On the eve of reform, Tea Partiers show what they're really made of

[chequita guevara]

Actually, I check out Drudge as well. Most protests I'm familiar with GROW as the deadline gets nearer. Especially on a frigging Saturday.

Tea Party = maybe it started as one thing, but now it is firmly in the hands of bigots.

Ron Paul = limited government & low taxes. Ron Paul != Tea Party

It was never not in the hands of bigots and fascists, they're just getting more deranged because American didn't roll over like they expected. And Ron Paul isn't a real libertarian either. He fits in quite well with these people.

[Asher]

Could be worse. I could be a Flames fan.

At least the Flames have won a cup and aren't known around the world for having some of the douchiest fans in all of pro sports.

[Ben Kenobi]

True. They are better known for not having fans at all...

[Asher]

My God, you fail at life.

[Asher]

Still waiting for that citation, gasbag.

[Elok]

B/c you used "you're" to describe 2 totally different people, thus revealing you to be a moron. Glass houses...

? Using "you're" to address groups is grammatical. Albeit referring to them in the singular, as "moron," is not.

[Wiglaf]

It was never not in the hands of bigots and fascists, they're just getting more deranged because American didn't roll over like they expected. And Ron Paul isn't a real libertarian either. He fits in quite well with these people.

You need to lose weight instead of spouting bull**** on the Internet all day.

[Elok]

Then why are you assuming that all the tea-partiers are Republicans? They aren't.

It's hard to find any political group that's "all" one thing or another. However, I'd be very surprised to hear that the majority of TPers are not Republicans. I sure don't think many of them are Democrats. If I had to guess, I'd break them down as:

70% Republican
10% Libertarian
<5% Democrat
15+% independent or minor political party

But I haven't studied the phenomenon in detail.

[HalfLotus]

Associating TPers with Bush-style Republicans is pretty retarded though. The GOP is in full attack mode against Mr. Tea Party, Rand Paul.

Another Paul nettles GOP

Senior Republicans in Kentucky and Washington D.C. are deeply concerned about Senate candidate Trey Grayson’s campaign as he struggles to narrow the gap against GOP primary rival Rand Paul.
...
Recognizing the threat, a well-connected former aide to Vice President Dick Cheney convened a conference call last week between Grayson and a group of leading national security conservatives to sound the alarm about Paul.

“On foreign policy, [global war on terror], Gitmo, Afghanistan, Rand Paul is NOT one of us,” Cesar Conda wrote in an e-mail to figures such as Liz Cheney, William Kristol, Robert Kagan, Dan Senor and Marc Thiessen.

[Elok]

Associating TPers with Bush-style Republicans is pretty retarded though. The GOP is in full attack mode against Mr. Tea Party, Rand Paul.

Well, that depends on what you mean by "Bush-style Republicans." I don't believe any former Bush administration members are active in it, certainly. However, I imagine a good number of them were formerly GWB supporters, because frankly a lot of the anti-tax small government stuff is mixed in with Republican boilerplate about "Christian heritage." But the standard story in the news goes that they're actually a widely disparate group of people with nothing in common but hating taxes, the government in general and Obama in particular. That's the ostensible reason for their incoherence about the specifics. My more cynical take is that they, like everybody else, have no damned idea how to balance the budget, they just want to ***** and compare themselves to the heroes of the American Revolution in the process.

[HalfLotus]

nothing in common but hating taxes, the government in general

And? The country was founded on those two concepts.

Do they all need to like the same flavor of ice cream before they're a 'real' party?

[Ben Kenobi]

I remember days they weren't expected to last in Calgary.

[Ben Kenobi]

It's hard to find any political group that's "all" one thing or another. However, I'd be very surprised to hear that the majority of TPers are not Republicans.

I'd not be surprised.

My guess would be 60 percent 'independents' 30 percent 'republicans' and 10 percent 'democrats.'

[Asher]

I remember days they weren't expected to last in Calgary.

I would bother explaining to you the complexities behind the 1990s for Canadian NHL teams (it involves the strength of the Canadian dollar mostly), but I'm afraid this discussion is far beyond your intellectual capabilities.

Calgary has almost always exceeded Vancouver in attendance, despite the fact that Vancouver has SIGNIFICANTLY more people living in the area who can attend games.

http://www.andrewsstarspage.com/index.php/site/comments/nhl_average_attendance_since_1989_90/118-2008-09

You are an utter fool.

Random years:
1990:
CGY: 19,986
VAN: 13,932

1994:
CGY: 19,036
VAN: 13,932

1998:
CGY: 16,202
VAN: 15,803

[Ben Kenobi]

Vancouver has the longer sellout streak. Second longest in the NHL.

Pretty darn good for the 'douchiest' fanbase in the league.