If you are not happy with my country...

[IMADreamer]

I find that term extremely offensive. It definitely has no purpose other than to incite hatred to those whose views differ from the user. It is used as a slang term for supporters of the Tea Party movement. It is offensive because of it's origin and for the way in which it used.

 

From Dictionary.com:

teabagger

 

[tee-bag-er]

tea·bag·ger

 

  [tee-bag-er] Show IPA

1. ( often initial capital letter ) Slang: Usually Disparaging and Offensive . a member of the Tea Party, a conservative political movement in the U.S. Origin: so called because the tea party asked Americans to mail tea bags to Washington as a protest in April 2009

 

2. Slang . a person who tea-bags a sexual partner. Origin: so called from the resemblance of the sexual practice to dipping a tea bag in a cup of hot water

 

Read what Rolling Stone writer Matt Taibbi had to say about this term and it's connotations.

Michelle Malkin » Dear Oxford University Press: Get a clue about “teabagging”

 

There are plenty more, Bing or Google at your convenience.

 

Is it offensive? The President of the local tea party group has a t-shirt that says "I'm a tea bagger and I'm proud of it." I'm pretty sure it's a rallying cry for them at this point. BTW he is a close personal friend of mine and has never said calling him a tea bagger is offensive. If it is I guess I should stop.

 

Can you guys remind me again who is trying to destroy our country and constitution? I hear that alot but as far as I can tell the guy in office right now is basically the same as the guy who was in office before him, and before him, and before him, and so on and so forth. Well I don't know how far back it goes but atleast since the 1980s it seems like we are more concerned with locking down the country, invading privacy, and so on then anything else. It's not like this just started in 2008. It's been going on for a very long time and in both parties.

 

I guess that's my problem with the modern day Republican party. Where was the tea party group when the Patriot Act was signed? I know they didn't exist yet, but why is it now all the "libertarians" have come forward and started to cry foul when out of control spending, rights violations, etc have been going on for literally decades. Don't get me wrong I feel the same way about the Democrats. Why aren't they complaining about the extension of the Patriot act? Why haven't liberals called out Obama on that and Gitmo and so on?

 

I guess it just ticks me off because these groups have come about since Obama came around and that's suspicious to me because nothing has changed since he was elected. In fact it's been much of the same. Big spending, war, unlawful search and seizure etc. He's as Republican as they come as far as I can tell. Yet because the big media says he's a socialist well then that must be what he is. It plays into the narritive of right vs left, Christian vs whatever, that the two or three big media companies in this country rake millions in off of.

 

What ticks me off even more is it's invaded every aspect of life in America. I mean hell this is a car care forum and we get veiled comments about how bad the President is, implying that the last guy was somehow different and better from every where. Why does everything have to be extreme left or right? I'll bet if we all sat down and thought about it we'd have tons in common.

 

I'll bet we could agree on these things:

Govt spending is out of control.

The health care system in this country is completely broken

our kids are stupid and we need to educate them better

homeland security should be important

there are too many wack jobs controlling the media, the govt, and everything else

Adam's car care products rule

 

I used to read threads here and sit quiet about my politics. In fact some comments from Adam and others about how bad things supposedly are (even though business is booming) drove me a way for a while. However I decided that I was going to come back and if someone said something about whatever political party I would start saying something too. So here we are in this thread. This is my country too and while this forum is private and certainly my opinion doesn't have to be heard here (free speech does not apply on an internet forum) I want it to be when someone speaks out about something I think is wrong.

 

Telling people if they don't like America to leave IS WRONG. It is not what America is about.

 

Sorry for the long post but I've gotten so many emails and such in support over what I've said here it makes me realize I'm not alone and that I think all of us here just want a better place for ourselves, our kids, and grandkids. I think that is what America is about, improving lives, improving the future.

 

God Bless you guys, thanks for letting me rant, and God Bless America.

 

[Bill-V8V]

Is it offensive?

 

our kids are stupid and we need to educate them better

 

The rest of your post may not be but this statement if seriously offensive. The children of this country are NOT stupid they are just poorly educated. If the school systems in this country were fixed it my just lead to more things getting fixed down the road.

[Chewy]

Yeah... My son IS NOT stupid... I have to educate him and make sure he's educated. Problem today is parents rely on the schools to teach their children everything... BS, They will assist me in his learning.

 

 

Sent from the past using special algorithms and data nodes!

[Captain Slow]

Is it offensive? The President of the local tea party group has a t-shirt that says "I'm a tea bagger and I'm proud of it." I'm pretty sure it's a rallying cry for them at this point. BTW he is a close personal friend of mine and has never said calling him a tea bagger is offensive. If it is I guess I should stop.

 

Can you guys remind me again who is trying to destroy our country and constitution? I hear that a lot but as far as I can tell the guy in office right now is basically the same as the guy who was in office before him, and before him, and before him, and so on and so forth. Well I don't know how far back it goes but at least since the 1980s it seems like we are more concerned with locking down the country, invading privacy, and so on then anything else. It's not like this just started in 2008. It's been going on for a very long time and in both parties.

 

I guess that's my problem with the modern day Republican party. Where was the tea party group when the Patriot Act was signed? I know they didn't exist yet, but why is it now all the "libertarians" have come forward and started to cry foul when out of control spending, rights violations, etc have been going on for literally decades. Some of us are like John the Baptist crying out in the wilderness but alas not many have listened. I've been talking about this literally since high school (class of 1982.) Don't get me wrong I feel the same way about the Democrats. Why aren't they complaining about the extension of the Patriot act? Why haven't liberals called out Obama on that and Gitmo and so on? And why no more body counts from Iraq OR Afghanistan???

 

I guess it just ticks me off because these groups have come about since Obama came around and that's suspicious to me because nothing has changed since he was elected. In fact it's been much of the same. Big spending, war, unlawful search and seizure etc. He's as Republican as they come as far as I can tell. Yet because the big media says he's a socialist well then that must be what he is. It plays into the narrative of right vs left, Christian vs whatever, that the two or three big media companies in this country rake millions in off of.

 

What ticks me off even more is it's invaded every aspect of life in America. I mean hell this is a car care forum and we get veiled comments about how bad the President is, implying that the last guy was somehow different and better from every where. Why does everything have to be extreme left or right? I'll bet if we all sat down and thought about it we'd have tons in common. Correct, but this is where we as a people need to constantly be aware of issues and VOTE. The politicians, if constantly replaced until they pay attention to the electorate, will one day realize who is the servant and who is the master.

 

I'll bet we could agree on these things:

Govt spending is out of control. YUP

The health care system in this country is completely broken YUP

our kids are stupid and we need to educate them better Mine aren't, we've started them early reading and writing.

homeland security should be important YUP

there are too many wack jobs controlling the media YUP, the govt YUP, and everything else YUP

Adam's car care products ruleYUPYUPYUPYUPYUPYUPYUPYUP

 

I used to read threads here and sit quiet about my politics. In fact some comments from Adam and others about how bad things supposedly are (even though business is booming) drove me a way for a while. However I decided that I was going to come back and if someone said something about whatever political party I would start saying something too. Oh good, nothing worse than an echo chamber. So here we are in this thread. This is my country too and while this forum is private and certainly my opinion doesn't have to be heard here (free speech does not apply on an internet forum) I want it to be when someone speaks out about something I think is wrong. Exactly the same reason I piped up. I usually let these posts run their course as well but I had to speak up.

Telling people if they don't like America to leave IS WRONG. It is not what America is about. HEAR HEAR

Sorry for the long post but I've gotten so many emails and such in support over what I've said here it makes me realize I'm not alone and that I think all of us here just want a better place for ourselves, our kids, and grandkids. I think that is what America is about, improving lives, improving the future.

 

God Bless you guys, thanks for letting me rant, and God Bless America.

 

Jason, you and I definitely could sit down, have dinner, drinks and conversation regarding our country and NOT have it escalate into screaming or worse. Both your response and my post could have been done in more inappropriate or rude ways. Instead we both took the high road that is much less traveled these days.

 

As for finding the term offensive well that goes back to an event I attended where signs graphically displaying the term were shoved in my face. I'm sure if I put a 3'x5' image in front of your face while I screamed profanities at you it would stay fresh in your mind for some time. I was also told at that event that I'm a bigot and a racist which is odd since my wife is darker than either the President or First Lady.