Rudderless Tea Party Searches For Meaning Five Years On

[xchrom]

http://www.buzzfeed.com/johnstanton/rudderless-tea-party-searches-for-meaning-five-years-on



WASHINGTON — Several hundred die-hard Tea Party activists Thursday found themselves sandwiched between a much larger convention of chiropractors and the annual fly-in lobbying convention of the National Treasury Employees Union.

Held at a Washington Hyatt, the fifth anniversary event for the Tea Party Patriots was a far cry from the halcyon days of 2009 when tens of thousands of conservatives descended on Washington for a Tea Party rally.

Big names from the movement’s birth like Rep. Michele Bachmann and Rep. Steve King — as well as three senators — shared the bill with obscure bloggers and businessmen hawking books, websites, even insurance brokerage services.

“I’m doing a film on the U.S. constitution. It’s unlike anything you’ve ever seen. It’s going to educate, it’s going to entertain,” one attendee told conservative radio icon Mark Levin in the hall outside the dimly lit event space.

[liberal N proud]

1. They may not have a rudder, but they have an anchor

Cruze is holding them down.

[FSogol]

3. +1 n/t

[cheyanne]

2. This is the demise of an extremist group.

Their ideas depend on a conspiracy theory. This is not appealing to most Americans.

Though the Republicans tried to co-opt them, they weren't interested playing politics. As their agenda goes nowhere, members become tired of always losing and leave.

They become a small, insignificant group that waits for the next downturn of the economy to grow again.

[Arugula Latte]

4. Well, they're probably pretty tired of the views of their own colons and lower intestines ...

asshats.