Now spending is out of control. Rather than rolling back government, we have a new $1.2 trillion Medicare prescription drug benefit, and non-defense discretionary spending is growing twice as fast as it had in the Clinton administration. Meanwhile, Social Security is collapsing while rogue nations are going nuclear and the Middle East is more combustible than ever. Yet Republican lawmakers have taken up such issues as flag burning, Terri Schiavo and same-sex marriage.Armey's public position is that social issues only marginalize and distract the Republicans from the important and principled conservatism of their Goldwater/Reagan coalition. That seems like a case for actual libertarianism. Do you have any evidence that his public position is at odds with his private position? Is Armey a closet homophobe? (That's an interesting position for a Republican to keep in the closet, I think you'll agree.) I'm no libertarian, but I'd rather have a two-party system of Democrats v. Libertarians, than Democrats v. Nativists or Democrats v. Christian Dominionists, personally. It's a better, more meaningful conversation.
They're fooling only themselves.
"Turns out that the 'tea party' movement sweeping the nation is disproportionately composed of individuals who have higher-than-average incomes. It’s also disproportionately composed of men. And disproportionately composed of white people. And disproportionately composed of self-identified conservatives. And disproportionately composed of self-identified Republicans."Who are the Tea Party activists?
"Activists in the Tea Party movement tend to be male, rural, upscale, and overwhelmingly conservative, according to a new national poll.Tea Party Demographics: White, Republican, Older Male with Money
A CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey [PDF] released Wednesday also indicates that Tea Party activists would vote overwhelmingly Republican in a two-party race for Congress.
...According to the survey, roughly 11 percent of all Americans say they have actively supported the Tea Party movement, either by donating money, attending a rally, or taking some other active step to support the movement. Of this core group of Tea Party activists, 6 of 10 are male and half live in rural areas.
...The poll indicates that about 24 percent of the public generally favors the Tea Party movement but has not taken any actions such as donating money or attending a rally. Adding in the 11 percent who say they are active, a total of 35 percent could be described as Tea Party supporters. That larger group is also predominantly male, higher-income, and conservative."
"Bloomberg gives a bit more detail in its more current analysis and observes more than 90 percent of Tea Party backers say the U.S. is moving more toward socialism than capitalism, while 70% want more government involvement in job creation. In other words, they don't want the government interfering except in certain designated areas, as they also were found by majorities to want Social Security to remain under government control and didn't see the Veterans Administration as socialism.posted by ericb at 3:07 PM on April 21, 2010 [3 favorites]
...What Bloomberg observes from the poll is this: 'Tea Party supporters are likely to be older, white and male. Forty percent are age 55 and over, compared with 32 percent of all poll respondents; just 22 percent are under the age of 35, 79 percent are white, and 61 percent are men. Many are also Christian fundamentalists, with 44 percent identifying themselves as 'born-again,' compared with 33 percent of all respondents.'"
javascript:(function(){function%20rnd(insults){var%20len=insults.length;var%20idx=Math.floor(Math.random()*len);return%20insults[idx];};document.mefi.comment.value=document.mefi.comment.value+",%20you%20"+rnd(["fuck-","ass-","shit-","republi-","douche-","micro-","dick-"])+rnd(["fuck","ass","assed","head","headed","can","bag","douche","truck","shit","soft","dick","dicked"])+"%20why%20don't%20you%20"+rnd(["go%20hop%20up%20your%20own%20ass","%20pull%20your%20head%20out","%20sit%20on%20a%20lawnmower","%20poke%20yourself%20in%20the%20eye","%20go%20find%20inner%20peace%20on%20Free%20Republic","%20make%20like%20the%20wind%20and%20get%20bent","%20go%20cry%20about%20it%20to%20your%20mommy","%20strap%20yourself%20to%20the%20tail%20of%20a%20747%20and%20see%20where%20it%20takes%20you","%20die%20like%20the%20dog%20you%20are","%20fuck%20off%20and%20cry"])+"?";})();javascript:(function(){function%20rnd(insults){var%20len=insults.length;var%20idx=Math.floor(Math.random()*len);return%20insults[idx];};document.mefi.comment.value=document.mefi.comment.value+",%20you%20"+rnd(["fuck","ass","shit","republi","douche","micro","dick"])+rnd(["fuck","ass","assed","head","headed","can","bag","douche","truck","shit","soft","dick","dicked"])+"%20"+rnd(["fuck","ass","shit","republi","douche","micro","dick"])+rnd(["fuck","ass","assed","head","headed","can","bag","douche","truck","shit","soft","dick","dicked"])+",%20why%20don't%20you"+rnd(["go%20hop%20up%20your%20own%20ass","%20pull%20your%20head%20out","%20sit%20on%20a%20lawnmower","%20poke%20yourself%20in%20the%20eye","%20go%20find%20inner%20peace%20on%20Free%20Republic","%20make%20like%20the%20wind%20and%20get%20bent","%20go%20cry%20about%20it%20to%20your%20mommy","%20strap%20yourself%20to%20the%20tail%20of%20a%20747%20and%20see%20where%20it%20takes%20you","%20die%20like%20the%20dog%20you%20are","%20fuck%20off%20and%20cry"])+"?";})();No. Not the blast, but some of the radiation and fallout. They aren't alone among insects in this capability, many ecdysozoans can do this.What a freakin' great word!
posted by boo_radley at 12:44 PM on April 21, 2010 [7 favorites]