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Boiling Mad - Inside Tea Party America, by Kate Zernike
Macmillan ^ | October 4, 2010

Posted on 10/04/2010 12:35:59 PM PDT by La Lydia

Boiling Mad: A surprising and revealing look inside the Tea Party movement—where it came from, what it stands for, and what it means for the future of American politics They burst on the scene at the height of the Great Recession—angry voters gathering by the thousands to rail against bailouts and big government. Evoking the Founding Fathers, they called themselves the Tea Party. Within the year, they had changed the terms of debate in Washington, emboldening Republicans and confounding a new administration's ability to get things done.

Boiling Mad is Kate Zernike's eye-opening look inside the Tea Party, introducing us to a cast of unlikely activists and the philosophy that animates them. She shows how the Tea Party movement emerged from an unusual alliance of young Internet-savvy conservatives and older people alarmed at a country they no longer recognize. The movement is the latest manifestation of a long history of conservative discontent in America, breeding on a distrust of government that is older than the nation itself. But the Tea Partiers' grievances are rooted in the present, a response to the election of the nation's first black president and to the far-reaching government intervention that followed the economic crisis of 2008-2009. Though they are better educated and better off than most other Americans, they remain deeply pessimistic about the economy and the direction of the country.

Zernike introduces us to the first Tea Partier, a nose-pierced young teacher who lives in Seattle with her fiancé, an Obama supporter. We listen in on what Tea Partiers learn about the Constitution, which they embrace as the backbone of their political philosophy. We see how young conservatives, who model their organization on the Grateful Dead, mobilize a new set of activists several decades their elder. And we watch as suburban mothers, who draw their inspiration from MoveOn and other icons of the Left, plot to upend the Republican Party in a swing district outside Philadelphia.

The Tea Party movement has energized a lot of voters, but it has polarized the electorate, too. Agree or disagree, we must understand this movement to understand American politics in 2010 and beyond.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: 2010electionbias; bias; bullstalin; contempt; ivorytower; liberals; mediaelites; msm; obamavoter; pravdamedia; smearcampaign; teaparty
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Sunday afternoon I was surfing the car radio channels and came across something I would never in a million years have listened to: Bob Edwards' Weekend, on American University's public radio station. Edwards was interviewing the author of this book, a New York Times reporter named Kate Zernike. It was simply amazing. Edwards was unable to conceal his contempt for the Tea Party Movement. His comments and questions positively dripped with it. Zernike tried, but she, too, revealed her contempt. They both believe themselves to be vastly superior to the Tea Party peons and loons, who "don't know any better than to always vote against their own interests." It was simply an amazing conversation -- what Lefties say among themselves, when they don't think anyone else is listening, about how stupid they think everyone else is. At times I was cringing in embarrassment for Edwards, he is so overtly hateful. There is a podcast of their interview available, free, and I will post it below.
1 posted on 10/04/2010 12:36:04 PM PDT by La Lydia
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To: La Lydia

If you want to hear it yourself. It is the first segment.

http://www.bobedwardsradio.com/bob-edwards-weekend/


2 posted on 10/04/2010 12:38:04 PM PDT by La Lydia
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To: La Lydia
But the Tea Partiers' grievances are rooted in the present, a response to the election of the nation's first black president...

Nuff said.
3 posted on 10/04/2010 12:39:41 PM PDT by cripplecreek (Remember the River Raisin! (look it up))
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To: La Lydia
These people will regret their life's choices and attitude when they find out they might actually have to work for a living when we devastate their political power come November 2nd.
4 posted on 10/04/2010 12:42:03 PM PDT by Gaffer ("Profiling: The only profile I need is a chalk outline around their dead ass!")
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To: cripplecreek

Right... they went directly to the race card. They are really truly clueless.


5 posted on 10/04/2010 12:43:51 PM PDT by antceecee (Bless us Father.. have mercy on us and protect us from evil.)
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To: La Lydia

The left has abandoned all pretense of logic and reason, and is left with nothing but its hate. They’ll never admit to Obama’s failure because they can’t see beyond his color. Their shallow, superficial perspective has been revealed, and THEY are angry.


6 posted on 10/04/2010 12:44:15 PM PDT by Spok (Is it RINO season yet?)
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To: La Lydia

Hopefully that “boiling” anger keeps up to Nov 2. The recent polling that shows a shift back to the dems is unsettling.


7 posted on 10/04/2010 12:44:51 PM PDT by ScottinVA (The West needs to act NOW to aggressively treat its metastasizing islaminoma!)
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To: La Lydia
Tea Partiers' grievances are rooted in the present, a response to the election of the nation's first black president

What a crock!!! If the country had elected Thomas Sowell or Walter Williams, the Tea Party would not exist.

8 posted on 10/04/2010 12:45:23 PM PDT by freespirited (This tagline dedicated to the memory of John Armor, a/k/a Congressman Billybob.)
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To: La Lydia

“But the Tea Partiers’ grievances are rooted in the present, a response to the election of the nation’s first black president and ...”

STFU. Moron.


9 posted on 10/04/2010 12:47:14 PM PDT by jessduntno (9/24/10, FBI raids home of appropriately named AAAN leader Hatem Abudayyeh, a friend of Obama.)
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To: Gaffer

I just wonder which ‘fad’ they will adopt when ‘hating your own country’ is no longer the fashion!!


10 posted on 10/04/2010 12:47:39 PM PDT by SMARTY ("What luck for rulers that men do not think." Adolph Hitler)
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To: La Lydia
The Democrats will meet their Katrina on November 2nd.
11 posted on 10/04/2010 12:51:32 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum ("The only stable state is one in which all men are equal before the law." -- Aristotle)
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To: cripplecreek

“Nuff said.”

Indeed. I am very happy that they continue to miss the point. They will not understand where the attack came from when they are finally overwhelmed. Many Rockefeller Republicans are similarly missing the point(s).

I will drop the enemy a hint, confident that they will gaze at it like cows looking at a new gate, with dim incomprehension swirling in their sluggish minds.


12 posted on 10/04/2010 12:51:50 PM PDT by Psalm 144 (It is not about race, and only a bit about the economy. It is ALL about freedom.)
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To: SMARTY

IIRC, there was a story about an American who renounced his country and was perpetually remanded to different warships off-shore as a punishment - never to see his homeland again.....during his internment, he witnessed attacks on the homeland he hated and developed new feelings.....I believe this was some sort of story loosely connected to Francis Scott Key....


13 posted on 10/04/2010 12:52:15 PM PDT by Gaffer ("Profiling: The only profile I need is a chalk outline around their dead ass!")
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To: freespirited

“What a crock!!! If the country had elected Thomas Sowell or Walter Williams, the Tea Party would not exist.”

Neither would the current depression.


14 posted on 10/04/2010 12:53:55 PM PDT by Psalm 144 (It is not about race, and only a bit about the economy. It is ALL about freedom.)
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To: La Lydia
Tea Party people want to be left alone and people like Zernike and Edwards simple refuse to let other people alone. Zernike, Edwards and all do gooders get the h-ll out of my life, I will take of me and mine, you take care of you and yours!
15 posted on 10/04/2010 12:54:37 PM PDT by 2001convSVT ("Repeal ObamaCare")
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To: La Lydia
These are the same sort of liberals who have assured us for 70 years that the Communist Party US is NOT a seditious group aligned with foreign tyrants.
16 posted on 10/04/2010 12:56:36 PM PDT by a fool in paradise (Ask yourself,where does Saudi Arabia fit on a scale of "passive" to "moderate" to "extremist" Islam?)
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To: Spok

“The left has abandoned all pretense of logic and reason...”

Here is another perspective. The left is evil genius. Their are two types of leftist, chalatan and dupe.

One manipulates with lies and the other believes.

Why? Groupthink.

If you recast groupthink behaviors considered to be antithesis to good decision making and instead encourage those behaviours, you can manipulate weak minded people who value group affiliation/belonging above all else into following leaders who only seek to USE group members to advance their own agenda of self.

This hangs on the wall of every leftist charlatan:

I
Thou shalt create an illusion of invulnerability shared by most members to foster excessive optimism and encourage extreme risks taking

II
Thou shall not allow any member to question the group’s inherent morality, instead members shall be encouraged to ignore the ethical or moral consequences of their decisions

III
Thou shalt promote collective efforts to rationalize in order to discount warnings, or other information that might lead members to reconsider their assumptions before they recommit themselves to their assumptions

IV
Thou shalt reinforce stereotyped views of enemy leaders as too evil to warrant genuine attempts to negotiate, or as too weak and stupid to counter whatever risky attempts are made to defeat their purpose

V
Thou shalt self-censor any deviation from the apparent group consensus, inclining each member to minimize the importance of their doubts and counterarguments

VI
Thou shalt create and maintain a shared illusion of unanimity concerning judgement conforming to the majority view

VII
Thou shalt apply direct pressure on any member who expresses strong arguments against any of the group’s stereotypes, illusions, or commitments, making clear that this type of dissent is contrary to what is expected of all loyal members

VIII
Thou shalt appoint mindguards to protect the group from adverse information that might shatter their shared complacency about the effectiveness and morality of their decisions.


17 posted on 10/04/2010 12:57:36 PM PDT by Eddie01 (Right Talk Radio. I'm waiting for a clarion call. Would someone please broadcast the grand scheme.)
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To: 2001convSVT

They want to control us
we want freedom

the two concepts cannot “co-exist”,
and force will be used if one side doesn’t “give in”.


18 posted on 10/04/2010 12:59:07 PM PDT by MrB (The difference between a (de)humanist and a Satanist is that the latter knows who he's working for.)
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To: La Lydia

Hard to square with today’s “polls” showing Dems surging into the lead in many campaigns.


19 posted on 10/04/2010 12:59:17 PM PDT by pabianice
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

By November 3rd, they will be saying how the election was “stolen” and how the public voted based on a campaign of lies. That the voters were being scared into voting for xenophobes and racists.


20 posted on 10/04/2010 1:01:14 PM PDT by a fool in paradise (Ask yourself,where does Saudi Arabia fit on a scale of "passive" to "moderate" to "extremist" Islam?)
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