ShortFormBlogdick armey Archives

The ManifestoDick Armey, former House Majority Leader, published a manifesto in today’s Wall Street Journal (along with Matt Kibbe) explaining what the “Tea Party Movement” wants. It’s epic. “But let us be clear about one thing,” they write. “The tea party movement is not seeking a junior partnership with the Republican Party, but a hostile takeover of it.”

The antidoteIn case you’re a lefty and need an antidote after reading that whole thing, some genius satirist decided to make a bunch of faux Modern Tea Party shirts with funny slogans. And all of them are rip-roaringly hilarious. Trust us. We can’t stop laughing. source

Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

At a time when Americans foremost wanted action on jobs and the economy, they were given an unconstitutional mandate that fundamentally expands the power of government. The real winners are insurance companies and big pharma.
FreedomWorks chairman Dick Armey • Regarding the problems he sees with the health care bill. Armey, one of dozens of voices in a chorus of political voices the New York Times put together after the vote, stands out because he ended his quote with this ominous statement: “This debate is far from over, and will be a critical issue come November.” Armey, by the way, is one of the leading behind-the-scene guys in the tea party movement, so his words should leave Democrats scared. source

Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

The Tea Partiers are closer to the New Left. They don’t seek to form a counter-establishment because they don’t believe in establishments or in authority structures. They believe in the spontaneous uprising of participatory democracy. They believe in mass action and the politics of barricades, not in structure and organization.
New York Times columnist David Brooks (who really needs to update his stodgy column mug) • Regarding the similarities between the Tea Party movement and the New Left (i.e. the hippies). Both are populist uprisings (though one can argue that Dick Armey’s FreedomWorks is responsible for astroturfing the Tea Party movement). Both don’t align neatly with the political party in power. Both have been known to get together on the National Mall en masse. Neither have leadership in the traditional sense. And both are important movements. However, Brooks notes that the things that failed the New Left – “imprudence, self-righteousness and naïve radicalism” – will fail the Tea Party movement. Interesting take. source

Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

18 Aug 2010 15:28