Blame Game Roundup: Where Pundits And Politicos Are Pointing Fingers On The Debt Crisis

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by Frances Martel | 9:00 pm, August 11th, 2011

» 12 comments

It’s The Tea Party’s Faul For Being Irrational, Hostage-Taking Terrorist Dictators

Used By: Fareed Zakaria, Bob Beckel, Possibly Joe Biden

If Republicans are children and Democrats weaklings, the Tea Party were, at some point, nearly universally called “terrorists” for “holding America hostage.” Many more than just the above used the terms for the group, arguing that it was their refusal to even consider raising the debt ceiling that made the negotiations so difficult. That S&P suggested Congressional chaos had much to do with their downgrade only fanned the flames, with Congressional Democrats and even Vice President Joe Biden being accused of dropping the t-word (Biden may be the only one involved who actually didn’t). But no one went as far as CNN’s Fareed Zakaria, who accused the Tea Party of having dictatorial, “anti-democratic” attitudes– the sort of language Jay Carney went out of his way to discourage.

It’s Not The Tea Party’s Fault Because Didn’t Spend Any Of The Money (That No One Accused Them Of Spending)

Used By: Rand Paul

This counterpoint deserves its own analysis, as it’s the prototypical example of someone taking down an argument that no one had made in the first place. On last night’s Hannity, Sen. Rand Paul defended the Tea Party from nonexistent claims that they caused the debt crisis by overspending when they were in power. Needless to say, it was quite easy to prove that the Tea Party did not cause the deficit, as they had no Congressional representation until November 2010 (unless Sen. Paul’s (and the Tea Party’s) father, Rep. Ron Paul, counts). This would’ve been a great take-down if anyone had made the argument to begin with.

Bonus Anti-Strawman Argument: The Tea Party Doesn’t Even Exist

Used By: Democratic Commentator Jimmy Williams

This is the worst attempt to blame a specific group for anything we’ve ever seen. Williams, appearing with Dylan Ratigan, was trying to go for the classic “Republican intransigence” argument that is still making the rounds on this matter, but took a detour when railing that the Republican attempt to blame the Tea Party for the debate was a diversion, because it was an “astroturf” group that “doesn’t exist.” Note to pundits: Claiming the people you’re debating don’t exist is a surefire way to lose any debate– there’s a reason Sen. Obama didn’t play this card in 2008 against Samuel “Joe the Plumber” Wurzelbacher*.

*not actually a plumber.

NEXT PAGE: The Blame Bush Brigade Goes Biparitsan!

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barack obama, Bill Maher, Democrats, dylan ratigan, fareed zakaria, fox news, George W. Bush, John Boehner, Juan Williams, msnbc, Rachel Maddow, Rand Paul, Republicans, Sean Hannity, Tea Party

Anonymous

Jimmy Williams was right Frances, but he probably reads those big history books.

I understand. You are so busy you can’t read those books, read any of the Goldwater speeches, etc.
Anonymous

Oh look it’s Goldwater’s acceptance speech: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/daily/may98/goldwaterspeech.htm

“The Republican Party we know today had its origins in 1946, when it ended fourteen years of Democratic dominion, presenting itself as the voice of ordinary Americans. Its slogan for that year’s congressional races was “Had Enough?,” playing on resentment over rising prices and postwar shortages.” http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2011/aug/18/next-election-surprising-reality/?page=2

I understand that you are trying to do an overview, but I’ve been telling my Tea Party friends that they are nothing new since they discovered they had a new nickname.

I’ll post books if you’d like.
http://twitter.com/SailRabbits Magister

If it’s all true, we can at least thank the month of August for providing a respite in between now and what threatens to be an even more dangerous strawman-laden, time-wasting, finger-pointing fall bonanza to come.

“Fall” will be just the beginning. By my count, we could be in for another fifteen months.

Good post.
Anonymous

The more people write about this Frances, the better. The absurd accusations and ridiculous name calling has driven the approval ratings of our leaders further downward. Those few that are making thorough and reasoned arguments without self serving exaggeration are being taken down with the rest.
If more people highlight this, perhaps a few them will try to regain some respectability and credibility.
Yeah, I won’t hold my breathe either.
Anonymous

Thanks for doing this Mediaite. The political and media driven nonsense over has been unbearable. It goes to show how much of a joke a twosided system is, and how these blame games just make for an unintelligent national conversation.
Drew

the blame game has got to stop, that is what partially got us in this mess!
Anonymous

Fact: Newts only point that stuck with me was that
this special group meeting behind doors should be dropped now and let
legislators legislate in the open because that’s why they were elected to solve
problems like this. All now know what the downgrade is and what it means so
it’s time to work the issue and failure is once again not an option! Six hiding
behind doors doesn’t show Americans the trust Americans deserve in their
elected politicians!
Anonymous

The net sum result is that Obamo is getting utterly bludgeoned, which is as it should be. He’s the petulant child who insisted upon bringing ‘guns to a knife fight’ and attacking ‘enemies.’ Now The Boy is not only being bludgeoned, but making sure that people SEE that he’s getting bludgeoned. The ‘sympathy vote’ might be all He has Left.
Anonymous

It’s become comical now to hear King Obama complaining about partisanship , and saying that we need to put politics aside and do what’s right for the country .

After you , Barry . The Tea Party is doing it ,and for that they’re being villified .
Anonymous

IT’S obama STUPID.
Anonymous

IT’S obama STUPID.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_NWVKX2P2QBPQ6FHQHCHVIC2ALQ Fedup in Florida

Your point is well taken, the Tea Party movement is the resurgence of the conservative movement and this is nothing new.

The Tea Party rises in defense of the vision of the Founding fathers, of providence and individual rights vs. the egalitarianism views of John Dewey and the progressive moment of the 1880′s whose belief it was for the state to be ever growing and assume absolute regulatory authority of the activities of commerce and the lives of individuals for the betterment of society as a whole… It is the progressive view that it is necessary for government to insure the conditions for individuals and the society to realize their highest achievement that without governmental intervention the strong will consume the weak, in commerce and in society. The founders believed differently, they believed that through belief in providence our citizens would be bestowed with a moral code that would be upheld by a judiciary in a moral in just society where individual freedoms reign supreme. The founding fathers saw an inherent danger and cruelty in what they viewed as oppression by the state by the denial of the individual of his free thought and ability to pursue his own dreams and goals, progressives however do not place the same amount of faith in the individual and see the need for the government to direct and mould our activities for the greater good in pursuit of the “Great Society” in which all the needs of our citizens will be met.

We have seen this fight many times before, from the 1880’s thru the 1920’s the progressivism of the 30’s, followed by the fight that you mention of the 60’s and 70’s.

In it most simplest form it is the fight of capitalism vs. socialism..