Tea party "patriots" to storm U.S. Senate, engage in sit-in just like far-left SDS used to do

From "Tea Party Patriots to Storm Senate Offices" (taxdayteaparty.com/2009/12/tea-party-patriots-to-storm-senate-offices):

It is time, once again, to flex our muscle and exert that influence to hold the line in our fight against the government takeover of healthcare... On Tuesday, December 15 at 8:45 AM thousands of us will meet in Washington, DC at the fountain in Upper Senate Park. From there we will march to the Senate offices, go inside, and demonstrate our opposition to the government takeover of health care. We call this plan "Government Waiting Rooms". The intention is to go inside the Senate offices and hallways, and play out the role of patients waiting for treatment in government controlled medical facilities. As the day goes on some of us will pretend to die from our untreated illnesses and collapse on the floor. Many of us plan to stay there until they force us to leave. A backup location for this demonstration will be announced if they block us from entering the offices.

1. This is yet another cheap stunt from the tea parties, and - like most of their other stunts - it's ripped off from the far-left. Why exactly they think the only way to get their point across is by using the methods that groups like Students for a Democratic Society and ANSWER use is unknown, but it definitely has something to do with their general intellectual and emotional failings.
2. The idea that the tea partiers are patriots is a bit questionable due to their support for extremist ideologies such as libertarianism and objectivism and their support and involvement with those who support massive immigration such as Doug Hoffman and Freedomworks. The idea that they're the only true patriots in the U.S. - an idea that they frequently present - is beyond offensive.
3. As always, the smart effective way to do things is described in the question authority summary. Instead, all the "partiers" can come up with is one cheap stunt after the other.
4. The "partiers" do have questions (toptenhealthcarequestions.com) but they're incredibly weak questions that Obama could handle with ease and that would just give him yet another opportunity to segue into a stock speech. And, of course, the tea parties aren't using about the only ability they have - community organizing - to get people to go ask those questions. See this for a discussion of one of their questions; the criticism at that link applies to the others.

Thu, 12/10/2009 - 20:54 · Importance: 4