Tea Parties, Glenn Beck protest Muslim Family Day at Six Flags Great America

UGH...can't this thread die already?

Jeff said:
And for the record, I doubt all Teabaggers are racist, but they tend to be stupid (yes, I know the source is a little wacky left). Being angry and loud is not an intellectual argument for anything.

Isn't this the same kind of generalization that you and everyone else is getting mad at? You think that tea partiers are against all Muslims and slamming them for that, yet, you slam all tea partiers for being stupid. Are you saying I am stupid?

I don't think you really know what the average tea party member really stands for. You only get what the main stream media spoon feeds you, much the same as Fox News spoon feeds the extreme right.

I couldn't care less about what the Republican Party thinks, nor do many tea party members. Many tea party members aren't for all the religious right ideals like opposition to gay marriage and opposition to abortion. I happen to support both gay marriage and a woman's right to an abortion, BUT, I am in the tea party because this country needs to change it's fiscal policies before we go bankrupt. The Republicans have f'ed it up and so have the Dems. They spend all this money we don't have and eventually the bottom is going to fall out. Most tea party members I know don't give a crap about what the Muslims do or don't do. They don't give a crap about Sarah Palin, even though she seems to have adopted herself as the leader of the tea parties which ruins the credibility of the tea parties. The tea parties were born from a rant by Rick Santelli of CNBC during a stock market report where he called for responsibility in government over mortgage bailouts.

There are bad elements to the tea parties, yes. There are some fringe wackos out there that are ultra-religious and make things like the republican party and the moral majority. I think of myself as libertarian, but identify with the tea party message of smaller government, much less spending, and easing off on the taxes, but only when we have balanced the budget to do so. (also a fair and equitable tax code would be nice, too).

^Queue "No one made you come and read it" comment. ;)

P.S. Its almost Friday, it'll die out for 6 days till RGB brings it up again next week ;)

"Beck isn't being sensitive to the beliefs, rights, and opinions of Muslims. Mayhaps I should have made that clearer, but that was the obvious point."

What is obvious is that you have no sensitivity to allowing Beck to say he merely finds an event in "poor taste."

"I don't 'care' that he finds it in poor taste, "

Wow, I'd hate to see how much you have to say about something you DO care about!

"He wants the rights of others taken away, .."

Evidence please?

"Which doesn't dilute the fact that if it were up to Beck, they wouldn't have it on that day, thus he would like to see their rights to have it at any time taken away."

That doesn't follow at all. Just because someone doesn't want something to happen, doesn't mean they want to OUTLAW that behavior. We aren't all leftists, you know? :-)

Do you really think Beck saying he finds this in "poor taste" is extreme language?

RE: ICNA
I may care in general what they stand for, their religious practices, their funding, and their goals, but that's not what this thread is about. This thread is about whether it is in good taste for them (or possibly any Muslim group if I understand Beck correctly) to have a community outing on 9/12.

They don't give a crap about Sarah Palin, even though she seems to have adopted herself as the leader of the tea parties which ruins the credibility of the tea parties.

Which is a good reason for the rest of the Tea Party to stand up and say they aren't Palinites. They may be doing that, I dunno, I don't keep up with them.

What is obvious is that you have no sensitivity to allowing Beck to say he merely finds an event in "poor taste."

He didn't just say he found it in poor taste. He doesn't think they should do it. Why are you arguing that he doesn't feel that way? Then for him to go and talk about a Malitia Day 'over there' and how 'they' wouldn't allow it is nothing but biggotry. He was trying to be controversial, not simply insensitive. He doesn't think they should be allowed to do it, otherwise he wouldn't find it in poor taste.

If I think a woman who is 500 lbs wearing a thong in public is in poor taste, that means I don't think she should do it. Would I like to take that right away from her? Sure. And plenty of beaches have, but that's another story.

Wow, I'd hate to see how much you have to say about something you DO care about!

Wow, I'd hate to see a discussion forum where people didn't discuss things outside of 'My favorite coaster is XYZ'...

Evidence please?

Here ya go:

"What we're arguing here is maybe Muslim Day with all of the kiddies and the, you know, the dragon, you know, floaties around them going to the water park might be in bad taste on 9/12."

He's arguing that because it is in poor taste, they shouldn't do it. He doesn't want to see them have it on that date. Therefore, he'd rather them not have it. Since they have the right to have it any day they want, he shouldn't care, since they aren't infringing on his rights, nor are they trying to offend him.

Just because someone doesn't want something to happen, doesn't mean they want to OUTLAW that behavior.

But he shouldn't care or want them to change the date either. They have a religous holiday that just happens to coincide with 9/11. He doesn't want them to have an event on 9/12. Again, would you put off Christmas for a day to please others?

I may care in general what they stand for

And that should be obvious. If they're running some secret terrorist training camp or funding terrorism, I obviously care. But internet links and news stories with no evidence other than "Well, this person thinks they may be doing this or that".

This is your evidence that he wants the rights of others taken away?

"He's arguing that because it is in poor taste, they shouldn't do it. He doesn't want to see them have it on that date. Therefore, he'd rather them not have it."

Nowhere does this come remotely close to evidence that he wants to OUTLAW it!

Now since you can't find any actual evidence that he "wants to take people's rights away" you're back to arguing "he shouldn't have this opinion." Ok. He probably thinks you shouldn't have most of the opinions you do as well!

"If I think a woman who is 500 lbs wearing a thong in public is in poor taste, that means I don't think she should do it. Would I like to take that right away from her? Sure."

Ah, so the real intolerant one comes forward! :-) (Seriously, you want a law against that?)

For the record, there are laws at many beaches barring Thongs on people, not just the overweight.

I'm arguing in circles because it's obvious by his speech that he doesn't want this event to take place, and he wants it not to go on. If that doesn't equal that he'd like their rights to be taken away to you, okay. But to me, when someone says "I don't think you should be allowed to do this", they're saying that if they had the power to do so, they'd take that right or ability away from me.

I never said he shouldn't have his opinion. He's welcome to it. My opinion is that he's a biggot. Doesn't mean he can have his, I just don't agree with it. And I would imagine he probably doesn't want me to have a differing opinion.

Sorry I can't just post something with no evidence or links to back it up like some, but at least I did quote Beck word for word to show that he doesn't think they should have the event on that day. At this point, I think you're just arguing to argue, so whatever.

Count down to Tek calling somebody stupid and claiming he is done with this thread...3,2,1

Sorry, but I find that pattern amusing.

Kick The Sky said:
I don't think you really know what the average tea party member really stands for. You only get what the main stream media spoon feeds you, much the same as Fox News spoon feeds the extreme right.

First of all, I could do without your patronizing tone. No one is feeding me anything. Which leads me to...

djDaemon said:
Then perhaps some Tea Party group should prepare such a video, as I've yet to see anything that paints them in a generally "we know why we're angry" sort of light.

Perhaps this is the point I should have made in the first place. "They" don't know why they're angry. In fact, there is barely a "they" in the first place. It's not an organized group, it's random anarchy which by definition wouldn't have leadership in the first place. There are no members because it's little more than a loosely projected "movement" created by people like Beck. I've watched the rhetoric from speakers at these goofy conventions, and it reminds me of when Lois ran for mayor on Family Guy. She was running on issues and getting no traction, but eventually she could just shout "9/11" and people would vote from her. In this case, you can additionally use words like "socialism" and "taxes" and "Obamacare" to elicit the same response.

Point me to an intellectual position on what this non-party stands for, made by some actual thought leader, then we'll talk.

^You're stupid, I'm done with this.

(At least until I feel like posting again)

P.S. I find it amusing you signed up here JUST to discuss this thread. Do you even like rollercoasters?

^Calling the webmaster stupid is bad for your longevity... :)

I keed, I keed....love the way intermingling posts "just happen" while you're typing a response...

I almost left it the way it was, looking like it referred to Jeff at first.

Jeff said:
Point me to an intellectual position on what this non-party stands for, made by some actual thought leader, then we'll talk.

Can't speak for the Tea Party, but if I were looking, I'd say here's a good start.

And their Facebook page has over 400,000 followers - which is more than any group that appears in the drop down when you start typing democrat or republican into the search field. Hardly scientific, but you know...people must feel strongly...and in number...and stuff.

The idea of a "thought leader" is a little scary though. I'm not sure it's necessary to validate a trend or a pocket of political belief. In fact, I'd say the lack of a leader or leadership shows the organic nature of the 'movement' as a belief that a segment of Americans have.

With all of that said, I don't really identify with the Tea Party, but I'm not writing off or ridiculing their take. They sound just like any political group that believes something and is doing what they think will help make a difference to what's important to them....like anyone who is politically active.

I'm not saying this specifically in regards to the Tea Party, and definitely not to the Tea Party alone, but many corporations/industries have caught on to the idea of "building a grass roots movement that suits our poltical aims".

"Astroturfing" <> "grass roots"

Gonch: That link doesn't say anything. Three high ideals don't make policy positions, or solutions to problems. There is no substance there. And Facebook? Facebook is the center of the universe for people who complain loudly. Cedar Point has a half-million likes.

The irony is that the Republicans, an actual party, are suffering from a similar problem. "We're not Democrats" is not a position, and I can't understand why they don't have leaders who can get beyond that. Teabaggers are even worse, as the only position they seem to have is, "We're not Democrats, or Republicans." Am I the only one who sees the irony in being against the existing parties by being a third?

I don't understand how a set of ideals isn't a position.

I'm for policy that advances what I believe in and against policy that doesn't.

And the solution is to support ideas, policy on politicians that advance those ideals.

I don't have to have an answer to know I don't like something. I think it's totally valid to say "this is wrong" without offering a solution. The solution is to quit doing things that go against those ideals.

P.S. I find it amusing you signed up here JUST to discuss this thread. Do you even like rollercoasters?

I signed up because of ICNA...yes. I spent years brainwashed and angry while associated with this bunch. I surmise that if most reasonable Americans had a clue as to what they are about, then they could not support this event.

As for rollercoasters, doesn't everybody love coasters? I don't know that I could hang with your discussions, but of course I like them. I fear nothing.

I don't really like the whole park experience though. Been to a couple Six Flags, and they seemed like money grabs. The rides are fun, but the laziness by workers in terms of not hurrying up and loading, etc was a bit much for me. I hate lines. I especially hate lines that could and should be faster if the employees showed they care a little. Cedar Point was a blast ten years ago, but they had a lot of breakdowns the day I was there.

In general, there are other things I would rather do (boating, hiking) than waste a day at an amusement park watching lazy employees shuffle around.

I have kids now, and they are not tall enough to do most coasters yet. I am a bit of a Disneyland and Disney World expert. I love Fastpass. I own in the Vacation Club. Love Universal Orlando too. You guys ever talk Disney?

On a side note, I was in Kansas City in June for a funeral. We went to World of Fun the next day. The park experience was sort of sucky, they never ran more than one coaster car at a time. The rest of the cars/trains just sat there. Why don't they use those cars to make line waits shorter? The place was deserted, but we still has to wait and wait.

They do have a ride called Prowler that I thought was kick ass. It is one of those old wooden coasters that flew through the woods. I could not catch my breath due to mild fear and plenty of laughter. Is this a popular ride? Or are my tastes not up to par? We rode this over and over. Other coasters were ok too.

Actually, the Republicans do have a good economic plan, http://www.roadmap.republicans.budget.house.gov/ but it just has not been publicized by the main stream media because they are afraid of it. There was a great op ed piece about this plan at http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704388504575419473063...enews_wsj.

The current administration is doing a good job of making it seem like the Republicans don't have a plan. If you actually read the Paul Ryan plan it definitely is not just "more Bush policies" as the president would have you believe. Most Republican lawmakers are supporting Ryan's plan, which, IMHO, is a good thing. If they can just work on this, and stop bickering about all the other crap that they AREN'T good at, then this country might be better off.

Jeff said:

Kick The Sky said:
I don't think you really know what the average tea party member really stands for. You only get what the main stream media spoon feeds you, much the same as Fox News spoon feeds the extreme right.

First of all, I could do without your patronizing tone. No one is feeding me anything. Which leads me to...

And I could do without you insulting me by calling me a teabagger in all your posts...