"Gay" was never chosen by homosexuals.
From the start of the use of the word, it was used derogatorily towards homosexuals.

Gays just retook the word and refused to be cowed by it.

"That's so gay" being applied to something that has no real homosexual connotations is simply a mindless attempt to slur gays by a negative association.
It's like saying "That's so white of you" or calling somebody an "Indian giver".
If somebody tried to start a trend of substituting "black" in place of "gay" in "That's so gay", people would undoubtedly recognize the prejudicial approach.
The POINT of the phrase is involving a negative connotation regarding the group in a situation that typically has NOTHING TO DO with the group.

So "That's so gay" is appropriately applied here...



"Tea Bag" is something that I have DOCUMENTED is a part of what the "Tea Party" people themselves were doing from the start.
By the loose standards that have been applied trying to criticize me in this thread, ANYBODY could take a term they don't like and assume the worst possible connotation (even when clearly not intended by the original poster).
And in some cases, people have just plain made up their own stupid nonsense as to what they want people to think it means...

I haven't applied the term to any NON-tea party situation. Nor was I intending to.

What's really happened in this thread is that some people (not referencing you), who have NO PROBLEM USING INVECTIVE when it comes to slurring "liberals" have turned around and insisted that they themselves be free from negative commentary...

But at this stage, people have side-tracked the point of the thread by what can only be interpreted as a Politically Correct demand that offended parties be free from being offended, regardless of whether any offense was truly meant or rationally applicable.

As long as the Tea Party groups (and the GOP) invoke the use of Tea Bags themselves, I see no real problem in the use of the word.
Likewise, as gays call themselves gay, go ahead and call a homosexual "gay".


"The original sense" regarded
1 a : happily excited : merry <in a gay mood> b : keenly alive and exuberant : having or inducing high spirits <a bird's gay spring song>
2 a : bright, lively <gay sunny meadows> b : brilliant in color
3 : given to social pleasures


Like Wanda Sykes said, when people are using "That's so gay" to say something is dumb or stupid, then your own comment is violated.
Right?

"Dumb or Stupid" were never part of the meaning of the word "gay" ...

__________________
Republicans have a sweet racket because they run on "government is ineffective," and then when they **** things up, they go, "See." – Bill Maher

"When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint.
When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a Communist."
--Dom Hélder Pessoa Câmara

I'm now about as clear about the use of the term 'tea-bagger' as I am about the terms 'gay', 'faggot', 'homo', 'queer', 'poof', 'twink', and especially 'fudge-packer'.

It sounds to me that the argument here is that a word cannot be a derogatory slur as long as it is an accurate description of a groups actions.

Therefore logically, I should probably use the term 'fudge-packer' to describe homosexual men than 'gay', because homosexual men aren't necessarily happy but are ... well, you know.

__________________
Dudes ... you're just NOT THAT MUCH ****ING SMARTER than all of us. GET OVER YOURSELVES!
-- Me, to President Obama and the rest of his self-loving amateur staff.

This particular "messenger" appears to have an almost limitless sense of schadenfreude.

One might be pardoned for wondering just how much credibility you would attach to an article carried by Newsmax or World Net Daily. Or even by The Weekly Standard or--that classiest of all conservative journals--National Review.

The modifier, "supposed," seems quite superfluous (and downright misleading) in the sentence, above.

Your intent does, after all, appear rather obvious.

An addendum: The Urban Dictionary defines the word "troll" (in the Internet sense of the term) as "[o]ne who posts a deliberately provocative message to a newsgroup or message board with the intention of causing maximum disruption and argument[.]"

Another swing and a miss...

But you keep plugging away slugger. Eventually somebody will lob one over your plate that you can hit...


One might wonder why you would "wonder" that in the first place.
"Credibility"?
There is video proof at the web-site.

You can believe your eyes if you want to doubt the web-site.
If you find anything on the video that is inaccurate, please let me know.
Otherwise, you're just trying to ignore the message by attacking the messenger...


No. It's 100% accurate.
Because it's what YOU SUPPOSE I am thinking.


My intent was to point out the true nature of these "Tea Parties", as I have repeatedly described.

If I asked you for more evidence of the certainty of your presumption of "my intent", would I be met with a chorus of "I know what you're thinking" type commentary?

Feh. Why remain on the hypothetical...
Let's make it official.
Can you show me the evidence of why you are so certain that you think my "intent" is as you previously described ("delight at the discomfort he believes has been caused to the Tea Party participants")?

__________________
Republicans have a sweet racket because they run on "government is ineffective," and then when they **** things up, they go, "See." – Bill Maher

"When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint.
When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a Communist."
--Dom Hélder Pessoa Câmara

troll also can mean someone who lives in the lower peninsula of Michigan.

for those of you not familiar with Michigan you must cross over the mighty Mackinac Bridge to get to the upper peninsula and the people up there call us trolls because we live below the bridge.

just a bit of trivia to add to this thread which I find to be so gay!

__________________
The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions, that I wish it always to be kept alive.
Thomas Jefferson

* An nescis, mi fili, quantilla prudentia regatur orbis?
o Translation: "Don't you know, my son, with how little wisdom the world is governed?


VIVE LIBERTE'

No.

I never said "cannot be derogatory".

I am saying what MY INTENT on using the word was...

I clearly explained that.

As for OTHER PEOPLE using the word "tea-bagger" in reference to other meanings, that's part of the great thing about the dictionary.
It has MULTIPLE MEANINGS included cause different people use it in different ways.


What you guys really need to stop and do is question how these comments aimed at me mimic the whole "Politically Correct" mindset.
After all, some people complain it is "Politically Correct" that people use an NFL term like "Redskins".
SOME Politically Correct people insist that the term "Redskins" shouldn't be used because the interpretation of the use could be negative, disregarding the intent of the actual use...



Considering the majority of men who have anal sex are actually HETEROSEXUAL, I would hope such a use on your part wouldn't be exclusive towards gay men...

__________________
Republicans have a sweet racket because they run on "government is ineffective," and then when they **** things up, they go, "See." – Bill Maher

"When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint.
When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a Communist."
--Dom Hélder Pessoa Câmara

So sending a tea bag to someone makes you a teabagger...like sending flowers to someone makes you a flowerer...or sending a present to someone makes you a presenter....

Maybe if instead of tea bags they originally sent loose tea....

C'mon, you're smarter than that....

I do see your general point though, and it is well taken.

__________________
_____________________________________________
Insanity in individuals is something rare - but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -Friedrich Nietzsche, philosopher (1844-1900)
_____________________________________________

Just an old sweet song keeps Georgia on my mind

So as long as I don't intend for a word to be derogatory, I can keep using it. OK. I fully understand now.

So you're suggesting that I'd be best off referring to a homosexual man as a queer fudgepacker, or say fudge-packing faggot and not just a fudgepacker. Gotcha!

This is silly but I know you'll deny getting my point. If you once are made aware that quite a few people consider a word or phrase derogatory, and you're a civil human being, you then usually refrain from future use.

__________________
Dudes ... you're just NOT THAT MUCH ****ING SMARTER than all of us. GET OVER YOURSELVES!
-- Me, to President Obama and the rest of his self-loving amateur staff.

I'd like to point out that many people were unaware of the derogatory nature of the word "teabag" until very recently.
Whereas pretty much everybody knows the nature of terms like "fag", "FP" .

So let's quit responding as children, shall we?


This group of people were unaware of the potential violence of the people they faced.
Now they know and we all know, some tea partiers are not concerned with fairness or even anything remotely related to health care and economic security issues.
It's all about frothing fury in the name of a "cause" so that fury can be displayed publicly without many repercussions.
People who were seriously concerned about their country have been drowned out by the louder more agitated protester.

__________________

I did not win the Powerball again!


"When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him."
--Jonathan Swift

Why don't we try it this way: ask a person who attended a Tea Party what they want to be called? Gays call themselves gay, lesbians refer to themselves as lesbian, and Tea Partiers call them selves, (hold your breath now....) Tea Partiers!

Tea bagging, according to someone I asked, is when a man lets his testicles rest on the givers face when receiving oral sex.

Is that blunt enough for you? Can you not see how it MIGHT be considered a slur?

__________________
Freedom is the only thing that means a damn to me.... you can't fake it" Bad Company, Simple Man