Another Stupid Tea Party Thread

The Fury of the Furry?

The Fury of the Furry?

Suddenly, Dick Armey's armed coup at FreedomWorks doesn't seem so strange:

An internal investigation of FreedomWorks—the prominent conservative advocacy group and super-PAC—has focused on president Matt Kibbe's management of the organization, his use of its resources, and a controversial book deal he signed, according to former FreedomWorks officials who have met with the private lawyers conducting the probe. One potential topic for the inquiry is a promotional video produced last year under the supervision of Adam Brandon, executive vice president of the group and a Kibbe loyalist. The video included a scene in which a female intern wearing a panda suit simulates performing oral sex on Hillary Clinton ....

.... Some FreedomWorks staffers worried last year about a promotional video created ahead of FreePAC, a FreedomWorks conference held on July 26, 2012, where thousands of conservative grassroots activists nearly filled the American Airlines Center in Dallas to hear from tea party favorites, including Glenn Beck and Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah). The short film hailing FreedomWorks was intended to play on the large video screens inside the arena.

In one segment of the film, according to a former official who saw it, Brandon is seen waking from a nap at his desk. In what appears to be a dream or a nightmare, he wanders down a hallway and spots a giant panda on its knees with its head in the lap of a seated Hillary Clinton and apparently performing oral sex on the then-secretary of state. Two female interns at FreedomWorks were recruited to play the panda and Clinton. One intern wore a Hillary Clinton mask. The other wore a giant panda suit that FreedomWorks had used at protests to denounce progressives as panderers .... Placing the panda in the video, a former FreedomWorks staffer says, was "an inside joke."

Another FreedomWorks staffer who worked there at the time confirms that "Yes, this video was created."

(Corn)​

One need not justify the Armey coup. It's just that, as strangeness goes, it pales by comparison.

Days before the FreePAC event, the video was screened for staff. "My mouth was wide open," a former official recalls. "'What the hell is this?'" Several FreedomWorks staffers were outraged and stunned that Brandon, the group's second-in-command after Kibbe, had overseen the video's production, appeared in it, and intended to show this film at the conference, which would be attended by many social-conservative activists. They raised objections to the film.

"How was that not some form of sexual harassment?" a former FreedomWorks official asks, noting that two female interns had been requested to act out a pretend sex scene. "And there were going to be thousands of Christian conservatives at this thing. This was a terrible lack of judgment."

Brandon, a former FreedomWorks official says, defended the film, insisting it was creative and funny. But eventually a decision was made not to show the video at FreePAC.​

Of course, the Tea Party movement in general has been plagued by a "terrible lack of judgment".

Something about furries and teabagging goes here ... I think.
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Notes:

Corn, David. "FreedomWorks Made Video of Fake Giant Panda Having Sex With Fake Hillary Clinton". Mother Jones. February 14, 2013. MotherJones.com. February 14, 2013. http://www.motherjones.com/politics...n-sex-tape-freedomworks-matt-kibbe-dick-armey
 
Freeeeeeeeeeeedommmmm ...! Wooooorrrrrrrksssss...!

Hey, Remember That Time ...?

​

You know, that time when Dick Armey staged an armed coup at FreedomWorks? Or was it that he extorted eight million dollars out of the organization?

And, then there was the bit about the female interns in panda suits?

In truth, it's all strange, but I'll say, for the moment, that the eight million dollars might be important.

The tea party group FreedomWorks has fallen into dire financial straits, and was forced to take out a $1 million line of credit earlier this year, sources close to the organization told BuzzFeed.

The conservative nonprofit, which raised more than $40 million in 2012, has brought in less than $10 million this year, according to the sources. And former employees say the group's rank and file have grown increasingly frustrated with what they view as management's exorbitant expenditures, including a pricey craft beer bar and fancy Las Vegas hotel rooms that rack up thousands of dollars a night in charges.

FreedomWorks spokeswoman Jackie Bodnar did not deny the spending or the debt, but she broadly dismissed the claims as accusations from disgruntled former employees.

"Someone has clearly contacted you with the rumors being spread about FreedomWorks, and they are part of a series of baseless attacks from salty former employees who have decided to spend their days spreading lies rather than working to advance the movement," Bodnar said. "It's really unfortunate to watch the malice unfold from these nameless accusers who lurk in the shadows of 'deep background' interviews."

But six independent sources familiar with FreedomWorks described the organization as one with deeply mismanaged finances, an unclear mission, and what one former employee called a "toxic" work environment that has contributed to low morale and a general rush for the exits.

(Gray and Coppins)​

The funny thing about Bodnar's statement is its precision. You can tell the spin is complete and utter excrement. It's more about lashing out at those who are airing the organization's dirty laundry.

But this also underscores a broader point. In a post-policy mindset, why would politics not be just another capitalistic pursuit of profit?

It really does explain a lot about the Tea Party. A sucker born every minute? Hell, something about Birthers goes here.

Don't like the way your organization is being run? Get a gun and demand eight million dollars. Denouncing Ted Cruz's shutdown strategy? Then why not also send out fundraising appeals to stand with Ted?

The thing is that if, for instance, it is true that Kibbe and his management team are living high on the group's funds, we might suggest that their sin is making the point too clearly. That is, the moneygoround, much like articles of faith about magic rape ninjas and the divine blessings of rape, is just something that isn't supposed to be said out loud, where outsiders can hear.

Meanwhile, Tea Party supporters and other denizens of the right wing keep sending money to these people in order to support fights that cannot possibly be won. They're not getting rid of gay marriage. They can only get rid of Obamacare by replacing it with single-payer. We're not amending XIV.1 to redefine citizenship. We're not getting rid of the Full Faith and Credit Clause. These big, red-meat fights cannot be won. Can they really win these shutdown and default fights? Are they prepared to? They need to win one, that is for certain.

Still, though, the losing record likely isn't the biggest challenge facing FreedomWorks fundraisers. With estimates between three and ten million—precise, eh?—this year, that eight million seems awfully important. But the 2012 election, the fact of an off-cycle political year, strategic and tactical reassessments, and market competition have all conspired to sap FreedomWorks' momentum. An unnamed employee pointed specifically at the Senate Conservatives Fund and Heritage Action.

And with the Speaker of the House Crippled by a right-flank insurgency, the notion off FreedomWorks taking a million on credit isn't so shocking; they simply need to survive into next year. We can expect, with reasonable confidence, that a significant bloc on the hard right will blame the Republican failure in these fiscal fights on the moderates who could have steered the Party through, but for the hardliners. Many still believe the 2012 loss was a result of the GOP not running hard enough to the right. We can expect to hear the congressional hardliners pitch some version of that refrain; Ted Cruz is laying the groundwork now, trying to turn the GOP's historically low poll numbers as proof of political succcess.

Next year could be a good year for FreedomWorks, which might well be a good thing for Democrats and their supporters.
____________________

Notes:

Gray, Rosie and McKay Coppins. "Sources: Cash-Strapped FreedomWorks In State Of Financial Disarray". BuzzFeed. October 11, 2013. BuzzFeed.com. October 11, 2013. http://www.buzzfeed.com/rosiegray/sources-cash-strapped-freedomworks-in-state-of-financial-dis
 
Say it ain't so, Joe...

We all remember Mr Wurzelbacher, also known as the Tea Party darling "Joe the Plumber"..

Well Joe has remained in the political fringe after he lost his bid to enter the lower house as a Republican candidate, spouting his usual ultra conservative idiocies. His latest is, well, unimaginable, but not so unexpected.


Joe Wurzelbacher, more commonly known as Joe the Plumber, wants Americans to "admit" they "want a white Republican president again."

"Wanting a white Republican president doesn’t make you racist, it just makes you American," Wurzelbacher wrote on his website Oct. 10.

Wurzelbacher referred to the time before President Barack Obama was elected president as the "pre-black president era," saying at that time, criticizing the president "meant that you didn't like his policies."

"The election of a recognized black president was not supposed to change anything. In fact, it was supposed to (1) ease any perceived racial tensions, and (2) allow the government to focus on legislating without race. So America would be more free than ever to discuss the issues," Wurzelbacher wrote. "Not the case. And that is why having a white Republican president is best for the country."

Wurzelbacher questions why nobody accused black people of racism "when blacks had sanity and disagreed with the policies of racist white Democrat presidents." He also brings Mexicans into his argument, saying "many deranged Mexicans" who fight for immigration rights "are not called racist."​


/Golf clap to Joe for giving everyone yet another reason to laugh at the red neck fringe of the Republican party.
 
Oh they are that stupid! Worse some of them are smart, real smart, but they are insanely delusional! Inteligence and being a fanatical ideolog are not mutually exlusive.
 
ElectricFetus said:
Oh they are that stupid! Worse some of them are smart, real smart, but they are insanely delusional! Inteligence and being a fanatical ideolog are not mutually exlusive.
Click to expand...

The smarter ones may be delusional but they are also amoral. They have no qualms about lying and deceiving people in their quest for personal power and wealth.
 
No they arw moral, its just their morality is inharently incapatable with utilitarianism. They honestly believe the poor can pull themselves up if only they were cut off, and if not they deserve their destitude for not working hars enough. I mean this is some blue orange morality!
 
And Thing Only Go Downhill From There

And Thing Only Go Downhill From There

Bells said:

Well Joe has remained in the political fringe after he lost his bid to enter the lower house as a Republican candidate, spouting his usual ultra conservative idiocies. His latest is, well, unimaginable, but not so unexpected.
Click to expand...

It really is a great argument, isn't it?

Apparently, though, he has competition.

One speaker went as far as saying the president was a Muslim and separately urged the crowd of hundreds to initiate a peaceful uprising.

"I call upon all of you to wage a second American nonviolent revolution, to use civil disobedience, and to demand that this president leave town, to get up, to put the Quran down, to get up off his knees, and to figuratively come out with his hands up," said Larry Klayman of Freedom Watch, a conservative political advocacy group ....

.... Anti-Obama sentiments echoed throughout the crowd Sunday, with one protester yelling out "punk" to describe the president and one speaker saying Obama is not the president of "the" people but "his" people.

(Killough, Travis, and Rokus)​

Yeah, I'm pretty sure that "one speaker" was also Klayman. I'll double-check, as the full transcript of his remarks is a doozy, if I can find it.
____________________

Notes:

Killough, Ashley, Shannon Travis, and Brian Rokus. "Rallier tells Obama to 'put the Quran down'". CNN Political Ticker. October 13, 2013. PoliticalTicker.Blogs.CNN.com. October 14, 2013. http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.co...-like-rally-obama-told-to-put-the-quran-down/
 
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