Justifying The Tea Baggers

Elizabth Hasselbeck is at it again. This time, she tries to excuse racism, homophobia, and spitting on people - seriously.



( h/t to Laffy at The Political Carnival )

I'll address Hasselbeck's "Bribed, Bullied, and Shut Out" talking point in a second.

Here's what's troubling about her incessant prattling. She is actually defending using racial slurs, homophobic rhetoric, and using saliva as a weapon - period. I know that some may see her intent otherwise, but you don't say "oh, people are so upset and sometimes people have to do these things" because you want to defend a failed ideological stance. Does she not understand what is really going on within the context of not only healthcare reform, but how the average Tea Bagger views Obama? Apparently not.

Now, as far as the "Bribes, Bullying, and Shutting Out" goes, I have this to offer - no one has been bullied, that's just a clever talking point that works well within the idea that Obama was a Senator from Chicago and - as we all know - everyone from Chicago is a gangster.

Secondly, I would offer that no one has been bribed either. Politicians are elected to assist their constituency. To put it another way, they are quite literally elected to bring home the metaphorical "bacon" - get it, bacon, pork? Yeah. So when someone like Ben Nelson gets a nice deal for his people, this isn't some new tactic used by the Obama administration - this is politics.

And as far as anyone being shut out, how does that benefit healthcare reform at all? By that, I mean that if you shut someone out, you're not going to get a vote. It's in your better interest to get as many votes as you can. Considering that Republicans are in the minority, and Hasselbeck is one of the "pretty girls" that waves the GOP flag higher and faster than most, It's rather disingenuous that she would be complaining about being shut out. The Republicans shut themselves out by opposing literally everything Obama and the Democrats want to try.

The reality of this is that there is racism, homophobia, and vitriol within the conservative movement - period, case closed. And attempting to justify it only makes it and you look worse.