Are Tea Party Activists Suffering from ObamaCare Burnout?
The mad scramble to get candidates on the ballot has suffered greatly due to the chaos over health care. Fielding a candidate requires collecting signatures, in some states many thousands of signatures. Will the concentration on health care limit the impact the tea party movement will have in the elections?
Still, 50% of Americans consider themselves less likely to vote for someone who voted for ObamaCare. The fact that 150 economists are convinced the bill is a job killer might help morale as well.
Leading tea party activists are suffering from burnout and exhaustion. They are finding themselves unable to keep up the pace. Now that the House bill has passed, what will happen? Will the tea party movement lose faith and dissipate? Will the 9/12 rally in Washington this year be able to muster the enthusiasm it did last year? Will it inject a new sense of urgency in the tea party masses? One has to wonder if leading activists will be able to “keep it together” through November and beyond.
Beyond ObamaCare, there are other issues in the Obama agenda, such as cap and trade and amnesty for illegal immigrants. There are many battles left for the fiscally conservative, free-market, limited-government advocate.
Coming battles against ObamaCare will certainly drain the energy and the funds of the tea party movement. Instead of concentrating on getting their “type” of candidate on the ballot in their home states, those in the movement are making mad dashes to Washington and their state capitals to rally or lobby their representatives. I have been asked often where I thought the tea party movement would be in a year’s time. I frankly have no idea and doubt anyone else does.
The fight against ObamaCare is a landmark in the short history of the tea party movement. It could have a profound effect on the movement’s future. The tea party movement must realize effectiveness comes less from rallies and more from getting fiscal conservatives into office.
People did the best they could. Mr. Dodge you seem to overlook the fact that most teaparty folks work for a living.
I expect to see a lull in activity. People are re-thinking how to counter this with the bill now becoming law. Watch though for a burst of energy as we near the elections. It ain’t over.
The Tea Baggers are done and gone . Good riddins
Instead of being down in the mouth, Ian, why don’t you try rallying the people to the cause? Tell people how, give specifics, encourage them. Do you have some tea party rallies on your schedule so you can explain all your salient points so crystal clearly? Or are you just going to sit in front of your monitor and spectate and speculate?
“Leading tea party activists are suffering from burnout and exhaustion.” Can you name names since I think most people would be hard pressed to pin down who the leading activists are in a group that has no leaders and doesn’t want them. Or is it more than you “feel” or “hope” we’re getting exhausted.
I knew by the title where you were going with this.
You are trying to lull the Democrats into some sort of false confidence state of sleep right Andrew..?
Mr. Dodge–
You mistake the perceived quiet on the Tea Party front for inactivity. Actually, we are all busy raising money in support of freedom-loving candidates for the primary election.
Dear Dr. Bones,
Even graded on the Herrnstein-Murray Curve (Pat. Pend.) in competition only with other pajamatarians, this neospecimen is feeble. Why on G*re’s green earth should some militant sweet puppy for Party an’ Ideology scribble at all, if it has nothin’ better to offer its neocomrades and wombschoolmates than “I frankly have no idea and doubt anyone else does.”?
The present keyboard, even, feels it a little _infra dig._ to fish such a zero up from the e-gutter to make sport of!
A number of objectors have objected “But it is not NICE to make fun of ideological cripples!”, yet of course laying oneself open to that rebuke is what makes sweetpuppy-baiting such a delightful pastime. That unniceness, plus the amazement on some of their mugs on discoverin’ that their own crowd does not have a total monopoly on behavin’ like your typical Danish cartoonist. But I ask you, sir, what could even Hans Judeokristian Nastisen himself make of “I frankly have no idea and doubt anyone else does”?
On the other hand, _Omnes scandalizabimini in nocte istâ, quia scriptum est ‘Percutiam pastorem et dispergentur oves’_, doncha know? [_Ev. Marc._ XIV:27]
Q. Take away Big Management, and what will become of the neokiddies?
A. Take a look at Neocomrade A. I. Dodge with “I frankly have no idea and doubt anyone else does” and then multiply by a couple hundred thousand.
(( … pretermit ghastly vision of pastorless sheeplin’s cloggin’ all the aisles and all the escalators–and the whole vast parkin’ lot!–of the New Marketarian Mall out in beautiful exurban Rio Limbaugh … Baaaaaaah! ….))
And speaking _de minimis agnunculisque_, sir, how about the one and only peanut-gallery peanut as of 25-03-10 07:01:
” 1. Pedro: / People did the best they could. Mr. Dodge you seem to overlook the fact that most teaparty folks work for a living.”
Do you suppose, Dr. Bones, that Pedro the Peanut actually attended one of the turfbaggers’ séances the way the Muses and you and I did? Conceivably Boston [http://tinyurl.com/yzox538] is _ganz anders_ due to “It … is MICHAEL GRAHAM!!!” or due to some other reason, but I distinctly remember Impression #1 being that most of the neokiddies looked to be of an age to be already collectin’ their private- or secret-sectorian Medicare bennies.
Maybe Neocomrade Pedro astroturfbags it only virtually or vicariously?
An interesting question, actually, though I thought at first it was going to be rhetorical. Definitely more interesting than any thought inspired by Señorito de Dodge y Nada!
A good deal depends, I guess, on where the neocomradologist takes the centre of levity of astroturfbaggin’ to be located: is it basically an entertainment imported from Foxcuckooland (and therefore a phenomenon to be evaluated by Yoo Toob and MacL@@han standards), or does it have at least a little tincture of the properly political?
If the former, than Peanut Pedro is not really part of it, despite thinkin’ that it is part. If the latter, then Pedro stands front and center, whereas Neocomrade M. Graham, and the silly wig, and all the neoteric geezers, must go to the wall.
Or turn off three-quarters of your brain, Dr. Bones, and look at that same dichotomy as if you were a witless, disempastored sheeplin’ yourself. What would you want to have your ‘movement’ do for an encore, now that it looks as if a little more is gonnabe required than *just* barkin’ ‘No!’?
I have no concrete suggestions to make, unless I think of one as I keyboard, but I feel pretty sure that what comes next if astroturfbaggin’ be basically a Sky TV programme must be different from what would come next if it is to be or become a politics.
There is, though, one rather obvious suggestion: you might consult your Party Paymasters and find out what *they* think they have been up to. Since the _shtyk_ in question must *look* spontaneous to be of any value at all, you will have to make this consultation confidentially.
Though better than any other plan that crosses my mind off-hand, I would not be altogether amazed if your funders turned out to have no very clear idea themselves. I write merrily “G.O.P. geniuses” but that must be graded on a curve too, of course.
To be sure, in a very general way, the objective of astroturfbaggery is unmistakable and consists in . . . well, let us pull a few punches and say “it consists in keepin’ the Bad Poor in their place.”
(( To go into the exact nature of the badness of the Bad Poor would be injudicious in the extreme, assumin’ the neocomrades propose to dabble in frankness at least a little. WWNN, “wink, wink, nod, nod!” Plus “most teaparty folks WORK for a livin’!” And Father Zeus knows best! ))
Allow me, sir, to wish you, and all the holy Homeland™,
Healthy days.
Hey, this is really a fun site! A bunch of pompous nitwit liberals trying to make fun of us. I love it. I can only pray that if there’s any real fighting that they will continue to mouth off about how much they hate us so that we can find them more easily…kris
I do no such thing, I am just wondering if many realise that politics is the long game not the short. The rhetoric, even from tea party members, came across as apocalyptic. The socialists have the two houses and the presidency with which they are going to do as much as they can before the anticipated cull in November.
BK: I speak to activists on a daily basis from across the country and they are exhausted (some burnt-out). The rallies in DC and other places every other day were hard for many. Especially since almost all people involved actually have day jobs and aren’t professional agitators like those on the left.
Rallies have little or no affect on the current crop of legislators, the only thing that worries them is losing their seats. Instead of rallies every five minutes, getting signatures and candidates on ballots then raising money is what should be done. We are not going to have a mass change of heart from Pelosi & Co after some huge rally. They just don’t care.
One more rally, on the 15th for all us, then onto things that can really change the way we are governed, maybe?
While organizing candidates is important, the tea parties rallies are what created concern among Democrats. Working people with real jobs took time off from work, or weekend activities and protested government spending. They were not seeking special favors from the government, they mostly wanted to be left alone. Mr. Hoyer is not worried because some candidate is running in a primary against a Republican. He is worried because people are angry. He interprets a voicemail message calling a congressman “scum” as a threat, not because calling someone scum is threatening, but because passing the bill has not reduced people’s anger. The Democrats told themselves that once the bill was passed people would love what is in it. They now see that may not be so.
The Tea Party movement was not started because of HealthCare or ObamaCare if you will. It was started because of the massive spending in Washington and the disconnect that Washington has with the people. HealthCare is only the latest example of this disconnect and actually fuels the movement. We see yet again that Washington does not have the consent of the governed and yet they go ahead anyway.
If you are waiting for Tea Party Candidates you will be waiting for a long time. That is not the aim of the movement. It would take a formal third party to feild such candidates and that historically has been a sure way to dilute conservative voters and ensure that liberal candidates win. Instead te Tea Party movement would like to identify candidates who more closely represent their veiws than the current crop residing in Washington. It is up to the established Parties to feild such candidates or Individuals to take up the guantlet.
- The fight against ObamaCare is a landmark in the short history of the tea party movement. It could have a profound effect on the movement’s future. The tea party movement must realize effectiveness comes less from rallies and more from getting fiscal conservatives into office.
Any idea how utterly stupid that statement sounds? Of course you don’t – you’re a ‘writer’, not a thinker. Then again, the useful idiots who write for The Left Wing Media are just as clueless. And just as divisive. They threaten Americans with rumors of threats while you threaten Americans with rumors of impotence.
Out of curiosity – are you collaborating with Rick Moran on these defeatist missives to the ether?
Just exactly which ‘fiscal conservatives’ were supposed to enter office between last January – when the hysterical Democrats declared health care a “crisis” – and last Sunday?
Exactly.
Apparently you haven’t been paying much attention from wherever you’re sitting (i.e., on the sidelines), but the protests against socialized medicine were obviously never about stopping it. The socialist Democrats have made that clear – their deceitful, illegitimate actions last weekend proved beyond any doubt that they are now completely out of control and see themselves as well beyond the reach of any accountability that can be brought to bear by the electorate. They long ago decided to pass this linchpin in their totalitarian agenda by any means necessary, regardless of public opinion, which was consistently against their bill.
Up to now the only fight has been about waking the American people up to what’s going on. The TEA Party is already awake. Their only job up to this point has been to stir a critical mass of their neighbors and the first phase of that is physical, visible, vocal protest – not wasting their time huddling at ‘pity parties’, planning ways to capture ground in Congress.
Finding and supporting fiscal conservatives is pointless if there aren’t enough Awakened Americans ready to vote for them.
The socialist Democrats just crossed the point of no return, and they know it. That’s why they’ve turned on The Left Wing Noise Machine to focus public anger on TEA Party members – just like the fascists did in Germany in the ’30s. It was important to shine as much light as possible – given The Left Wing Media’s ongoing complicity – on that crime. One doesn’t do that only by holding committee precinct meetings, or encouraging State legislatures to file federal lawsuits against socialized medicine. One does that by taking to the streets.
America just witnessed the illegitimate passage of an unconstitutional bill by an unaccountable government, and it is critical that as many Americans as possible are made aware of that fact. The TEA Party has been wildly successful in achieving this goal. Meanwhile, the only “profound” effect that awareness will have on the TEA Party is to make it much, much stronger.
The Tea Party members and others who opposed the healthcare bill had to go to Washington because the Democratic leadership is not letting their people go back to their districts to face the angry citizenry. Nonetheless, the vote on Sunday showed that the Democrats do not really care how the citizenry feel. They are willing to risk electoral losses to please their political messiah. In the light of such arrogance, most of the opposition will now return to their districts and accelerate their efforts at the local level. I for one plan to do just that.
On a side note, did anyone else feel that it was creepy for the Democrats to ignore the will of the American people and then to chant the mantra of Mr. Obama as they did it. When Mrs. Pelosi gave her thank you speech I found it very unseamly how much she fawned on Mr. Obama. The Democrats have stopped serving the American people and now only serve their political leader. They have become a bunch of bootlicks and that makes me fear for the nation more than the legislation they passed.
Andrew is correct. We should be involved with getting local Liberty minded candidates on the ballots at home. The rallies and get togethers are all good, and must be done. But also you need to find and help candidates at home.
The Tea Parties were always suppose to be about local involvement, not just national issues. Yes national issues are what parked it, but “All Politics is Local”.
#7 The next time you post could you please be somewhat coherent. That rambling something seems to be even beyond the outer limits.
Read the headline. ‘nough said.
The answer-
Not hardly.
As a newbie to this website, I need a little guidance from some of you old hands. Can someone — anyone — out there tell me just what the hell “JHM” #7 is talking about? This is the third time I’ve attempted to fathom his apparent ramblings and quite frankly, I’ve failed. Now I know I’m no genius and maybe I’m just not smart enough to figure this guy out. Or maybe this guy is just a naval gazer floating head-over-heels in his own fantasy burping “intellectual” bubbles into the bloggosphere. So help a guy out, would ya? Someone explain, pleeze!
#13 Yes, local politics has been the point all along. The so-called Tea Party “movement” has consisted of groups of local people motivated to protest locally. The continued activism – and it is continuing – is focusing on local politics (see, Utah, Ohio, and Missouri, to name three). If there is to be a substantial long-term change, it will only come greater involvement at the local and state levels of citizens not motivated to be professional politicians: national politicians rise out of state and local politics. If it is fiscal restraint that you want, start at the state level. Many of the programs created in the recent bill will be administered at the state level their success or failure will be decided there.
In all honesty, it may very well be the time to “act locally.” The Leftists took their sweet time placing people in strategic positions across, and it will take time and a good strategy to counteract the harm and destruction they have created. The marches in Washington are great for motivating people at the emotional level, but there will be a time (which is now) to mobilize and act.
The tea partiers are having plenty of sit-down meetings. There is much work to be done.
Re: #8. Andrew Ian Dodge:
“I am just wondering if many realise that politics is the long game not the short. The rhetoric, even from tea party members, came across as apocalyptic.” and “I speak to activists on a daily basis from across the country and they are exhausted (some burnt-out).”
Apocalyptic? Exhausted? Burnt-Out?
Did the Tea Party people think that the Democrats were going to lay down in the streets and die?
Mr. Dodge you allowed yourself to come close to the truth, but didn’t step forward with it all the way.
Politics is a game. In fact most of the time it is a dirty, petty and viscous game that uses people against people against God, human nature and the entire world.
Moral of The Story: If your not prepared and ready to play the game then don’t come out of the starting gate to begin with.
Bottom Line: Our side took a bullet to the chest on healthcare. The wound will heal, but the scare will never go away.
“Come On Adam, take a bite of my apple. It won’t hurt you..”
“Okay Charlie Brown, I’m going to let you kick the football this time – okay..?”
“Change, Hope! We are what we have been waiting for..!”
Today was a bad day.
I need a good day.
So it is.
SCAR, not scare
POLICY is what drive politics unless it is some other type of fashion, like the one we’re wearing now, which is driven totally by emotion. There is NO chance the Republicans will FIGHT to repeal this Obamacaration. I’ve gone through the precinct and county Republican conventions with a resolution stating “Therefore, be it resolved that the Republican party declares that all payments, grants, tax abatements, services, or other benefits granted to individuals by the government, at any level, which exceed $500 in any year must be reported to the Internal Revenue Service by IRS Form 1099-GOV”. This is something that is NON-partisan, a check on government thrill spending, and treats people that receive our redistributed income the same as those of us who work for it. Now it’s going to the Texas Republican state convention and hopefully ends up on the Texas Republican plantform. One more vote to go. If you can’t see where the money went then how are you going to manage it?
My local tea party has – at least since last summer – realized that we were in a long-term struggle, and our strategy had to start on the local political level. Yes, protests and big rallies are fun, and sometimes useful – but they are often pretty draining. We put a certain degree of energy and time into doing them, but never removed our eye from November and beyond. We must elect people to office who will truly represent us and our interests – not the career hacks doing and saying just what they need to ensure their continuing place at the trough.
On the Sunday of the big health care demo on Capitol Hill, our San Antonio Tea Party was hosting a run-off debate, for four Republican candidates in District 20 and District 23. All four are pretty solid – and only one of them had ever run for political office before. Two businessmen, a constitutional lawyer and a retired civil servant; they all looked very, very good.
Yes, this Tea Party is thinking ahead, and for the long haul.
@14 – Pedro,
Don’t bother trying to make contact with #7. The mother ship left him or her behind without any means of communicating with it and he or she is trying in vain to re-connect with the other aliens depicted in the old movie, “Morons From Outer Space”. And, they are the smart ones.
#16. Dave Smith: Can someone — anyone — out there tell me just what the hell “JHM” #7 is talking about?
Sorry, you’re on your own Dave.
Nobody reads JHM’s B.S., much less wastes any time trying to decode it.
Not even me.
Hey firestoopper, learn how to spell. It’s “riddance” not “riddins”.
Who did the Democrats beat to get their health reform bill passed? Answer- The American people. 80% of Americans did not want passage of Obamacare; yet the Democrats passed it and then celebrated. They celebrated beating the American people by lying, cheating and bribing their members. These same Democrats never read the bill but voted for it. Obama came out and said it was a great thing and that insurance companies will never again deny a child health care for a pre-existing condition….this is not even in the health reform bill that Obama signed…he lied because he never read the bill. The Democrats have no clue what they signed on for. This is why Democrats need to be defeated in 2010 and Obama removed in 2012.
16. Dave Smith:
So you’re confused? Welcome to a normal reaction. Why did this poster (I’ve seen his/her act at PJ before) pull this? Obviously you’ve never suffered through doing advanced writing coursework at a large public (& some select private’s as well) American University in the past twenty or so years.
This clever little wordsmith is a fraternal progeny of the far left loonies who took over said English Dept off-shoots in the 70’s and have turned them into a milk factory cottage industry ever since.
Think of it this way – it’s a cross between the kind of political theater employed by their auntie back in the sixties, you know, showing up at military airports to throw bags of shit at the coffins of the dead coming home from Vietnam – and – Jessie Jackson’s use of black pulpit alliteration and cadence but instead of the Rev trying to communicate he would slip into Ebonics as a juvenile ploy to play ‘insidies jokie’ with whatever few other miscreants who share his insidious malicious intent out in the blogosphere.
All the cleverness that abandons conventional language is employed to ANNOY AND CONFUSE. The posters purpose has nothing to do with communication. It’s a written verbal assault – an like most drive by assaults – it’s a sneak attack. After all you are only assaulted because you assume the poster is trying to communicate something Instead this a(*clown insinuates the posters superiority over anyone who would conceivably find insight or wisdom, let alone humor and social relevance, at PJ Media. And hopefully give them a migraine in the process.
Any adult that experienced in dealing with a deranged teenager should be able to identify. The real question is not why or what is said but why it’s not moderated off in the first place.
Dr. Bones/Phoenix
Thanks for the head’s up on “JHM”. I suspected as much that we were dealing with a left-wing loon. But his prose was so obtuce, I just couldn’t be sure. If this guy/gal is a product of our current University English Department Industry, then our system of “higher” education is in worst shape than even I feared. But what do I know, I’m just one of those stupid Conservatives?
Mea Cupa to the readership here for the two misspellings in my little screed above. I misspelled “obtuse” and “worse.” My old newspaper editor must be rolling in his grave! Damn, I hate making such stupid errors. Again, my apologies. BTW the few liberal contibutors that I’ve thus far read at this website appear to be mere “bomb throwers.” I for one would appreciate hearing from someone left-of-center willing to engage in actual intelligent debate on the various subjects we discuss. At the moment I am most anxious to hear a reasoned defense on the way the Democrats transformed their co-called health “reform” bill into the law of the land. There must be someone out there willing to take a stab at it. So come on Democrats, who’s going to step up to the plate? P.S. bomb throwers need not apply.
Dave, these are blog comments, not scholarly articles.
While it’s definitely fun to snark on some of the more “Freudian”, comical and/or hypocritical cases of misspellings, no reasonable person is going to hold ‘worst’ against you when the context is so obvious.
Having said that, yeah, your just one of those stupid Conservatives.
Like me.
To those who think I am just pontificating and not actually out there doing anything. Um, do a little research before making such claims. I think you will find that I was in DC last week lobbying my Senators about Cap & Trade legislation (how bad it is for the nation/small business etc). I will be speaking at two tea party events on 4/15 and I have a speaking engagement on 4/17 on what needs to be achieved.
But hey why bother with doing a bit of research when there is a good snide remark to make?
Ultimately if the House & preferably the Senate does not change hands in Nov, no jumping up and down while yelling will change anything. You could have 10 mil tea party people in DC come 9.12 and they would still be ignored by Pelosi & Co.
Keep up the good work, Andrew. Your efforts on our behalf are appreciated! Before its done, there’s gonna be a hundred ways to skin this cat!
Lobbying??? Srsly????
Er, did we not just witness the same travesty, Andrew? Did you not just watch a tone-deaf, out-of-control Congress using indefensible procedural excess and outright deceit to ram through an unconstitutional bill that is Amendment-sized in its scope and was against the consistent will of the majority, which didn’t want it before it was passed and wants it repealed now that it has passed?
Am I watching the wrong cable channel, or does that not scream something like… oh… I don’t know… “lobbying” is a frakking waste of time?
House and Senate won’t change hands in any way conducive to the preservation of this Republic without a real American Awakening. Right now, for better or worse, TEA Party activists are the only force capable of stimulating that sort of phenomenon. In order to do it, they need to be visible. It’s a thankless, sh!tty job, but that’s the one they’re stuck with. And part of the reason is that sites like this one don’t seem the slightest bit interested in dedicating any substantive resources to education, organization and action. That’s why the Kossacks are seeing their socially suicidal agenda made manifest while “Conservatism 2.0″ sucking wind. It’s much easier, apparently, grinding out endless reams of reactionary outrage and demoralizing rhetoric that does nothing to raise awareness or advise on the practical aspects of the few basic things Americans need to be doing:
- The GOP needs to be replaced, overhauled, rebuilt. Precinct committee influence is the key. How does that happen? PJM doesn’t seem to have a frakking clue and has no interest in discussing it.
- 11 States have filed suit against the socialized medicine bill. How can people encourage their State legislatures to join that fight? PJM doesn’t seem to have a frakking clue and no interest in discussing it.
- An Article V Convention – note well: an amendatory convention, not a full-blown Constitutional Convention – would be a way to focus all of America’s attention on the abuses and usurpations being pursued by Pelosi, Reid, Obama, their handlers and their ilk. Even if it never results in any resolution at all, the awareness-raising potential of such an event would be kryptonite to the socialist’s aims. Just like ClimateGate is to AGW. Anyone at PJM got a clue what an Article V Convention involves? No, I didn’t think so.
- TEACH THE FRAKKING CONSTITUTION – when was the last time we saw a bona fide discussion of the practical, Constitutional limits our government is supposed to be conforming to? Or… geez… maybe a series of them?? Easier still: where is the specific, focused criticism of the extra-constitutional excesses of socialized medicine? Has anyone at PJM exposed any of this? I’m sure I missed it. Meanwhile, I’m sure many PJM readers could benefit from a “5000 Year Leap” style series (perhaps without the rather hamhanded religious overtones). PJM? *crickets*
- The most credible alternative to the Democrats’ socialized medicine program is Paul Ryan’s Roadmap. Has more than one article appeared on this site discussing the fact that his Roadmap even exists? Does anyone at PJM other than Wretchard have the slightest frakking clue what’s in it? It doesn’t appear so, as no one seems interested in learning, let alone talking it up amongst PJM’s readership.
There’s more, certainly, but you get the picture by this point, I’m sure.
Enjoy your speaking engagements. In the meantime, maybe next article consider something inspiring rather than back-handedly demoralizing.
(32)
Splains why stuff gets spiked when it’s got that perspective or you figure it’s all directed at you.
We’re not going anywhere until Obama and his Chicago thugs thrown out of the White House
Tsk, tsk, tsk. Patience, children, patience. The libs have been building this temple for a century, we are not going to tear it down in one election. However, I do think they are in for a nasty surprise come November. I also think Obama will double down again if the Conservatives (not the RINOS) take over the house.
Since their inception the Teaparty crowd (not a movement since they do have the numbers or clout) have been “haters not debaters”. In my opinion this is what the small portions of the republican party of “birthers, baggers and blowhards” have brought you. They are good at “Follow the Leader” of their dullard leaders, they listen to Beck, Hedgecock, Hannity, O’Reilly, Rush and Savage and the rest of the Blowhards. Are you surprise at what they do when you know what they think? The world is complicated and most republicans (Hamiliton, Lincoln, Roosevelt) believe that we should use government a little to increase social mobility, now its about dancing around the claim of government is the problem. The sainted Reagan passed the biggest tax increase in American history and as a result federal employment increased, but facts are lost when mired in mysticism and superstition. Although some republicans are trying to distant themselves from this fringe most of them are just going along and fanning the flames.
Burnout? No. We’re just getting started. We’re marathon runners, not sprinters. And we will keep going until we cross the finish line. Period.
I’m not tired. I’m planning to attend the Tax Day Protest in Denver (4/15). I am planning to donate and even volunteer (1st time EVER) in the coming election.
Silent? No. It’s called planning.
Yeah, the tea-partiers are about as finished as MacArthur was by the japanese. You haven’t seen anything yet, idiot.
Kudos to #7 for the stream-of-consciousness politicobabble. Perhaps you should read this here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/greg-gutfeld/the-universal-huffington-_b_16289.html
I feel that style of discourse suits you far more than the lowly discussives on display at PJM
I don’t think that it’s that the Tea Party was ineffective,it’s that the donkeys don’t listen.
The democrats keep telling the same lie somehow wishing it to come true.Just keep on drinking the cool aid.Come November there’s a tidal wave coming that will wash out those who don’t listen to the people their suppose to represent. CHANGE IS COMING.
We have just begun to fight!! We will get rid of the Democrats in November!!
There is a phrase here campers – that we who are being subjugated to pay for all of this crap, who are being driven from our homes, our cars, our churches, and being told that we had better stand quietly in the corner while our culture is wiped from the world, our children are mentally raped into abomination, our old are being cut off from the care they’ve paid and suffered for and killed off to remove them from the voting equation, our own votes are being over-ridden by ACORN-run massive vote-fraud, and a entire now voting block is being imported illegally to replace us.
That phrase campers is….
ETHNIC CLEANSING.
We are being systematically ETHNICALLY CLEANSED from the country that WE more than ANYONE ELSE built.
It is implicit in the totality of all of their plans that we be crushed, molested, sterilized, impoverished, and finally as killed off as were the 6 million Jews and millions of more others that were wiped away in places like Auschwitz.
The mechanism may be slower and more insidious (at least right now), but, the absolute focus of Obama and the Demoncrats around him to exterminate us is just as inexorable and as inescapable as is anything ever dreamt of by those who marched beneath the Nazi flag.
“Leading tea party activists are suffering from burnout and exhaustion. They are finding themselves unable to keep up the pace.”
I have no idea what a “leading tea party activist” is,know no names, and don’t really care who/what they are or what defines them.
I don’t “follow” so-called leaders, and do not respect anyone who claims “Tea Party” leadership. This would include those crapulent begathons existing online for funds.
Screw you.
I will throw the tea into the harbor whether you’re there or not. I will not give money to some third party. If I want a candidate to succeed. He/She will have my dough without any ‘organization’ rakeoff.
I’m forced to be in a Union. I know what that’s like.
Tea Party=Independent. And we’re staying that way.
No one espousing ‘leadership’ or ‘organiztion’ will get a dime from me. Ever.
Candidates: If you are the best, most conservative choice for elected office that I can get, I will support you. Expect labor and support instantly.
BUT: Be aware, that, the second that I find someone more conservative than you, I will (euphemistically, of course) cut your throat and hang you from the nearest tree as a warning to others.
Love and Hugs!
Anon 1:50
“You could have 10 mil tea party people in DC come 9.12 and they would still be ignored by Pelosi & Co.”
Yes, they would. But the purpose of having a large, visible turnout isn’t to somehow change Pelosi & Co. Progressives are, as you say, immovable.
It’s to make a showing so significant that the major media can no longer ignore or marginalize the burgeoning freedom movement in this country, so they can’t act as if it’s not a mainstream, widespread phenomenon. That publicity will bring those usually politically asleep into the movement and grow it to the needed size.
That latter is absolutely fundamental because it’s vital to get the overwhelming majority of the populace to understand what is happening and to make decisions in November (and long after) on the basis of pro-liberty principles.
“With public sentiment, nothing can fail. Without it, nothing can succeed.” Abraham Lincoln.
Addendum: Note, for example, that the protest the day before the HR 3590 vote was around 25,000. If it have been two million, don’t you think the major news outlets would have more widely reported what was going on?
Can you not imagine the impact that would have short and medium term?
Respectfully,
Jeff Perren
The end of the Tea party movement seems to be an exercise in wishful thinking on someones part. Very sad to see self proclaimed Conservatives like Andrew writing such bilge.
Not bothering to read all the comments, all I can say is that this Teabagger in a major Northern California city is primed to pump.
This is not the end.
It is the Clarion Call.
TPA’s are suffering from a different kind of burnout than you think…much like a child being put over his/her father’s knee and getting their buns ‘burned out’.
While they had to use every trick in the book (and some that weren’t), Obamacare passed. Amnesty is next with the promise of 30 million new loyal Democrat-for-life-voters. Scott Brown turned on them within weeks of taking office.
What laws and government programs that the TP has opposed has been reversed? What has been stopped? What can they even have claimed to have measurably slowed down?
Quite frankly, the whole thing has been a tempest in a teapot. A very LOUD tempest…but still mostly just lots of noise. They need to change tactics or admit defeat.
I do not believe that Progressives and Conservatives can coexist forever!
Not only will Progressives and Conservatives not coexist forever, but one of the two will actually prevail!
I disagree completely with the idea that tea partiers should move rallying to the back burner and place all their eggs in the electing free marketers basket. It’s not because I don’t believe the latter: I do. But the former — those messy, vibrant rallies — are where the spirit comes. Douse that and you will douse everything, including the media coverage that reluctantly came to the party.
Ever hear of the phrase: ‘the calm before the storm’….?
Interesting article and comments. Especially the ones that observe we are burned out, we are disappearing. Dan Benishek who is running against Stupak went from 600 Fans on Facebook to over 20,000 in a few days and over 11,000 in 4 hours. But we are disappearing. our group just went over 1,000 and it is still growing 5-10 people a day.
Admit defeat LOL !!! The Libs think one defeat means the fight is over. 11/2 is coming we will see who has become invisible, camoflauged their moves,and hidden their agenda.
“Be extremely subtle, even to the point of formlessness. Be extremely mysterious, even to the point of soundlessness. Thereby you can be the director of the opponent’s fate.” Sun Tzu
No, no. Tea Partiers, better known as the American people, haven’t suffered “burnout” from Obamacare…..if anything, Obamacare has fanned the flames of patriotism and conservatism in Americans. In November, the Taxes Enough Already party will send Obamacare supporters home to retirement in their districts. Real reform can be found in the words and ideas of Pau Ryan. Repeal the burden Obamacare has placed on our children for generations to come.
The Tea Party is not dead or dying, the movement is growing daily fueled by the career criminals in Congress of both parties. This didn’t start with Obamacare and it won’t end with it either. The Republicans paid off their banker buddies with TARP and the Democrats paid off the leftists with their stimulus. Both parties are to blame and the system is broken, so the American people have to be shaken awake from their slumber of stupidity and force to remember what this country stood for for 200 years. It was a place of SELF determination and equal opportunity regardless of starting point, but the progressives of both parties have made it a land of government determination and equal outcome. I for one don’t care how you package it, the career criminals need to go and they are only adding fuel to the fire with each passing day. Portions of Obamacare will never be repealed, but that doesn’t stop us from forcing change in the plan and enacting the things that will cause real change (such as nationally available insurance plans and tort reform). If these crazies try to pass cap & trade or amnesty then it is just another nail in their political coffin. We who believe in this country know that it is bigger than this current crop of criminals or the last, but we must fight and get others to join us or just wait to be led to the gallows because either we hang together or we will hang separately.
Fiscal conservatives have to do both – make our voices heard in a public forum and elect fiscal conservatives. In Ohio, specifically, OH House District 28, Mike Wilson – founder of the Cincinnati Tea Party – is running in a hotly contested Republican primary. Two of his opponents are long established Republican politicans. One voted for tax increases while on a suburban city council, the other testified [2007, OH House Ways & Means Committee] to keep Ohio’s horrible Death Tax, now he says he is against it. One of these two is having a fundraiser with a $1000 buy in, individual tickets are $150. This is what Mike is up against.
You want to elect true, committed fiscal conservatives? Go to http://www.CitizensForMikeWilson.com and make a donation, $10 – $15 – whatever you can afford.
“The tea party movement must realize effectiveness comes less from rallies and more from getting fiscal conservatives into office”
I’m all for seeing more independents in office — especially those who are suspicious of tax hikes and ObamaCare. But I wonder if Shikha Dalmia is closer to the truth of what the Tea Party could be when she writes in Forbes that mass civil disobedience against the insurance mandate come December would work — if the Tea Party becomes the “I won’t be forced to buy healthcare” movement it stays true to its mass movement, loosely affiliated form but could have a real impact on the viability of the bill. In the UK, it was the poll tax riots, not getting new politicians into office that forced the government to cave in.
http://www.forbes.com/2010/03/23/obamacare-politics-united-states-reform-opinions-columnists-shikha-dalmia.html
This is just silly. We dispatched about 100 people to the rally in DC, but the rest of our group had to stay behind because we were sponsoring debates for primary challengers in 3 different US House Districts that day!
This was lazy reporting, I’m sad to say. Perhaps instead of sitting around and doing a head count at rallies, you should check to see the REAL activities that Tea party groups are doing…pffft
We’re going NOWHERE, except to the House Chamber, as elected representives after the next election.
The progressives will use any and all means to effect their agenda. We don’t need pussies who quail at the thought of confrontation. Use their tactics against them. Call them bigots and racists and murderers of infants, verbally attack their wives and families, expose them for their hypocrisies and if the press balks, call them out as well. Be profane and call them what they are: traitors.
How many elections have there been since 2008 for Tea Partiers to support conservative candidates in? Let’s see.. Governors races in Virginia and New Jersey, which were won by conservatives. New York 23, which was won by Democrat, only because tea partiers/conservative movement brought attention to RINO Scozzafava, and that we sent a message that the RINO hunt has begun. (The Hoff will be back!) God providentially took Teddy K out of play and made it possible for Scott Brown to be elected Senator. He’s not a “Jim DeMint” conservative, but hey, he’s from Massachusetts, we’ll take him! These campaigns have led to a new phenomenon of online giving directly to the candidate you choose, not through the NRCC or RNC, because we just don’t trust them anymore to support conservative candidates.
As far as Mr. Perren’s comment of more people=more publicity. Yeah, the more people that protest, I think the harder the media tries to keep it under wraps. Just like in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington – the scene where the machine works overtime on a media blackout, that’s where we are with the mainstream media.
It is largely pointless in the long run (or often in the medium run) to vote for fiscal conservatives who are also not social conservatives because fiscons are most often squishy fish when it comes to crunch time. But like the McCainiacs the fiscon would rather lose than admit the truth and to similar effect. Right now, the Republican Party is still largely trying to win based on ‘We’re not as bad as the other guy’ with a dash of ‘We might repeal’.
But as the Emperor said. “The hate is strong with this one.”
Fiscon hate runs deep. Probably deeper than their love of liberty.
What would be interesting is 100 million people filing their taxes one week late. As a kind of reminder as who’s paying for all this.
Why are the activists tired? Easy. They did what they learned to do, what they were supposed to do when they wanted to influence their congressman. They wrote letters, they demonstrated, they shouted from the rooftops, “THIS IS WRONG!” In normal times, this would work. Congressmen and Senators would listen, moderate/eliminate the aspects of the bill that tick off a substantial portion of the electorate, and the compromise would become law.
This time, instead, they gave their constituents the middle finger. So now, the tea party movement is in the process of switching gears. Grass roots lobbying of “moderate” democrats obviously didn’t work. Now the movement needs to switch gears from lobbying candidates to throwing them out. The quiet you are hearing is the calm before the storm, as 30 million plus tea partiers/sympathizers start changing from lobby mode to campaign mode.
Don’t worry, by midsummer, it will be obvious to everyone that the political careers of a wide swath of democrats is coming to an end.
The tea party movement must realize effectiveness comes less from rallies and more from getting fiscal conservatives into office.
Ian Dodge must realize the tea party movement already realizes that.
What Ian is describing is a symptomatic of our culture — we’d rather hire it out than do it ourselves.
The point is not to stop the rallies but that rallies are not enough. We have to be willing to roll up our sleeves and do the hard work of really changing the system. Yes, sometimes that is writing a check to a candidate. But sometimes it means being a foot soldier — knocking on doors, making calls, or maybe even running for office ourselves.
As a homeschooler I run into this attitude all the time. Oh yes, there are spirited discussions about how lousy the public school system is, but rarely do I see the family willing to sacrifice time or lifestyle to either homeschool or send the children to a private school.
It is all a matter of priorities. Our actions reveal what our deepest concerns are. We will soon see just how serious the tea partiers are about taking back our country. Are we whiners or doers?
This is only the very start of how involved and fired up Amricans are and will be… Freedom loving, true Red, Whit and Blue Americans have had enough! Polls to not show the anger, worry and frustration of the vast silent majority to want our voices heard in Washington. We have been ignored far to long, we WILL be heard in November. With folks like Paul Ryan, wow is he great, I wish he would run for President in 2012, we have a strong new voice and there are others… Time to sweep out as many RINOS as possible while taking the House. We will not take the Senate till 2012 along with the White House, but we will have a huge impact on “the funds” to inact Obamanation Care. The House controls the spending, we take it, we take it BIG and with th huge losses Obama will be a lame duck and we will not provide the funds for 16,500 IRS agents, we will strangle the funds from Obama and the radical left and he can do nothing about it… The House spends the money and the money control is power. Your wrong if anyone thinks that America will take back from the radicals the Constitution and see that it is upheld and enforced. America, poll or no poll, is finaly awakend and will see more and more evidence of Obama thirst for power and socilisam. Wait till he goes for AMNESTY, if you think this was a fight, just wait and then ask this stupid question… The Tea Party WILL be a huge factor for good going forward.
As Walt Fitzpatrick sez, ‘There’s a talking part and a doing part.’
Carrying signs, sending emails, making phones, showing up at town halls and what have you is the talking part.
The doing part is when you become involved at the local and state levels: (see: The Precinct Alliance) Going to town and city council meetings and county commissioner meetings, going to school board meetings…run for office, even…
If ya wanna win, ya gotta show up and play the game. Carrying signs and going to protests is like cheer-leading from the sidelines. It’s necessary and good, but cheer-leaders don’t actually get on the court and play the game.
To quote a leader from the Tea Party Group of Northern Colorado “it was not a failure of the people but a failure of government”.
To answer your question . . . Is the Tea Party movement burning out? Do they have a viable future? The answer lies within the movement itself. I am not an avid follower of those within the movement, however I support there principle ideas. Unlike those that say this is a movement funded and promoted by the far right, I have found the movement to be quite dis-organized and fragmented AND attended by regular, everyday people.
I flew from the west coast to D.C. on 9-12-2009 and paid all of my own expenses. I did not show up with an organized group. You will probably find that most people that show up at a lot of these rallies have only one thing in common with the organizers…they believe in smaller and limited government.
I am driving 5 1/2 hours today to be in Search Light Nevada, tomorrow, March 27th for the Tea Party Rally. Like I say, I have no affiliation with the exception of my beliefs. The Politicians ( all of them . . . not just liberal Politicians ) simply do not understand the resolve of us who do not want a “fundamental” change in this great country. The fundamental change needs to be in Washington D.C. November is coming . . . my vote will not be behind closed doors.
G.E.B.
ObamaCare was passed so quickly not *just* because the Dems had a window of opportunity to control us, but because they want to kill off aging baby boomers who are about to retire and effectively reduce Social Security to ashes. Social Security has been the bank of Congress ever since it was established. They borrow against it, interest and payment free, for just about anything and everything they want to do. We’ve known for years that Social Security is a Ponzi scheme and would crash someday. This year for the first time, Social Security expenses are greater than payments in. So maybe the Dem’s are thinking “Time to put a stopper in that leak. We can’t pay all those retirement benefits. Maybe we can help them die off faster by reducing medical benefits and creating death panels.” It is basic animal nature for animals to kill each other off when faced with dimiinishing resources. Never forget that people are just animals who try (sometimes) to be civilized.
This Senicide also serves their original purpose – Control. If they kill off all the old people who remember what it was like to be free, while continuing to indoctrinate our young (see the many articles about liberal indoctrination in our universities and even elementary schools), then soon no-one will be left to oppose them for “lost” freedoms. No-one will remember what it means to be free. Only how to serve Dear Leader.
“The Devil was the first Democrat” -Lord Byron (early 1800′s)
“All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing” – Edmond Burke (1700′s)
“The evils of government are directly proportional to the tolerance of the people.” – Frank Kent
PP has a good point. Do those speaking out against government-run health care realize that they’re already forking their children over to government-run schools? If everyone opposed to Obamacare were to pull their kids out of government school this summer, it would send a big message and put their biggest weapon, indoctrination through education back in our arsenal. I think this would be a wonderful project for conservatives/tea partiers to take on while we wait for November – a campaign to defund the National Education Association by the removal of our children from public school.
Just what we need: Andrew Ian Dodge, an Englishman, giving the tea parties advice and commentary. I would have loved to read what he would have written about the first one in Boston. It would have been along the lines of: Is this a one shot affair? Can they keep it up? Surely, they cannot foment an armed rebellion.
RC: I am not an Englishman as it happens and never have been. Despite the fact some are trying to spread rumors I am not an American, I can assure you I am.
The Tea Partiers will work tirelessly to elect “conservative” Republicans who will do exactly NOTHING to make government smaller.
Why do you continue to believe their bullsh!t? Government didn’t get smaller under Reagan, it didn’t get smaller with Newt and it grew like a mother %$#@er under Bush.
The Republicans are the problem.
#76, That would be great idea. Even if everyone only pulled them out for a month or two and scared the bejeezers out of them.
It would cause them to lay off a lot of teachers because the students wouldn’t be there. And then even if most of the people sent them back a few months later, there would be pandemonium.
But I’m guessing after they got a taste of homeschooling freedom, few would want to go back. Everyone thinks it is so hard and they can’t do it, but they don’t realize how much love of your children spurs you on to do what you thought you could not.
#80, I’ve analyzed this prospect of undermining the government education monopoly on my newly formed blog.
Your right, if people realize that you can do in 3 hours what it takes the public school to do in 3 days, they might wake up to how inefficient government is in every endeavor. Plus you don’t have to buy 6 rolls of tp, 4 boxes of crayons, etc. at the beginning of school, plus the $25-$50 materials fee, plus being asked to buy (the kids sell) crappy wrapping paper and candy bars every month.
I’m all up for a protest trial period of homeschooling as so many people are out of work and home anyway. Maybe “keep your kids out of school until November 2″ should be our anthem. That would give people focus until voting day.
At the very least, read the constitution to your kids this summer; introduce them to our founding documents and the story of the Revolution. Read David McCollough’s 1776 out loud every night. There are lots of ways to keep up the momentum.
And the INVASION continues… http://www.BorderInvasionPics.com
I think we should dub them “TEA PARTY POOPERS” because it signals THE END.
When I enlisted years agao, I took an oath to defend the Constitution from all enemies, foreign AND domestic. Much of what has come to pass lately has been clearly unconstitutional. I know many that feel as I do. If this continues, elections will be the LAST things the progressives will need to concern themselves with.
Every dog gets one bite. Now that they have clearly proven that are unwilling to listen to the people, if they try similar shenanigans on immigration, or cap and trade, we won’t be carrying just signs to D.C. next time around.
“and it grew like a mother %$#@er under Bush.”
How many people do you know that think Bush was a conservative?
With apologies to our gentle host, as I promised last week, here are my notes on a speech from a conference I attended recently. The speaker told a way that the government is going to “help” us.
HITECH is a provision of ARRA (the Porkulus bill) dedicated to increasing our use of EHRs. EHR means Electronic Health Record. In the context of this talk, EHR means both “individual medical record” as well as “software used to record this medical record.”
[As background information here: there are a lot of software companies on the market providing EHRs or EMRs as they are also called (electronic medical records). These companies sell primarily to hospitals and other large organizations but also would like to sell into smaller practices. To date, the adoption rate is not high. The intentions are good: a good medical record can prevent the doctor from giving you drugs that have a bad effect with your other drugs, can give the doctor the complete picture of your health and history, and can eliminate duplicate tests.]
HITECH provides a “stronger and more effective set of incentives” for the adoption of EHRs.
Title 13 provides $2 billion to develop foundations for EHRs.
Title 4 provides $23 billion in incentives to Medicare/Medicaid providers who adopt “meaningful EHRs.”
At some point in the future (couple years?), there will be financial penalties, and they’ll be “much larger” than the incentives.
“We’re here to stay.”
They are working on rules for “meaningful use.” They’ve sent the proposed rules out for review (he didn’t specify who the reviewers are) and have received approx. 3000 comments. I think the final list is expected to be complete in 2012.
Currently on the list: At least 80% of the patients seen or admitted must have at least one entry in an EHR. At least 80% of patients 13 years old or older must have smoking/non-smoking status recorded. There were other items on the list, but I didn’t write them down.
There are plans to raise the bar in 2015, I think. Phrasing: we “plan to ratchet this up.”
ALSO, physicians must submit quality measures re smoking, blood pressure, and more. For hospitals, there is an even larger set of quality measures (more than 30).
EHRs must support standards when exchanging data.
[As more background here, there is a large set of standards related to medical data. Some of these pertain to data formats. Various states have privacy & security laws as well. Some EHR vendors and other players in the software industry have been working at mechanisms by which your doctor can get your medical records from other facilities, subject to patient consent. The intentions are good. But I hope I don’t have to remind anyone about 1) defects in software, 2) Joe the Plumber’s experiences with Ohio state employees.]
ALSO, EHRs must be certified by law. Politically it would not be feasible to simply mandate one particular vendor’s EHR, so we’re going with establishing a set of rules about what the EHR must do in order to be legally used by doctors who received Medicare/Medicaid $.
HITECH (or maybe part of our recent “healthcare” bill) funds an extension center to provide EHR assistance. The speaker talked about some three-bed hospital in Alaska that doesn’t have the funding, the manpower, “or—frankly—the talent” to implement an EHR. This extension center will “help” that hospital. [I’m guessing that everyone knows each other in that town and that an EHR is monumental overkill, but hey that’s just me.]
The speaker talked about NHIN—the National Health Information Network. Again the government is working on defining “meaningful use” for data exchange. We will need 50,000 MORE people THIS year and next to develop certification programs in healthcare IT (information technology). [The speaker has a PhD in healthcare IT, by the way.] We might be able to fill this need partly by hiring some people who have been laid off.
The legislation (not sure which bit) provides $20 million (I think) for “beacon communities.” The goal is to identify 15 communities, address a community health concern that can be addressed with interoperable EHRs. This is to be announced. The goal is to evaluate the impact of data exchange. [Odd this, because the speaker started out by telling us unequivocally that data exchange Is A Good Thing.]
The same legislation provides for Advanced Research Centers. To be announced soon. I didn’t write down a dollar figure.
This is all “purely voluntary,” said the speaker.
Also, the government “is adopting a free-market approach,” to pay for performance. [The speaker apparently doesn’t recognize that a free market requires multiple sellers acting freely, without rules established to eliminate all but one of the sellers.]
The tenor of the entire talk was about convincing doctors. I never once heard the speaker mention the notion that perhaps the PATIENTS would not care for all this.
Shedding Light on Searchlight’s Favorite Son
. . . Twenty years later Reid was elevated to be the Senate Majority Leader and he now stands as one of the most powerful individuals in the nation, along with fellow septuagenarian, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
In January, 2011, he will be unemployed, unless he joins the previous ousted Democrat Leader and tax cheat, D.C. gadabout lawyer, Tom Daschle as a lobbyist or whatever it is Daschle does for a living lately.
A nominal Mormon with tainted and ambivalent conservative credentials, Reid has finally been discovered by Nevadans for what he is.
Harry has become a typical Washingtonian and closet liberal who has been in office far too long . . .
(Read more at http://www.genelalor.com/blog1/?p=1593)
The Republicans need to get right with God! First the Republicans wanted to give Obama his Waterloo defeat over healthcare but instead they gave themselves their own Waterloo defeat by not participating in the debate of ideas and by becoming the party of obstructionist. Waterloo defeat refers of course to the defeat at Waterloo put an end to Napoleon’s rule as Emperor of the French and was the culminating battle of the Waterloo Campaign and Napoleon’s last. Republicans get right with God or get ready for future losses and Rush Limbaugh I real hope you enjoy your new home Costa Rica!
goy
Sorry, but someone who is a coward, fraud, and a liar cannot be taken seriously. In the article linked below:
http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/high-drama-amid-obamacare-threats/#comments-72
you were caught lying several times. The worst time was in post #72 where you suggested that you are a veteran. I’ve asked you repeatedly to name when and with what unit you served. You’ve repeatedly refused to answer those questions. A real veteran would be able to do so. It’s pathetic that you could be so cowardly as to pretend to be a veteran. Your comments cannot be taken seriously.
@88. Mr. Independent:
Oh, look! I have my very own stalker now!!
- You’ve repeatedly refused to answer those questions
Once again: I’m not obligated to answer your questions, turd.
Obama is coming to Portland, ME to gloat about Obamacare. There will be protests by tea party people from all over New England.