“Fight Club was the beginning, now it’s moved out of the basement, it’s called Project Mayhem.”

These Toolbags are not used to the silent majority, the people that go to work and school, protesting for American ideals and values. They are used to the douchebags that protest our troops, our pursuit of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, basically anything that is inherently American. The silent majority is no longer silent. This is only the beginning.

The Boston Tea Party was also an act of property destruction.

WW II was all about property destruction. It was property destruction for a greater good. It all depends whose property you are destroying and what good will come of it.

That’d be nice. Maybe if they hold these things again on election day.

RightOFLeft on April 15, 2009 at 5:53 PM

Who knows. They seem to be having them fairly frequently. I’d hope we don’t need one by then though.

It would be nice to live in a world where our politicians actually do serve our best interests rather than their own, a world where Murtha doesn’t have his name plastered all over his state and where politicians cannot repay favors with taxpayer dollar grants.

But I’m not naive. That’s why I’m just hoping for that one, small victory.

but if all it does is convince Spector (I think I’m picking the right guy), that we do care about pork, then I’d consider them a success.

Esthier on April 15, 2009 at 5:40 PM

That’d be nice. Maybe if they hold these things again on election day.

RightOFLeft on April 15, 2009 at 5:29 PM

But it’s obviously not just about taxes, which is why the CNN reporter’s question is so irrelevant.

It’s about the government broadly expanding its powers with our money. It’s about the fact that we can’t keep piling on the national debt like this, that something has to give.

I don’t know that these protests will have any impact. I’ve never had much faith in protests anyway, but if all it does is convince Spector (I think I’m picking the right guy), that we do care about pork, then I’d consider them a success.

That would work for any protest, which are by definition protesting some gripe. This one is specifically about improper spending of taxpayer dollars, taxpayers who obviously aren’t being represented in any meaningful sense of the word.

Esthier on April 15, 2009 at 5:13 PM

That’s pretty broad for a specific complaint. It could apply to just about any policy, since they almost all involve government spending. Judging by who’s showing up to these things, it does apply to any policy. Of course everybody’s for lower taxes on tax day, but what impact are these protests going to have in the long term (besides cheapening the memory of the Boston Tea Party)?

Yea, that’s bad. IMO, the Republicans should get just as much ire as the Dems. Every tea party should make an effort to stay non-partisan. The enemy here is spending and taxation, not a particular political party.

+1

(”You didn’t complain when Bush did it.” — er, yes, we did, but obviously not loud enough, which is why we’re pitching a fit right now with tea parties).

PersonalLiberty on April 15, 2009 at 5:17 PM

Which, to be fair, Bush’s TARP came right before the election, with not enough time to protest. The rest of his spending was bad, but we weren’t getting punched in the face with it as graphically as we are under President Obama.

Plus, didn’t they elect “change”? Not Bush2?

A lot of the spending started under Bush’s watch, which the Dems are now using as justification to keep going in that direction (“You didn’t complain when Bush did it.” — er, yes, we did, but obviously not loud enough, which is why we’re pitching a fit right now with tea parties).

I saw the CNN newsclip interviewing an adult male peaceful Tea Party protester. OF COURSE, the reporter insisted on answering her own question utilizing the MSM formatted skew. She kept repeating, “Don’t you realize that you’re getting X-amount from the Federal Government?!”

People whose governing principles are based on their momentary self-interest can’t understand tea parties. As long as they believe someone else is stuck with the bill, they don’t care how big the tab is.

It doesn’t matter whether we’re getting our extra $9/week when there are bigger things to worry about. We care about our country and its future.

Maybe they should have called them Gripe Clubs.

RightOFLeft on April 15, 2009 at 5:08 PM

That would work for any protest, which are by definition protesting some gripe. This one is specifically about improper spending of taxpayer dollars, taxpayers who obviously aren’t being represented in any meaningful sense of the word.

Yes, but that’s where the similarities end. That’s not what these protests are about.

Esthier on April 15, 2009 at 5:02 PM

What are these protests about, anyway? As long as Ed is pointing out that Fight Club is a poor analogy for the tea parties, the actual Boston Tea Party is a poor analogy for the tea parties. Maybe they should have called them Gripe Clubs.

“……. I’d fight Ghandi.”

Like I said, lovin’ all the anti-Bush signs.

Grow Fins on April 15, 2009 at 4:48 PM

Yeah, cause the man’s not in power. Did you miss our last election?

The Boston Tea Party was also an act of property destruction.

RightOFLeft on April 15, 2009 at 4:58 PM

Yes, but that’s where the similarities end. That’s not what these protests are about.

And at what price does a citizen legitimately sell out liberty in order to indulge in NATIONAL BANKRUPTCY? What difference does it make how much you “get” from a bankrupt nation?

O, the humanity! AS IF The Tea Party is “anti-government” as this young CNN female reporter surmised from her employers prefabricated message (herself AT MOST given a few years experience being a tax payer, no longer qualifying as a DEPENDENT).

The Tea Party is pro-government because the INDIVIDUAL cares to participate.

HotAir, market T-shirts made of fabric printed with the US Constitution for Americans to wear, please.

We hold our elected officials responsible to uphold their Constitutional requirements. THAT is as pro-government as it gets.

Fight Club depicts a man’s journey from beta to alpha.

Allah, are you paying attention?

WisCon on April 15, 2009 at 4:52 PM

He’s working on getting to Beta. Give him a chance

:p

Er … thanks, Matt. Maybe Matt hasn’t actually watched Fight Club, but Project Mayhem was a terrorist plot to blow up several high-rise buildings containing all of the credit and banking information in the world.

The Boston Tea Party was also an act of property destruction. I guess you’re right, though, Fight Club is a poor analogy to today’s tea parties.

I am Jack’s raging bile duct.

Like I said, lovin’ all the anti-Bush signs.

Grow Fins on April 15, 2009 at 4:48 PM

Indeed. The ‘two-party’ system is broken with both ‘sides’ being blinded to the reality that there is much more uniting us than dividing us, but unfortunately for the sheeples, they willingly go along with the left vs. right games… meanwhile, the government continues on its merry march of squasing individual liberty, capitalism, and freedom.

So for all the ‘tea-party’ attenders, enjoy today when you get to blow off some steam, feel like you made a difference, and then when you wake up tomorrow you will perhaps realize that all of this just superficial. Treatment of the symptom at best, while the real work of taking our country back has yet to be done.