Because the tea people's arguments and grievance make little sense, intelligent people like Jimmy Carter are forced to conclude the root of all their noise and disturbances is racism and not anything substantial or political.

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Yes to this. But there are other explanations too:
(1) These people are actually incapable of logical thought (works for some of the teabaggers we saw at the protests, but not for the "leadership", such as it is)
(2) Their root goal is simply to oppose meaningful health care reform. At this point, it is clear to all but those in the first category that reform is an absolute necessity. So, since they cannot argue on substance, they must "make a lot of noise" to derail the conversation. It doesn't really matter whether Obama was lying or not, the conversation has been shifted away from the substantive.

I guess a shorter version of what I'm saying is that the tea party-type "leaders" have their own motivations for attacking reform efforts (money from insurance lobbyists, wanting to make the Dems seem weak). They can't argue against reform on its merits, so they whip up the crowd of non-thinkers into a frenzy, based on all their non-facts and noise. For the some of the non-thinkers, it's about racism, but for others, it's just that they are idiots.

As someone who grew up in DC, I'm reasonably sure people's taxes from "Southeast Texas" don't regularly contribute to the operatng budget of the District' public transportation. At least no more than the taxes also help support Disneyland. So they're not making any sense in all kind of multi-layered spectacular ways, Charles.

When people opposed the previous administration, they were accused of treason, regardless of motivation or reason.

Now they're accused of racism. Some say it's an accusation that also disregards motivation or reason.

Part of me just wants to say "turnabout is fair play."
The rest of me just sighs loudly. I shake my head in weary disgust.

It's not confusing: racism is a feature, not a bug.

And anyone with a doubt, should click on the below:

http://www.americablog.com/2009/09/its-n…

Have we no recourse but to return their scorn?

This will not be the end of the republican party, no matter what.

If things go the way we want them to, and the democrats pass all sorts of useful legislation despite the republicans protests, the republican party will simply wave their magic wand at their base (their magic wand is a rifle, btw) and say, "click your heels together three times and say 'the republicans fixed things,' 'the republicans fixed things,' 'the republicans fixed things'." And that's all you'll hear the republicans say for years afterwards... "the republicans fixed things." All contrary to reality.

That's what they say now about Clinton's balancing the budget ("it was the republican congress who forced it") and about Bush's failures ("it was Pelosi and the dems who sabotaged him"). Why should they change their strategy now?

Sorry Charles, your well thought-out cogent argument has many merits. The problem is that the republicans only goal is to obstruct. Obstruct anything (health-care, speaking to school kids, reform of wall street regulation) and everything. They are winning. They will win unless the democratic leadership grows a fucking spine and learns how to lead.

all true, but....

It would be nice if the Democrats actually spread that news across the land and said GOVERNMENT WORKS IT IS MAKING YOU WEALTHIER, we avoided the huge depression the gopsters wish you had, WE GET PROPS.
(@1 if we are a trillion wealthier than before, we are a trillion wealthier and if you compare to the depression we didn't have the differential is much bigger, too). Ditto with tarp repayments where we've already made a $4 billion PROFIT. It's so far not a bailout but a profit. Ditto with cash for clunkers, my god Obama recently said :oh I know folks are dissatisfied with the program" WTF it was a huge success people loved it and it's putting auto factories back in business.

It's our sides' near complete silence in pushing our own message that's to blame for us being so stymied, compared with the other sides' intense repeated top to bottom broad and wide message machine.

returning scorn on a few blogs doesn't cut it, it's about 2% of what we should be doing.

Some people are so naive. When the Bush administration was attacking other countries that were not a threat and spending trillions of dollars and killing thousands of Americans and Iraqis, these sainted Republicans were claiming to be pro-life and fiscally conservative. The tea baggers were nowhere to be seen. When the Republicans were rigging the financial markets with ponzi schemes and basically stealing peoples 401Ks, tea baggers were silent. When Americans were robbed blind and finally had enough of the lies they put Obama in the White House. He single handedly saves the world economy and the tea baggers scream he's Hitler. When tens of millions lose their homes and Obama tries to help them save them he's called a communist. Then, he starts a real and honest effort to reform what is clearly the most broken health care system in the western world. For this he is viciously opposed by the very thieves who have been stealing people's homes because they fall ill and what do the tea baggers call him? A socialist! Not only does this not make sense. It is clearly being run by the white racist south that the sainted Republicans have so clearly courted for the last thirty years. People like South Carolina's Joe Wilson, who are desperate to slander this president in any way they can.

@7, actually, the revisionist history process is already in motion to remake George W. Bush a "liberal", because I guess that's the only way conservatives can criticize Obama for spending too much without their heads exploding from the weight of all that cognitive dissonance. Conservatism cannot fail; it can only be failed.

Is anyone paying attention to the nutters in the Republic Party anymore?

I mean, other than their comrades in al-Qaeda?

Charles,
An end to the recession (especially soon) will not mean an end to the Republican Party. Sure enough, some numbers as Berenake indicated are pointing to a "beginning of the end of the recession". But until America gets more manufacturing jobs, unemployment will be the real indicator as to whether we're out of the recession or not and whether the Dems can hold power or not. Americans vote their pocketbooks by and large. Currently, unemployment is 9.7%, the highest in 20+ years. People will get quite anxious if it doesn't abate by 2011/2012. In addition, there is the intangible (another war, a terrorist attack etc.) that Obama could easily mishandle.

That said, I would never discount either major party out when the other has power in both the executive and legislative branchs. This country has a definitive two-party system for better or for worse.

I love their complaints about Metro. In short, if a government service fails to directly cater to the teabaggers and provide 100 percent perfect service, the government has failed. Suck it up, whiners.

Charles, this is probably the first coherent thing you've ever written. Keep it up.

#12 - Yes Will, that's the problem. They shout while we stand there in stunned silence.

Good point.

I am deeply suspicious of this new obsession with the "Democrats are playing the race card!" line. Didn't Glenn Beck say Obama had a hatred of whites long before Carter made his statement? What did Toby Harnden, and anyone else latching onto this idiotic defense of Republican hysteria, have to say about that?

And I can't fathom his belief that it's the Democrats who are looking for "a cheap way of shutting down debate". Did the news of those town hall meetings not reach the UK?

I'm in love with the way you say "these tea people." FYI.