Some extra bits from the Roanoke Tea Party meeting Thursday night UPDATED
Former Tea Party president and vice president Chip Tarbutton and Greg Aldridge
Correction: Greg Aldridge was not vice-president of the Tea Party. This post has been corrected to reflect that.
My Sunday column is about the Roanoke Tea Party, and their obsession with the do-gooding environmental group ICLEI — the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives — and their demands that Roanoke County disassociate itself from that group.
I’ve earlier written about this issue here and here and here. Now it looks like it’s actually coming up for a vote before the Board of Supervisors Jan. 24.
So Thursday night I went to the Tea Party’s meeting the Holiday Inn Tanglewood to do some reporting for the column. But some other interesting stuff came up at the meeting that I couldn’t really fit into the newspaper version. So here it is.
1) One of RTP’s legislative priorities this year in Richmond is a bill by Del. Bob Marshall, R-Manassas, that would assure the continued availability of incandescent light bulbs in Virginia. A bipartisan bill Congress passed in 2007, and signed by President Bush, and which the light-bulb industry pushed for, is phasing these energy-wasting dinosaurs out.
Marshall’s bill would essentially exempt Virginia and allow for their manufacture here. It could require Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli to sue the feds for the right to have those old bulbs in the commonwealth.
“The point is, the federal government has no right or authority to determine who can build 100-watt light bulbs who can buy them,” former Tea Party President Chip Tarbutton told the crown of about 45 people.
There was much applause.
2) Another new windmill the Roanoke Tea Party is tilting at is the Virginia Standards of Learning, commonly called the SOLs. These were adopted under former Gov. George Allen. Essentially, they dictate the information in public schools that students are taught. There are legitimate reasons to criticize the SOLs, but the Tea Party has come up with some of the most bizarre ones imaginable.
A guest speaker ran down a horrifying list of these things, and among the outrages was that America has a democratic form of government. This is considered outrageous because the term “democracy” is a dirty word in the Tea Party movement. Our government is “a Republic, NOT a democracy,” they say. The truth is, it’s a representative republic in which those representatives are democratically elected. I think they’re finding insult where there’s little, if any injury.
The speaker suggested that schoolkids are being taught this to soften up their minds so that they will accept the day when one-world government comes to the Earth. I’m not making this up at all.
3) Chip Tarbutton, the longtime Tea Party president, and Greg Aldridge, the sergeant at arms, have temporarily stepped aside from their leadership roles in the Roanoke Tea Party.
This is so they can take paid positions with the U.S. Senate campaign of E.W. Jackson, a Tea Party favorite who’s among the candidates vying for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate. Among his challenger is former Sen. George Allen. Jackson reminds me a lot of perennial Senate and presidential candidate Alan Keyes (who is from Maryland but challenged Barack Obama in 2004 in a Illinois contest for U.S. Senate. Keyes went down in flames, like he always does).
The new president, at least for the time being, is Greg Honeycutt.
So there you go folks: All the stuff I couldn’t fit into Sunday’s column. Make sure you stay tuned for that!
UPDATE: In the comments below I’ve expanded on the some of the revelation the Tea Party’s guest speaker made about the SOLs. I’m reprinted that here to give it a added prominence.
The guest speaker was a mom who got involved when one day one of her kids came home from school with a crossword puzzle that had “acid rain” and “global warming” in it.
- “I don’t agree with global warming and acid rain,” she said. You know, GW is still (in some quarters) debatable. But acid rain is not. Not agreeing with it is like not agreeing with sunshine.
- Some of the other objections the guest speaker cited as outrageous in the SOLs were that students are taught to be active citizens, the SOLs mention human rights, as opposed to natural rights (which is part of the socialist one-world government agenda), and that the SOLs “idolize” native Americans for living peacefully and in harmony with the environment.
- She also made a big deal out of the fact that when she went to school, she learned that that humans “adapted” to their environment. Now (shudder) the SOLs instruct schools to teach that humans “relate” to their environment.
- Schools are collecting information, via survey homework assignments students did, on whether families are recycling and how much, and how long parents lets the water run when they’re brushing their teeth.
- The SOLsmention the world court, in the form of a question, and that suggests “They’re pushing our children to accept that the world court knows what’s best for us, because they want to take down our borders.”
- She vociferously objected to all the mentions of democracy in the SOLS. “They just want to stick democracy in as much as they can.”
- She made a real big deal out of the fact that the SOLs refer to the government of the United States as a “national” government rather than a “federal government,” although she conceded that in at least a couple of instances they had left “federal” in.
She concluded her presentation with these remarks.
“This is not an education!
This is social engineering!
This is indocrination!
This is a progressive agenda!”
To which one Tea Party member shouted fervently:
“Progressive like cancer!”
Now if there are any TPers who were there and are reading this, they can confirm it’s true. They wouldn’t dare dispute it, because they know it’s true. I’m not making it up at all.
January 7, 2012 - 8:00 AM
They somehow manage not to address one thing of any relevance. That in itself is a talent.
Dan, were they serving kool-aid?
No, Bill.
They were serving up water, coffee and pinto beans (along with a lot of what I considered to be nonsense).
Yeah, Perdue…they WERE serving Kool-aid….only a slightly different flavor as what Obama served the Nations idiots in 2008.
Some suggested reading, as you ridicule and demonize (Alinsky-style) those who are recognizing the “fundamental transformation” of our Constitutional Republic: Whittaker Chambers’ book “Witness,” “None Dare Call It Treason,” Hayek’s “The Road to Serfdom,” among others.
While the word “democracy” gets hi-jacked by the likes of the Muslim Brotherhood (a group that is NOT “secular”), that is not the primary reason for a concern over its use as the proper descriptive for the Constitutional Republic our Founders established — and the States confirmed. Democracies, historically speaking, are fleeting and are a stepping-stone to tyranny. Benjamin Franklin and other Founders (who knew history far better than we) sought to create a republic based on a constitution — and underscoring in the primary documents that the bases of the rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of (not necessarily the attainment of) happiness is granted, not by a “national” government, but by a Creator. Such rights are granted by Divine Providence and so cannot be repealed or revoked by human governments. Franklin said to that woman that we had a Republic (if you can keep it).
You will, no doubt, continue to ridicule and marginalize those who recognize that this Constitutional Republic — a form of government that has brought unheralded prosperity and opportunity — historically singular — to more people (and not just here in the US) than any other form of government — is at risk.
But your ridicule and marginalization will not, thank Heavens, stop them. You may hinder them and mislead others into dismissing the hard and important work they do.
Did they have cornbread to go with the beans?
wow! Those tea party folks sure are crazy loons. Imagine wanting to discard SOL’s and advocating for the freedom to buy whatever lightbulb suits our needs. The next thing you know they might start saying that that the government is wasting our tax dollars and that our debt is unsustainable.
I far prefer the self pity and class envy touted by OWS.
Doubtless there are at least 45 people in Roanoke who believe in UFO’s and little green men. And it has about as much interest for normal people. I have never seen people work so hard at being irrelevant, reckless, feckless and cultish; not to mention whacko. Like I said, the “far” is code for crazy. The “far” right and the “far” left are both “crazy” in the big political picture and these “far righters” are no exception. There is a difference in wanting to help and being part of the problem. I could go on and on but the bottom line is frustrated people spinning their wheels.
The guest speaker was a mom who got involved when one day one of her kids came home with a crossword puzzle that had “acid rain” and “global warming” in it.
“I don’t agree with global warming and acid rain,” she said. You know, GW is still (in some quarters) debatable. But acid rain is not. Not agreeing with it is like not agreeing with sunshine.
Some of the other objections the guest speaker cited as outrageous in the SOLs were that students are taught to be active citizens, the SOLs mention human rights, as opposed to natural rights (which is part of the socialist one-world government agenda), and that the SOLs “idolize” native Americans for living peacefully and in harmony with the environment.
She also made a big deal out of the fact that when she went to school, she learned that that humans “adapted” to their environment. Now (shudder) the SOLs instruct schools to teach that humans “relate” to their environment.
She also said that schools were collecting information, via survey homework assignments students did, on whether families are recycling and how much, and how long parents lets the water run when they’re brushing their teeth.
The SOLs also mention the world court, in the form of a question, and that suggests “They’re pushing our children to accept that the world court knows what’s best for us, because they want to take down our borders.”
She vociferously objected to all the mentions of democracy in the SOLS. “They just want to stick democracy in as much as they can.”
She made a real big deal out of the fact that the SOLs refer to the government of the United States as a “national” government rather than a “federal government,” although she conceded that in at least a couple of instances they had left “federal” in.
She concluded her presentation with these remarks.
“This is not an education!
This is social engineering!
This is indocrination!
This is a progressive agenda!”
To which one Tea Party shouted fervently:
“Progressive like cancer!”
Now if there are any TPers who were there and are reading this, they can confirm it’s true. They wouldn’t dare dispute it, because they know it’s true. I’m not making it up at all.
Oh please, do not try that pious, BS line about patriots looking to “save” their country. These are frustrated fools without a clue and they will be as effective as The Ben Franklin Thinking Society, DC Stop Modern Slavery Group, Radical Progress Initiative, Advocates for Self-Government, Empower America, John Birch Society, or the big guys, Center for American Progress, Common Cause, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, United We Stand America, or Log Cabin Republicans, in other words, there is a group for everyone, the effective ones even make some sense.
If your child to grow up as backwards as you are, homskul them. Don’t expect schools to teach whatever nut ball fantasies you subscribe to.
“I dont agree with acid rain”? Tough.
Thank heavens the TP is addressing the mighty lightbulb issues of our time. Im sure that’ll create lots of jobs.
So then in their perfect world there would not be no mention of anything to do with globe warming or acid rain?
The one thing that makes these folks a bit out there are such comments like this lady stated at that meeting. The one thing the GOP does not want is someone running on a tea party ticket. Because they will not win which shows how small a group they are not only in numbers but all those looney ideas.
“Some of the other objections the guest speaker cited as outrageous in the SOLs were that students are taught to be active citizens, the SOLs mention human rights, as opposed to natural rights (which is part of the socialist one-world government agenda), and that the SOLs “idolize” native Americans for living peacefully and in harmony with the environment.”
In what universe is being an active citizen, believing in human rights and living peacefully and in harmony with nature, terrible?
The guest speaker and those who agree with her want people to take them seriously? Only those with deranged minds, will.
Do they have any idea what “democracy” means?
From Dictionary.com
de·moc·ra·cy /dɪˈmɒkrəsi/ Show Spelled[dih-mok-ruh-see] Show IPA
noun, plural -cies.
1. government by the people; a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral system.
2. a state having such a form of government: The United States and Canada are democracies.
3. a state of society characterized by formal equality of rights and privileges.
4. political or social equality; democratic spirit.
5. the common people of a community as distinguished from any privileged class; the common people with respect to their political power.
Bless their hearts….
Do you suppose the tinfoil hats are for covering their pointy little heads?
There is a perfect two word description for this bunch. It’s paranoid irrelevance.
Clowns.
“class envy”, really terps. What is to be envious of a group who are so self righeous as to believe we would be envious of them when nothing could be farther from the truth, pig headed, greedy, usually over weight and balding whose only passion or love is money.
Feel sorry for them, maybe, if they weren’t so nasty and unlovable.
Dan
An OWS protestor defacated on a police car in NYC. Somehow that Tea Party meeting you attended does not seem to have approach that level of deviency. Seems to me like you have some conservative folks there who are concerned about the coursening of our culture.
It is understandable to disagree with them. But I bet you they are fairly responsible citizens. It’s a safe bet that the personal hygiene of the attendees last night was logarithmically better than OWS in Oakland and NYC.
Hope there wasn’t any Godless fluoride in the water they served!
Dan@12:52
As you know, there are plenty of legitimate issues woith the SOLs including the fact that they foster rote teaching and little development of critical thinkng skills. But these guys are not looking to change that. Instead they want the rote learning skills to reflect their own peculiar and wacky philosophies just as the wingnut curriculum revisionists have done in Texas. If the SOL’s reflected questions about
UN conspiracies, creationism, God, the flag and apple pie, they would be quite happy.
#7 terps, why don’t you tell us more details about all the smelly Roanoke Occupiers taking over Elmwood and driving away families and leaving trash all over and going to the bathroom in public.
“An OWS protestor defacated on a police car in NYC.”
Link, please.
One of the many differences between terps and me is that I have been to both Occupy and Tea Party meetings and he has never been to one of either. He fancies that makes him a better judge of both groups.
Question for you, terps: If you ever need to have your gall bladder removed, and you had to pick between two surgeons, would you choose the doc who had NEVER observed that operation, or the one who had?
#19 “OWS protestor defacated on a police car in NYC.”
I’d be a little careful there Terps, as the first to “report ” this story was Fox News and was picked up by other RW media. Did you by chance see the photo? The man is leaning up against a patrol car, hiding his face – pants at his knees….looks very very staged… how sad that you are focused on that “faux” Fox photo, but you don’t seem concerned about peaceful students sitting quietly getting pepper sprayed within inches and directly into their faces, eyes, mouths. [Don't care much about the Second Amendment?]
The photo is available for your enjoyment @
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2046586/Occupy-Wall-Street-Shocking-photos-protester-defecating-POLICE-CAR.html?ito=feeds-newsxml
13 Suns
I think the tinfoil hats have built in antennas so they can receive the signals from the aliens in outer space who are providing them with information on all the conspiracies which they fear. Without the tinfoil hats none of them would be able to hear the little voices with the instructions on what to do.
Art
Here is your link. You may want to take a shower after you see it.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2046586/Occupy-Wall-Street-Shocking-photos-protester-defecating-POLICE-CAR.html
One of the differences between Dan and me is that I could not withstand the boredom of attending an OWS protest or a Tea Party meeting. But I know how to read. And every word mouthed by OWS protestors wreaks of self pity and envy. The main thrust of the Tea Party is not SOL’S or light bulbs. You know that is a deliberate (albeit funny) distortion of the Tea Party. They are concerned about our increasing dependence on Government and it’s accompaning loss of freedom. They have zeroed in on onerous federal taxes and , for that, I commend them.
“One of the differences between Dan and me is that I could not withstand the boredom of attending an OWS protest or a Tea Party meeting. But I know how to read. . .”
terps, congrats for being able to read. You may think I’m blowing smoke here, but I can do that, too!
I don’t recommend it, but if you’re so ADD that you couldn’t withstand “the boredom of attending an OWS protest or a Tea Party meeting” you could always try Adderall, which is available by prescription, or for a buck per milligram on the street.
I assure you, the Tea Party meeting Thursday was not boring at all (to me).
What proof does anyone on this (or any other) planet have that the disgusting and criminal individual who “defacated on a police car in NYC” was an Occupy protester or supporter? What, about Wall Street Greed and money corrupting our politics, covers that “protest”? You and other right wingers believe that is representative because you want to, but we all know there is no proof of that, none whatsoever. I can imagine that all sorts of vandalism and crime happen within a ten block radius of any protest, parade, event or rally, but cause and effect are not proven. There is no wonder some of you need to hide in anonymity. None at all.
You want to talk about people’s behavior at OWS protests, but given the “interaction” from some of the TPR’s it is quite obvious how they would have reacted to the police or anyone else “reining them in” or shutting them down. You are only fooling yourself if you think they are not capable and willing to resort to violence, insult and vandalism. But then, that is your specialty.
Leftwingers are under the impression that all members of the Tea Party attend rallies and meetings. I don’t think anybody in here would argue my Tea Party dedication, yet I have never been to a meeting, don’t know Mr. Tarbutton, don’t receive any mail or messages from the so-called Tea Party leaders. But I do vote, and I do contribute to Tea Party candidates and we are the majority of Americans. That’s why the tidal wave last November.
The Tea Party, like Terps said, is a movement dedicated to smaller government and a control of taxes. It is not a party or an organization; it is a sentiment.
Dan.
I can always tell if I’m speaking with a Teabagger – or Fox News viewer – they will, to a person, say at least one of these talking points in a conversation:
“Obamacare”;
Obama is half white/half black, Cain is the “real” black man;
The rich are “job creators”;
Obama wasn’t born in America;
Obama is: a socialist; a nazi; worst than Hitler; a communist; a Muslim…
No such thing a global warming;
We’re losing our freedoms, and
TP’s “want to take back their country”
I guess now that you’ve gotten the new talking points, I’ll be prepared to hear about them in conversations with my TP friends…thanks Dan for the heads-up!
Geez,
Who knew? I read the SOL’s every day and never, ever knew what a conspiracy there was to infiltrate young minds with such pernicious content.
I know it’s Saturday night, but for some bed time reading, you can find all the SOL’s you want right here:
http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/sol/standards_docs/history_social science/index.shtml
Just for kicks, download two documents: 1) The 12th grade standards for Government and US History and 2) The Curriculum Frame work for the same.
The standards are very broad, so soon after they were adopted, the State realized they actually needed to help students and teachers figure out specific content that was likely to be assessed. That’s what the curriculum framework is. It’s this framework that teachers generally use as a guide as to what’s likely going to be assessed, and reflects more accurately what should be taught.
It might be kind of fun to develop a full blown subversive conspiracy for all of them.
terps believes that one errant jackass’s public bowel movement is worse than Wall Street greed. Go figure.
Personally, I believe acid rain is a plot by southerners to force Yankee fly fishermen to come down here for their catches, after we killed all their trout.
@#35: Except that Shenandoah Nat’l Park is one of the more heavily impacted areas, from being on the eastern slope of the mountains at the latitude of many Ohio/W.Va. acid rain making industries, including lots of AEP coal plants.
#31 Haven’t gotten treatment for those delusions yet?
“we are the majority of Americans”
Reality check:
The percentage of Americans who expressly state that they are supporters of the Tea Party movement is currently about as large at 22 percent of the population. http://cnsnews.com/news/article/tea-party-movement-large-nation-s-entire-liberal-population-say-gallup-polls
Just 28 percent of Americans hold favorable views of the tea party, an all-time low in the 19 months that CNN/ORC pollsters have gauged Americans’ feelings about the movement. At the same time, 53 percent of Americans think poorly of the tea party, an all-time high. According to CNN/ORC, the movement’s popularity peaked in the spring of 2010, when 38 percent of Americans said they liked the tea party and only 36 percent said they didn’t. http://motherjones.com/mojo/2011/09/tea-party-poll-unpopular
Ok Dan
I will down some Adderall and go to the next Tea Party meeting with you. But heavy drugs and four point restraints could not get me to endure the sight of young Americans at an OWS protest not taking advantage of the incredible opportunities that this country has to offer.
Well after all, we all know that there are no Conservative, Moderate or non-left wing teachers in any public classroom, so of course it is all about “indoctrination”. Why else would Thomas Jefferson have supported “public education? If the world were run by those “informed” FauX News viewers, Heaven only knows how far back we would be.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/kenrapoza/2011/11/21/fox-news-viewers-uninformed-npr-listeners-not-poll-suggests/
#27 Well, I see a guy hiding his face with pants down but no defecation. I see no evidence he’s an OWS person. Gonna have to do better than that.
And while you’re at it, could you provide some evidence of all the dirty, nasty stuff you said Occupiers are doing in Elmwood?
terps
A picture of a wino from a British tabloid isn’t proof. Fact is no one ever tied the guy to the protest, except Fox.
I would think, not seeing the defecation is something to be thankful for. I know what you’re saying though, Gdad.
From most of the Occupy protesters I have seen, heard and listened to they are more than “taking advantage of the incredible opportunities that this country has to offer” they are in fact embracing the gifts they have and trying to show others that what this nation “offers” has been corrupted, manipulated and controlled by the money from Wall Street via the legislative manipulation from candidates they own. You are like the people who hid their heads in the sand in Rabbi Niemöller’s moving words:
“First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out —
Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out —
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out —
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me — and there was no one left to speak for me.”
“Niemöller, like most of his compatriots, was largely silent about the persecution and mass murder of the European Jews. Only in 1963, in a West German television interview, did Niemöller acknowledge and make a statement of regret about his own antisemitism”
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007392
By the time people like terps and Suzie admit there is a problem, it will be too late for any hope, change or reversal of the Plutocracy they want to usher in under the guise of “smaller government and a control of taxes”. Remember what the wise man said: “When fascism comes to America, it will come wrapped in the flag and waving a cross”. Or maybe: “It is a peculiarity of the development of American fascism that at the present stage it comes forward principally in the guise of an opposition to fascism, which it accuses of being an “un-American” trend imported from abroad.” Or perhaps: “When and if fascism comes to America it will not be labeled ‘made in Germany’; it will not be marked with a swastika; it will not even be called fascism; it will be called, of course, ‘Americanism’”
http://technoccult.net/archives/2010/03/03/who-really-said-when-fascism-comes-to-america-it-will-come-wrapped-in-the-flag-and-waving-a-cross/
Perhaps if terps had been there and seen it with his own eyes he would be able to vouch that the guy was part of OWS. But he might have been bored…
I encourage anyone who doesn’t believe in global warming to check their daffodil beds.
Or perhaps: “When and if fascism comes to America it will not be labeled ‘made in Germany’; it will not be marked with a swastika; it will not even be called fascism; it will be called, of course, ‘Americanism’”
Still waiting for the name of the dictator who called for smaller government. LOL. I’ll be waiting a long freaking time.
“Wall Street greed” = corporate profit = a thriving economy
THAT’s what leftwingers are opposed to.
“Still waiting for the name of the dictator who called for smaller government. LOL. I’ll be waiting a long freaking time.”
Yawn. Pinochet.
When ONE MAN controls an entire nation, how much effing smaller can a government be dumdrop?
Pardon me, that should read “gumdrop”.
“that should read “gumdrop”.”
You had it right the first time.
Miss Suzie, I know you’re pretending not to see my two posts from earlier today concerning my age and that you were, once again, wrong. That’s okay, honey.
I had to chuckle when I realized you remind me of Fonzie, from Happy Days, and how he could never say the word, “wrong”. He always said, “Wrrroo….wrrrooo…wroo…I just can’t do it!”
Let me know if you need me to clarify anything else you might ‘believe’ or ‘think’ or ‘remember’.
Thank you, operatives of UN Agenda 21, for guiding the citizens of the Roanoke Valley to the realization they can ultimately cut their carbon footprint by ceasing to exist. All powerful eco-socialists, you are commended for raising awareness of the injustices thrust upon Mother Earth by evil coal and the incandescent.
Yawn. Pinochet.
Dan is saying Pinochet voluntarily reduced the size of his own government, ergo reduced his own power.
That, of course, didn’t happen.
“Fascism should more appropriately be called Corporatism because it is a merger of state and corporate power.”
–Benito Mussolini (1883-1945), Fascist Dictator of Italy
Government policies that encourage Wall Street greed = corporate profit = Corporatism = Fascism.
According to the guy who INVENTED fascism, not the dweebs who have redefined it to suit their silly rhetorical pap.
Miss Suzie, I know you’re pretending not to see my two posts from earlier today concerning my age and that you were, once again, wrong. That’s okay, honey.
I can see it now. The creator of “13 Suns’ is going to decide she is no longer useful and say she died. Then all the blockheads on here will write some flowery crap mourning the passing of a fictitious person. It’ll be like Captain Tuttle.
–Benito Mussolini (1883-1945), Fascist Dictator of Italy
Which measures did Mussolini introduce that diminished his power and that of his government?
Crickets.
LOL.
Ah, Once again Suzie Q presumes someone was responding to her assininity. My post of a quote from Benito Mussolini was just that, a quote from a fascist providing a definition of fascism. When I originally saw the quote I was struck by its similarity to the basic tenents of the current Republican/Tea party since the 1970s.
“I can see it now. The creator of “13 Suns’ is going to decide she is no longer useful and say she died. Then all the blockheads on here will write some flowery crap mourning the passing of a fictitious person. It’ll be like Captain Tuttle.”
Captain Tuttle! I LOVED that episode! See there, Miss Suzie? We have something in common. We both have watched M*A*S*H!
But it’s pretty easy to verify someone’s death.
Suzie thinking that all people in their 80′s are ignorant of pop culture/current events and are just sitting around waiting to die, proves how out of touch she is.
[--"Debbie says:
Suzie thinking that all people in their 80′s are ignorant of pop culture/current events and are just sitting around waiting to die, proves how out of touch she is."--]
Betty White, who is just a few days shy of 90 years old, is herself a pop icon these days. She even hosted Saturday Night Live. My favorite character of hers was Sue Ann Nivens. I was looking around on YouTube (yes, even old folks look at the YouTube) for a good clip from the MTM Show to share, when I found this one, which is simply wonderful:
http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=nUKyLJ9-eIQ
Suzie thinking that all people in their 80′s are ignorant of pop culture/current events and are just sitting around waiting to die, proves how out of touch she is.
Not at all hon. The puppeteer play 13 Suns is nowhere near his/her 80s.
I love Betty White, 13 Suns.
“Suzie says
I can see it now. The creator of “13 Suns’ is going to decide she is no longer useful and say she died. Then all the blockheads on here will write some flowery crap mourning the passing of a fictitious person. It’ll be like Captain Tuttle.”
Which is more than what will happen when the Suzie-puppeteer decides to kill off the fake Suzie puppet. Something tells me the blog will not mourn the loss.
“Debbie says:
Suzie thinking that all people in their 80′s are ignorant of pop culture/current events and are just sitting around waiting to die, proves how out of touch she is.”
That’s because Suzie’s only knowledge of how people in their 80s are supposed to act is based on those decrepit old geezers that ‘God appoints’ to lead the Catholic church. The Pope before this current one had one foot so far in the grave, they propped him up and dragged him around like a real life Papal Weekend at Bernie’s.
Suzie, which measures did any Republican President introduce that diminished his power or that of the government? Which measures did any Republican Congressman champion that diminished his/her power or that of the government?
You have consistently thrown that up as proving the Conservative credentials of Republicans, so show us what examples you have?
I am predicting “Crickets”, maybe even an “LOL”
BTW, you are still pretending that Conservatives and “right wingers” are the same thing and they are clearly not.
I was thinking yesterday how we sort of have the same conversations every day on this blog and 95% of the blame for that goes to the trolls who cannot abide liberals, progressives and forward thinking people so they must stifle, malign and derail the discussions, but truly I feel sorry for the right wingers who come here. If my life was so empty that I had to visit a right wing site and take the abuse for trying to demean them, I would give it up. You folks are like alcoholics who cannot stop drinking, but as long as you need your daily fix of being kicked in the teeth, proven to be closed-minded liars and parrots, I am happy to oblige for as long as it takes.
“BTW, you are still pretending that Conservatives and “right wingers” are the same thing and they are clearly not.”
Gotta agree with Sandi here. Many conservatives, such as Virginia’s former Sen. John Warner, are principled and rational, whereas RWers rarely are. Some of the more hot-headed conservatives (I put terps in this category) will offer rhetorical support to the crazy excesses of the RWers, but only if they see a gain for their cause in it. In other words, they find some long-term self-interest in supporting the RW nutballs, at least when their identities are cloaked.
This country has seen everything the Roanoke Tea Party is offering before. It used to be called the John Birch Society, and principled conservatives trashed them.
#67 “If my life was so empty that I had to visit a right wing site and take the abuse for trying to demean them, I would give it up.”
First you’d have to find a right-wing site that wouldn’t quickly throw you off.
That’s because Suzie’s only knowledge of how people in their 80s are supposed to act is based on those decrepit old geezers that ‘God appoints’ to lead the Catholic church. The Pope before this current one had one foot so far in the grave, they propped him up and dragged him around like a real life Papal Weekend at Bernie’s.
Comment by Contrasuzie — January 9, 2012 @ 7:32 am
Contra,
John Paul II was, at the end of his life, in need of significant support. Perhaps it would have been better to keep him behind closed doors until his passing. My reading of things is that the public appearances he made were of his choosing not those around him. His life, when taken as a whole, was more significant that most in modern times. Your reference to him in the context of a weekend at Bernie’s was offensive to me. Just as you & I disapprove of the names some on this blog use to refer to Pres. Obama, we need to be careful how we refer to individuals like Pope John Paul II. Every person is entitled to recognized with dignity & respect irregardless of his/her station in life or their physical/mental condition.
In short, just because some fail in that respect, it doesn’t mean we have to stoop to their level.
“Ron says,
…Your reference to him in the context of a weekend at Bernie’s was offensive to me….”
Ron, please accept my apology. I’m sure you realize that my post was meant to insult Suzie’s screwed up view of how senior citizens should write, act, speak, and behave and also to insult her ‘faith’, of which she bears poor witness on a daily basis.
I said on another comment thread recently that I would probably cross the line again and it appears I have done so. Again, please accept my apology. Out of respect for you, in the future, I shall frame my comments concerning Suzie’s ‘faith’ in a way that will not belittle your belief system or the beliefs of those Catholics who aren’t hypocrites.
#71 Although you might have crossed the line, contra, believe me, troll suzie has insulted Ron concerning his beliefs more times than you can count. She/it is much, much, much more offensive than anything you’ve said.
Contra & gdad,
I don’t always succeed but I’ve made the commitment to do my very best to ignore you know who’s insults and ravings. My view is that when we respond in like manner to her insults we lower ourselves to her level. Beyond that, depending upon who we choose to insult, in order to get back at her, we often insult someone else unintentially.
I’ve had the honor of meeting Pope Benedict in 2007 when he came to the U.S. Most presidents of American catholic colleges and universities traveled to Catholic University in Washington, D.C. to meet with the Pope and discuss Catholic higher education in the U.S. It was an interesting meeting. I doubt I’ll ever have another chance to personally meet a Pope. Despite what one thinks about the current Pope or the Catholic Church, he is the Pope and that carries with it, in my view, a moral authority unlike other leaders we know.
Let me close by reminding you of something I said in my earlier comment. Everyone, irregardless of their station in life, or mental or physical condition, deserves to be treated with dignity and respect. Name calling doesn’t do that. That’s partially why I called Contra’s. That’s enough for now.