Dumb and dumbest: U.S. "tea party" leader proposes class action suit against homosexuality

[Jingthing]

I class this story as you couldn't make this stuff up category!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/18/rick-scarborough-lawsuit-homosexuality_n_4124195.html

Scarborough said he believes homosexuality and tobacco companies should be equally vulnerable to class action lawsuits.

http://gawker.com/tea-party-leader-wants-to-file-class-action-suit-agains-1447931487

[Dr Robert]

It just beggars belief what some people will do for publicity. Doesn't matter whether it's negative publicity...it's just a childish "look at me look at me" As Oscar Wilde said, "there is only one thing worse in life than people talking about you, that is people not talking about you"

This sort of extremism is utterly repugnant to most members of the community and should serve to do the opposite of its hateful intention. Not all bad publicity is bad; it may just be the undoing of the Tea Party and I say good riddance.

Is it possible to make a class action claim against utter stupidity?

[sustento]

[ToddWeston]

I suggest we find a Tea Party member and get them to send an invite to these folks to come and speak here in Thailand, lots lf potential American votes blah blah blah Bangkok or Pattaya doesn't matter, nice big public event at a posh hotel with lots of media and we can hear the spoken words ourselves.

Finally a reason to like and defend the Thai defamation libel/slander law and criminal slander code. Two years in a Thai jail should do the trick and he'll be advocating gay rights with his new ladyboy fiancé.

[onthemoon]

How do you say in English: "Shooting into one's own foot"?

[jellydog]

How do you say in English: "Shooting into one's own foot"?

Cutting off your nose to spite your face.

They would be laughable if they weren't so dangerous.

[LeCharivari]

It just beggars belief what some people will do for publicity. Doesn't matter whether it's negative publicity...it's just a childish "look at me look at me" As Oscar Wilde said, "there is only one thing worse in life than people talking about you, that is people not talking about you"

This sort of extremism is utterly repugnant to most members of the community and should serve to do the opposite of its hateful intention. Not all bad publicity is bad; it may just be the undoing of the Tea Party and I say good riddance.

Is it possible to make a class action claim against utter stupidity?

"It just beggars belief what some people will do for publicity."

It also beggars belief just how bad some reporting is and how some things get spun.

The Tea Party doesn't deserve much comment, in my view, but this entire report is distorted. There is NO evidence that Rick Scarborough (a Tea Party leader) "proposed a class action law suit against homosexuality" as the headlines claim. What he did was to ask Peter LaBarbera (a fellow anti-gay Tea Party leader): “Peter, the whole issue of a class action lawsuit, you and I have talked about this a little bit, I just wonder if you’ve explored that, talked to anyone about it.” The response was a clear but reluctant no.

The recent mess over the US budget may be a nail in the Tea Party's coffin, but this won't make any difference to its supporters (or its critics).

[Jingthing]

Not exactly.

They still want to do this. They think it's a good idea. The tea party isn't over by any means. They remain a real threat on many fronts.

Originally the tea party tried to sell itself as only about fiscal concerns but it just happens the majority of them are typical right wingers on social issues, so they have a more robust right wing agenda.

I'm not suggesting they could actually win such an absurd lawsuit. But their thinking sheds more light on how extremist they are.

I do think their thinking is very out of the mainstream and press exposure about just how crazy they are actually could be beneficial in bringing about their demise as a political power force.

"Yeah I think that’s great. I would love to see it," LaBarbera replied. "We always wanted to see one of the kid in high school who was counseled by the official school counselor to just be gay, then he comes down with HIV. But we never really got the client for that."

Edited October 20, 2013 by Jingthing