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The Party of Misinformation

As if we needed any more proof, there is a new survey out that shows members of the Tea Party to be grossly misinformed.  The survey was conducted by the Conservative leaning poll and strategy firm, The Winston Group. The survey also confirms our assumptions that the Tea Party consists predominantly of older, white, moderate to low income, not highly educated males, who overwhelmingly favor Fox News Channel as their primary source of information.

A shining example of Tea Party misinformation is represented in their assessment of the expiration of the Bush tax cuts this year.  Among self proclaimed Tea Party members, 86% think that their taxes will go up as a result of the expiration.  The Bush tax cuts affect those making over 250,000 per annum.  Since we know that the majority of Tea Party members fall into the moderate to low income bracket, it is safe to assume that the expiration of the Bush tax cuts will not have any real effect on them.  In fact, thanks to tax cuts put in place by President Obama, who the Tea Party despises so much, their taxes will actually go down.  But we have to be careful not to confuse the Tea Party members with the facts.

A recent article in the New York Times, confirmed the misinformation represented by The Winston Group survey.  The article highlights the views of three Tea Party members who demonstrate a scary, but typical example of the misinformed people that the rest of us have to deal with.  This interesting group of Tea Party members consists of Ms. Reimer, Mr. McQueen, and my favorite, Mr. Grimes.

Ms. Reimer, 67, is a Tea Party member from North Carolina.  She enjoys directing protesters to Congressional offices on Capitol Hill, and knocking on doors in order to spread the good word regarding Conservatives running for public office.  Ms. Reimer is a proud recipient of government benefits, which include Medicare and Social Security.  Ms. Reimer told the New York Times that she has no patience for what she calls the, “Obama administration’s bailouts.”  It is apparent that Ms. Reimer is completely unaware of George W. Bush having just as much, if not more, to do with the financial industry bailouts as President Obama.

Mr. McQueen, 50, is a Tea Party organizer in Ohio and Michigan.  In addition to organizing, Mr. McQueen’s claim to fame is the production of flags, which he calls the flag of the Second American Revolution.  According to the New York Times, Mr. McQueen drove 700 miles to campaign for the newly elected Senator from Massachusetts, Scott Brown.  Mr. McQueen blames the government for his unemployment because of, “what they’ve done since the 1980’s.  The government has allowed free trade and never set up any rules.”  While Bill Clinton certainly has a part to play in the lack of regulation in the markets, I recall Ronald Regan being one of the pioneers of deregulation.  Interesting how Mr. McQueen hates President Obama so much, but doesn’t seem to mention the right-wing’s Christ incarnate, Ronald Regan.  The New York Times had a great line referring to Mr. McQueen and his cohorts, “He and others do not see any contradictions in their arguments for smaller government even as they argue that it should do more to prevent job loss or cuts to Medicare. After a year of angry debate, emotion outweighs fact.”  Unfortunately, but not at all surprising, Mr. McQueen is having difficulty selling his Second American Revolution flags.

Finally, we come to my favorite misinformed Tea Bagger, Mr. Grimes.  Mr. Grimes is known for mobilizing 200 Tea Party activists to protest a Democratic Senator who supported President Obama’s health care legislation.  Mr. Grimes is a recipient of that popular government social program known as social security.  In the backseat of Mr. Grimes' Mercury Grand Marquis, he carries around a copy of Glenn Beck’s Arguing with Idiots, as well as a book titled The Law, which denounces public benefits as “false philanthropy.”  Mr. Grimes is responsible for a great quote, which I feel sums up the mentality of the Tea Party movement.  “If you don’t trust the mindset or the value system of the people running the system, you can’t even look at the facts anymore,” Mr. Grimes said.

I don’t necessarily think that Ms. Reimer, Mr. McQueen, and Mr. Grimes are representative of everyone that participates in the Tea Party movement.  But according to articles in the New York Times, and this most recent survey by The Winston Group, it is certainly safe to say that they do represent the majority.  I just don’t understand it.  The Tea Party openly admits that they don’t care about the facts.  There is no hope of ever having a logical policy discussion with people of this mentality.  They only watch Fox News for their information, and they are unwilling to listen to any other points of reason.  The Tea Party claims to be in favor of the Constitution.  They are always referring to the Founding Fathers, yet they are completely unaware of historical data that directly contradicts their beliefs.  I should have come to this conclusion sooner; it is a waste of time trying to have a rational conversation with Tea Party members.  It is time to stop trying to rationalize with them and start ignoring them.

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