Guys, this teabagging business isn't about Republicanism - it's about Libertarianism

[Writer]

It's about the Republican Party, lost in its ability to appeal to the greater population, leaning back on its Libertarian ideals in order to find something emotive to rally around. Consider:

- The cry for "smaller government"

- Texas' threat to secede (which I find a bit disturbing given that we have our first African-American President in the White House)

- The fight against taxes - the implication that ANY tax is "too much"

It's not Republicanism; it's something a bit more freakish. It's about not being able to control the government, so therefore, "get the government away from me and leave me be!" Gods, gays, and guns are still involved, but now we have a resurgence of the Militia Mindset. This occurred at the beginning of Clinton's presidency: Reaching back to faux-populism (like "The Contract with America"), while pretending that the previous Republican administration's actions didn't exist (Gingrich's group blaming Clinton for the deficit although Reagan and Bush, Sr. ran up the deficit.)

I know the folks at these protests are loopy and a touch disconnected from reality, but let's get real: The folks who organized these rallies know what they're doing: This isn't about Obama, or taxes, or anything tangible. It's about regaining House seats in 2010. It's about regaining the many disaffected Republicans who voted for Obama in 2008 by fomenting populist emotions - to give Republicans a reason to "go back" to a party that they felt abandoned them - the party of small government, low taxes, and "balanced budgets." (quotes emphasized)

So... will it work? I don't know. I'm skeptical, but I've seen all this happen before.

Time will tell.

[sandnsea]

1. Bull.Shit.

Every Republican I know is whining about big government and too much taxes, especially in these "trying economic times" - completely oblivious to the fact that we know they were whining about too much taxes in booming times too. This is who they are - the lot of them. Some just hide behind a facade of rational small business owner or charitable church lady.

[jedr]

2. Naaa, it's Republican, "divide and conquer"

there's about 20% to 30% of voters in our country that can be manipulated very easily with the basics...fear , race, hate, anger. So let them drive down the highway and throw $2.00 in quarters in the basket every 20mi., or put out each others fires with garden hoses, or carry a gun to be their own police force...to hell with taxes...that'll work! Sorry dude, all that went out in the mid 1800's with the advent of the industrial age. Don't agree with you, this is Karl Rove stirring up the rats on a sinking ship.

[DinahMoeHum]

3. Problem is, the face of the GOP right now isn't Ron Paul. . .

it's those fuckbags Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck.

:evilfrown:

[mwei924]

4. Very few Libertarians exist..

They just claim to be Libertarians when in fact, but they're really just bible-thumpers too.

[DontTreadOnMe]

5. There is no such thing as a Libertarian...

Anyone who calls themselves a Libertarian is just a Republican -- who will not admit it in public.
The term "Libertarian" is just a cover.

[TTUBatfan2008]

7. Incorrect assumption on your part...

I'll re-post this:

I consider myself a Libertarian. I want the following from my government:

*low taxes
*limited government
*full separation of church and state
*no government intervention in people's private lives, which INCLUDES issues like abortion, gay marriage, and illegal wiretapping
*non-interventionist foreign policy, etc.

The two most important issues to me are that the government leave its people alone to live their own lives and that we don't get ourselves bogged down in expensive interventionist wars overseas. I don't want the government telling gays that they can't marry, I don't want the government telling women what to do with their own bodies, I don't want the government spying on us for any reason including alleged "terrorist surveillance," and I don't want the government blowing my tax dollars on stupid foreign policy.

[TTUBatfan2008]

6. I consider myself Libertarian...

I want:

*low taxes
*limited government
*full separation of church and state
*no government intervention in people's private lives, which INCLUDES issues like abortion, gay marriage, and illegal wiretapping
*non-interventionist foreign policy, etc.

The two most important issues to me are that the government leave its people alone to live their own lives and that we don't get ourselves bogged down in expensive interventionist wars overseas. I don't want the government telling gays that they can't marry, I don't want the government telling women what to do with their own bodies, I don't want the government spying on us for any reason including alleged "terrorist surveillance," and I don't want the government blowing my tax dollars on stupid foreign policy.

[mwei924]

11. I guess you're one of the few..

..but how many political figures do you have? Ron Paul is the closest thing-- and he's still anti-choice and anti-gay. If anything, he's just a states' rights advocate, not a Libertarian.

[TTUBatfan2008]

14. I don't really have a political figure to follow...

I tend to vote for the Democrats because my #1 issues are civil rights and non-interventionist foreign policy. The Republicans and the Republican-in-disguise Libertarians want to tell gays what to do in their lives. To me, this issue is very clear. 50 years from now I think the public will look at the anti-gay movement with the same disdain that the public currently views the Jim Crow laws 50 years ago.

And of course the Republicans are a bunch of war-mongers. Ron Paul has a good view on foreign policy in my opinion, but a lot of Libertarians are just Republicans-in-disguise. They fully support the Iraq War and have never criticized it for the massive blunder and WASTE of tax dollars and human life that it has always been from the very start in 2003.

[Fire1]

9. That, my friend, is a fact. I've listened to too many of these

so called 'libertarians' and they sound identical to freepers.

[TTUBatfan2008]

13. Well I assure you, I'm no Freeper...

I donated to Obama and voted for him 3 times (Texas primary, Texas caucus, and general election). Voted for Kerry too (my first of-age election). I think there's Libertarians that go across the political spectrum. Most of them are right wingers and totally full of shit. They don't care about big government when citizens are being spied on or when we're blowing trillions of dollars in idiotic "cowboy" foreign policy. I'm against big government all the way around. I tend to be a pretty frugal person so all of this stimulus spending is just a staggering amount of money that's being borrowed and heaped onto my generation and future generations' shoulders. That said, I'm also fully against the government doing right wing crap as well, including the infamous "bigger dick foreign policy" ("They have bigger dicks? Bomb them!") which serves no purpose other than destroying our credibility in the world, wasting our tax dollars, and enriching the military industrial complex. And like I said, I don't want the damn government telling people what to do in their private lives. Right wing Libertarians don't mind when the government tells gays what to do in their lives or tells women what to do with their bodies. I fully support gay marriage and a woman's right to choose.

[WeDidIt]

8. A Libertarian is nothing but a Republican...

that smokes pot.

[Fire1]

10. Exactly.

[jedr]

15. and has sex ... a Thom Hartmann quote.........I love it....n/t

[SemiCharmedQuark]

12. Maybe some of the organizers believe that, but this is largely about Obama.

Simply by virtue of the fact that the tax structure hasn't changed at all and the government expanded under Bush but nobody gave a shit until now. Also, so many carried racist signs without so much as a second look from their comrades.

[Diamonique]

16. Bingo!

It's about them not being able to get over the fact that they lost the election.

And they lost it to a black man!

That's what this is about. It's about Obama.

[Danger Mouse]

17. It's more idiocy from a dying party determined to self-terminate as fast as possible.

[SoxFan]

18. DING DING DING! We have a winner!

The local Mad Tea Party was filled with Free State Project/Ron Paul types. Lots of signs about the evil Fed, etc. The mainstream GOP has become an ineffective shell of its former self, and the weird fringe is moving in.

[zulchzulu]

19. A Libertarian is a Republican too embarrassed to call themselves one and want to legalize weed

I saw these people in my town.

They are your classic run-of-the-mill Hannity/Beck/Rush supporter who don't even know that taxes helped pay for their event (police, the venue, the roads they drove on, etc.).

These people are xenophobic, homophobic, theocratic bottom feeders who will continue to make the Republican Party sink deeper into oblivion. Sure, some are Ron Paul types and some are Libertarian-style freeloaders who want all the stuff taxes provide for without paying for it.

These are the 20% that will always vote against their interest as Republicans. Why? It's simple. They are fucking stupid. Boiled down, that's the obvious conclusion.