Two Tea Parties

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

Now that the Tea Party has taken the plunge to support racism in Arizona, the Party will have the obligatory split over policy. I see a division into two distinct Tea Parties: one of them based on black tea and the other based on green tea. The black Tea Party would continue to support racism (black represents the color of their heart). The green Tea Party will favor a more rational, natural approach to immigration.

What is your opinion of these two parties within the Party? Which other policy divisions can we look forward to?

Comments

[futurebird.livejournal.com]

Oh come on. Out of nowhere people in a state with a lot of LEGAL Mexican immigrants have suddenly developed a taste for obeying the letter of the law and even giving up some of their own civil liberties to beat back the "threat" -- you need only read what some of these people are saying.

The motivations are based in xenophobia.

That's why you also see people passing "English only" laws. This is about defining the national identity not politically but culturally-- and these people think it matters since they think that any other, any non-white culture is inferior--

[404.livejournal.com]

Your whole argument is based on WHAT YOU THINK people are thinking, and basically that is enough to paint the whole group as racist xenophobes.

[futurebird.livejournal.com]

It's based on what member of these groups have said. They paint themselves as such.

[404.livejournal.com]

what people? do they represent EVERYBODY?

An example.

[futurebird.livejournal.com]

The vast majority of tea party people support, for example, English only laws. They don't even think this is controversial. That is, they don't have the good sense to see why it might be controversial since they view America in a very different way than I and many others do.

Re: An example.

[404.livejournal.com]

as in English as the national language or forcibly making everyone speak English under the penalty of law... those are distinctions...

Re: An example.

[futurebird.livejournal.com]

Both are problematic if you think about it at all. "American" is not an ethnic group-- our nation is multi-ethnic and multi-lingual. This isn't a "problem" that needs to be "solved" ---

Re: An example.

[404.livejournal.com]

I don't see a problem with English as the national language. It is the language of business and success in this country, and to be able to succeed, you need to know how to communicate with everyone else. To do otherwise will limit your abilities, and make you easy to come under the sway of unscrupulous people.

Re: An example.

[dwer.livejournal.com]

yeah, those Enron fuckers, they spoke something else. Also, those fucking bankers. Talking BANKER SPEAK.

Re: An example.

[404.livejournal.com]

What's your problem? Lost your life savings of 25 cents to Enron?

Re: An example.

[futurebird.livejournal.com]

...you need to know how to communicate with everyone else. To do otherwise will limit your abilities, and make you easy to come under the sway of unscrupulous people.

This is also why you should learn Spanish.

I don't see a problem with English as the national language.

I think it's pretty pointless. English is what works now but in 100 years it may be French. Who knows? Who cares? Why make a law to enforce it? The people will decide with their tongue.

Re: An example.

[ironhawke.livejournal.com]

Normally I itch anytime I agree with you, I'm gonna get my backscratcher....

Re: An example.

[thies.livejournal.com]

I'm curious, is there anything to back up your frequent claims of vast majorities etc in the form of polls or is it just assumptions made by you?

Re: An example.

[futurebird.livejournal.com]

Former Representative Tom Tancredo said in his Tea Party convention speech on March 4 that America did not need “a cult of multiculturalism.” He added, “…something really odd happened, mostly because we do not have a civics literacy test before people can vote in this country. People who could not spell the word ‘vote’ or say it in English put a committed socialist ideologue in the White House – his name is Barack Hussein Obama.”

Also see this:

http://www.southernstudies.org/2010/02/tea-party-dabbles-in-immigration-politics.html

For example, "official English" made a strong showing in the "Contract from America," a document being prepared online with input from Tea Partiers nationwide. The contract will signal the Tea Party movement's policy priorities ahead of the 2010 midterm elections.

Re: An example.

[thies.livejournal.com]

and if we attribute any idiotic remark by a perceived leader of a given political party to all their followers, oh what fun we shall have.

I take the above as there being no hard numbers and your claims of vast majorities which are kinda the foundation of the whole argument being nothing but assumptions again.

Re: An example.

[futurebird.livejournal.com]

For example, "official English" made a strong showing in the "Contract from America," a document being prepared online with input from Tea Partiers nationwide.

Re: An example.

[futurebird.livejournal.com]

And if you are going to seriously claim that most people in the tea party don't think the US should have English as the official language-- you're going to need to back that up, becuase it is a wild claim. Show me some people speaking out against it, some people who call it bigoted or racist.

Re: An example.

[ironhawke.livejournal.com]

Tancredo has very little clout outside of the nutters that happen to agree with him. He has been spouting off crap that people in Colorado stopped listening to years ago.

[mrbogey.livejournal.com]

'Out of nowhere people in a state with a lot of LEGAL Mexican immigrants...'

Yea...nevermind the 10-15% illegal immigrants in the state...

[futurebird.livejournal.com]

What is your source for those numbers? I can't find any neutral sources.

[mrbogey.livejournal.com]

http://www.uslaw.com/bulletin/where-do-illegal-immigrants-live.php?p=809

Arizona's population was just north of 6 million at that time. That makes it actually about a 12th or 8-9%. Sorry, I was a little high.

[gunslnger.livejournal.com]

And ignoring that most of the people supporting the law in Arizona are also not white.

[mijopo.livejournal.com]

huh?

source?

[futurebird.livejournal.com]

Some 67 percent of Hispanics said they oppose the Arizona law, compared with 20 percent of non-Hispanics.

That's nation-wide, do you have different data for AZ. Though, some Hispanics are white, or at least that's how they show up on the census.

Re: source?

[gunslnger.livejournal.com]

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/general_state_surveys/arizona/arizona_voters_favor_welcoming_immigration_policy_64_support_new_immigration_law

It's estimated that 30% of AZ's population is Hispanic. I can't find that anyone's done a specific poll of AZ, but I had seen news articles previously that had stated this. Google seems to just want to return stuff about the national opinion.