Tea Party

[Sean]

So there are some recent so-called "Tea Party" developments that I think warrants it's own thread.

First, Ian mentioned in the healthcare thread:

deck - i'm wondering if it's another case of the anti-obama mob being comparatively small, but very vocal, whilst the supportive majority are happy to let their politicians do their will...

A new poll (http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2010/03/24/tea-party-candidates-could-play-spoiler-role-says-poll/?fbid=AUSNfeIwpkJ) exploring the idea of Tea Party candidates entering election races under a third party has shown sort of mixed results on that point:

"According to the poll, Americans say they'll vote for a Republican over a Democrat in the November elections by a 44 to 39 percent margin.

But the addition of a Tea Party candidate to the ballot changes the dynamic: The Republican candidate drops dramatically to 25 percent and the Democrat only slightly to 36 percent, while 15 percent would back the Tea Party candidate."

That being said, I'm very curious how willing Republicans will be to absorb Tea Party constituents in light of some recent developments, like the incidents over the weekend of extreme racial and anti-gay slurs (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/20/AR2010032002556.html) being hurled by Tea Partiers at Democratic Congressmen headed to vote on healthcare reform, or today's news of a Democratic Congressman's brother's propane gas tank line being slashed (http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2010/03/24/fbi-investigating-perriello-incident-in-virginia/?fbid=AUSNfeIwpkJ) just days after his address was posted online by Tea Party activists.

I assume they'll take the votes regardless of the fact that they'll be coming from bigots with murderous intent, but how long can the Republican party hope to remain relevant or even viable if these people become their most vocal members?

Ultimately, it's amazing to me that they have the support they do right now given the brazen nature of their machiavellian tactics in recent years. As a registered independent, I'm starting to feel ashamed of my fellow registered independents for apparently leaning in their favor these days. I can only hope that the recent Democratic victory on healthcare reform starts the pendulum swing back towards the center, especially where moderate Republicans are concerned.

[//\/\/]

it does just seem to point more at a fracturing of The Right - Tea Baggers seem intent more on dragging the GOP rightwards, setting themselves up as true conservatives etc etc. fox news seem on board, yet amazingly fox isn't conservative enough if what i read on the malkin comments sections! the tea party seems to be embarking on a loony conservative pissing contest that's only going to split votes. we saw a similar thing here after labour first won - conservatives unable to agree on whether to go more centre, or more right in order to appear a. different and b. attractive.

can you have a 'fellow independent', btw? ;)

[Sean]

can you have a 'fellow independent', btw? ;) I know. It's kind of like talking about "atheistic beliefs", right? :rolleyes:

And incidentally, that example I gave of the cut propane gas line is apparently only one of many examples of the Tea Party starting to ratchet up their brilliant strategy of violence. According to House Democrat Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said today that there have been more than 10 Democratic Congress-people threatened (http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2010/03/fbi-investigating-threats-against-democrats-after-health-care-vote/1) since the vote. Makes me pretty uneasy. The lack of foresight on the part of ass-hats like Limbaugh, Beck and the like regarding the consequences of their hate-sermons is staggering. Or is this just what they wanted to happen? I don't know any more....

[cacophony]

more tea party style thought:

sarah palin published a map of the homes of congressmen who voted in favor of health care reform and used crosshairs icon to mark the locations. (http://www.adn.com/2010/03/24/1197471/palins-firearms-themed-rhetoric.html)

anyone who doesn't think sarah palin is an ann coulter clone is fooling themselves.

and speaking of the fracturing GOP, here's my favorite thing i've read all day: an open letter to conservatives (http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/blogs/a/m/americandad/2010/03/an-open-letter-to-conservative.php).

[//\/\/]

anyone who doesn't think sarah palin is an ann coulter clone is fooling themselves.

yeah; just toning down the rhetoric to appear electable :eek: but i think you're giving palin too much credit - coulter can at least use and understand long words...


but anyway, guys - bill o'really says that smears and hate are tools of the 'far left' only, so sean and cacophony, you're just wrong. mmm'ok?

[//\/\/]

it ok, conservative america - this just in:

Our country is in real trouble. Radicals are poking and prodding. Get on your knees. Beg for forgiveness for our arrogance and for how we've disregarded our freedoms.

I have said on the program before: Expect miracles in our lifetimes. I'm telling you, you will see them. There are tough times ahead, but the only weapon in our arsenal we need is God. Beg him for guidance and help. He will take care of everything else.

:confused: :eek:

[stimpee]

http://www.endtheaddictionnow.com/resources/beck_rambling-lunatic.jpg

[//\/\/]

bicker bicker bicker (http://michellemalkin.com/2010/03/24/republican-remorse/) :rolleyes:

[Sean]

and speaking of the fracturing GOP, here's my favorite thing i've read all day: an open letter to conservatives (http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/blogs/a/m/americandad/2010/03/an-open-letter-to-conservative.php).Can't even access the link due to "unprecedented traffic". That's gotta be a good thing.

I've found cut and pasted bits of the article though, and it's all stuff that needs to be said. Can't wait to see it with all the links to proof of this stuff having happened.

EDIT - Just read the article and a good handful of the linked sources. Holy crap! Well done Russell King!

[Troy McClure]

So Ms. Palin is in my state of Arizona this weekend. Today in southern Arizona in Tucson, and this Sunday she'll be at Dobson High School in Mesa (largest suburb of Phoenix). Both are campaign rallies for Senator McCain's re-election bid.

Today, she seemed to put some of the blame on the threats on Democrat offices on the media and Democrats themselves. Kind of Karl Rove-ing the situation. And then she did mention that the GOP is the party of hell no. That worked out great before.

I bet she can see Mexico from her hotel room, too.

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/03/palin-everyone-here-today-supporting-john-mccain-we-are-all-part-of-that-tea-party-movement.php?ref=fpb

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/26/palin-mccain-rally-in-ari_n_515026.html

Jason.

[cacophony]

i said something on facebook about how conservatives need to condemn the radical faction of the right wing, the same way we demand that mainstream muslims condemn their violent extreme fringe. one of my in-laws (texas, so of course far right republican) replied that conservatives ARE condemning it, but maybe MY media doesn't report that.

so awesome. they can't even for a second step outside of the victimized conspiracy theory bullshit.

[//\/\/]

and at a mccain rally?

"Hey by the way, I see today that Fidel Castro likes ObamaCare, but we don't like ObamaCare. Doesn't that kinda tell you something?" http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/03/palin-everyone-here-today-supporting-john-mccain-we-are-all-part-of-that-tea-party-movement.php?ref=fpb

yeah; it means you have no fucking idea how good cuba's healthcare system is, for starters... it tells me, or reminds me, that you're a fucking dolt.

but no matter - doesn't she look HOT in leather ;)

[Deckard]

Sarah Palin at a McCain rally seems pretty mainstream to me.

As do other scary fruit loops like Glenn Beck.

Not quite what I'd call "radical factions".

[Sean]

Sarah Palin - spokesperson for the ignorant.

[Strangelet]

Been out of the states for about a month now, and I can't exaggerate the uncanny experience of walking out of a society so laden with paranoia and anxiety that to exist in another space makes the vaccuum they leave behind palpable.

If things don't simmer down for the 2012 elections, my prediction is weimar republic style political party street fighting.

[Strangelet]

As do other scary fruit loops like Glenn Beck.

I think i've figured out this guy's glitch. He's of an ilk that was raised on tang orange drink, flintstone vitamins, manwich meals, and the belief that America is God's manifest destiny. That the very existence of America is a sort of proof of God's goodness and his divine plan. So that America's destiny, is God's destiny, and vice-versa. America's almost consistent graph of progress going in the up direction is just one example of the veracity of this world view.

And unfortunately, for the last decade or so, we've been given daily evidrnce to the contrary. That there is nothing special about America, its just another country, no more annointed than Angola in terms of acting out the pageantry of human destiny. It just happens to be the top dog in the world, not being the first, and certainly not being the last.

So when this starts to seep in, that America is no longer the beacon of truth and justice that it was dressed up as, the Glenn Becks just lose their shit. They can't handle the loss of it. So they rail against the "progressives" start pointing fingers at nebulous bodies of wreckers and saboteurs.

[Sean]

I think i've figured out this guy's glitch. He's of an ilk that was raised on tang orange drink, flintstone vitamins, manwich meals, and the belief that America is God's manifest destiny. That the very existence of America is a sort of proof of God's goodness and his divine plan. So that America's destiny, is God's destiny, and vice-versa. America's almost consistent graph of progress going in the up direction is just one example of the veracity of this world view.

And unfortunately, for the last decade or so, we've been given daily evidrnce to the contrary. That there is nothing special about America, its just another country, no more annointed than Angola in terms of acting out the pageantry of human destiny. It just happens to be the top dog in the world, not being the first, and certainly not being the last.

So when this starts to seep in, that America is no longer the beacon of truth and justice that it was dressed up as, the Glenn Becks just lose their shit. They can't handle the loss of it. So they rail against the "progressives" start pointing fingers at nebulous bodies of wreckers and saboteurs.Yeah, I have to say that it's been a slow waking up for me to the idea that so many Americans (particularly the tea party folks) are so convinced that America is perfect, and to acknowledge not just flaws, but even areas where we could improve, is tantamount to sacrilege. I mean really....we had the "best healthcare in the world"? We really don't need to become more nutrition-conscious? We have nothing to apologize for after authorizing and administering torture techniques that make me sick to my stomach? The list of course goes on - and none of this is to say that we're not a great country thanks to our virtually limitless potential - but how in the world do people like Beck and his biggest fans come to the conclusion that we're perfection incarnate?

[jOHN rODRIGUEZ]

. . . but how in the world do people like Beck and his biggest fans come to the conclusion that we're perfection incarnate?

Ya see, it's because he went through a horn dog addict phase in his life, then he lost his mojo and was all cured and shit. And he's the perfect example of improvement and knowing what's best for everyone because he's all been there/done that and survived and now he's like a major talking head. Or something like that.

clapclap, clap. clapclap, clap: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yp6U_5qEE0Y

[//\/\/]

Ya see, it's because he went through a horn dog addict phase in his life, then he lost his mojo and was all cured and shit. And he's the perfect example of improvement and knowing what's best for everyone because he's all been there/done that and survived and now he's like a major talking head. Or something like that.

thanks for getting me to look him a bit more - wowwwwie - more than a touch of the gwb's there, isn't there? :eek:

[Troy McClure]

Well Ms. Palin decided to double down on the crazy today via Facebook, http://fb.me/tsAOrvN5 (http://fb.me/tsAOrvN5)

Directly copied from Facebook, all CAPS and italics are her emphasis.

Warning: Subject to New Politically Correct Language Police Censorship

Today at 1:59pm
March Madness battles rage! My family and I join millions of Americans enjoying college basketball’s finest through March Madness. Underdogs always get my vote as we watch intense competition bring out the best in these accomplished teams.

The Final Four is an intense, contested series (kind of like a heated, competitive primary election), so best of luck to all teams, and watch for this principle lived out: the team that wins is the team that wants it more.

To the teams that desire making it this far next year: Gear up! In the battle, set your sights on next season’s targets! From the shot across the bow – the first second’s tip-off – your leaders will be in the enemy’s crosshairs, so you must execute strong defensive tactics. You won’t win only playing defense, so get on offense! The crossfire is intense, so penetrate through enemy territory by bombing through the press, and use your strong weapons – your Big Guns – to drive to the hole. Shoot with accuracy; aim high and remember it takes blood, sweat and tears to win.

Focus on the goal and fight for it. If the gate is closed, go over the fence. If the fence is too high, pole vault in. If that doesn’t work, parachute in. If the other side tries to push back, your attitude should be “go for it.” Get in their faces and argue with them. (Sound familiar?!) Every possession is a battle; you’ll only win the war if you’ve picked your battles wisely. No matter how tough it gets, never retreat, instead RELOAD!

- Sarah Palin


Hurray to inciting violent rhetoric.
Jason

[bryantm3]

okay, y'all, i think sarah palin is a moron as much as anybody that cares about our country not going to pot, but all this 'violence inciting' stuff is not really fair. sarah palin was raised out in the country, where a gun was needed for everyday life, for hunting, keeping wolves out of your backyard, etc. people who live in the country and have guns aren't necessarily dumb because they have guns, they're just different culturally. for example, i'm sure a lot of people who live in the country wouldn't have any need for alarm systems and deadbolts on doors. that being said, being raised where having a gun was part of everyday life, sarah palin knows guns, and uses what she's familiar with to make an analogy. she's not trying to get people to shoot at obama or something. we have tons of phrases we use everyday that come from gun usage, such as 'riding shotgun' in a car, where someone would keep their shotgun as protection, to a 'straight shooter' describing an honest person coming from someone who doesn't use light racks and unfair tactics to hunt animals, etc. y'all are taking this way too seriously and you're sounding like rush limbaugh did when obama mentioned '57 states' during the primaries.

[//\/\/]

oh, she's so ironicle that she just simply Slays me! having been caught out with the 'RELOAD' and crosshairs, she's backtracking after her daddy reminded her that 'RELOADing' was what sports teams do after a defeat*. so ya see - retrospectively she wasn't inciting vioence - she was just happening to be using a sports term without even knowing about it. you see? so it's, like, ok what she did. so we can just make a BIG joke about it and all move on.

HEY LOOK - OVER THERE - A KOMUNIST!!!!!!!!!


*from her twitter feed

[Strangelet]

okay, y'all, i think sarah palin is a moron as much as anybody that cares about our country not going to pot, but all this 'violence inciting' stuff is not really fair.

If you want to staunchly declare that Sarah Palin would always abstain from demagoguery to further her career, or attempt to manipulate the violent passions of the people for her own gains then I need to ask what she's done for you to earn that trust.

Because as far as I see things, blinking stupidly behind her librarian glasses at the anger she's inciting with a self satisfied smile on her face is pretty much the *only* thing she's done since she got in the limelight.

[Strangelet]

The list of course goes on - and none of this is to say that we're not a great country thanks to our virtually limitless potential - but how in the world do people like Beck and his biggest fans come to the conclusion that we're perfection incarnate?

To suggest an answer to your question, mormon doctrine asserts that the united states is a fountainhead of God's power. It was created by the hand of God, it's laws and constitution as inspired by His words as the ten commandments or the prophecies of Isaiah. The Garden of Eden, and therefore the return of Jesus at Adam Ondi Adam was/will be in Missouri. The war to end all wars, the war of apocalypse, will be won largely by the sacrifices and valor of America as it becomes more and more isolated from the world. But not before it purges itself of its own corruption and sins. All of these cataclysmic challenges will only be overcome by integrating the leadership of the country with the leadership of the church, and only then will America survive and flourish against the hardest adversities of human history.

This is shit that was written down 1820's, 1830's by Joseph Smith and the founders of the religion. And it is extremely unwise to discredit the impact of mormon thinking on american culture. Where mormonism lacks in ubiquity, it well makes up for in clarity, and a seductive worldview that the larger evangelical movement of the country envies, and is only too happy consume as soon as it resolves its own conflict of siding with the weirdos with jesus jammies. Glenn Beck is the first success of that integration.

And I'm not saying all this to get all religious. I just think its important to understand where Beck is coming from. He's is *extremely* a product of his devotion to God and its best to filter his nonsense in this regard. This is why he interviews sara palin with "Lady Liberty" in the back drop. Why he slobbers on national television like its testimony meeting at church. Why he uses a chalk board and a lot of cliche metaphors and acronyms like its sunday school.

The weirdest thing about this for me, is watching the entire country suffer the same tedium that bored me to tears 3 hours every sunday growing up.

[jOHN rODRIGUEZ]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36075836/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/


ADRIAN, Mich. - Nine suspects tied to a Christian militia in the Midwest were charged Monday with conspiring to kill police officers, then attack a funeral in the hopes of killing more law enforcement people, federal prosecutors said.

Members of the group called Hutaree are charged in the case, including its leader, David Brian Stone. The suspects included six people from Michigan, two from Ohio and one from Indiana, officials said.

Once other officers gathered for the slain officer's funeral, the group planned to detonate homemade bombs with projectiles, killing more, the newly unsealed court papers revealed.

The charges follow FBI raids over the weekend on locations in Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana.

The raids were prompted by Hutaree plans to stage "a covert reconnaissance operation for April which had the potential of placing an unsuspecting member of the public at risk," said Barbara McQuade, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan.

According to investigators, the Hutaree view local, state, and federal law enforcement personnel as a "brotherhood" and an enemy, and planned to attack them as part of an armed struggle against the U.S. government.

"It is believed by the Hutaree that this engagement would then serve as a catalyst for a more widespread uprising against the government," court documents said.

Eight suspects have been arrested by the FBI, and one more is being sought. Seven suspects appearedly briefly in court in Detroit on Monday and were ordered held without bond until a hearing on Wednesday.

Video


Plot to kill cops?
March 29: Nine suspects tied to a Christian militia in the Midwest are charged with conspiring to kill police officers. NBC's Pete Williams reports.
msnbc tv


Prosecuters said Stone, the militia leader, downloaded information about how to build explosive devices from the Internet and e-mailed diagrams of them to someone he believed was capable of making them, NBC reported.

He then directed his son and others to begin gathering the needed materials. Stone was charged, along with his wife and two sons. One son, Joshua Stone, remained a fugitive.

The Detroit News quoted Donna Stone, the ex-wife of Stone, as saying his growing radicalism was a factor in their divorce three years ago.

"You pray as a family, you stay together as a family," the News report Stone as saying. "When he got carried away, when he went from handguns to big guns, it's like, now I'm done."

'Extremist fringe'
Andrew Arena, head of the FBI's field office in Detroit, said the case "is an example of radical and extremist fringe groups which can be found throughout our society. The FBI takes such extremist groups seriously, especially those who would target innocent citizens and the law enforcement officers who protect the citizens of the United States."

FBI spokesman Scott Wilson said agents arrested two people Saturday after raids in two towns in Ohio. A third arrest was made in northeast Illinois on Sunday, a day after a raid took place just over the border in northwest Indiana.

Michael Lackomar, a spokesman for the Southeast Michigan Volunteer Militia, said one of his team leaders got a frantic phone call Saturday evening from members of Hutaree, who said their property in southwest Michigan was being raided by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

"They said they were under attack by the ATF and wanted a place to hide," Lackomar said. "My team leader said, 'no thanks.'"



***






So, do y'all think they have Palin bumper stickers and watch Beck regularly?

[jOHN rODRIGUEZ]

I wonder if the boys returning home from Iraq now feel like they never left?

[//\/\/]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36075836/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/


ADRIAN, Mich. - Nine suspects tied to a Christian militia in the Midwest were charged Monday with conspiring to kill police officers, then attack a funeral in the hopes of killing more law enforcement people, federal prosecutors said.

Members of the group called Hutaree are charged in the case, including its leader, David Brian Stone. The suspects included six people from Michigan, two from Ohio and one from Indiana, officials said.

Once other officers gathered for the slain officer's funeral, the group planned to detonate homemade bombs with projectiles, killing more, the newly unsealed court papers revealed.

The charges follow FBI raids over the weekend on locations in Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana.

The raids were prompted by Hutaree plans to stage "a covert reconnaissance operation for April which had the potential of placing an unsuspecting member of the public at risk," said Barbara McQuade, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan.

According to investigators, the Hutaree view local, state, and federal law enforcement personnel as a "brotherhood" and an enemy, and planned to attack them as part of an armed struggle against the U.S. government.

"It is believed by the Hutaree that this engagement would then serve as a catalyst for a more widespread uprising against the government," court documents said.

Eight suspects have been arrested by the FBI, and one more is being sought. Seven suspects appearedly briefly in court in Detroit on Monday and were ordered held without bond until a hearing on Wednesday.

Video


Plot to kill cops?
March 29: Nine suspects tied to a Christian militia in the Midwest are charged with conspiring to kill police officers. NBC's Pete Williams reports.
msnbc tv


Prosecuters said Stone, the militia leader, downloaded information about how to build explosive devices from the Internet and e-mailed diagrams of them to someone he believed was capable of making them, NBC reported.

He then directed his son and others to begin gathering the needed materials. Stone was charged, along with his wife and two sons. One son, Joshua Stone, remained a fugitive.

The Detroit News quoted Donna Stone, the ex-wife of Stone, as saying his growing radicalism was a factor in their divorce three years ago.

"You pray as a family, you stay together as a family," the News report Stone as saying. "When he got carried away, when he went from handguns to big guns, it's like, now I'm done."

'Extremist fringe'
Andrew Arena, head of the FBI's field office in Detroit, said the case "is an example of radical and extremist fringe groups which can be found throughout our society. The FBI takes such extremist groups seriously, especially those who would target innocent citizens and the law enforcement officers who protect the citizens of the United States."

FBI spokesman Scott Wilson said agents arrested two people Saturday after raids in two towns in Ohio. A third arrest was made in northeast Illinois on Sunday, a day after a raid took place just over the border in northwest Indiana.

Michael Lackomar, a spokesman for the Southeast Michigan Volunteer Militia, said one of his team leaders got a frantic phone call Saturday evening from members of Hutaree, who said their property in southwest Michigan was being raided by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

"They said they were under attack by the ATF and wanted a place to hide," Lackomar said. "My team leader said, 'no thanks.'"



oh come off it, jOHN; you're just getting swept along with the lamestream media who are just using this as a reason not to report anything bad done by muslums. it's all a leftist smokescreen :rolleyes:

[Sean]

Some brilliant new thoughts (http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2010/04/12/we’re-on-a-rino-hunt-tea-party-express-leader-says/?fbid=AUSNfeIwpkJ#comments) from Tea Party Express 3 Chairman Mark Williams:

"We need to purge the Republicans of the weaklings"

"And we’re on a...RINO ('Republicans in name only') hunt. And we’re going to drive them to extinction.”

"I got more knife wounds in my back from Republican operatives, than Democrats could ever do. The Democrats at least stand there and tell me they hate me, and tell me that they hate America. These Republicans smile at me, shake my hand and then they stab me in the back."

Democrats tell him that they "hate America"? Yeah....I'm sure that happens all the time. :rolleyes: As for this "RINO hunt" business, does this tool Williams realize that if his dreams are realized, he'll be simply handing all the long-term control of the country to the Democrats as the Republican party gets whittled down to only it's most ideologically extremist members? They seriously don't stand a chance in hell of getting a majority vote from the right, and more importantly, the center if that's all they are.

[jOHN rODRIGUEZ]

Some brilliant new thoughts (http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2010/04/12/we’re-on-a-rino-hunt-tea-party-express-leader-says/?fbid=AUSNfeIwpkJ#comments) from Tea Party Express 3 Chairman Mark Williams:

"We need to purge the Republicans of the weaklings"

"And we’re on a...RINO ('Republicans in name only') hunt. And we’re going to drive them to extinction.”

"I got more knife wounds in my back from Republican operatives, than Democrats could ever do. The Democrats at least stand there and tell me they hate me, and tell me that they hate America. These Republicans smile at me, shake my hand and then they stab me in the back."

Democrats tell him that they "hate America"? Yeah....I'm sure that happens all the time. :rolleyes: As for this "RINO hunt" business, does this tool Williams realize that if his dreams are realized, he'll be simply handing all the long-term control of the country to the Democrats as the Republican party gets whittled down to only it's most ideologically extremist members? They seriously don't stand a chance in hell of getting a majority vote from the right, and more importantly, the center if that's all they are.

AND FROM THE BIBLE-BELT(the irony, no?), Hallelujah!!:

COLUMBUS, Ohio - A woman who called 911 after a fatal shooting at an Easter party told a police dispatcher she retrieved a gun to prove a point and it went off.

Evelyn Burgess, 42, is accused of shooting 19-year-old Danielle Pickens during a fight that police say started over a skimpy Easter outfit — jean shorts and a green T-shirt tied up around Pickens’ midriff.

"I didn't mean to do it," the woman said. "We was arguing, I tried to get my gun to prove a point, they got the rifle with me and it went off."

Asked about the location of her niece, the woman says bluntly, "In the car. I think she's dead."

The woman does not give her name but calls herself the victim's aunt. Family members say Burgess was referred to as Pickens’ aunt, though she was her older second cousin.

Often wore short skirts
Police say Burgess got into a fight with Pickens over her attire, then shot her outside Burgess' house Sunday night. Pickens died at a hospital early the next day.

Family members of both women said Tuesday that Pickens' style of dressing was well-known among relatives.

Pickens often wore short skirts to the holiday gatherings hosted by Burgess, said Pickens' sister, Ralinda Pickens, and uncle, Tico Pickens.

"The way she was dressed that day is the way she always dressed, and everybody knew that," said Tico Pickens, 33. "It wasn't like she meant any harm toward nobody by doing it. It was just comfortable to her."

Burgess, 42, is charged with one count of murder. Franklin County Municipal Court Judge William Pollitt set Burgess' bond at $500,000 during a court appearance Tuesday.

Burgess didn't say anything at the hearing and doesn't have a lawyer assigned to her yet.

At her house on Tuesday, her husband, Kevin Burgess, said his wife was doing all right, but he declined to comment further.

Events escalate
Danielle, who went by Danny, once dressed like a tomboy, then one day tried on a short skirt she liked and started dressing differently.

"The first time she put on a cute little skirt, I guessed she liked it and she dressed like that ever since," said Ralinda Pickens, 20.

She says events escalated quickly at the Easter party at Burgess' house on the north side of Columbus.

Evelyn Burgess was angry at Danielle over her outfit and accused her of flaunting her looks around other men at the party, including Burgess' husband, Ralinda Pickens said.

A fight broke out with Evelyn Burgess and Danielle struggling with a baseball bat, then ended as Ralinda Pickens broke things up, got her sister outside and prepared to drive her home.

The sisters were in the car when Burgess came running up with a gun, reached inside the car, pulled Danielle by the hair and shot her as she tried to seek shelter under her older sister, Ralinda Pickens said.



"I just shot my niece," the woman says calmly at the beginning of the 33-second call released on Tuesday.

[cured]

I'm really fascinated by Teabonics. It's like they do it on purpose to draw out the reading elite who would correct them.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pargon/sets/72157623594187379/

[jOHN rODRIGUEZ]

I'm really fascinated by Teabonics. It's like they do it on purpose to draw out the reading elite who would correct them.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pargon/sets/72157623594187379/


Yeah, look at this one(from TIME's Quote of the Day):


"Maybe I don't want smaller government. I guess I want smaller government and my Social Security."

JODINE WHITE, a 62-year-old Tea Party member; despite a push for limited government, many Tea Party supporters want to continue Social Security and Medicare.

[Sean]

Well, the Tea Party leadership has made some brand new, bone-headed comments:

"Tea Party Express organizer Mark Williams blogged on his Web site last week that the mosque - to be constructed near the former site of the World Trade Center - would be a 'monument ... for the worship of the terrorists' monkey-god and a "cultural center" to propagandize for the extermination of all things not approved by their cult.'"

He also made reference to Muslims as "animals of Allah". When challenged on these comments, he submitted this follow-up post:

"In the course of the article I described the 'god' worshiped by terrorists as 'a monkey god'....I was wrong and that was offensive. I owe an apology to millions of Hindus who worship Lord Hanuman, an actual Monkey God."

And Tea Party members just don't get why people think they're racists. :rolleyes:

[//\/\/]

And Tea Party members just don't get why people think they're racists. :rolleyes:

or stupid :rolleyes::rolleyes:

[Deckard]

[I]"Tea Party Express organizer.....
This from the "organizer"?

Say no more.

[stimpee]

Yeah, look at this one(from TIME's Quote of the Day):


"Maybe I don't want smaller government. I guess I want smaller government and my Social Security."

JODINE WHITE, a 62-year-old Tea Party member; despite a push for limited government, many Tea Party supporters want to continue Social Security and Medicare.They want whatever gives them the most money. They care about their salary being drained by taxes. Problem is, when the govt uses that money for things that they actually quite like, the goalposts move. People are fickle. but these people are just plain stupid.