http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSLQ87702
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/5258634/Riots-across-Europe-fuelled-by-economic-crisis.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/25/AR2009012502516.html
http://articles.latimes.com/2009/jan/17/world/fg-baltic-protests17

Actually, European banks, as such, weren't hit as hard as U.S. banks. Some English banks took a hit, Indonesian, and, I think, Indian banks. Europeans didn't take to the streets.

The estimate of all Tea Party attendees on the Great Tea Party Weekend last September was 115,000. That's TOTAL. All parties throughout all states…..combined. I think the transgenders get more out than that. So, I'd hold off on the "took to the streets" whopper.

King, it's like you don't have a left rear view mirror, or something.

Why…..is government spending right now a big deal to you?
You tell me it's because of the massive debt…..right?
Where in the hell were the Tea Party folks when the debt was being doubled over 8 years?
If government shouldn't, you know, spend…..because of masssive debt, wouldn't it also follow that doubling the debt over 8 years was caused by government spending over those 8 years?
And if that's so….then why didn't the Tea Party folks, like, notice, during those 8 years?
And if they noticed….why didn't they throw any Tea Party protests?

I can only conclude from your take that it's purely coincidental that the Tea Party protests and Obama's 1st two months in office just, randomly, inexplicably, happened simultaneously.

Quite a stretch.

The Tea Party movement IS grassroots. Dick Armey doesn't run it. There isn't even one Tea Party movement. There are a whole bunch of local movements taking place all across the country.

As for the Tea Party movement gravitating toward the GOP, I think you have it backwards. The Tea Party movement should stay where it is. It's up to the GOP whether to gravitate to it, or not. Obviously, liberals won't join the Tea Party movement, because liberals don't believe in the Constitution or liberty. That's YOUR problem.

I don't even think of things in terms of right or left anymore, not really. I think of policy as either sane or insane. We can either continue to support this insane path of government spending and taxing the country into oblivion and default, or we can pursue the sane path of fiscal responsibility. I don't care about parties. I only care about who will do the right thing. So far, the Dems are showing few signs of doing anything sane. The GOP is only marginally better.

You may believe that there was a perfect storm uprising of loyal Americans who all, coincidentally, came together visibly immediately after 8 years of a GOP president gave way to a Democratic president. That this group all shared the same great fear over deficits and government spending, as muted during Bush as they were…..and in the fullness of time…..just coincidentally aligning with Obama's inauguration…..this group sprouted into full bloom. You may believe that.

The Tea Party movement is the appendage of Dick Armey, who knew that the GOP brand was so effed, he would have to make any new political thrust appear as if it were "grassroots." The proof that I am correct about this is in the merger currently happening with Tea Party groups and the GOP.

Like I said….you may believe what you choose to believe about the T-Party movement….but that's not the whole story.

Of course the Tea Partiers are against Obama. What you don't get is that they were also against Bush. They are against our enormous out-of-control government. With the GOP abandoning conservative principles, followed by a big spending liberal in the White House, the Tea Party people felt like they didn't have a voice. So they created their own voice, and no matter how many times you call them racists or other names, that voice will not go away.

And what you've looked at is the signs the LIBERAL WEBSITES want you to see. You are not only a propagandist, you are a victim of it as well. You parrot what you've heard. Far and away the most popular Tea Party sign was 'don't tread on me.' That's not even partisan. Plus, you can't tell me what the signs said. I was there. You weren't. I know what it's about. You don't. It's that simple. You don't have a foot to stand on in this debate.

I also don't know how anyone could look at the Tea Party people and find them frightening. The vast majority of them are older working folks. If you're scared of them, you're scared of America.

Don't know why you don't see that.

Also, you purposely understate the Partier signage. I've looked at hundreds of photos from numerous Parties…..and one would have to be blind not to see the common thread of lunacy in those signs. Not just at one Party, either. The Parties are simply an extension of the Palin campaign. That's where the ugly signs started appearing first.

The Townhalls were an extension of the Parties, same people, same signage, same zany behavior. Plus guns.

I can believe my eyes….or your characterization of what my eyes are seeing. Easy choice.

I know the propaganda drill. Find one or two signs out of tens of thousands to condemn. Pick one or two sentences out of thousands to single out and condemn. Find a guy carrying a rifle outside a townhall event (but make sure not to reveal that he was black, MSNBC). Then present the one or two as if it represents the whole. These tactics you use are as old as the hills. They are INTENDED to deceive.

I wonder why you didn't single out this Tancredo line from the Tea Party Convention…."Thank God John McCain lost the election." Perhaps because it doesn't fit the narrative your trying to weave ???

As Olby would say, "You sir, are a propagandist." End of story.

The deal is…..Palin, and those like her, do a disservice to the conservative cause. Just like angry suggests…..not all conservatives are xenophobic or bigoted, they aren't. Not all conservatives are zany or ignorant. Sarah, who is all of those things, does the rest of the conservative movement a disfavor.

The Tea Party implosion was inevitable.

King…."I heard the Rev's entire post on MSNBC last night, almost word for word. Way to exercise that independent thinking."

I wrote my post at 8:30 AM…..Keith is on at 8PM. You do the math. You should be glad The Reverend has an uncanny knack of knowing what will make the nightly news shows…..before those shows happen. Criticize Olbermann for his lack of independent thinking, if you want to…..but not me.

Reviewing the Tea Party group isn't exactly quantum physics. It's very easy to see what they stand for and what they're doing. You should have paid closer attention to the signs you told me the Partiers never had.