The Tea Party moves to ban books

[marmar]

The Tea Party moves to ban books
As the Tea Party looks more and more like the old religious right, censoring what children can read in school is on the agenda

Amanda Marcotte for Pandagon, part of the Guardian Comment Network
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 24 August 2011


Even though it will be pointedly ignored by mainstream media types wed to the narrative that the Tea Party is a spontaneous uprising of people who were apolitical before Obama sent them around the bend, I'm guessing many of you read with interest Robert Putnam and David Campbell's distillation of their intense research in political attitudes of Americans that shows that the "Tea Party" is the same ol' rightwing base, but just with a new name. And they're the most Bible-thumping-est part of the rightwing base (as well as the most racist – these things tend to go together). Write Putnam and Campbell:

(Tea Party members) were disproportionately social conservatives in 2006 – opposing abortion, for example – and still are today. Next to being a Republican, the strongest predictor of being a Tea Party supporter today was a desire, back in 2006, to see religion play a prominent role in politics. And Tea Partiers continue to hold these views: they seek "deeply religious" elected officials, approve of religious leaders' engaging in politics and want religion brought into political debates. The Tea Party's generals may say their overriding concern is a smaller government, but not their rank and file, who are more concerned about putting God in government.

All of which doesn't mean we can just shrug this off as same-shit-different-name. One important thing has changed – giving them a fancy new nickname and a bunch of Astroturf rallies and endless coverage in both right wing and mainstream media has emboldened these dickweeds. It's same-shit-different-name, but with more power and energy because of the fancy new name. ..........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/aug/24/tea-party-banning-books

[Kennah]

1. The Religious Reich in action

[mmonk]

2. I didn't know they could read based on the spelling on their signs.

[RoccoR5955]

3. That's the line that they crossed.

This means WAR! When they ban books, they ban ideas. They ban imagination. They ban free thought!

[sakabatou]

4. Paging Ray Brabury. Paging Ray Bradbury.

[gauguin57]

7. Paging Aldous Huxley. Paging Aldous Huxley.

"...(T)he Controller replied. "Men and women must have their adrenals stimulated from time to time."
"What?" questioned the Savage, uncomprehending.
"It's one of the conditions of perfect health. That's why we've made the V.P.S. treatments compulsory."
"V.P.S.?"
"Violent Passion Surrogate. Regularly once a month. We flood the whole system with adrenalin. It's the complete physiological equivalent of fear and rage. All the tonic effects of murdering Desdemona and being murdered by Othello, without any of the inconveniences."
"But I like the inconveniences."
"We don't," said the Controller. "We prefer to do things comfortably."
"But I don't want comfort. I want God, I want poetry, I want real danger, I want freedom, I want goodness. I want sin."
"In fact," said Mustapha Mond, "you're claiming the right to be unhappy."
"All right then," said the Savage defiantly, "I'm claiming the right to be unhappy."

[liberal N proud]

5. They are afraid of the truth getting into the hands of the ignorant.

It is difficult to control the informed mind.

[LiberalFighter]

6. The colonists from the Boston Tea Party event

would had thrown these teabaggers into the water along with the tea.

[provis99]

8. so when do they ban fluoride as a communist plot?

You just know that's next.

[izquierdista]

9. Put 'Holy Bible' book jackets on everything

They have no idea what's in it, plus you'll get lots of bonus points for having a bunch of Bibles around.

[DCBob]

10. can book burning be far behind?

make no mistake if these people ever get political control of this country we are in very deep shit.

[lpbk2713]

11. Banning the wheel is next on their list.

And then it will be fire after that.

[LetTimmySmoke]

12. The Tea Party Hymn

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MReV9dkAVhY

[blkmusclmachine]

13. The Teabag Approved Reading List:

King James Bible, Going Rogue, King James Bible, Fed Up, King James Bible, Theocracy in 30 Days, King James Bible, Bush Memoirs, King James Bible, and King James Bible.