Is the bloom off the rose?

[DoozleDazzle]

When Obama was running for president...my lib friends were constantly telling me he's not like other politicians. (my response...we'll see)

When he won his first election...they were ecstatic and called me immediately reassuring me I was going to like him. I had never seen them so freakin' happy...not even when their children were born. I had told them that I wasn't going to do a business deal if Obama was elected. All of my friends were calling me after he was elected telling me that I had to go ahead and do the deal. That our economy was going to come bounding back with Obama in the driver's seat.

Some of the people telling me this were neighbors that were scientists at NASA. I was telling them...you aren't even going to be living here soon...Obama wants to shut NASA down. And it's not like you can go down the street and apply for the Astro Physicist position at Walmart. But somehow I was the one living in la-la land. Fast forward a couple of years...unfortunately, 2 lost their jobs and had to move and one was forced to retire.

When Obama won his second election, my phone did not ring off the hook. NONE of my lib friends called to reassure me how great things were going to be. When I mentioned the election to them, some of them seemed a little shell shocked that Obama had won. And the rest of them seemed somewhat apathetic.

...and everyday the Obama bloom seems to wither just a little more.

...except on this board. =)

[SerenaSmithLampwork]

all of your friends are liberal obama supporters?

were the cuts at NASA obama's idea? or, possibly, a result of cuts orchestrated by the republicans?

you might want to revisit some of the posts on this board, if you are actually harboring the illusion that all of the lefties on this board have unequivocally supported obama and everything he has done.

"When Obama was running for president...my lib friends were constantly telling me he's not like other politicians. (my response...we'll see)"

that was my response, too. in fact, i might be able to find you the letter i sent to a magazine that was actually printed pointing out that the left was being charmed by a charmer. of course, i'd still take him over pretty much any right winger that the weak republican leadership would have to put forward. they have no balls to stand up to the extreme right wing, anymore.

how do you feel about the damage done by the republicans? still support them 100% without question?

[DoozleDazzle]

Clarification...I was talking about all of my liberal friends, not all of my friends.

While Obama was running for president the first time, he said that he wanted to shut NASA down. At the time, my sister was working for one of NASA's largest contractors. NASA's employees got all panicky and he either came and talked to them or sent them a video of him speaking...I can't remember which, saying that he had been misquoted.

Then, when he became president, he told the head of NASA that their primary responsibility was going to be making countries like India feel better about their contributions. You don't really need Astro Physicists for that. =(

That's cool that you wrote the letter and they printed it!

One of the reasons that I was so adamant that the Tea Party wasn't racist and wasn't an Astro turf operation was because it really started when Bush was in office. We just didn't have a name and we didn't realize that we weren't alone.

We were a bunch of small groups of mostly women sitting around Starbucks (or kitchen tables) complaining about how much money Bush was spending the last 2 years of his presidency. We couldn't understand why no one was talking about it and people in the media didn't seem the least bit concerned. (And I might add, some of my liberal friends agreed.) Most of the women in our group were mom's worried about how the monstrous debt we were racking up, would affect their children.

So am I with Republicans 100% of the time...ummmm, no.

I agree that they are without balls, but I think they should lean more toward the extreme right wing rather than trying to be democrat-lites. =)

[SerenaSmithLampwork]

well, i know it is your way to find anything that obama might ever have said on any subject and choose to believe that anything bad related to that subject is obama's fault but,

The Republican proposals also would cut NASA's budget by $928 million compared to last year, cut another $198 million from the Department of Commerce and $259 million from the National Science Foundation, which funds an array of scientific research projects.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/09/us-usa-fiscal-cuts-idUSBRE9681AT20130709

NASA unveiled a $17.7 billion spending plan for 2014 today (April 10) that continues major ongoing space exploration projects, while including funds to kick-start an audacious new mission to capture a small asteroid and park it near the moon so astronauts can explore it by 2025.

The proposed NASA budget is part of President Barack Obama's 2014 federal budget request and would restore the U.S. space agency's funding back near its 2012 levels. The request is about $50 million less than NASA's last budget in 2012, but would restore deep cuts from sequestration, leaving the agency with a roughly $1 billion increase from the $16.6 billion spending bill the agency received for 2013.

http://www.space.com/20605-nasa-budget-asteroid-lasso-2014.html

[SerenaSmithLampwork]

i was just thinking about how you have your idea of what the tea party is all about, based, i suppose, on your actual experiences that you want us all to believe.

but, then, i have my own experiences with tea party people and you completely discount and/or ignore, acting as if no one could have possibly had any experience that was different than yours.

ironically, it was sitting around a table at starbucks with some lady friends that i first learned about how it was all the fault of inner city blacks. maybe, when people at your meetings make comments like that it doesn't sound like racism to you but it does to me.

[Former_Member]

I still like him.

[DoozleDazzle]

"ironically, it was sitting around a table at starbucks with some lady friends that i first learned about how it was all the fault of inner city blacks. maybe, when people at your meetings make comments like that it doesn't sound like racism to you but it does to me."

Seriously...seriously???

The only friends that I have that make racist remarks are my friends of color, that make remarks about their own race...and I'm constantly calling them on it.

The Tea Party is made up of lots of little groups. They are kind of like church denominations. We have a core belief that the government should spend less, but I can't believe that any Tea Party group has a mission statement that's racist or that tolerates racism. If there is one (or more)...then it's like the Westboro Baptist Church...an aberration...not the norm.

When our group has rallies, the emcees are both black. Maybe our group is the aberration, but I don't think so. The black Tea Party members are probably the most popular people at the rally...which could be racist on our part. But most of us have black friends that won't come because of pressure from their family and/or friends. We know the price that these members are paying for attending and we want them to know that we appreciate them making the sacrifice.

[LocoBead]

I agree, Doozle. What I've seen (which is very little, I admit,) is that Tea Party members come together because of their shared political values. Race has nothing to do with it...nobody cares, except, as you stated, to show appreciation to those who cross the line with family and friends to join the cause.

[Former_Member]

I think within any group, you will find the extremists...and I would think that even if that faction was racist in nature and purpose they wouldn't be so stupid as to make it their mission statement...It would come out in their actions during rallies, etc.



Looking at this group's website 'about' information, would you agree they may very well fall under the 'Tea Party' umbrella in dogma?

The National Liberty Federation (NLF) is dedicated to promoting awareness regarding our inalienable rights. Through educational endeavors, public forums and other mass communications, we seek to ensure our citizenry, members of the media, punditry, and government, remain focused on the importance of free enterprise, limited government, fiscal responsibility, individual liberty, and American heritage, as a means for perpetuating a free society.

Our slogan is to "Advocate for Americans." We strongly believe is both a nonpartisan and a not-for-profit organization. Some of the issues we create awareness and educate the public on are:

Restoring Adherence to Constitutional Principles
Upholding All Our Constitutional Rights
Promoting the need for Fiscal Responsibility in the Federal & State Governments.
Abolish government waste, fraud and abuse.
Keeping the Internet Free from Unnecessary Government Regulation and Taxation
Advocating States' Rights
Opposing United Nations Agenda 21


http://www.libertyfederation.com/contact_us



Enjoy some of their fb pictures...

http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/tea-party-fail

[SerenaSmithLampwork]

i think the only reason why some of the women i used to be friends with talked openly with me about the thoughts they had to support the beliefs and positions they were advocating was because they thought i was like them. i wanted new friends so i tried not to be judgmental and just have conversations. they are smart enough women and we have a lot of other stuff in common.

one of them is smart, an arts educator, works with kids, talented artist, and she's the one who told be the mortgage crisis was the fault of greedy black people. and when i said i thought it was more complicated than that she looked at me like i was nuts, that it was the liberal government forcing the banks to loan to black people who were greedy and couldn't pay back their loans.

so, you could say, she was advocating for income and asset verification/fiscal responsibility/banking regulation/citizen responsibility/banking deregulation/whatever, but what is the real problem? what are we fighting against? liberals giving free stuff to lazy greedy black people.

i think it's not really that hard to scratch the surface and find racial bias, i mean we are only about 50 years from jim crow. people can use all kinds of words, learn how to be politically correct when they aren't sure of the audience that is listening, and even convince themselves it isn't at all in any way about race. i'm not saying it is ENTIRELY about race, the concept of fiscal responsibility is great. but, don't put your head in the sand and act like you haven't heard exactly the kind of thing i have.

[Former_Member]

It's never that simple, only simple people need it to be that simple...

[potatopotato]

"But most of us have black friends that won't come because of pressure from their family and/or friends." Did you hear this firsthand Doozle?

[DoozleDazzle]

Hi PP,

Yes, 2 of my friends were told by their mothers not to come to Thanksgiving and/or Christmas if they became a Tea Party member.

One of the girls, I don't know as well, but the other one I know very well along with her family. I tried to talk her into standing up to her mother. I told her they could have Thanksgiving with us and I was sure that her mother would cave by Christmas because there was no way she wouldn't see her grandchildren on Christmas. (This was several years ago, when Santa was still visiting.) But my friend just didn't want to have that kind of fight with her mom and I understand that.

Interestingly enough, it's the moms and not the dads who seem to have the biggest problem...at least with my friends. And it seems to be what other members of their predominantly black churches will think about them. I didn't think churches were supposed to judge. My friend's mom was horrified of the names my friend would be called.