least G. W. Bush was honest about taking our civil liberties, committing torture, and ignoring the rule of law. At least he told you what he was doing, and made up some bullshit answer as to why it was a good idea. "We need these tax cuts to spend the surplus".
Obama just does the exact same things, folding like a blade of grass in a stiff breeze at the sign of any sort of pushback. The reason the Tea Party are idiots is because they still think that Obama is at all progressive. They should love him! He is right of Romney and McCain. Everything he has done is right of center! Even his health care reform is basically what the Republican health reform plan looked like before he adopted it as his own.
Just wait to see how bad he fucks seniors, the middle class, and the poor in this next round of "negotiations".
For Obama politicis looks like this: 1) Say one thing that panders to his base (you know, the people that elected him)
2) immediately abandon it to do the exact opposite
3) Make a weak excuse about "hey I tried"
Fuck Obama. Gary Johnson/Ron Paul for 2012. At least those two guys have principles.
7/08/2011 12:39 AM
Agree there are moonbats on both sides of the aisle, but in a change from just a few years ago, the Democrats seem to have theirs pretty much under lock and key (Rep. Kucinich and his ilk) whereas the Republican ones are front and center and running 2nd in their Presidential polling.
7/08/2011 4:19 AM
The funny part is that people think the US Government could actually pull off (and then cover up) 9/11. They've clearly never worked in a bureaucracy.
The beautiful part is how easy it is to get those "Truthers" spun up. Makes for a great night.
7/08/2011 5:32 AM
The government couldn't pull that off?
Great! I'm tellin' Santa. It will be just coal for you for fibbin'.
7/08/2011 5:52 AM
This stuff is high quality humor and laughs, thanks for brightening up my day. I'm a southern democrat so basically fiscal/military conservative; and social moderate, so I can enjoy laughing at both sides. Personally if you want the economy fixed, Bill Clinton was the smartest guy we had. Yes it stunk for the military, but the guy was a Rhodes scholar. Maybe we should go searching the ivy leagues or Wharton for the next candidate or secretary of the treas.
7/08/2011 6:45 AM
So what do you think? Will the Tea Party finally crash and burn when they eventually get so far into Tin-Foil Hat Land that eventually even the True Believers start having second thoughts?
Seriously? We now have the biggest buffoon ever to sit as POTUS and you're squawking about potential "extreme" candidates. NO ONE at that TP convention could possibly be any worse than the loser in office now.
7/08/2011 7:14 AM
And this relates to submarines via the blog's title. Did I hear the Peanuts teacher? "wa wa"
7/08/2011 7:26 AM
Bill Clinton was selected as a Rhodes Scholar, but didn't complete his degree at Oxford.
On another note, while there are certainly crazies in the tea party, they have succeeded in making the debate about how much to cut the deficit and reduce the debt...so in that respect they've done a good thing, I think.
I just hope they realize at some point that we need a mix of tax reform and spending cuts to get it done....and don't end up bringing down the house on us all.
In any case, I've got a bunker stocked with a couple year's worth of food and a sweet energy-efficient light bulb....and none of you are invited when it all comes to an end on Dec 21 2012.
7/08/2011 7:31 AM
Eastcoast_SSN:
"and mocking and belittling general foolishness wherever it may be found"
7/08/2011 8:00 AM
Actually, trutherism is traditionally an infection of Democrats. Birtherism was the corresponding infection of Republicans.
7/08/2011 8:32 AM
@Dave - I know. Now the Tea Partiers are getting so whacked out they're embracing both extremes. Is there any conspiracy theory they won't claim for their own?
7/08/2011 8:53 AM
What a strange world we have come too in this country when the proponents of limited government are labelled extremists.
Our financial situation is a house of cards by any measure you care to speak of. One way or the other it WILL be corrected....the only question os if the correction will be done at our behest or forced upon us by outside financial pressures.
Yes the Stupid Shall Be Punished....the financially stupid even more so.
Either that or we suffer the fate of the marketing department of the Sirius Cybernetic Corporation....
7/08/2011 9:08 AM
I think the point is that truthers are crazy, and they have usurped, in some places, the tea party.
7/08/2011 9:45 AM
Or worse yet, we're asked to be on a pilot program for the Weyland-Yutani Corporation. Building Better Worlds! and all that...
Although on a serious note, Joel, the Tea Parties are a diverse group, although I'll agree some have gotten a bit whacked/out of hand. I thought my efforts were better spent working with the local/state GOP folks, rather than trying to recycle territory already covered. There has been some hijacking of Tea Party organizations--some by the "troofers", "nirthers" and John Bircher/libertarian/whackjob types.
But if you think that the wingnut/moonbat Democrats have been contained, think again. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, anyone? Hank Johnson? Bwaney Fwank? Jim Clyburn? Luis Guiterrez? Maxine Waters? Jerrold Nadler? Mike Capuano?
And oh yeah--my former Congresscritter, Carol "Che" Shea-Porter (The Chinese stole my seat!) is going to try to get her old seat back in 2012. Good luck with that, Carol.
I could go on for days.
7/08/2011 9:48 AM
Bubblehead:
Don't argue with an idiot. They will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.
Let the 'Truthers' have their idiots. It is too bad that they pollute the Tea Party goal of fiscal restraint and military strength.
I agree with a comment or two above, your strengths (and the reason I read your blog) are in sticking to submarine and other military issues. Thanks Joel
7/08/2011 2:57 PM
Unfortunately, I'm running out of sea stories. Not to fear, however; I'm looking at an option to do my political writing elsewhere, with only links to the essays from here. This would leave TSSBP as even more submarine-centric, although of course I reserve the right to put up movie reviews or whatnot.
7/08/2011 5:05 PM
I'm guessing "Tea Party" will go the way of "liberal", Being called a liberal was once an acceptable political label, meaning someone who advocated an expanded role of government. Liberals have made many positive contributions to our country, such as Social Security, the Clean Air Act, and universal suffrage. But the word has become so tainted by the most extreme members that no one but an extremist wants to be called a liberal.
I think the same thing is happening to the Tea Party. It started off as a valid movement focused on limiting the role of government and calling for responsible spending. But it seems to have been taken over by the wingnuts. Already most GOP candidates (at least for national offices) are trying to get Tea Party support without being so closely associated with the Tea Party that it alienates moderates or independents. I expect that by 2014, serious candidaes will shun the Tea Party altogether.
And on a side note, the Birther conspiracy was originally hatched by extreme Leftists who supported Hillary Clinton over Obama. The extreme Right adopted it after Obama won the Democratic nomination. As John Avlon points out in his book "Wingnuts", the extremes of each party resemble each other more closely than moderates in their own party.
7/08/2011 7:56 PM
These "Tea Party" types are for Republicans as "Code Red" is for the Demoncrats, they are the far out right and left.
To say a candidate that is backed by the Tea Party is unelectable in 2012, is like saying the same about someone backed by the union back in 2008. Look what happened!!!
Remember the true TEA (Taxed Enough Already) Party is generally recognized as conservative and libertarian.
7/09/2011 6:11 PM
Bubblehead:
I am anonymous from 7/08/2011 2:57 PM.
I think I know how you feel in terms of running out of sea stories. I have been retired from active and reserve now for 10+ years, and I feel like the Navy and submarines now are so foreign to my memory both of them.
That is why I look to TSSBP. Keep it up. I look forward to your posts.
You should be 2+ plus years out of your surgery? All is well?
Anonymous from Seattle.
7/09/2011 7:33 PM
Hey Joel,
Al Gore is one of your guys and was pretty close to the Presidency. He definitely qualifies as an extreme whack job.
7/10/2011 4:25 PM
I agree with a lot of your blog statements, and I describe myself more libertarian than republican... but I just want to know how you can so easily dismiss a retired professor emeritus from Brigham Young University with a Doctorate in Physics?
Why don't you explain why WTC 7 collapsed , as NIST has changed their story multiple times. None of the 'truthers' that I have spoken with claim to know exactly what happened, rather, they call for a new independent investigation. including 6 of the 10 original 9/11 commissioners.
7/12/2011 7:11 AM
josh: Do you prefer Reynolds Wrap, or do you just go with off-brand to save money? Is name-brand more effective, and does it matter if the shiny side faces in or out?
7/12/2011 5:06 PM
Thanks for the post, pretty helpful data.
10/15/2011 11:57 AM
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