Is The Tea Party the American Taliban?

1. 81

   Billy Hicksposted 11 years ago

   For fans of the HBO series "The Newsroom", you'll no doubt remember a recent episode ("The Greater Fool" S01/E10) where the argument is made that the TEA Party is nothing more than an American version of the Taliban. Among the arguments made in support of this theory are the following "TEA Party traits":
   
   Ideological purity
   A fundamentalist belief in scriptural literalism
   Unmoved by facts
   Undeterred by new information
   A hostile fear of progress
   A demonization of education
   A need to control women's bodies
   Severe xenophobia
   Intolerance of dissent
   
   So I put it to you my fellow Hubbers; do you agree or disagree with the statement:
   The Tea Party the American Taliban

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   1. 0

      HowardBThinameposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Not even close.

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   2. 79

      Uninvited Writerposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Yes

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2. 77

   Mighty Momposted 11 years ago

   Sometimes I forget "The Newsroom" is a fictional show.
   Sometimes I find myself screaming at the TV, "Why wasn't this airing in 2010!??"
   And why did it have to end months before November?
   By June 2013 it may be too late!
   
   

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   1. 81

      Billy Hicksposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Aaron Sorkin is one of, if not the, greatest writers of our generation. The guy is a genius.
      
      I have a "Bartlet 2012" bumper sticker on the wall in my office, my clients usually get a kick out of it.

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3. 83

   SweetiePieposted 11 years ago

   I find I have felt much calmer and happier  since I stopped paying attention to Tea Party Love child.  What is hilarious is when hippie types join the Tea Party movement, but to each his own.

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4. 60

   Don Simkovichposted 11 years ago

   You say the Tea Party is "unmoved by facts" and yet you offer nothing but an emotional statement. Quite simply, the Tea Party is concerned with too much federal spending and too many entitlements.
   As for "scriptural literalism", there may be many members of the Tea Party who are fiscally conservative but many be agnostic in theology and perhaps will even take a libertarian view to issues like gay marriage and abortion.

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   1. 81

      Billy Hicksposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      It wasn't "my statement" (it came from a TV Show), but in the interests of furthering the discussion here's one to start with: in 2010 they claimed that the US Government was over 60% of GDP, it was 38% (CBO Jan 2011 Report).
      
      As for "Scriptural Literalism", I'm not even going to touch that one; the thought of having a Religious discussion inside of a Political one is a good way to send this discussion down the tubes... rapidly.
      
      I will say this on the subject: while it is undeniable that the Tea Party is a socially conservative movement, and that there is a strong Christian contingent within that movement, I don't agree that they are controlled by "Scriptural Literalism".

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