I agree this nation needs some tough love, I disagree that anyone in the so called “TEA Party” is capable of it. All they have is hate, ignorance and lies.

As for Eddie’s use of the common analogy of U.S. fiscal policy and an addict, I would agree with it IF it were refined to specify that the addict is a suburban white person who has not had to serve in national service, who has other habits like obesity and smoking subsidized by taxpayers, who doesn’t give much voluntarily to the public good and complains about the minimum they’re required to give, and despite not having bothered to exceed their own parents level of productivity, had nonetheless had a decent job before their addiction interfered. That’s for a start, but I think you’ll get my point: the real fiscal addicts who cost us the most are not those that rhetoric about “takers” usually convey.

I see Tea Partiers as 2 wings. Wing one are the selfish oldsters who like the Tea Party which has promised not to change SS benefits for those already retired but intend to slash benefits for the younger generation. This in effect makes the young economic slaves of the Tea Partiers who continue to collect SS. If the TPers were truly serious then the old would sacrifice along with the young.

Wing 2 are the simpletons who don’t have a clue what they are supporting and are being used as tools to prevent the governments business from being done. See current GOTP lead House for example. Obstinate fools who refuse to compromise on any solution to our fiscal crisis what so ever. It’s the TP way or the Highway. What a childish outlook on a serious issue. Maybe if the TPer’s in Congress start stomping their feet and cry while they scream NO, NO, NO, NO they will get their way. Just kidding TP no you won’t.

Now, where did I sit that pipe down…

And the Lord spake, saying, “Yea, though you walk the valley of the shadow of Communism, you shall fear no pinkos. You shall lament them often, to the point of insanity, and I will hear you. Through endless repetition of acronyms and selective ignorance do you give glory to me.”

II Suzithians 4:20

Comment by J.M. White — January 6, 2013 @ 10:25 am”

Excellent post. Especially the 4:20 part. ;-}

i understand your analogy, but in reality, the process of curing ANY addiction, “is one day at a time.” period.

Eddie’s analogy was more to his point.

Once upon a time, things weren’t looking so good for the GOP at the end of the Bush debacle. The party was in shambles and energizing the fracturing base was a daunting task.

This upstart group of fiscal/social hyper-conservatives calling itself the Tea Party was starting to get media-time and generally just Ross Perot-ing up the scene. From the start, their ideology meant that they were intended to go even further right, and this started to attract some within the rank-and-file of the GOP.

The main body of the GOP had problems within itself already. There was a growing, dissatisfied contingent that felt the party had become too centrist and too secular – the religious right. The ideology of the Tea Party seemed to be a better fit for them.

The Grand Old Party, faced with the possibility of becoming a small island in the middle of the Centrist Sea, had to do something drastic. After all, they had a legacy to uphold. They’re the GOP. They couldn’t allow their party to become the third, or even fourth party. And so, an unholy trinity was born.

First, you have the hardline Republicans, who will vote Republican, no matter what. They may have centrist or even leftist views, but loyalty to the party trumps all. These guys would’ve ridden the ship all the way to the bottom of the sea if necessary.

Next, you have the religious right. Many of these aren’t as socially hyper-conservative as the Tea Party and feel more comfortable under the tent of the GOP. They likely would’ve stayed even if the Republican party had fractured completely. Then again, religion often creates hyper-conservatives, too, and many had defected to the platform of the Tea Party. In my opinion, the religious right benefited the most from this marriage. They’re the meat in the sandwich.

Last, you have the Tea Party, who once the GOP welcomed into the fold, became a catch-bin for all the pols too radical to be called traditional Republicans. Has anyone noticed that the extremists are often qualified as Tea Party Republicans, not just Republicans? Especially when there is some bad press about them. The TP is the Cinderella of the GOP… except that the ball is over and the Prince isn’t coming because suffered an unfortunate buggy accident on the way there. It’s back to menial manual labor and taking the blame for everything that goes wrong for Cindy. For a group that has on more than one occasion threatened outright revolt, this will not stand forever. They’re dupes, yes, but not all of them are unintelligent dupes.

This bizarre marriage is not and was never meant to last; it’s just a tragically humorous story of how the Tea Party became the junk drawer of the GOP.

Comment by Eddie — January 6, 2013 @ 1:18 am

Eddie, if you’ve ever known an addict, you know the process of getting sober takes years, if not a lifetime. I think that is where thr TP misses the mark. They advocate severe spending cuts that ay cause unneeded pain. That said, I do agree that we, the people, are spoiled. It is high time we did our part by embracing reasonable spending cuts and increased taxes (and not just for the richest). We just can’t expect to do everything at once.

Thank you for giving voice to conservative values. There are nuts on the conservative side which get the news all too often, and of course are fostered as conservative “leaders” by the lib-controlled media. The lib-media portray conservatives as charactures of what the libs like to demonize, nothing more, nothing less.

As you said so well, the values you layed out are strong in the conservative movement. The nuts, eh,…not so strong.

I think our best days are ahead of us.