6 thoughts on “Saturday open thread”

  1. From an op-ed piece in yesterday’s NYT:

    “Sharron Angle, who is mounting a spirited run against Harry Reid for a Senate seat from Nevada with Tea Party support, bristled at Mr. Reid’s contention that she is overly conservative. “I’m sure that they probably said that about Thomas Jefferson and George Washington and Benjamin Franklin,” she protested. “And, truly, when you look at the Constitution and our founding fathers and their writings … you might draw those conclusions: That they were conservative. They were fiscally conservative and socially conservative.”

    My response to Ms. Angle:

    Conservative? CONSERVATIVE? They were bleeding edge REVOLUTIONARIES!

    1. They were the leaders of the progressive movement. Jefferson, Washington, Madison, Paine, Franklin were are extreme progressives. The conservatives of the day were the Tories who stayed either went back to England or stayed here and turned any of the revolutionaries in that they could.

      There is a huge lack of historical understanding on the right and the “tea parties”. I cringe every time Paul Ryan rips on progressives and talks about going back to our founding principles. The founders would not of let Paul Ryan anywhere near them. That is like a college football coach saying he wants to revolutionize the passing game the way Woody Hayes did.

      1. Once again you are using modern day labels to describe a very different time. Of course they were not the “conservatives” of their day, if by that it meant the status quo. I could call myself a classical liberal, but that doesn’t mean I am a liberal as you define it in modern times.

        Look at the how the Founders crafted the Constitution and the Bill of Rights — everything put limits on what the government could do and established individual rights. If progressives were writing it, they would have established rights that government would GIVE to people instead. Big difference.

  2. Also for the NYT:

    “The Tea Party movement has further sought to spruce up its historical bona fides by laying claim to the United States Constitution. Many Tea Party members subscribe to a literal reading of the national charter as a way of bolstering their opposition to deficit spending, bank bailouts and President Obama’s health care plan.”

    Well of course they take a literal reading of the US Constitution…they take a literal reading of the Bible as well…

  4. FYI…WPPA endorsed Mayor Barrett!! We put up our Barrett yard signs (finally) yesterday! I just wish they were bigger!

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