Yee-haw! I am going to crash me a tea party.

I really think the nuts outweigh the reasonable ones. But, I like you, X.

lol, well I apreciate your sentiments, but I stand by my statement, your way off on the ratio of nuts to sane dissentors.

I am in my own minority category. I am athiest vegan who supports universal healthcare, equality, industrialized hemp, and is prochoice. Anyone who falls outside that category is just plum bizarre to me. But, I like you X.

I realize you think it's funny, but I also realize you believe it's true of the Tea Party movement. I think it's funny that a lot of leftists express these same opinions about the Tea Partiers and yet, initially, people like Chris Matthews and Barbara Boxer were complaining about how rich they were, all dressed in Brooks Brothers suits. You guys can't even decide if you hate the middle class, the upper class or the low-income class you're supposed to be championing. Any label is okay, as long as you believe it will make your opposition look ridiculous. When people actually have real issues to discuss, then discussion is possible. This sort of spewing of stereotypes is exactly what liberals do while telling us all how morally superior they are. Don't you think that makes them look more ridiculous than those they are lampooning?

It is the upper class, and the idiots in the lower class and middle class that they are duping. I believe that to be true of the movement. There are oddballs here and there like yourself and x who make some sense, but I do believe the majority of the tea party is doing this country an injustice and makes us all look like "stupid americans" to other countries. It appalls me that they would rather someone die out of want of healthcare than contribute to keeping someone alive.

You know this was a joke, don't you, Rollo?

Some people take themselves MUCH too seriously! Sometimes satire is just that and exaggeration is often used in humor. Like Ladybugmagic, I suppose I could also be called a "redneck". I currently drive an older vehicle and my daughter and her family live in a TRAILER, so I guess some would call them "trailer trash". I didn't go to college and I got pregnant before I got married. I've also had some missing teeth but now I have dentures...lol! Annie

From the original discussion: "Not all tea partyers are hillbillies. Only the majority are. " How does that indicate that the OP thinks they are "on the fringe" as you say. It's stereotyping, you liberal types aren't supposed to be in favor of that. Tsk, tsk.

Rollo - I have a very dry sense of humour, and usually am the first to concede that both sides have their nutters. Let me enjoy just one post without having to justify every sentence.

Satire and sarcasm are just tools to get your point across. The use of such does not negate your anger or hatred for people who have different points of view. "I am athiest vegan" Yeah, I figured as much. You're behavior is quite typical of that crowd.

Taskr - I pay for my own healthcare. I want to help others who can't pay for it. I think there are two funny parts about this thread. 1. It attracted just who I thought it would. 2. Somehow some of those who it attracted are not aware of what a satire or sarcasm is. This is cool, because it does show the ratio between the nutters and the logical ones. There are billionaires in our country. The should feel it. Not the working class.

I am just above the poverty level, as I posted in another thread. I find recluses very interesting, in that they are thought provoking, and often intelligent. I also posted that I have no formal education, I am actually a high school drop out, used to work two jobs, am ridiculously in debt, and could also be classified as a hillbilly. I was making a joke, and knew it would go over most of the expected responders' heads. But, I tend to embrace diversity, and root for the little guy, or, in this case, people who can't afford healthcare.

I think the money thing irks me, because, had people put their heads together, they would have realized that money would have been better spent helping people. We have already seen their marches. We know they oppose it. They say they don't want to waste money, yet they wasted millions in an almost redundant move. It reminds me of prop 8. The haters gathered $40 million dollars to protect the sanctity of marriage. NOT ONE of those dollars went to help seven year old girls sold into marriage. It went to break apart two consentual adults in a loving relationship. Very wasteful, and mostly obnoxious. And here, in a tangented way, they are at it again. Tell the government you have no money, but spend $200 million telling them that. Let them all die, but at least some money was spent telling the government they should all die, because you have no money. A cycle of stupidity and greed. And, I can't apologize for getting mad about it. I won't.

I agree, and I disagree. As I have stated before, yours is an opinion I truly value. I think you are very intelligent, and admirable. But, I see things on a bigger scale. Like, people are protesting the war, to spare 500,000 children, women, and innocents being bombed daily. They are trying to prevent the next, "oops. was that an aspirin mill?" I see people who are trying to legalize hemp as trying to get much needed use of the plant, both medicinally, and for industrial use. That is to help people. I see people who support gay rights as trying to prevent any more inequality and abuse, and on a larger sum, they are trying to help people. I think that as long as a measure to improve the world for people is made, it is worth the money. I think that if the bad part of it outweighs the good part of it, that it should be avoided. Because it sets all progress back. I think we should tell our government that they work for us, but, the whole sending $29 worth of letters does show you have money to spare. That is the money that people are saying they don't have to chip in to help their community thrive. We all are a part of this world. We all have our personal responsibilities in both our own lives, and as part of the community. People wanting to pay for their own health coverage, and not see to it that their fellow earthlings are receiving care are the ones wanting a free ride, if you ask me. At the root of this, what is happening today is that five year olds are being diagnosed with terminal cancer. Can anyone fathom sending that five year old a letter saying, "Sorry. You have to die, because I didn't want to have to pay more in taxes." That is what those pink slips signify. That is not what a human does to another human, and certainly not what christians proclaim themselves to be about.

So what you're saying is you want the government to take over every part of your life and you want the rest of us forced to go along with it.

I'm just going on what you said that you want to government to control you. Seriously, at what point would you not do what the government says for you to do?

The suggestion that this is the slippery slope to martial law and dictatorship is ridiculous. And too hard to debate, because you actually believe it. Which is what the insurance companies who pay lobbyists one million dollars a day want you to believe.

No we don't have THIS only opportunity. They want you to believe that so you will take any stupid and screwed up bill they offer you. But you don't. There will be other chances. I don't believe in suporting something just for the sake of supporting it. That does not make any sense to me. YOu either like what is in the bill or you don't. As for the pipe dream of "they can change it later". Good luck with that one. After the whole mess that is bill has caused not to mention tempers of the american people/lobbyists,etc....if they do manage to pass it...they won't touch it again for a LONG TIME. Political Careers WILL be destroyed over this bill. IT is a very hot topic and this bill is a mess. Not only will they not want to further tamper with it for fear of ticking off the american people again, but also they won't want to admit they made a mistake on it the first time. Let Reid or Pelosi admit they messed up this bill. It would be BIG TIME used against them in their next re-election run. They wont let that happen. IF they bill gets passed they won't touch this bill or the health care topic again for at the minium 4 years. That a long time to make some poeple criminals for not having healthcare insurance and a long time for the middle class to be taxed at 40% for their PPOs.WHich means you better be able to live with whats in it. I can't. I won't. If this bill passes they will just move along to the next problem or item on their agendas and not look back. That is why it is sooo important to get this one right the first time. If you want to get mad...be mad at the lawmakers for making such a horrible bill. They could have done it right....but they didn't. It IS their fault. They wrote it.

The lawmakers are voted in and supported by the citizens, so we are where we are now, in part, due to all of them, both the lawmakers, and the citizens who put them there. It is a multi-faceted issue, far too many hands are in the pot, but, ultimately, if the republican party gets their wish, and gets in office next term, and the universal health coverage did not pass, that will be another four years that no one works on this. Do you seriously think the conservative party would work for universal healthcare? They are the ones terming it "socialized" healthcare, so it has a damning connotation to it. It is a gross exaggeration saying that people will be made criminals if they are not insured. That happens now if people drive without insurance. It's also a way to make this sound scarier than it is. This is the greatest smear campaign I have ever seen.

Lil - we might have this only one opportunity to adopt it. We have to see it through this term and reinforce it next term. Nah - most of my friends are rednecks, or, dare I say, even illegals. They side with me on this. ;0)