The proper term is "teabaggers"

[Ohio Joe]

I'm seeing way to many references to them as "tea party" and it's just wrong. That they refer to themselves that way is simple proof that it is wrong... I mean come on... are they right about anything?

[Solly Mack]

1. True...but the accurate term is 'idiots'

[lumpy]

2. I prefer TeaBuggers.

[Dappleganger]

3. "fuckers" works for me

[OneGrassRoot]

15. ...

:thumbsup:

Me, too!

:rofl:

[xultar]

30. Teafuckers. Has a nice ring to it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Fucker works too!

[Gold Metal Flake]

44. Fuck them, those fucking fucks!

[SoCalDem]

4. THEY were the ones proudly proclaiming themselves to be teabaggers ... until

one of the grandkids probably laughed & whispered to Granddad what the young'uns called it :)

THEN they started getting huffy & demanded that everyone start calling them tea partiers.

[BeFree]

9. was told, angrily...

...not to use the name Teabaggers. I was like, uh, ok. <smirk>

[frogmarch]

5. Right. People at real

tea parties don't wear teabags on their heads. I will always refer to these republican wackos as teabaggers.

[Norrin Radd]

6. kr

[Canuckistanian]

7. We calls 'em as we sees 'em

[frogmarch]

13. Teabagger glamor shots...haha!

[Kadie]

14. There was a 'teapotter' at todays 'Pledge to America' news conference - pic

STERLING, VA - SEPTEMBER 23: A man holds up a tea pot in front of the Tart Lumber Company where House Republicans held an event on September 23, 2010 in Sterling, Virginia. House Republicans held their 'Pledge to America' news conference at the family owned lumber store to unveil their proposed governing agenda for the upcoming 111th Congress.

[davidinalameda]

20. bet it was made in China

[SoCalDem]

21. Tart Lumber Company ?... down the street from Trollop Cafe?

:)

[frogmarch]

24. A teapotter! bwaaahahaha!

[muffin1]

8. Absolutely.

They picked the term 'teabaggers' without bothering to use google. We know for a fact that they would do the same (or worse) to us if we had been that stupid. Now, I do admit to using 'teatards' just to mix things up a little from time to time!:D

[ThomWV]

10. I like Biden's term better, Republican/Teabag Party, he calls them one and the same.

[nc4bo]

11. I think I've always referred to them by the first name they gave themselves

and that's "Teabaggers" and after they realized what teabagging meant, I was more than happy to continue calling them teabaggers.

Fits 'em like a glove.

[PeaceNikki]

12. If they challenge you

Origin of the term Teabaggers? It came from the movement itself, when they asked people to "teabag" Obama by sending symbolic teabags, apparently ignorant of the college prank of the same name. This was all well documented, including here: http://www.lemondrop.com/2009/04/10/gop-wants-to-teabag-barack-obama/

If they don't want to be called Teabaggers, they shouldn't use "teabag" as a verb, as found on their t-shirts or signs which are easily seen in Google Images searches. It's pretty basic to call someone who teabags a teabagger, so I'm surprised some are now taking offense. Maybe there is a split between the teabaggers on this issue?

[ThomWV]

16. If they challenge me I intend to tell them to go fuck their teabagging selves.

[tandot]

17. Teabagger sign: "Tea bag the liberal dems before they tea bag you"

[davidinalameda]

18. I always say tea bagger

two separate words

easier for them to read

[lunatica]

19. And we can call them the Idiocracy Teabaggerati too

[Towlie]

22. +1 - Don't let them hijack the name of a proud event in American history. They're TEABAGGERS!

[notesdev]

23. It is the proper term

assuming you want to make enemies and keep them against you.

That does seem to be the order of the day in the new Democratic Party, from the moment the party got control of the government it's been making as many enemies as it possibly can.

If there is a single group outside the traditional Democratic core constituency which hasn't yet been the target of unspeakable invective and contempt, someone will have to remind me who that might be.

There was a book written back in the day, "How to Win Friends and Influence People". Members of this party - all factions - would do well to STFU for a little while and read it.

[Ohio Joe]

25. ummm...You have not tried to talk to any of these loons, have you?

They are racist. They are crazy people. They are willfully ignorant. They will never be our friends, nor do I have any more inclination to try and talk sense to them. They deserve to be called out as exactly what they are.

[notesdev]

31. And they outnumber you

and they vote

and when they are in control (which is soon) they will remember and they will not give us a place at the table.

I'll just get in my "I told you so"s a little bit early here. But don't whine to me when they control the government and aren't willing to listen to a damn thing folks like you have to say.

Sucks for me though to get put on the spot all the time for this kind of nonsense, it's hard to be a Democrat in mixed company these days.

[Ohio Joe]

32. I'm not sure I believe the teabaggers out number us

It is also obvious you have no clue about them either. I mean... for fucks sake, they want to make it against the law to be gay. They want abortion unavailable for any reason. They want to teach creation in science class. Thats just to start. I could serve them tea and crumpets with a smile all day and then lick their asses clean after they take a dump and they will still not consider listening to a damn thing I say. If you believe anything different, you are just not paying attention and honestly, you should start.

[notesdev]

36. Check the polling data

Polls are consistently showing tea party support in excess of BOTH Republican and Democratic party support.

Many of these people are the ones who abandoned the GOP to their fate in 2006, then turned around in 2008 to vote Democratic.

The rhetoric of people on this board, being typical of what we are seeing these days, ensures that those people will not be voting D again.

I think you people WANT the GOP in control and the Dems to be the minority party. If you don't, maybe stepping back and realizing that the bulk of electoral politics is in influencing the undecided and independent vote might help to realize how counterproductive is the accrual of a low-class reputation to our side.

[pintobean]

39. Not only that

A lot of the people in the middle see it as nasty. Who looks more radical to the less informed?

[Caretha]

27. Why don't you "STFU"

and quit trying to tell people what they should and should not do. Make a deal with you....you don't Should on me, and I won't Should on you.

Okey dokey :)

[Liberal Gramma]

29. I suspect they will never be our friends.

Even if we make nice. Even if we call them by their preferred name. Especially if we are people of color, women, non-Christians, or gay. It ain't going to happen. What we call them has much less to do with how they feel about us than what we are.

[NYC Liberal]

34. It is the name they gave to THEMSELVES. So,

if you have a problem with it the people to talk to are not DUers but the teabaggers.

[notesdev]

35. No it isn't

That's not what they call themselves, that's what one moron got caught on camera calling themselves, and from there it has been nothing but liberals (who in general were familiar enough with the term to know its sexual meaning) propagating that term precisely because it is an obscene pejorative.

You don't have to be a tea partier to be grossed out with the insistence on the use of that term. A lot of people are neither with them nor with us, yet are not unfamiliar with the reference. In the eyes of the undecided, what impact does shouting "teabagger" from the rooftops have?

[NYC Liberal]

45. No, it wasn't "one moron" - that's what they called themselves

until they found out what it meant. Well too bad. I'm not interested in making allies of them. You're right, it is an "obscene perjorative" and I will continue to use it because what they support is obscene. So the name is well-deserved. (And, by the way, I've used it when talking to at least one of them and they didn't say anything about it.)

Nobody's shouting anything from the rooftops. It is simply the term that they used to describe themselves and it is how I and many others will continue to refer to them.

[Control-Z]

47. No. You are wrong.

It is the name they gave themselves. And they used it for a while, until they became aware of what it meant. Some of them still haven't figured it out and hang teabags from their hats.

Why are you defending the teabaggers? I don't get it.

[Curmudgeoness]

26. A teabagger on talk radio ranted about how disgusting the term is.

Now me, I'm ignorant, I have no idea why it it so disgusting. Really. But this guy was furious about how profane it is that I had to google the term.

Oh.

:blush:

[Cal33]

28. But, wouldn't it be nice if they succeeded in becoming a

Third Party? That will draw away members from the Neocons.

[RZM]

33. I've actually thought about this way more than is probably necessary

And I should add that I do not personally know any member of the Tea Party nor have I studied the group's history so I'm not a wealth on information on them either. But here's my take:

One reason for the popularity of 'teabagger' is that there doesn't seem to be any other one-word terms to describe them individually -- other common political groups do have one-word terms to describe members/adherents (Democrat, Republican, Socialist . . . whatever) and 'member of the Tea Party' doesn't exactly roll off the tongue and sounds kind of boring to boot, so part of the reason is just basic efficiency/snappiness.

Second, as an earlier poster pointed out, the use of 'teabag' as a verb originated within the movement. This certainly accounts for the origins of the term and partly for its staying power, since those who do use it can always point out that it came out of the movement itself.

Third, I think by far the most important reason for the popularity of 'teabagger' is the other, sexual connotation of the word, which lends it great pejorative power. If you're hostile to the group, being able to refer to them and poke fun at them all at once is the ideal situation.

Personally, I don't care for the term. I find it rather puerile and I try not to refer to entire groups by terms that their members ask not to be called. But I'm not telling anyone else not to use it -- that's not my call. All I can do is refrain from using it myself and explain why that is.

[HopeHoops]

37. Agreed - they should ONLY be called "teabaggers" - they even STARTED using the term.

If you hadn't figured out right away that they were fucking idiots, the length of time it took for them to figure out what the term REALLY means should have made it clear.

[Control-Z]

49. It did take them a while.

Some people seem to forget just how long. We were talking about it here long before they caught on and changed the name.

[Erose999]

38. Hey, Larry! No teabagging... you know the rules!! No balls on foreheads.

I don't think the rank and file of the 'baggers are aware of the fine films of John Waters.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHWN6f7waIM

But their leaders are. I mean how else do you explain "Diaper Dave" Vitter?

[LeftinOH]

41. "Teabagging is strictly forbidden here at the Fudge Palace!!..."

[spanone]

40. assholes is a good substitute

[saltpoint]

42. I've been going with just "Baggers," mostly because

"Racist Troglodytes" is too long.

[mulsh]

43. I only use "teabaggers". I suppose I could call them

"stupid racist morons" or shit stains" but "teabaggers" is succinct and it annoys them. alot, they didn't try to change the title to "tea party" until some group of "journalists" pointed out what the formerly common definition of the term "teabag" is.

[in_cog_ni_to]

46. I call them the Tea Klux Klan and Teabaggers.....depending on my mood and

how pissed off I am with them at that given moment. Tea Klux Klan is my preferred term though. They are racists. They're Xenophobic. They're bigots. They're Homophobes. They are just as bad as the Klan, if not worse because they pretend to be something they aren't. The Klan at least wears hoods and robes...you know who they are and what they represent. The Tea Klux Klanners are more sinister in their approach and if they're compared with the Klan, most people understand the meaning behind the comparison. People get it. I like Teabaggers too though because it REALLY pisses them off when they're called that. They hate it. :) Therefore....it's a good thing! I don't think the average Joe knows the urban meaning of "Teabagger" though. I didn't know the meaning until it was explained to me.

[seabeyond]

48. they are teabaggers to me... i say batting eyelashes innocently..... snark. nt