Study Finds Many iPhone Users Are Tea Party Supporters (Really)

• They actually have a new iphone app out called the Tea Party Power Pack. This is just a collection of our founding documents, historical speeches etc...how is that a bad thing? It's what our country was founded on...not like they are releasing stuff advocating hate...it's all good...don't panic!

• Dear Peter Jamison, I enthusiastically suggest that you bite me. First you write a column that labels millions of Americans as racist, bigoted semi-literate morons without any facts to back up your accustations, then you insist upon knowing the <i>race</i> of several of your readers, then you blatantly lie about statistics in a poll you're citing, then you ignore readers' questions about why you have done any or all of the above. And then you have the gall to finally up and double down on your bigotry? As I said before: Bite me.

• Dear Tea Party Supporters and Others, I enthusiastically suggest that all of you who have commented in this forum read the following story, which appears this month in The New Yorker. This is an excellent and factually sound explanation of the philosophical roots of the Tea Party's spokespeople and preferred Congressional candidates. You'll learn a lot. http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/10/18/101018fa_fact_wilentz One excerpt that describes a Republican candidate's dismay at the spread of extremist Tea Party ideology: "In June, the congressman Bob Inglis, of South Carolina, a tough conservative who nonetheless backed Bush�s financial bailout, lost a vicious primary fight with a right-wing insurgent named Trey Gowdy. To his amazement, Inglis was confronted on the campaign trail by voters who were convinced that numbers on their Social Security cards indicated that a secret bank had bought them at birth. 'And then, of course,' he recalls, 'it turned into something about the Federal Reserve and the Bilderbergers and all that stuff.'" Regards, Peter Jamison

• LOL! Online stupidity like this makes my day sometimes!

• When people like Mr. Jamison say "Christian patriot movement", that is their way of undermining Ron Paul's supporters.

• Wow . . . Peter Jamison, you come across as incredibly racist in this profoundly ignorant article, more so in your bellicose and bitter comments. You stereotype millions of people you dont even know. That's called PREJUDICE. I only stumbled across this article through links, and will probably never read anything from "SF Weekly" again. But if I ever come across it, or if I ever see anything from Peter Jamison, a little light bulb will go off in my mind that it can't be taken seriously, and thus should not be bothered with. Absent a sincere apology from Jamison or the editor, you have both lost a lot of good will and credibility. But it's OK, you dont have to care.

• &#64;jkeelsnc - Please provide any evidence whatsoever for your accusations of "(the Tea Party's) anti-civil rights attitude and homophobic opinions...". You also claim the Tea Party "tries to silence those who disagree with them..." which you equate to the rise of the Nazis. Give examples, or go peddle your insanity elsewhere. You try to pretend you're equally disgusted with both parties, and yet you spend your entire rant attacking the Tea Party. You're just as bad as Peter Jamison, the cowardly hack.

• I love the way that Liberals keep calling the TEA Party racist. They ignore all the minority candidates the TEA Party has supported. Would racists support a black woman, like Angela McGowan, in Mississippi? Would they support candidates like Vernon Parker in AZ, Tim Scott in SC, Cedra Crenshaw in IL, Allen West in FL or Charles Loller in MD? If TEA Party members were really racist, would they have thrown their support behind a Cuban-American like Marco Rubio, and driven Gov. Charlie Crist from the Florida Republican Party? Maybe Peter needs to quit looking at his own bias and look at what the TEA Party has actually done.

• I am happy to see how well the Tea Party members have explained themselves. Just because a group is largely composed of a particular race does not mean that the group is racist. Right now the Senate is 99% white (Roland Burris, Obama before him... that's it, right?) It is also overwhelmingly Christian. Jamison's logic to prove TPM is a Christian movement is invalid. But then, trying to suggest a point about the movement based on what kind of cell phone OS they use is about the lamest notion I've read in a long time. Want to understand the Tea Party movement? Read the US Constitution.

• jkeelsnc, I see no evidence that the Tea Party people are seeking to silence the views of people who disagree with them. Certainly the ones who have commented here don't seem to have been trying to do that. What are you talking about?

• Well, the posts I see in these forums right now are silly. Although, if there is healthy debate allowed from all sides then it can in fact be a good thing. However, in this case it is highly lopsided. Personally, I think all political parties should be outlawed and that all private and corporate donations to politicians should be outlawed among other things. someone said: "There have been many massive rallies. We're not blowing people up. We're not taking over with guns." Uhmmm, not yet. The Nazi party started out om a similar way. We'll see what happens. I despise both parties now. Both are pretty much useless at the moment. The only thing I find in common with the tea party is a tremendous desire to see the state and federal governments forced to fiscal sanity. But I don't agree with their anti-civil rights attitude and homophobic opinions either. But here is an omen. The tea party seeks to silence those who disagree with them and also believes that they have the corner on the truth. Sounds familiar to me. Sounds like the beginnings of the Nazi party in Germany in the 1930's. It didn't start out violent either. But they did start out with a similar attitude. "We are right. You need to be quiet and you should believe what we tell you is absolutely true" No desire for debate and no desire to have their views questioned or challenged. However, I will not defend the democrats or the republicans. Both are controlled by the corporations and they both have no desire to balance the federal (or state and local) budget. Further, both have corporations in their back pockets buying votes on critical issues and instigating legislation that is mostly convenient for the 20% of americans who have over 80% of the wealth. That might hint that I am favor of a "nanny" state. Quite the contrary. Many people who take advantage of the system need to have their checks cut off and given a solid kick in the behind. But the other side of the story of those who have worked systematically to destroy the middle class that has maintained the foundation of the economy in this country for decades. And those who instigated have been the most concerned with themselves. Frequently, the tea party people are screaming and yelling and foaming. They have right to be upset about the federal deficits and national debt. But accepting your own view as truth and wanting to silence everyone else leads to the american equivalent of the third reich. Its something to consider.

• So, I guess we shouldn't hold our breath waiting for Peter to show up and answer for his lies and vicious stereotyping of the Tea Party? Guess that's too much to expect from a journalist.

• hahaha way to go journalism

• ha that just goes to show what I always thought wasnt so far fetched after all, apple, iphone users, and steve jobs all hate freedom and love "one way" restrictive thinking. They like to let others do their thinking for them and love being told what to like how to do things and who they should hate...proof positive

• Wow, I guess I'm done with this website.

• Is anyone honestly surprised by this? iPhone users are uneducated and ignorant, just like Tea Party members.

• I have an iPhone 3GS - which replaced my original iPhone - and I have a master's degree (In music, no less), and I am a TEA Party guy (Teabagger in lib-dork terminology). I believe you need to rethink your semi-literate moron meme, which you seem to have swallowed whole without a lick of... thought. I simply want the government to stop taking so much of my money to spend on boondoggles. If you don't make any money, this might not matter to you.

• I like to lie and say Obama is a Muslim just to tweak liberals like Jamison. I like to call him Imam Obama....it's my way of sticking to Libs.

• The more salient issue is: how has iPhone managed to appeal to the non-drone populous?

• Oh, and I almost forgot. Humor me, Peter. Explain why you blatantly lied in your above comment about the poll you linked to. There is no mention of a birth certificate in the poll, yet you claim that 71% believed Obama had a falsified birth certificate. As Buzz points out, your "71%" is also a blatant lie. Please explain why you feel the need to lie to your readers about the Tea Party?

• I'm Asian-American (adopted), and yes, of course Obama was born in the US. What's your point? What difference could my race possibly make? Now humor me, Peter. Why are you so prejudiced against Tea Party members? Why do you hold completely unfounded, bigoted views of such a great swath of Americans? These are people you have obviously never met, a movement comprised of millions upon millions of people, and yet you feel comfortable stereotyping them as moronic semi-literate fools who enjoy having testicles dipped in their mouths. Humor me, Peter. Why are you so angry and intolerant and bigoted against people you have never met?

• This article is pathetic. Who in the world thought Peter Jamison could write or think clearly and offered him a job? Dishonest "facts." Dishonest argument. Yeesh, you'd think he'd be embarrassed, but instead he just digs himself deeper with inane requests from commenters.

• "and 60 percent predict a Republican takeover of Congress this year -- a 15 point margin above other smartphone users." Few would dispute that a GOP takeover of the House in 2010 is pretty much guaranteed. 40% of those who have no business using iPhones, then, are affording the Dems an inordinate benefit of the doubt. I guess, in the end, it IS possible to purchase an expensive high-status electronic device and still be mistaken about something, though I admit I'm struggling to get my mind around it since it seem so unlikely.

• Forgot to add: please deal with your dishonest poll reading and give us your evidence that the Tea Party has, as you say, "trac[ed] its roots more directly to the clinically paranoid Christian Patriot and militia movements of the 1990s." Evidence, please.

• Humor you!? Why? To confirm your prejudices? Yes, Obama was born in Hawaii, a US state. My race is irrelevant, but suffice to say I married a foreigner, race also irrelevant. Why, why, why are you obsessed with race? You realize that makes you a racist, don't you?

• Dear Buzz and Tom, Humor me. Do you believe Barack Obama was born in the United States? Are you white? Regards, Peter Jamison

• Peter - Now you're simply making things up. The poll you link to shows nothing like what you claim. <b>Nowhere</b> in the poll does it say anything about a birth certificate. <b>Nowhere</b> does it show that 71% of Tea Partiers think Obama has a falsified birth certificate. Furthermore, as you admit, the poll is entirely of people from California, possibly the most liberal state in the country. How is that at all reflective of the Tea Party? As for your idiotic statements about the racial makeup of the Tea Party, I couldn't care less, and neither could the Tea Party. Skin color, race, gender, sexual identity, none of this matters. It only matters to people like you who are obsessed with labeling and classifying and stereotyping. You're a liar and a hack, pure and simple.

• Peter Jamison Yes, I wish to argue otherwise. First, what the hell does race have to do with anything? Why do liberals accuse everyone else of racism when all they do is see things in racial categories? Also, where in that polling do you get 71% of Tea Party supporters believe Obama was born outside the US and falsified his birth certificate? It asks nothing about a birth certificate. Among those labeld "Tea Party enthusiast" only 21.7% say he was not born in the US. (Tellingly, 13% of "middle of the road," "strong liberal" and "moderate liberal" also believe this.) You apparently (and dishonestly) included the "don't know" response to get to your 71%. But "don't know" means many things: "I really don't know," "I haven't really thought about it," or "I don't have enough information because I've never heard the question before." That's why good polls allow "don't know" for an answer. The important thing about polling is to not read your own prejudices into the findings. You're either dumb or dishonest. Or maybe you never studied statistics or learned how to read a poll. Perhaps all three.

• I can't wait to see the NewsWeek cover on November 3rd: We're all Tea Partiers Now! (Sorry Obama and Socialists: We were wrong last year...)

• Wow, a NY Times hatchet job and Rolling Stone are "serious" journalists!? You're about as dumb as Kate Zernike, who seems to think Hayek is "obscure" and "dusty" (he only won the Nobel Prize and his book has never been out of print since 1944) and "rule of law" is some obscure code word that only Tea Partyers use. The liberals' hatred of the Tea Party is as futile and irrational as their hatred of Sarah Palin. It's almost Pavlovian.

• Dear Tea Party supporters, I'd like to do an informal poll here. Humor me. How many of you are willing to say with certainty that President Barack Obama was born in this country? How many of you are yourselves members of an ethnic minority? If you can honestly answer "yes" to either of those questions, you're in the minority among your Tea Party brethren, of whom 71 percent in California believe Obama was born outside the U.S. and has a falsified birth certificate. Only 2.9 percent of black voters in California identify strongly with the Tea Party movement. These are facts, but don't take my word for it -- have a look at this Field Poll: http://media.sacbee.com/smedia/2010/01/25/16/126tabs.source.prod_affiliate.4.pdf I don't think anyone can seriously say that an overwhelmingly white political movement that overwhelmingly subscribes to the laughably inane and not-so-subtly racist "Birther" conspiracy theory is representative of fiscally responsible Americans, working Americans, or even most conservative Americans. Do you wish to argue otherwise? Regards, Peter Jamison

• I'm going to make an iPhone app called "Teabag Express" where true patriots get to dunk your ginormous wussy head into a pot of guns and small government.

• I believe in free speech, so I applaud Peter for his opinion. Yes, Peter, we are all teabaggers. And the Democrats are the ones who are getting teabagged come November.

• Y'know, the term 'teabagger' is kinda offensive. Grow up.

• Running scared is what I see in this article. It is no different than any other lefty article I read. The same name calling (Teabaggers)and then trying to put the Tea Partiers into a dismissive box. I would like to know how many Tea Parties you have attended, to be able to report with authority? My guess is none. How many Tea Party Patriots have you interviewed in depth? 100? 47? 8? 1? Perhaps sitting dreaming up your own scenarios of what makes us tick is less work for you, while you collect your paycheck to write the inaccurate and useless article. I use a Blackberry, by the way, and want smaller government, less taxes, and fiscal responsibility from our elected officials. I believe in the United States Constitution. I haven't read the authors you sited. You may be surprised, I don't belong to a militia group. The first tea party I organized in April of 2009, was the very first time I'd EVER been involved in anything political. Like many Americans, I had finally had enough of the corruption that had been going on for years. This is the heart of the Tea Party Movement. So, now you have a couple of actual facts and not the swill you promote. IPhones? Smart Phones? No matter which kind we have, we will use them to better our country. That is what you can share with your readers. Tea Parties use their phones to fight back!

• Well, isn't this just a dandy; a San Francisco publication is deriding "tea-baggers". Next in SFWeekly; a documentary in parts on the artisanal fudge packing business in the Marina district (where I hear condominium sales have slowed down drastically...).

• If I recall, the whole Tea Party movement *started* with a soliloquy by Rick Santelli, on the floor of the Chicago Board of Trade, railing against bailouts. Nary a peep about religion, in that speech from the holy city of libertarianism (U. of Chicago, etc.) I can't take you seriously, Sir.

• <i>The fact remains that the Tea Party, as serious journalists don't tire of pointing out, has little in common with the small-government ethos of Ayn Rand or Milton Friedman, tracing its roots more directly to the clinically paranoid Christian Patriot and militia movements of the 1990s.</i> As a Tea Party supporter I wanted to thank you your efforts in spreading this delusional belief about the Tea Party. There is no greater political gift than an arrogant, dismissive and self-deluded enemy. I mean, imagine what could have happened if a year or more ago, the left had said, "Uh, oh it looks like there are a lot of rather ordinary middle-class people out there who are seriously upset with our policies. Perhaps we should take their concerns into account." What if they'd try to open a serious dialog and tried to integrate some of the Tea Party ideas into their own policies? Why, the Tea Party might have fizzled out instead of becoming the force that may destroy the Democrat establishment. But no, people like you snootily dismissed the Tea Party as a minority of marginalized extremist even though tens of millions of non-Tea Party Americans knew from personal experience and online reading that this was not the case. You self-absorbed, self-rightous, self-delusion allowed the Tea Party to grow with zero effective opposition. Thanks. So, again, please, please keep up the good work and for all the other leftists, don't you dare question what he tells you. In fact, you should know that the Tea Party is actually an alien plot to take over the world! Tell everyone you know! The future of the America and the world depend on it.

• I may be "semi-literate," but at least I know how to back up an argument with facts -- that is to say actual verifiable facts, not opinions in drag. I also am intelligent enough (unlike you, Mr. Jamison) to know that posting this kind of vapid article on the Internet was bound to get you a load of flak. Just adding my little contribution to the horents' nest you stirred with your abject stupidity. Dumbass.

• Right wing sensitivity is HILARIOUS. Who know Teabag types had time to comment on a post about i-Phone usage when they are so busy looking under every rock for socialists and hippies...seriously hilarious. Conservatives are the put upon class of whiners...ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha....poor poor conservatives...

• I'm back because I Just saw the caption under that photo. "Semi-literate morons"? As opposed to literate morons? And that photo, is that the best you can come up with? I guess Newsweek is written by semi-literate morons too, because they had a cover that read, "We're All Socialists Now."

• I think second poster Vince, is correct. Conservatives are at least somewhat in the majority in the USA. Obama was elected only because the press managed the narrative so effectively that many Republicans were taken in. A couple of good things from that, though: It gave blacks a much needed boost in confidence and it brought about the birth of the Tea Party. and iPhoning Tea Partiers. Time to head for Canada, "Progressives"? I think it is!

• Hey Peter - open wide, sweetheart. November's only a few weeks away, and I've got a nice, vinegary teabag for you!

• Good gods, Peter, could you be a more transparent hack? Two words: psychiatric treatment. Two more words: get some.

• "Apple's iPhone: The preferred mobile device of semi-literate morons" Wow. Peter, you seem... bitter.

• Factual inaccuracies, inappropriate sexual innuendo and snark in this article aside - which leaves precious little, but... - perhaps the study has more to say about public and media perception of all iPhone users as belonging to a certain worldview, than it does about the Tea Party. For that matter, I happen to like arugula and lattes in addition to my iPhone, but I'm definitely not in the "consumer class" that Mr. Jamison is talking about when he mentions those things. All this article really serves to do is communicate one fact, and then illustrate the biases and prejudices of its author.

• When the facts don't fit the narrative, make up new facts. Right, Peter?

• Hey Peter, here's another earth shattering discovery for you - apparently Tea Party folks know how to use these newfangled Inter-webs pretty good too. Bet you haven't gotten this many comments on a column since, well, ever. Maybe you should write more columns that use bigoted, completely made-up assumptions as facts!

• Hmmm... So I guess Peter believes that if the facts don't fit your assumptions, it's best to question the facts? No one that uses the slur 'teabagger' or who sites 'Rolling Stone' as evidence has any claim to being a serious journalist.

• I just read this stupid article on my iPhone. Here's Peter's conundrum: iPhone = cool. Leftwing = cool. But iPhone users = rightwing? That does not compute! Poor Peter's brain is going to explode. But you'll be fine. Take two joints, listen to a Grateful Dead album, and call me in the morning.

• Just another progressive MFM journo masquerading as an actual man. Grow up and please for the love of all that's holy, SACK UP, you ginormous wussy.

• So if you're in favor of balanced budgets, accountability in government spending, fostering private enterprise without crony capitalism, and following the Constitution you're some sort of weirdo? I'm a Democrat and I'm furious at what is going on in this country. Our party deserves to be thrown out of office in the 2010 and 2012 election cycles. WE BLEW IT! And honestly, I don't think it's even "our party" anymore. I'm a "Democrat In Name Only" who has no loyalty to the brand. I only stay a Democrat to vote in the primaries.

• Is the author a bold propagandist going for the big lie or is he ignorant, stupid and too addicted to ridiculous stereotypes to actually study the phenomena he's supposed to be commenting on as a professional? What, exactly, is the "evidence" that demonstrates that the Tea Party movement "traces its roots" to the "Christian Patriot and militia movements"? Remind me again who is the reality-based community.

• Who edits this thing? You write, "the fact remains" that the tea party has little in common, etc. The "fact"?? Do you even know what a fact is? What you claim about the tea party is an opinion, not a fact. [ A pretty fooloish opinion, too, but that's beside the point.] The failure to distinguish between the two does not speak well of this writer or his editor.

• "We certainly wouldn't have seen this one coming." Peter, maybe just use this as the first sentence in every one of your posts from now on, it'll save time. You didn't see it coming because you're a bigoted fool who gets his information about the Tea Party from Rolling Stone. But I guess that's better than going to an event and actually meeting these people before blindly hurling homophobic slurs at us and calling us semi-literate racists. God forbid. There's going to be a lot of things you didn't see coming. Welcome to the permanent leftist minority.

• It always amazes me that the people who talk tolerance, intellect and understanding exhibit the least amount of it. Typical leftist stereotyping. I bet it would come as a surprise to this individual that large numbers of us have undergraduate and graduate degrees with Science attached to them. Some of us were even involved with the R&D of computer oriented systems and had a lot to do with the development of various technologies. This writer and many of his equally biased compatriots have got to stop calling themselves intelligent because they are beginning to believe it much to their own detriment. Whats the old saying, "Those who are do and those who aren't talk and make frail attempts at commentary?"(SIC)

• Because it's SO STUPID to be concerned about insane skyrocketing budget deficits, right? The author of this article exposes himself as a nimrod.

• A San Francisco is using "teabagger" as a slur against tea partiers? Lord, that is rich! Just keep up the slurs while you can, because our time is short. I can see election day from my house!

• I used to think that journalists were watch dogs for the people against government. Now it's pretty obvious journalists are government guard dogs against the people. Why call freedom loving people teabaggers? I find that offensive. Grow up Peter Jamison. PS I have an iPhone and I support the Tea Party.

• Wow, this paper must have worked hard to find a snarky douchebag to write uninspiring tripe such as this. Seriously, Peter, your view of the American electorate is myopic and juvenile. Pick up the phone right now, call your mother and apologize for wasting all of that money she spent to buy you a journalism degree. How could you do that to her?

• "The fact remains that the Tea Party, as serious journalists don't tire of pointing out, has little in common [snipped for brevity]" Not a fact. In fact, it is the opposite of a fact. The overwhelming majority of Tea Party supporters predominantly are concerned with reigning in the size of government, and have little in common with the Christian Patriot or militia movements. And the ones who are claiming otherwise are anything but serious journalists.

• Why the hate? Why must you call us "Teabaggers"??? After all, we're nuts over you. And LOL @ Rolling Stone as "serious journalists". You had me going there for a moment.

• Oh, and guess where those iPhones will be on Election Day? At the polling places, ready to record SEIU thugs, New Black Panthers, ACORN clones, and other Democrat fraud and intimidation specialists in the act. Sleep tight, Petie.

• "We certainly wouldn't have seen this one coming." Gee, do you think that might have some implications about who some of your former readers are?

• Hey Pete--F#@K YOU

• I love the 'don't you know' type claims in this article. Such as the 'serious journalists' link, citing two well known partisan outlets... one of them being the incredibly unserious Rolling Stone. And I love the idea that this author can declare that the Tea Party is unlike any serious thinker, and more like militia whackos. There have been many massive rallies. We're not blowing people up. We're not taking over with guns. We are not even littering, unlike the protests against us. We're a huge and diverse grassroots movement. Some like Ayn Rand, some just have a simple wish that the government would get off employer backs, some see the deficit and realize they are in for long term problems. This article has such a thorough ugliness and unseriousness to it. What's so controversial about the Tea Party, anyway? We just want government to spend less. It's really, really big right now. It's not crazy to say it's too big. You may think you are powerful because you have defined your ideological opponents as morons, but that's actually a pathetic response to some serious points.

• Heh. You left-wing journalists are sooo stupid.

• "We certainly wouldn't have seen this one coming." Your blind snark tells me there are a lot of things you won't see coming.

• Wait, Matt Taibbi is a serious journalist now? Does that mean he also throws sexual slurs at political opponents? Or is some other definition in play? Sent from my iPhone. ;-)

• And yes, before someone smugly points this out, I know Road to Serfdom wasn't written by Friedman. But the point is that small government became popular again with the tea party.

• "The fact remains that the Tea Party, as serious journalists don't tire of pointing out, has little in common with the small-government ethos of Ayn Rand or Milton Friedman, tracing its roots more directly to the clinically paranoid Christian Patriot and militia movements of the 1990s." Wow. That's interesting, because you know which book sales picked up as the Tea Party gained in popularity? Atlas Shrugged and Road to Serfdom. In fact, I've attended a number of rallies and find that the most hardcore tea parties are small government activists not motivated by religion. And it's funny how they supposedly trace their roots to militia movements yet have no track record of violence. In fact, they even cleaned up their mess from the Lincoln Memorial while the "One Nation" slobs left trash everywhere. The author of this posting displays an incredible ignorance of the tea party movement, deciding to rely on media caricatures instead of actual evidence.

• <i>We certainly wouldn't have seen this one coming.</i> If you didn't have a teabag in your face half the time maybe you could have.

• Using the term "teabagger" is per se and unassailable proof of being another kind of bag. Grow up, hippie.

• Dang Peter! God forbid educated, working people are conservative!

• What else would one expect from a self-important airhead from San Fransicko? The MAJORITY of Americans are conservative. You, sir, are in the minority. Get used to it.

• Steve Jobs is not doing his job "right." Or IS he?

TotalComments: 76