Greenwald outs the GOP tea-party co-opting:

[HalfLotus]

The GOP's "small government" tea party fraud

There's a major political fraud underway: the GOP is once again donning their libertarian, limited-government masks in order to re-invent itself and, more important, to co-opt the energy and passion of the Ron-Paul-faction that spawned and sustains the "tea party" movement. The Party that spat contempt at Paul during the Bush years and was diametrically opposed to most of his platform now pretends to share his views.

[Elok]

Well, this was not at all obvious and definitely bears repeating.

Tea Partiers are pussies. If they were really trying to channel the spirit of the founding fathers they'd take some kind of risk, e.g. refuse to pay taxes en masse just on principle. I'm pretty sure that wouldn't work--the gummint would just incur extra expenses taking the money forcibly--but it would be something. As is, they're overexcited posers who will gradually run out of steam when they look around and realize not a one of them knows what s/he really wants, or how to get it.

Now, I'm off to go imitate Thoreau by buying locally-grown produce from a farmer's market...

[Ecofarm]

The GOP is authoritarian socially and liberal economically.

Libertarians are liberal socially and economically.

Do people really not see the overlap?

"Diametrically opposed" is a retarded statement.

[Berzerker]

The GOP only gets "religion" when they're out of office trying to get back in

I'm so pissed off at the 2 parties I'll settle for liberals and conservatives or just about anyone else as long as they aint corrupt and got some basic smarts.

[Theben]

So you're an Obama fan then?

[MrFun]

Libertarians are liberal socially and economically.

You don't know anything about libertarianism, do you?

[Berzerker]

So you're an Obama fan then?

not really, but he's better than the last guy

[Darius871]

You don't know anything about libertarianism, do you?

Obviously he meant "liberal" in the original laissez-faire sense of the term, not the bastardized yankee version of the term. Read that way his statement makes perfect sense.

[MrFun]

In other words, an anacrhonistic meaning of "liberal" that no longer makes sense in the modern world.


okay

[notyoueither]

It makes perfect sense.

[Heraclitus]

In other words, an anacrhonistic meaning of "liberal" that no longer makes sense in the modern world.


okay

No, it only dosen't make sense in America & Canada and perhaps the wider Anglosphere in the last decade or so. Over here being economically Liberal means exactly what one suspects a word derived from Liberty would imply.

[DinoDoc]

So you're an Obama fan then?

He said basic smarts.

[Darius871]

Over here being economically Liberal means exactly what one suspects a word derived from Liberty would imply.

Bingo. MrFun, is this seriously the first time you've heard of this?

[MrFun]

I'm familiar with laissez-faire, Darius. I just thought that the meaning of liberalism has changed from its original meaning to a different meaning in today's world. Since there are multiple definitions of liberalism, I can see how people can use the laissez-faire definition if it's still in use in Europe, the way Heraclitus has described.

[Berzerker]

He said basic smarts.

I aint near smart enough to understand the bail out and Wall Street, but I do know that cash for clunkers was stupid. People were induced to bring in running cars to be disabled. Things like that piss me off even more than the subsidy to buy new cars.