Tea Party Fundraising With Giffords Incident
Aren’t you mad about those mean ol’ liberals trying to politicize the attempted assassination of a Congresswoman? The right would never do that.
The Tea Party Express, one of the movement’s largest national groups, blasted out an email plea Monday afternoon asking their supporters to send money to defend them from liberals who are allegedly “assigning blame” to them and Sarah Palin for the shootings in Arizona over the weekend.
“It is quite clear that liberals are trying to exploit this shooting for their own political benefit, and they used deception and dishonesty to try and smear all of us and our beliefs,” the email read, according to Talking Points Memo. “Well guess what: to those liberals in the news media and on the political Left who think you can silence us, you are wrong! Your efforts to try and smear us and shut us up will fail.”
…
The Tea Party Express letter continued:
“We have nothing to do with this awful, tragic event in Arizona. Our prayers are with Congresswoman Giffords and the victims and families of this massacre,” the Tea Party letter continued. “We ask you to please stand with the Tea Party Express and show your support for our efforts” with a contribution.”
I can’t wait to hear that this is only fair, since liberals are trying to hurt their reputation.
Tags: Gabrielle Giffords, Tea Party
I believe MoveOn.org already beat the TPE to the fundraising startline. I checked out the Web site, but they must’ve taken it down already after story was leaked (e.g., ‘btw, please donate’ part of their Giffords’ plea).
I’ll try to find a screenshot.
Rush doubles down:
This is Karl Rove 101 – always accuse the other party of what you are doing.
Personally, in the face of this, I am getting a little sick of our pansy Democratic leaders going along with the “both sides do it, let’s cool the tone” line. But I guess I shouldn’t expect anything different from them.
I am sick of the “both sides do it” false equivalence crap. They had to wilfully misconstrue a dkos diary to even come close. Now supposedly we’re all big fans of a British movie we’ve never even seen. I really wish Democrats had better surrogates. Why do most of them follow the media down the garden path? *sigh of exasperation*
Maybe they will be nicer to us if we help them privatize Social Security or eliminate capital gains tax.
You’re a broken record, anon.
At least I’m not “lite jazz.”
i think we have to take a bite of the “both sides do it” shit sandwich.
Most of the country probably believes that it is equal. Most of the country is uninformed and stupid, so if they hear “both sides do it” they trust that it is true.
I honestly think right now, ending the bloodshed is more important than being recognized as having the moral high ground. If i have to lie and say I will stop doing what Rush Limbaugh does in order to get the Mob to say to the right “see? the left stopped, now you have to” I will.
We arent changing anything so why is it such a bad thing to say we are?
I know I know, honor and pride and whatnot, but my personal sense of pride is not more important than making sure Glenn Beck stops urging us to civil war. He said if Sarah Palin had an attempt on her life…. not killed, but just an attempt, it would destroy the union. What’s to stop some anarchist nut job from taking a shot at her just to spark that event? I would also feel alot better about myself if by by making one false concession, I was able to prevent violence.
I also know that the right will not stop. Proven by Beck and the Baggers it is pretty clear that they got what they wanted and want more. What this false concession will do is patronize the morons in the middle in order to beat the evil ones on the right..
Let the “you spineless wimp” retaliation begin.
I agree Ben. To a large extent, it isn’t us who have to change our script. There are obviously some bloviators on our side that say stupid shit and they should be chastised and shamed.
The purveyors of 2nd amendment solutions, “watering the tree of liberty with the blood of tyrants”, RELOAD and “we came unarmed… this time” bullshit should be shamed and publicly (verbally) flogged.
I’d love to see a follow up interview with the guy that came to a Presidential event with a loaded weapon and a sign that said that the tree of liberty needed to be watered.
i think we have to take a bite of the “both sides do it” shit sandwich.
Jesus H. Christ, so now Democrats want to compromise with death threats too? Is there no end to the compromising?
Ben, your proposal is like pleading guilty to a crime you did not commit in order to get a lighter sentence. It is a shit sandwich, but you don’t have to reach out for it with both hands. You can try to argue your case before you start munching.
Plus, it won’t work. Agreeing “both sides do it” will not change the other side’s behavior in the slightest, and will not win any approval points for us.
I would also feel alot better about myself if by by making one false concession, I was able to prevent violence.
The flaw here is that those with the violent rhetoric won’t *stop* just because you’ve made a false concession. They’ll just think that they’ve dominated you this far and they’ll keep upping the stakes.
The bloviators on our side are all too often called out, chastised and shamed for violent rhetoric. Because policing liberals for violent rhetoric is what the right does (with the help of the media). They will defend that language *for themselves* but God forbid a liberal should avail themselves of 2nd amendment language.
The right has been genius at getting themselves all kinds of immunity for their rhetoric. Time to turn that tide back and make it plain that the worst of their behavior gets de-institutionalized.
anon and cass, im going to answer you both with my own words.
“I also know that the right will not stop. Proven by Beck and the Baggers it is pretty clear that they got what they wanted and want more. What this false concession will do is patronize the morons in the middle in order to beat the evil ones on the right..”
And yes, if you want to feel like it is pleading guilty to a crime you didnt commit, fine, think of it that way. I have already said my personal pride is less important than the well being of the nation. We know that isnt that case for ANYONE on the right. I’d hope liberals are better than that.
“The right has been genius at getting themselves all kinds of immunity for their rhetoric. Time to turn that tide back and make it plain that the worst of their behavior gets de-institutionalized.”
And we arent going to do that by being (what the media will SURELY paint us as) whiney victimized liberals. We have to “be the bigger man (womyn)”
“I’d love to see a follow up interview with the guy that came to a Presidential event with a loaded weapon and a sign that said that the tree of liberty needed to be watered.”
are you kidding? that inbred teabagger would probably claim he’d have shot the assassin before he got one shot off. “i’d have seen him pull his gun, and id have defused the situation before there was any bloodshed”
Also, how interesting it is, in a state that has such loose gun laws, only the murderous lunatic was carrying a gun that day. Maybe the NRA will now lobby that everyone be required to carry guns. THAT will keep us safe!
Sorry Ben, didn’t mean to pick on you; Obama and the Democratic leadership already beat you to it on compromising with death threats.
I have already said my personal pride is less important than the well being of the nation.
It’s not about pride. I honestly think more harm will be done by going along with the lies. What possible good can be gained by lying about “both sides do it?”
The “both sides do it” narrative is one of the main tools Republicans use to legitimize their extremists. Angle came close in Nevada, and that wacko West actually is in the House now. Too many others to list. Why do you want to help them with this?
i dont think you’re picking on me. I just think that there are other ways… more manipulative ways to get what we want…. or rather, to get what the nation needs in order to not descend into civil war. A big part of that is going to be giving the Mob a choice. Beck/Palin which equals violence and revolution, or discussion and civility. This is a good time to appear magnanimous and the right wing is incapable of that.
A big part of that is going to be giving the Mob a choice. Beck/Palin which equals violence and revolution, or discussion and civility.
In 2004 that is exactly what happened. The GOP couldn’t agree who was the most conservative, so they settled on McCain. And what did McCain do? He put Palin on the ticket, who found her role in giving bloodthirsty speeches to crowds of gun-toting wingnuts.
We have already wasted too much time and treasure trying to separate good Republicans from bad Republicans. They pride themselves on party unity and voting as a bloc; there isn’t a hair’s breadth of difference between them.
The only thing we didn’t try was defeating them in Congress and enacting our own policies over their howls of protest. Now it is too late, probably for years now.
2008
people werent shooting mombers of congress and little girls in borad daylight in 2008 or 2004. There is potential for a massive change now. Either Beck wins and we are all armed and “kill thy neighbor” is our national motto…. or we spurn them from the discussion and he and all the other leaders of the violent right die old, healthy, and alone.
they are also ALL bad republicans. We need to push the narrative thatr being a republican now, means being for solving the slightest disagreement with a gun. I dont care if it is unfair. GOP = barbarians.
There is potential for a massive change now.
You are missing how deeply rooted this is at the highest levels of the Republican Party. From the indispensible Matt Taibbi:
Boehner will be the highest Republican official for the next two years at least.
Boehner is also the guy who, when asked if Obama was born in the US, said “I can’t tell people what to think.”
So we’ve got death threats and birther pandering coming from the highest Republican in the land.
Both sides do it, my ass.
i havent been saying both sides do it. but as you pointed out, it isnt about what IS… it is about what the general population THINKS is. and they THINK both sides do it. That is the reality.
Isn’t the Tea Party Express so far neocon right that the majority of other tea party groups don’t identify them as an actual tea party group?
Anyway though, there hasn’t been an actual tea party protest or group since like 2008. unfortunately all tea party groups today are basically neocon groups in varying severity.
The tea party organizers are shills for corporate elites. Of course they are going to opportunize this tragedy to make money. They are all about making money.
Ugh.
Dana your absolutely correct. The baggers won’t admit their shills for corporate america. But listening closely to the codewords. “We have to give the wealthy the bigger tax cuts, because they create jobs”! They never denounce the corporate sponsors of groups like Freedom Works, even though they have been told in no uncertain terms, that group and many others are funded by the richest lobbyists and corporations in the country. Teabaggers making money on death and destruction, thats why they support all wars.
Notice when they talk about cutting the deficit its never about cutting the Pentagon, its always about cutting the citizens.
Bernie Sanders First Dem to jump on the tragedy fundraising bandwagon.
http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/sanders-fundraises-arizona-murders_533487.html
Raising money off this is just wrong. BTW, you’re wrong as well. He’s not a Dem. He’s an I.
I’ll give you half credit on me being wrong. He caucuses with the dems, has endorsed every dem presidential nominee, and was even endorsed by the democratic national committee and the democratic senatorial campaign committee.
But, in all fairness, I will correct it.
Bernie Sanders, first Independent who leans far left and is endorsed by the democratic national committee, to jump on the tragedy fundraising bandwagon.
Sal Russo, the main figure behind the Tea Party Express is simply capitalizing finacially on the Tea Party movement. His wife’s company gets exclusive contracts from husband Sal. Moreover, Russo’s other partner in crime is a guy with a last name that is eerily similar to Joe the Plumber – Woczharcheski or something?
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/19/us/politics/19russo.html
They hatched the TPE idea after their failed GOP Pac 501(c)4 did not reap enough money for their underlying cause of GOP politics. Nothing wrong with that. However, Russo and his partner ‘pay themselves’ nearly two-thirds of all the money raised through the TPE fundraising arm.
They are simply financial and political opportunists. I wish I would have thought of the idea!