Lugar is a moderate Republican. Face it, extremist positions are not the answers to today's problems. It simply leads to gridlock which American's hate.

We need people that know how to get things done, not gridlock.

MSNBC knows better. Its deliberate.

The Butternuts are still nuts. The more nut-jobs the Tea Party puts up for candidacy, the bigger will be their failure in 2012. They are not going to get the independent vote - they have played their cards since 2010 - and a scant 12% of Americans approve of their methods.

There is no such thing as a moderate Republican anymore, they're now radical extremist. All the "Moderate Republicans" are being pushed into the Blue Dog Democrat camp.

Why not. Don't the teabaggers LOOOOVE their guns? They even take them to church to be blessed.

He has a D+ rating from the NRA it basically means he sucks..

The blue dog gets an A

Vote for the Blue Dog and send a message it's not about party lines but your ACTIONS.

The NRA votes your record from actions and Lugar shows his true colors.

Well, I do feel bad for Lugar. He is more moderate, a old-time GOP conservative and he deserves to be respected for his decades of service to the people of Indiana and the nation.

But I also have to applaud the actions of the Indiana Tea Party "patriots" for attempting to oust Senator Lugar. Maybe this will be the beginning of the end for the Tea Party. If the Democrats can find a good candidate they could defeat the Tea Party Republican and the country could get back on track to recovery.

America held hostage, day 266

Obama/Biden 2012

RanRan...

Check the poll numbers today...its down to a dismal 10%-11% even in the Conservative leaning Rasmussen. People are really getting sick of the obstructionist Teabagger crap...even moderate Republicans. The Independents will break their back once and for all. I say we build them a boat with a one way ticket to Jurassic Park where they will feel more "at home".

The obstructionism is coming from the Senate.

Spoken like a true Tea Party conservative. The problem is you can't debate with crazy. Typical Tea Party position- I get 100% of everything I want all the time or the country gets nothing. Once upon a time I actually liked to tea parties ideas. My position stayed the same, they moved way too far right.

The Hysteria grows and now to the point of eating one of their own. Desperation will cause a man or party to do strange things they would never consider during calmer times. Clear thinking appears to be out the window. Richard Lugar is an honorable Senator who has served this country long and well. I believe that left to his own he probably would have chosen to retire on his own by the end of the year or early next. He may now feel compelled to try to save his party from themselves, we shall see. As for the Tea party, I am reminded of the scene in the movie Titanic when abandoning ship, the hysterical, panicked man pushes the woman with child out of the way to take her place in the lifeboat.

Oh the shame of it all.

(Playing musical intro [strings] to Twilight Zone)

Rod Serling's intro:

" You unlock this Cement Headed Tea Bagger's Brain with the key to imagination, beyond it is another dimension, a dimension of sound, a dimension of sight, a dimension of mind, you are moving into a land of both shadow and substance, of things and ideas. you've just crossed over into THE?............TWILIGHT ZONE !

Sorry Derek..............couldn't resit it...................

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzlG28B-R8Y

And I thought the TP creeped me out before they turned to cannibalism...

That 10-11% is congressional approval...it also reflects the anger at the democratic spending contingent in the Senate.

Luger should just retire. There is no reason we need to have a senator in office for 30 years. That is one of our biggest problems....no term limits on congress. What we have are a lot of lifetime members who's first priority is their campaign contributors and special interests.

They're running some guy named "Mourdock"?

Sounds like the villain in a bad fantasy novel.

But then again, the TP never had the ability to distinguish fantasy from reality.

You all talk about the Independents and what they are going to do.....from a Liberal point of view. But NONE of us can stand to even think about electing some one Skip from Okie city would support. While I dont support radical Right people as much as I dont support radical left people, I still will NOT vote for any progressive candidate no matter who they are running against.

Regardless of the TEA Party, the Senator is too old and should retire. He served more than enough.

@ the OP - you lie.

"White County Tea Party Patriots" - Kinda says it all huh?

The Tea Party is becoming more scary all the time. They are beginning to resemble the National Socialist German Workers' Party in 1933. Then you throw in a nut case like Scary Perry and the whole thing smacks of deja' vu all over again.

A Halloween tea bag custome?

Great idea

Remember this, Tea Party: Be careful what you wish for. This lifelong Republican is totally fed up with your extremism and total selfishness regarding the rights of individuals vs. the rights of the group. Proceed at your own peril.

A Halloween tea bag custome?

Blacken a few teeth out - make sure to keep it authentic looking...

Citizen One (and the rest of the Tea Party):

This country was made great by compromise. The Constitution was made possible by compromise, that is why we have the Bill of Rights. Henry Clay, one of our great statesmen, was called the Great Compromiser because of the strides our country made though his well crafted compromises. This country has never done well with a "my way or the highway" attitude. You have recreated history in your mind, and do not truly understand what has made our country great. Sadly, you have only learned by little sound bites from political ads, campaigns and other ill-informed new sources. We badly need well constructed compromise now to tackle the myriad of problems this country faces, and we do not need the foolish ideas of ill informed Tea Partiers to take the forefront.

Very well said, CitizenOne. There's nothing to be added to your intelligent post.

The Tea Party has absolutely no grasp of the Constitution. When they say they want to follow the ways of the folks who wrote the Constitution, they are already there. The framers are dead - the Tea Partiers are brain dead.

The fact is when the framers wrote the Constitution, they specifically allowed for change. They wrote the rules for creating and adding amendments. They anticipated change.

The Tea Party is completely out of touch with reality. They are not an isolated phenomenon. These know-nothings come out of the wood work from time to time. They are the witch hunters, the Luddites, and the willfully ignorant. They will fade away in the near future and return to their caves for several decades....but they will be back.

The more nut-jobs the Tea Party puts up for candidacy, the bigger will be their failure in 2012.

You're an optimist.

From here it looks like the more nut-jobs the Tea Party puts up, the bigger will be AMERICA's failure in 2012. The Tea Party madness just keeps chugging along, and the more toxic the tea, the more people seem inclined to drink it!

Lugar represents the old GOP. Today he is considered a liberal, by the TP.

Citizen One-091101

Eric-913730, What I hate is compromise, since what is compromised is generally the publics money and freedom. Congress used to have intelegent debate and a whole lot less compromise and what did it get us? It gave us our freedom from government and taxing since things where a whole lot better thought out and bills were read and congress was knowledgable on the bills content. Now it's hurry up and pass something, even if it's wrong and you haven't read it. For me, I love a good debate and a coming to an understanding. Compromise is just progressive speak for compromising the American people. If you love compromise, go compromise yourself.

Well, you fit right in with the rest of your ilk. Without compromise NOTHING is passed, or is that your desire? You say their use to be less compromise? What era, or better yet, what planet are you from? Yes we use to have debate; we use to attack the message, not the messenger but that era died around 1994. Still, it hasn't been as bad as it is today. Absolute gridlock because we have one party that has gone so far as to sign a pledge never to vote raise revenue...which by the way, is a Congressional duty! I don't know where you get your opinion but it's not real and it's not of this world.

Actually, Citizen one, Congress used to have intelligent debates. NOW, they have "intelegent" debate. See the difference? Probably not.

Pointed out by CNN:

This DO NOTHING CONGRESS has been in session 125 days since the beginning of this year. Yes, we know they use some of the time to speak to constituents, but with this low number of days, exactly how much of that DO NOTHING time is a deserved vacation?

How many vacation days did you take this year while being paid?

And did you do it when your job was in crisis?

Dimocrats, Pukes, and particularly the newly elected DOUCHEBAG PARTY politicians show just how much that something more rude is going to be needed to wake them up.

How about some suggestions for scaring your CONGRESSMAN? Legal suggestions are probably recommended. But I won't shoot down anybody who goes outside the box.

The Tea Party is weeding out the sane people from the Republican Party.

They are none! Sane and republican is an oxymoron.

Hmm... Diane, an interesting position. Still, I like what Winston Churchill had to say on the subject:

“If you're not a liberal at twenty you have no heart, if you're not a conservative at forty you have no brain.”

Thats all we need, a Teabagger from the Teabag state of Indiana willing to throw the elderly, disabled and poor into the street.

In 2012 lets vote every single one of these Teabaggers out of Congress and lets make sure their next job is flipping Burgers at McDonald's!!!!!

And that's my opinion.

Magnum, I happen to live in Indiana and it is not a Teabag state. We have plenty of Democrat strongholds here and we are fighting hard to increase them. You might say Lugar is of the old GOP, the ones that had no problem compromising for the good of all and not just a few. The GOP has been fracked by the teabaggers and many of the GOP are riding their disingenuous rhetoric and short term popularity in order to keep their seats-like Mike Spence (ugh! and a few others. The 2010 mistakes will be rectified as soon as possible.

Obama/Biden 2012

Lugar's a good man. I've got to believe Indianans are smart enough to prevent the party of gridlock from gaining any more seats.

If the TEA bags unseat him he should run as a independent. Either he will win in a three way race or hand the seat to the Democrats. I live in Indiana believe me we all aren't goose steppers. Daniels and Pence are just embarrassing to us as Scott Walker and Joe McCarthy are to Wisconsin. I really enjoyed the calling out that Daniels received on the Daily Show.

During the heyday of the Ku Klux Klan in the '20s, Indiana had the greatest number of Klan members and the highest percentage of Klan members of any state. Little has changed.

what the hell does that have to do with this. Geez some peoples kids...

The Tea Party is a new party who joined republican. Do not forget they started when Bush was President and were againsted excess spending.

If we continue Democrats and Republicans of old methods of doing business, we will soon look like Greece. 16 trillion of debt coming up fast. 1/2 trillion annually in interest. 40% they spend is borrowed above what they continue to steal as taxes.

Wake up this is a problem we cannot keep giving our children, if we want them to have a future. This spending is a direct attack on the American Dream.

It's called a third party

They can call theselves anything they want, for me they are just

conservative orthodox Christians

http://www.orthodoxnet.com/

They ( tea Party ) don't represent in any manner what the Boston Tea Party was all about or the revolution or the Constitution. they are I say again

conservative orthodox Christians

Devil's son, the problem with Lugar running as independent is that it opens the door to the lock-step tea party types. That what happened in Florida. Most voters did not vote for Rubio, but the NON foaming-at-the-mouth electorate was split between a generic democrat (supported by lock-step party loyalists) and the relatively non-partisan Charlie Crist.

I think a blue dog democrat with no skeletons in the closet would whip a tea party nut bag in a 2 person race just about anywhere in the country.

Time for Lugar and his drunk wife to come home.

Lots and lots of drinking in IN.

that was my question as well. The article even stated it was a 2008 initiative.

I think you're right about TARP.

And another "moderate" Republican bites the dust.

Signed by Bush on Oct. 3, 2008. But, I guess that is further reflection of lib media credibility.

The Tea Party is targeting him because he voted for TARP, which was indeed championed by Bush and signed into law by Bush. I guess the Tea Party still thinks this bailout was championed by Obama. It's OK though... the Republican establishment has a lot of targets on them from the Tea Party and rightfully so... TARP should never have happened.

Yes, the article needs to be proofread before it's put online for the world.

As for steering the country in the direction the founding fathers envisioned: The Constitution was the most progressive proposition going at the time. I'm sure they are all hiding in embarrassment in whatever afterlife they ended up in. In fact, if they went to Hell, Satan is probably making them watch the Tea Party movement in slow motion.

Yes, it was bush. He gave the banks 780 billion with no strings attached.

Yeah, genius, the Democratic Congress had nothing to do with it.

Some people are confused who the president was from 2000-2008 it was president George W. {intellectually challenged} Bush they also believe that the world is flat forgetting history lessons learned in middle school

Yes, Bush was responsible for TARP but of course the Republicans and TPers will distance themselves from any truth. I go further to say the Iraq war and 2003 tax cuts plus two "tax rebates" helped usher in the great recession as well but again the GOP and TP will ignore the truth and prefer to blame everything on anyone that came before or after Bush.

Compulsive lying is what the Tea Party does best and the idea that they want to return to the values of the 18th Century are just ridiculous. It's a far different world.

The Tea Party is not about to let truth spoil a good rant. Obama was responsible for TARP, the fires, the floods, the earthquakes, and the mold I found in my leftovers in the refrigerator last night.

TARP and the first stimulus were done under George W Bush. So as was the Medicare Part D, several terrible highway bills and several terrible farm subsidy bills.

Many conservatives heavily criticized George W for his big spending ways. Of course, that spending has since been dwarfed by Obama.

The point is subtle, and I don't expect most of you to get it. We don't want another George W Bush or George HW Bush or Gerald Ford or Richard Nixon or Richard Lugar, Olympia Snowe, etc. etc. We want a pro growth, pro small government, pro small business, pro entrepreneur, pro flatter, lower tax RATES ( which will increase tax REVENUE, BTW) House, Senate, and President.

Tea Partiers are the first to admit that the go along to get along GOP establishment helped get us into this mess. Business as usual will not suffice any longer.

Yes, Bush signed it. But, conservatives were still against it and tried to defeat it.

The libs like to conveniently fail to distinguish repubs from conservatives. They are two different things. RINOs may be repubs, but they are not conservatives. Given that, who cares if Bush championed it. It certainly doesn't make conservatives hypocrites. In fairness to Bush, he was scared into it by Paulsen and Geithner. Unfortunately, these are the same thugs who gathered all those bankers into a room and threatened them to take the TARP money, even though they didn't want it, by illegally threatening IRS audits. No wonder Geithner was held over by Obama.

TARP had bipartisan support and was several months too late. This was bi-partisan. Certainly there should have been serious strings attached to the money, but if it had not been done the economy, as sad as it is right now, would look like glory days.

We have already gotten most of the money back, although the means used are disgusting. The banks have bitten the hand that feeds them, and they are going to pay for it.

There are no safe investments. If you have money, put it to work. Start a business or partner up with someone, and be vigilant. Handing money to Wall Street is asking to be robbed, and the banks are little better with next to no interest.

If you have money, put it to work

Sending a check with the donation to the IRS could have the same effect.

The Tea Party is a new party who joined republican. Do not forget they started when Bush was President and were againsted excess spending.

If we continue Democrats and Republicans of old methods of doing business, we will soon look like Greece. 16 trillion of debt coming up fast. 1/2 trillion annually in interest. 40% they spend is borrowed above what they continue to steal as taxes.

Wake up this is a problem we cannot keep giving our children, if we want them to have a future. This spending is a direct attack on the American Dream.

Gary, give us the rest of your agenda.... Increased military spending, more military actions, weaken laws that protect air and water from pollution, reduce budgets for agencies like FDA that detect and stop outbreaks of poisonous food, reduce programs like tornado and hurricane warning systems and FEMA that helps people recover. Your simplisitic libertarian dogma is a relic of the 19th century

You people think government is your enemy. Abraham Lincoln thought our government was the crowning achievement of mankind and worth 600,000 lives to defend against states rights nuts like the tea party.

I'm for less gov't waste, less welfare, better delivery of gov't services and more effective law enforcement. But our tax rates are at historical lows and at the same time our country is suffering miserably and in a state of economic decline. If tax cuts were the answer, our economy would be in great shape. They're not.

Thank you John for maintaining your sanity.

Imagine the chants, slurs, profanity, and laughter from the Right if a bunch of Progressives starting claiming that Senators Reid and Schumer weren't liberal enough; can you imagine it? (Hell, you might join in!) Don't these Tea Party people realize what they are doing to the name of conservatism?

John,

Lugar is conservative and a very long standing Republican who has served Indiana well. The reason Lugar has done such a good job is that he represents all the people of his State and not just a small majority who elected him.

Lugar comes from the traditional view regarding political office. You represent all your constituents. It's not about winners triumphing over losers who the pay the price. It's about an appropriate balance that best represents your citizens and not winner take all.

This is the problem with the Tea Party. They believe that the goal of winning is about creating losers. Their view is that the majority rules and the minority loses. These are people who don't accept compromise as a solution and see no win without someone else losing.

Lugar has been one of those politicians who respected his constituents more then he respected some hardline position of one group. Lugar has always understood that he best represented his constituents by leaning right while still listening to and respecting the left. I'm pretty Progressive, yet I support the performance of Lugar, because above all, he has tried to be fair to those who voted for him as well as those who voted against him. It seems to me that is what our government is supposed to be about. On the whole we are a divided country, although most are somewhere in the middle with some leaning left and some leaning right. Lugar has done a pretty good job of representing that reality.

To select extremists who's positions are just about dominating their opposition, is a screwed up choice. It is one that will destroy the basic principles that our country was founded on and what our Constitution reflects. I find lots of problems with far right positions, but I similarly find problems with far left positions.

To vote for either extreme is dangerous in my view as it could possibly result in a shift much farther from the middle, than I would like to see things go. When faced with the choice of an extremist on my side of the middle, or a moderate on the other side of the middle, I'll probably go with the moderate because it is really closer to where I'm at. But there is a trend these days to make everything an extreme black or white issue. That's crazy, because the reality we live in is rather gray, when we step back and look at the big picture.

Senator Bayh waved bye bye.

The TeaParty did not infiltrate the Republican Party! The Republican party infiltrated the TeaParty, because they feared for their jobs and much as the Democrats do.

One comment, above, said the TeaParty supports the people that sent our job over seas, THEY DO NOT SUPPORT DEMOCRATS (the party of big government and over regulation), that's who sent our jobs away!

FED-UP - more jobs were shipped overseas during the Bush administration (after the great tax cuts) than during any other time in history. The Democrats are doing all they can to bring jobs back.

So, "fed-up", you're blaming the loss of jobs on regulations that protected workers health, the environment, and consumers? Would you rather have the working class die young from preventable illnesses, pollution, and defective products? Or are you just opposed to vague category of "regulations" but favor all the actual regulations that were put in place for very good reasons?

The job losses aren't due to "regulations", there are regulations overseas, too, and products have to meet the same standards no matter where they're made. No, the job losses started long ago, and accelerated during the Reagan and Bush administrations when tariffs on imported goods were being eliminated, making it cheaper to import foreign made goods rather than make them here. It got far worse during the Bush Jr. administration when the Republican controlled Congress passed laws that actually provided tax advantages to some companies offshoring jobs! Tax loopholes that Obama wants closed.

Oh, but it's so much easier to blame the Democrats that inherited this mess...

Once we had a party called "the know nothings" who knew some, but would say they knew nothing. Now we have the republican sect called "the tea party" who really know nothing, but will say they know everything.

All of what I'm reading makes me wonder if anyone remembers it was a Republican who was considered the best friend the blue collar class ever had when he was governor of NY. I'm referring to Nelson Rockefeller, and basically quoting Ben Stein. I always respected the man because he worked for the whole spectrum of his constituents and dared to be progressive. Please explain why the GOP is supposed to be a group of stone age nitwits more suggestive of Pat Robertson, than someone who is playing with a full deck.

I personally would prefer someone in the line of Theodore Roosevelt, who though a Republican was considered a Progressive and his square deal philosophy was directed toward the common man, something that might be considered as suggesting the embracement of the blue collar middle class. I'm sick of all the snide partisan bickering and would really like to see our elected representatives get their heads out from where the sun don't shine and think of their constituencies for a change. Everyone in Middle Tennessee is elated that Gummint Motors is bringing 2 cars and 1,700 jobs to Spring Hill. All that happened was for GM to NOT SEND those 1,700 jobs to MEXICO, and we own it. Is anyone else feeling sore and looking for vaseline?

Now I get it!

The "Tea" Party is really the "All Rights and No ResponsibiliTEAs Party"!

They don't really want to participate in public debate, they want to smother it and just "shut it down."

I have to think that they are pessimists at heart. Quitters like Sarah Palin ....

The old saying "lead, follow or get out of the way" is perfect for them. Get out of the way and let those of us who want to get the deficit under control, put people back to work, get out of Afghanistan and Iraq, get on the road to energy independence, (SOLVE A PROBLEM OR TWO) put our best effort into it.

But get out of the way! Who needs a pessimist in times like these.

Riddle: How many Tea Party members does it take drive a car? Answer: Two ... one to put the car into reverse and one to step on the gas.

Make progress/Bubby's Grampa: MP: You've hit the nail perfectly. The mentality of the tea party is; "whatever we say is the only way." Thanks

Bubby's Grampa: Nelson Rockefeller was a favorite of mine also. The recent senator from Nebraska "Chuck Hagel" governed much like him. Regards

Keep up the same old BS. I'm not going argue with you, I am going sit back and watch as the jobs continue to go to China & Mexico. I don't need one! Think Green, because that is where all your green crap comes from.

You don't like fossil fuels, go ride your bike, I'll drive my SUV. Keep thinking Green, it's you greenies that started the don't use paper save a tree, isn't nice seeing those beautiful bag flags decorating the landscape. Don't forget to take plenty of water when commuting on your bicycle, wait you can't, those plastic bottles are made from fossil fuel products. Yes, that's right your new green mobile is plastic, more fossil fuel. Oh, well we don't need job in this country anyway.

The only thing Democrats can take credit for are soup lines!

WANT A JOB? Move to China.

Dems tried to pass a bill that would close the loopholes for companies that sent jobs overseas. Republicans shot it down. Look it up.

It's not the dems that want to take everything away fron the middle class and give it to the rich--it's the Republicans. You can look that up too.

BTW-if you have a decent job-enjoy it. Once the Republicans abolish the minimum wage you may be working for $3.00 an hour.

You could find yourself and your family in one of those soup lines.

FED-UP-1583044 Jobs have been leaving this country for over 30 years now, and I don't see it slowing down anytime soon. In the 70's GM employed over 600,000 people in the US. It now employs around 6,400, while employing over 13,000 in China. American business has decided that it no longer wants to employ the American people, they just want them for customers. American's are just too greedy. They want a decent wage, health insurance, and other benefits. This effects the bottom line of these companies too much.

Hey Fed-Up, if you want to live in a 3rd World country, there are plenty to choose from. There you can continue your escape from reality.

Tax cuts lead to job losses. Pick up economics for dummies and remind yourself that the primary driver for hiring is demand. Money in the pockets of people who already have a personal budget surplus will have no need to buy products.

Stupid is what stupid does.

Fed Up: Do you realize the Democrat Party is responsible for your Social Security check each month. Why do you bite the hand that feeds you? Hell, you'd be on the streets begging for a living, if you didn't have Social Security.

TJefferson-1649275

WRONG! Democrats are the reason why the SS system is failing! You better check your facts before you make a stupid statement. I don't think that the failure of SS will put on the streets, it is the redistribution on wealth practices that worry me. I earned and saved what I live on and receive from my 401k that the democrat somehow think you parasites are entitled to.

I do receive SS benefits, I am taking them because I CAN, whether I need them or not. I paid into it all my working life and I AM TAKING MINE. Don't that piss you off? If it does, thank your democratic politicians for opening it up to all the social programs imaginable.

FED UP: The Social Security system is not failing, robot. I think you'd better check your facts before you start calling people stupid. It is well-funded for decades. Have you been listening to that far, right wing, extremist, fanatical BS again?

No, I don't mind whether you draw Social Security or not. In fact, I couldn't give a rip what happens to you. By the way, what does this mean---" I earned and saved what I live on and receive from my 401k that the democrat somehow think you parasites are entitled to."? Clearly, you wasted none of your money on an education.

By the way, liberals are not parasites, nor do they wish to drain the poor and working classes of their wealth through high taxes. To that end, I read an article by a TEA Party member raising hell about high taxes and come to find out he said the highest taxes he paid were his property taxes. Could that have been you? This guy couldn't be paying any federal or state income taxes!

TJ, go take your blood pressure meds, you are bleeding all over the screen.

Could have been, I use every loophole I can find. Liberals don't think they are parasites but neither do leaches (which most liberals are). Last msnbc statistic said that SS funds would sustain the system to 2023, Ok 12 more years, but lets look at another Democrat smooth move; Let's stimulate the economy by cutting payroll taxes (FICA withholdings) so now that we have cut the funds going into the system, now how long will it last, wise acre. Every piece of legislation that the democrats have made in regard to the SS program has been to destroy it.

@Mac Forrester...Thanks, and I'm still weary of the bickering and lack of intelligent research which is manifested nowadays. I think that what we are witnessing is the anecdotal proof of the descent of our education system in comparison with other countries. We as a nation seem to no longer have a clue and it shows in what we have for leadership. We are far removed from the times which gave us blue collar literati such as Eric Hoffer and Jack Kerouac. Right now I'd settle for refurbished versions of the Watergate press.

Yes, he's a professional politician, like Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, Roosevelt (both), Kennedy. He's not like Ron Paul, who has only been in Congress since 1983 and run for president 3 times. I wonder how long you have to be in office to lose your amateur standing?

It appears they want to get rid of all of all that knowledge and experience and replace it with a tea party puppet.

Although they seem to believe in representation without taxation.

Great post Carl!

It's really heartwarming to see all of this left wing liberal support for Republican career politician.

Just because someone is Republican or Democrat does not make them good or bad. Its called thinking for one's self Spider.

I would rather this man continue his work which is near to the center right of the political spectrum, he has years of knowledge and contacts, rather than an unknown entity supported by a group of people who's political agenda I can not agree with as a free thinking person.

If liberal positions are to be taken and liberal work done, let it de done by a liberal or a Democrat. I'm sick of seeing weak crap done by Republicans. If liberal work is done, let it be done in the name of Democrats. Then you can lay the blame at their feet and hold them accountable. When a Republican supports liberal or leftist judges, how can we complain about it or campaign against it?

It appears they want to get rid of all of all that knowledge and experience

That is correct! House sweeping time, Experienced in corruption and knowledge of how to get away with it. It is all of these old crooks that have put this country in the position it is in, ALL OF THEM, while we just sat and watched. Good old complacent fools we are.

WE WILL BURY YOU! Nikita Khrushchev 1961

1956 not 1961

You obviously are close-minded and really don't know what the Tea Party is about.

There are highly educated people in the Tea Party: doctors, nurses, businessowners, engineers, lawyers, etc., along with others from all walks of life.

The ignorance and backwardness of the Tea Party is actually frightening. Forget that the country has grown and progressed - as any civilized nation would. This group wants to take us backward to an ignorance, prejudice and hatred that no one should tolerate.

And more of are witnessing this. And we agree. The Teaparty is getting backlashed. Its poularity is dwindling and its public support eroding.

Where are the highly educated Tea Baggers? The only ones I've seen can't even spell.

The Teabaggers think that Paul Revere warned the British. ROFL

Paul, unfortunately what you state is not true. The Tea Party has regressed to nothing more than backward far right wingers. The highly educated left the ranks when they began to see the hatred being spewed out of the mouths of it's leadership and the backward direction the group is trying to take the country.

If nothing else convinces you, their support of totally ignorant candidates like Bachmann and Palin should be enough wake you up.

Paul--the Tea Party doesn't even know what the Tea Party is about. How is anybody else supposed to know? As far as we can tell it's about destroying the economy, punishing those in the greatest need, and... concealed weapons for everyone?

everything the tea party is against is what Obama is for....that is a great way to govern...Even if things are a good idea, they would vote against it. Pretty stupid and short sited. Kind of like companies sending all their jobs to China and then wondering why a few years later no one in America is buying their product and their stock is going down....That is what our country is now...instant gratification and that is what the stupid ass tea party people want...just say no without thinking what it might effect down the road...like the lowered credit ratings.

Where are the highly educated Tea Baggers? The only ones I've seen can't even spell.

Post # 38 below. You were saying?

i beleive and i start to feel like te tea party acting like they r kkk group

Oh what are you people going to do when the election is called. You can call people all the names you want and spew all the vitriolic names you can. The Middle of America supports these people and you very well could end up dealing with a administration that enacts legislation that you will hate. Im a center right Independent and live in the Mid west. Just about everyone I know is supportive of non union Center to middle people. You can rant and swear all you want, when its all over your more than likely going to have to live with them!

jollyoldsoul1 - don't know where you live but I live in the Midwest and absolutely no one with any values supports the Tea Party and their misguided and disgusting drones. We will not end up with these idiots in office. I believe most Americans learned their lessons with Bush and will chose to vote for leaders with brains instead of just loud mouths who spew hatred.

Well said W, jolly seems to think he's an 'independent' but there is absolutely nothing independent about his posts. Every last one of them is so far to the right you'd think he was being paid by Faux News. If you consistently espouse a particular sides point of view you are no longer eligible to state you are in the middle. No one on the vine believes you're an independent jolly so drop it, it's getting very old.

And by the way, independents may not be overly fond of President Obama at the present time but judging by his likely competition next year, most will hold their nose and vote for him again as the lesser of two evils. So I'd lay off the gloating about a change of administration if I were you.

This group wants to take us backward to an ignorance, prejudice and hatred that no one should tolerate.

Hmm... Seems like exactly the kind of thing you're doing to the tea party... Your ignorant about its motives, you assume a prejudicial stance against them and hate them beyond reason. Sounds like you should take some of your own advice.

Palin is not a tea party activist-- that's why so many tea party groups have distanced themselves from her. (Remember when that biker group came out and publicly said they never invited her?) She's a media whore, and the media just eats her up. And you all took a bite.

Bachmann is worthless. She might claim to be tea party, but again, no one but the media thinks so.

All of you degenerate, far left agitators make a lot of jokes about the tea party, but have failed to recognize the fact that they aren't exactly GOP-- I mean, the whole theme of this article is how the Tea Party is actually going after established GOP politicians. If they were blind "Right-Wingers," they would be supporting those incumbents, right? If you get right down to it, the Tea Party is predominantly Libertarian-- not Republican. *Most* libertarians identify as Republicans because they believe in fiscal conservatism, but they also believe in very liberal freedoms regarding drug use, abortion, gay rights, etc. So they end up a sort of Frankenstein's monster-- ideologically somewhere between Dems and GOP. That's why far-right freaks like Bachmann and Palin are not true Tea Party. They're just Republicans masquerading as Tea Party, apparently just so you "left-wingers" can hurl insults at the two most under qualified representatives there are, and then apply their rhetoric to the whole of the Tea Party. Epic failure, you guys.

But you all go ahead and vote for your "lesser of two evils" and watch the economy tank. I don't really give a F*ck. I'm just sick of morons spouting nonsense about a valid, and surprising, political movement in the US without bothering to actually find out what it stands for.

"Republicrat, Democran: One Party System!" -- Sage Francis.

If your definition of progress is bankrupting the greatest nation on earth then yes, we have made progress. We tea partiers believe we need to balance the budget now and we know that destroying this nation is the lefts back door way of implementing their precious new world order.

New world order? That was started by BUSH Sr. Remember all his speeches about this New World Order of which you speak? Why are you now trying to pawn it off on the dems? You republicans are the ones trying to implement this New World Order!

New world order? That was started by BUSH Sr. Remember all his speeches about this New World Order of which you speak? Why are you now trying to pawn it off on the dems? You republicans are the ones trying to implement this New World Order!

What's astonishing is that the term "New world order" was one that I heard mentioned several time in relation to Biblical prophesys for the end times. The Anti-Christ was going to declare a new world order so that he could take it over. Christians really aren't, which was also part of Biblical prophesy. They would follow the false prophet and today we see this coming true.

The best and most truthful post on this thread, been collapsed (7.12) as Jack Nickelson said "YOU CAN"T HANDLE THE TRUTH"

Right on WMG-21

the tea party stands for T-ax E-vading A-mericans Party.

wmg, your comments are well taken. I wonder who then speaks for the tea party? I think the only reason you got collapsed was due to the frustration that was evident in your posting (name-calling and profanity). The substance of your comments was enlightening and succinct.

I think the tea party does well in many local elections, but is unable to gain a national voice. One problem is that although the initial impetus for the tea party's rise was the fiscal conservative fight against the ballooning national debt, the tea party has been hi-jacked by Koch brothers financing and the Republican party. This has resulted in a silencing of any of the Libertarian viewpoint of personal liberty which tea partiers hold.

Nobody who professes to represent the tea party has ever gotten any press for advocating for abortion rights, gay rights, etc. or for ending military forrays through foreign interventions. I believe the liberal media would pounce on it immediately if someone did so as a tea party spokesman.

Until the true tea party is able to pronounce its libertarian views, it will be unable to break out of the grip of the Republican party - just as Ron Paul has had to remain a Republican to have any political traction.

Thanks for your thoughts.

dzaffina

I didn't know that Charlie Rangel,Timmy Githner and 41 Obama White House Aides are members of the "T-ax E-vading A-mericans Party." Well come to think of it I guess they are.

You are correct, sir. Poor 'W' (no sympathy here) wouldn't stand a chance with this teaparty lynchmob.

jabber

You have got that right W spent to much. That's why Pelosi and Reid got to be the Speaker and the Majority Leader in 2007.

Remember "No new deficit spending"?? BOY DID WE GET SCREWED!!!

Once again, there's the misleading statement about TARP. The program was signed into law by George W. Bush -- not Barack Obama

C'mon MSNBC, why did you blow this fact?

Hey, it's a story about the Teabaggers. MSNBC was interviewing them, and that's where the info came from. ROFL

Yep. The Tea Party can't be bothered by facts. Any lie will do. TARP was passed in 2008, Obama didn't become President until 2009. I up your ROFL with a ROFLMAO.

You all operate under the false assumption that Obama being elected was the reason for the start of the Tea Party.

The Tea Party is a grass roots movement that was against TARP. The problem was that there was no represenation of the Tea Party on Capitol Hill and no one was listening to those who were there. 2010 is just the backlash from those in Congress not listening to the people.

The Tea Party is a grass roots movement that was against TARP. The problem was that there was no represenation of the Tea Party on Capitol Hill and no one was listening to those who were there. 2010 is just the backlash from those in Congress not listening to the people.

And then they got hijacked. At first I thought they had some good points, then the political opportunist came in and completely altered their message.

Yes, but a responsible journalist or editor would have made not about the inaccuracy of the statement.

Different: The reporter never said anywhere in his story that TARP was started by Obama. They just said the Tea Party was against Luger because he signed off on it. It never mentions once in the story that Obama started it. Where are you people getting this about the reporter being wrong?

Tea Partiers are not tax advocates - they are hate mongers pretending to have values. Last night they booed a soldier - serving this country - because he is gay. This is a disgusting group of far right eccentrics who have no values whatsoever.

Teabaggers are the only advocates for the rich SOB's who packed up our American jobs and sent them to Coimmunist China. We want our jobs back Teabaggers. Get them back NOW! Quit Stonewalling.

Tea Partiers are not tax advocates - they are hate mongers pretending to have values. Last night they booed a soldier - serving this country - because he is gay. This is a disgusting group of far right eccentrics who have no values whatsoever.

Really?, I didnt watch the debate, but if true, that is just sad and typical of a rabid right wing that is getting dangerously close to being fascists.

The Teahadists have turned into monsters.

Then the taxpayers are in trouble. Libertarians (the real Tea Party) are against ALL taxes and must have money trees planted. Taxation isn't the problem and merely ranting about new taxes doesn't solve the problem. Accountability is the problem. The Tea Party needs to start thinking beyond the tip of their nose but so far their spokespeople haven't shown an ability to do that. Simple signs with 'No New Taxes' are as deep as the Tea Party stance. We need solutions and not just mindless babble.

I agree, Geno65

The TeaParty is about detsruction without anty SOLUTIONS to handle the consequences. Foolish

As a middle-class taxpayer, I can assure you the Tea Party does NOT speak for me.

Interesting how they claim a tax increase is class war, yet they want to "broaden the tax base". In other words increase taxation on the poor.

differnet - ditto here.

Will the Teabaggers tax the rich SOB's that packed up good American jobs and sent them to Communist China? ROFL

rich SOB's that packed up good American jobs and sent them to Communist China

You mean like Immelt? You know him, Obama's guest at his last campaign speech to congress on jobs.

By Tea Party standards, Republican hero Ronald Reagan would not only be declared a RINO, he'd be denounced as a communist.

I notice that those on the left are opposing the Tea Party from running a primary candidate. Under your belief system wouldn't this make it easier for a Democratic candidate to be elected?

Your hatred and utter contempt for Grass Roots coservatism is blind and shows just how effective the Tea Party has actual been.

If you were not scared of the Tea Party, this article wouldn't be worth commenting on.

Your hatred and utter contempt for radical conservatism is blind and shows just how effective the Tea Party has actual been.

Fixed that for you. Moderate conservatives are now Blue Dog Democrats. There are no moderates in the Republican or Tea Parties. So yea, anything radical is bad. Many moderates know about history and understand how radicals in any direction can destroy a nation. The Tea party moved the center bar. Unfortunately, for those who defined themselves by a term instead of ideals actually had their ideals change and never noticed.

I notice that those on the left are opposing the Tea Party from running a primary candidate.

I call Bull @!$%#. You have your Teahdist candidates at the podioum at the debates. Bachman, Paul and Perry. NO ONE is opposing your right to put up a set of idiot Teahadist candidates.

We merely oppose the candidate's view. Sound like a familiar phrase you use about Obama, doesnt it?

I fear them because they rely on the ignorance of their followers to believe their half truths and mis-information.

I am not ashamed to say so I fear for this country if they should attain any influential control in the US. They do not represent a majority just a big enough minority that GOP presidential candidates have to satisfy their views on the homogenizing of society so it looks like everything they want it to be.

They do not represent a majority just a big enough minority

Sounds exactly like what happened to what used to be the Democratic party.

Bassai - I saw on a post yesterday that Immelt is a Republican - yet you choose to ignore the truth and continue to spout your lies - are you brain dead that you can't acknowledge facts or brain dead that you don't want to know the facts - which is it ? Either way you are brain dead

Personal attacks besides violating the Newsvine code are the perfect example of brain dead. Since I haven't seen the post I could hardly be ignoring it.

By your reasoning if it's on the internet it must be true. I saw a website about a breatharian who has elevated himself to a higher plain of existence. It's on the internet therefore it is true and you are ignoring that truth and consequently spreading lies.

I will give you the benefit of a doubt. If Immelt is a Republican therefore what? Does it mean he hasn't shipped jobs overseas?

Poor taste reporter. But someone reporting on conservatives vs moderates might have some lack of class.

Dude, cool it, you sound as bad as the TP.

Well, my $0.02

During the 2004 Presidential elections the slogan came with : ABB, reapply the same formula for the new elections : ABO

Many years ago I lived in Northeast IN and Lugar was the first Republican I voted for -- I was young and idealistic in those days so this was not typical for me.

Not sure if you were a voter in the 70s -- wasn't it Vance Hartke's seat he won ?

He has a deep understanding of foreign policy, something this country can ill afford to lose.

Lugar's the kind of old school Republican you could invite into your house without worrying about property damage or a 911 call. He seems to have read a few books. Doesn't seem in any hurry to start a religious war, a lynch mob, or a temper tantrum.

Of course the Teeps can't relate to him -- a man who thinks about a lot of things is a man they can't trust, 'cause he's stuck-up.

Patrick Sullivan Post #20 -

"he is a level headed and rational man and people on both sides of the aisle know it"

I wish I could agree 100% with your premise I would change it to read: Some people on both sides of the aisle recognize Senator Lugar is a rational man. We have evolved those that would go after Senator Lugar on both sides of the aisle represent the worst (going back to the future) in Americans, just listen to them. I will not say they are not Americans....as they do of other Americans... if I did I would be as they and that is untenable. So we let them have some fun at the expense of Americas progress for the time being but rational men and women from both sides of the aisle must step up and speak out against these reactionaries. TheseTea Baggers need to be stopped by statesmen and women from both sides of the aisle. That is my hope.

Gopod Luck...............

Patrick #20 - correction #20.1

I was on and off the phone trying to type between calls and I did not notice my typing error -

Good Luck to You...............

Control women and gays and the poor - Right-wing Tea Party commentator Matthew Vadum said that poor Americans—or what he calls “nonproductive segments of the population”—should not be allowed to vote in America.

And of course since most of the poor are African Americans and other minorities- it's a recycled Jim Crow law.

"Class Warfare" the Faux News buzz word of the week. Since when did paying taxes become unAmerican? Since when is raising taxes "Class Warfare".

If you support tax cuts for buying private jets that's fine by me, but I don't see how that makes me filth.

Oh by the way...that tax cut for that private jet you'll never ride in is coming right out of YOUR pocket. So just remember who you are actually rooting for.

Where is this story does it say voted for "Obama's" controversial TARP. It says Controversial but it does not say Obama's. You people just keep saying that, but article does not state it that way. Please re-read the article. That is unless they edited it prior to my reading it.

Well, it is certain teapartiers that try to blame everything on Obama, even things that happened before he came into office like TARP and the auto company bailouts.

BTW, some on the far right, including Rush and Fox News, have been bad-mouthing the Chevy Volt, seeing an Obama connection because sales started in his turn in office, and the "GM bailout", and the "alternative fuels tax rebate" involved - ignoring facts that the Volt project started in 2006 with the first prototype shown in 2007, and both the "GM bailout" and the "alternative fuels tax rebate" were signed into law by Bush Jr, not Obama.

But facts never stand in the way of a good rant.

The article was edited.

If you won't vote for a conservative instead of Lugar you're a Republican In Name Only !!!! What code does this break Newsvine Nazis ?