"Tea Bagging" Rallies Ruthlessly Mocked On Maddow Show

HuffPost has comprehensive coverage of the Tax Day Tea Party protests. Click here for the latest photos and video.

Tonight, on the Rachel Maddow Show, Maddow and regular guest, Air America's Ana Marie Cox, discussed the fringetastic anti-tax Renaissance Faires known as "tea parties." There is only one thing in all the world worth noting about the people behind these things, and it is this: everyone involved is apparently unaware of what the term "teabagging" means. As you will see, this is not the case with Maddow and Cox.

"Now, no laughing off set or I will lose it!" begged Maddow, "I'm only barely making it through as it is." She said this BEFORE Cox joined the segment. From there, it just got better: "Who wouldn't want to tea bag John McCain?" Cox asked. "This is all part of the midterm strategy," she added. "You know it's going to be teabagging 24/7 when it comes to the midterms." And it shall be. Of this you can be certain.

I really do not have to say anything more. You all enjoy this, now. I'm just going to show myself out. Good night!

[WATCH.]

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Comments

[CanUFeel2012]

THE INCREDIBLE, DISTURBING, 24 7 PROMOTIONS OF THE TEA BAGGING EVENTS BY FIXD NEWS WAS BOUND TO HAVE A RE-ACTION . FOR EVERY LOONY ACTION THERE'S A CRITICAL SOMETIMES FUNNY RE-ACTION. IT WAS A GIVEN TO MADDOW AND SHE RAN WIT IT .... IT IS WHAT IT IS, AND IT WAS A TEA BAGGING EVENT.......

[SaltySaltillo]

I do my teabagging Darjeeling style.

[adeas1132]

I, as a young woman, am ashamed that 2 women would get on television, even though not a very widely viewed television network given the ratings, & have the conversation these 2 women had. The glee, ridiculous teenage behavior in which they spoke of something with such vile conotation is sickening. What has happened to journalism? They, as should Anderson Cooper & others that spoke of it so lightly, should be ashamed of the airing of such trash in the name of "news". They made idiots of themselves, as they regularly do, but this was even a new low for them. MSNBC, CBS, NBC and CNN need to wake up and realize the "Tea Parties" had NOTHING to do with "organizing anti Obama rallies", but EVERYTHING to do with being sick and tired of the money being spent on ridiculous pork filled CRAP generations to come will still be paying for. My 2 year old granddaughter will be paying for what Obama has spent in just less than 100 days in office! TRILLIONS of dollars in LESS than 100 days!! Mind boggling. What makes this even more priceless, you left wing nuts blame Fox News & Republicans, but there were tons of Democrats & non Republicans in attendance that are just as tired of what has happened since the first TARP. Before you start calling me a Republican nut, let me assure you I am neither Republican nor Democrat. I do not support nor vote party line. I vote for

[Zeppelin00]

Very intelligent and well-said. I voted twice for Bush but was not at all happy about many things that were done. I voted for Obama in the Dem primary and am not pleased with what is happening now. I commend you, adeas1132, for your insight, which I have found quite lacking by many of those who post here. I find it offensive that Nancy Pelosi denogrates those who attended the protests as rich elitists when she is the epitomy of that description. I find the "news" agencies to be pushing ideology rather than reporting. I heard what Ana Marie Cox and Maddow had to say and found none of it to be insightful or intelligent. What has happened to common sense and critical thinking in this country? If I were $100,000 in debt and subsequently spent another $300,000, I would be labelled as irresponsible and rightly so. Can anyone even attempt to explain in a bright and intelligent manner why the government should get a pass a do so without blaming previous administrations or calling anyone a derogitory name?

[SaltySaltillo]

I saw the Houston TX teabagging party at Jones Plaza up close, and I saw a one to one ratio of anti-Obama signs and anti-tax signs. So don't give me that "nothing to do with" nonsense.

you seem to be clueless about what government debt is and what it is used for.

When Obama took office our national debt was $10,626,877,048.91.
Today it is $11,183,89­9,252,728, a difference of $557,022,203. So how is this Obama's doing?

you need to get your head around the concept of debt because you seem to be unable to get off of the credit card metaphors. The United States is like a going concern. Debt is a tool used by going concerns to grow. Debt when properly used creates growth in the economy, which increases the tax base. Debt in principle should pay for itself. we may be at the point where we are overleveraged, such that a sharp decline in the tax base may put our ability to continue to service our existing debt in jeopardy. But that is the situation that was reached last fall, before Obama was elected. The US economy was undergoing shrinkage leading up to the election and a collapse in the willingness of the financial sector to support the circulation of capital. As a result, the US government - the spender of last resort - had no choice but to step in with a major injection of capital in order to "stabilize the patient" and attempt to foment growth. ?

[adeas1132]

You are the clueless one. What "credit card metaphor"? You need to take a better accounting of what Obama has & plans to spend! The majority of which will have NO EFFECT on getting us out of the recession. It's your Democratic Congress-Pelosi, Dodd, Frank etal that loaded everything from the 1st TARP to his new budget with PORK. It's easier for you left wing nuts to blame Bush, when in fact, this spiral began with Carter & Clinton policies! Stop drinkng the Kool aid. What you also didn't understand is what I said about "mainstream media". You saying you only saw anti Obama & anti tax posters is PROOF they didn't show the true picture of what the rallies were about & who attended them. TRUTH: the vast majority were Americans from ALL walks of life, all colors & party affiliations, concerned about their families' futures, a lot of which had no posters. Had they REPORTED, instead of doing and saying despicable things, acting like prepubescent giggling girls at a pajama party talking dirty rather than on a "news" program, maybe even folks like you may have understood the meaning behind them. The anti tax posters were more than justified since it will be ALL of us picking up the tab for Obama, Pelosi, Frank & Dodd's PORK! Make no mistake, you will be in that group! You may end up wishing you had been there with a poster too! As a small business owner, it sure scares the

[RomeoinFl]

Rachel I LOVE you.

[Zeppelin00]

You people with your "tea bag" comments are childish. That's why you voted for a guy without knowing he was a socialist. Look up the term because its obvious none of you understand it. Obama's lack of experience in everything shows quite clearly. Since when does the leader of the free world bow to a Saudi King? Its because he not a leader, he's a follower. Remember how he was going to go, line by line, through every bill and cut out the pork? Didn't happen, did it? He can't stand up to Pelosi and Reed. What kind of a leader is that? Now we've got a tax cheat heading the treasury and telling us, our children and, eventually, our grandchildren to foot the bill. I bet that's the knid of change you believe in. Well, the change I can believe in happens on 1/20/13 when your one-term, Jimmy Carter clone is ousted! Your rhetoric may play well to the people in America with no understanding of truth, politics and history but in the end Captain Charisma has lost his luster and your talk is just that, talk. Prepare yourselves. A rude awaking is coming. All the pres and Congress are doing will effect you in a terribly negative way and we will hold all of you accountable. Like an intelligent man once said, I don't mid helping the helpless, but no one can help the clueless.

[justsomeguywhocameby]

Zeppelin00,

I'd like to help you out of your delusional world but:

"Like an intelligent man once said, I don't mid helping the helpless, but no one can help the clueless.".

[Zeppelin00]

Hey there justsomegu­ywhoneedst­okeepongoi­ng,

I'm so glad to see that my words were so valid that you couldn't use your own. Couldn't even correct my typo either, apparently. Lots of forethought there. I also noticed that you could ONLY attack me by calling me delusional but didn't bother to try to explain what the delusion was. Is my truth about Obama's total lack of experience delusional? Or is the truth about the Treasury Secretary be a tax cheat one of those so-called delusions? Or maybe the truth that Obama promised to go line by line and cut pork barrel spending was he delusion. How about the fact that our children & grandchildren will bear the burden? Here's some more. Obama has nominated more people with income tax problems than any other president and in less than 3 months. What a vetting process. Dispute that? Of course you do. Is the fact that he will spend more in his first 2 years than all previous presidents combined including 8 years of Bush lost on you? Of course it is. These are facts, period. What most people call truth, you label as delusion. Why? That term, "clueless", lays directly at your feet because once you can no longer distinguish truth from delusion, you're clueless about what is happening around you. I don't blame you at all for attacking me and calling me a name. Another intelligent man once said that "when you must stoop to name-calling, you've already lost the arguement."

[whiteconch]

I've just fallen in love with Rachel Maddow all over again!! About these insani-tea heads,....ya'll oughta be ashamed of your selves acting so un-patriotic,...in line with the cede attitude of Gov Rick Perry,..
what a loser he is,..for not even giving Obama his due right of his first 100 days before being so negatively judged. This in itself is the true sign of the failed GOP and their insecurity they must now choke on. Be a patriot and give your Prez a chance!! You making over 250,000 need to STEP UP TO THE PLATE. Nothing is for free here anymore! Get over yourselves and contribute to your country by paying your taxes more proportionately! And remember,..those making under 250,000 get a break!!!
COOL!!!!!!!!

[Zeppelin00]

How is it unpatriotic to protest? Its our RITE as Americans just as its your rite. And just for clarification, the GREAT state of Texas is the only state that was a country before joining the union. Therefore, its the only state that has the RITE to cede from the union. All Texans know this. Gov Perry is stating a fact, more than can be said for Congress or this Administration or even the President. To say that we're not a Christian-Judeo nation is to not know the history of our founding fathers. The protests have much more to do with the unprecedented deficit-spending than taxes. I guess the fact that it happened on Tim Geithner day has confused the left. Borrowing from China, printing a trillion worthless dollars and spending money we don't have is a real problem that everyone including you should be worried about. And, please, cut out the name-calling. We're working people just like you. By the way, tobacco taxes have increased subtantially for everyone, not just those making over 250,000. The same for alcohol. Gas and oil will be next. California has already raised sales tax. I've never complained about paying taxes because its our duty. It's not our duty to stand by and let the country go bankrupt or pawn the debt on our children. He had the chance to use the line-item veto and keep his campaign promise but he didn't. Are we supposed to wait to day 100?

[furiousMB]

Your use of the word RITE instead of RIGHT gives me the impression that you are a religious zealot and therefore nothing you say has any merit. We are not a Judeo-Christian nation. Our founding fathers were deist at best. Learn your history and BTW, American history cannot be found in the bible.

As Ben Franklin (an actual founding father) is quoted as saying "Lighthouse are more useful than churches."

Personally, I hope Texas cedes from the Union. Texans are obnoxious. Take George Bush with you. I hope Mexico fights for it and wins this time.

[StringOfLights]

Wow, I have never seen so many trolls on a thread. Amazing.

[whiteconch]

string of lights,...are you carrying a string of teabags? what flavor do you prefer?

[justsomeguywhocameby]

just to prove StringOfLights point ^^^

[aldente31]

Laugh it up BASS BREATH. you'll be out of a job soon enough! take your sorry act to VERMONT !

[amistad]

Yeah!!!
A st00pid tr011 head poppin!!!!
Hahahahaha­hahahahaha­ha

[justsomeguywhocameby]

LOL

"tr011 head poppin!!!!"

classic!!

[FinancialRefugee]

Wait, wait, how about
A Teabag for 2
For me and you
Is it just me or is this really so silly?

[SaltySaltillo]

The only real question is: do you like yours green, chai, or English breakfast style?

[FinancialRefugee]

Fist cal teabagging. That ain't lo-cal. No, quite filling.

Hey, the Obama's must have a really open marriage for so many people to be teabaggaing Barack.

You know, as much tea bagging as they're doing, you'd think the GOP would be smiling a little more. Must SUCK at it.

[Zeppelin00]

You people sure talk abou teabagging alot. You must all know the subject very intimately.

[InLosAngeles]

Way to scissor your way through the teabag revolution, Rachel.

[justsomeguywhocameby]

ouch !

[justsomeguywhocameby]

"RACHEL is so good at exposing these clowns from Fox for what they really are. The right wingnuts are soooooo self righteous and egotistical, that they have finally reached a level of irrelevance. And maybe, just maybe, they are getting a taste of the feelings of frustration and despair that many of us "liberals" felt during the looooooooong Bush years, and watched as our nation deteriorated. At least the wingnuts will have a better world as will the country with President Obama and the Dems in control."

CarmanK

[dm1824]

The only people using the phrase "tea bagging" are the ones making jokes about it, like Maddow. The people actually doing these (admittedly dumb) activities are basically just saying "tea parties." While I think it's cool to kid around, don't put words (or scrote) in people's mouths.

[StringOfLights]

Dude, that's not true. Did you watch the video?

[Zeppelin00]

What IS true is that people, whoever they are, are using this term in order badmouth good Americans. A Liberal shouldn't mind being called a Liberal. A conservative or Moderate shouldn't mind being called a Conservative or Moderate. A Catholic shouldn't mind being called a Catholic. to call these people something so profain, to perpetuate it, to think its okay and to laugh about it is childish and antogonistic at best and lude, crude and devisive at worst.

[SaltySaltillo]

Actually the Fox gang started it when they started saying they were going to "teabag Obama".
I think they thought it meant some sort of smear or insult, but didn't realize what they were saying.

[djreedps]

Isn't forceable teabagging considered sexual assault?

[MOProud]

Probably. But I think most of the would-be offenders lack the equipment necessary to get the job done.

[magicat]

Great segment on the moronic phenomenon known as tea bag parties. Way to go Rachel!
I must admit it has been entertaining watching these bitter people rant. It has not a lot to do with taxes. It's mostly ignorant people protesting against President Obama and our other elected democratic leaders as a whole. Leaders who are trying to pull our country out of the slime pit it has been in for eight years of Republican rule.
Teabagging morons, if you don't like our country, our elected leaders and the progress were are starting to make why don' t you leave the USA.
Problem is..... I don't know of a place on earth that would accept you.

[beachrose]

Tea Parties ... NOT teabagging ....Keep laughing...please do! Thank you all, for your "ghetto mentality" and for your childishness and your supreme arrogance
in dealing with some very serious problems which will ultimately affect YOU TOO...We are NOT morons ...nor are we ignorant ..... And if you truly thought Life was so BAD under Bush, well,
what can I say ...........Your whining is irritating - You haven't seen anything YET!!! No......we don't plan on moving out of the country where we were born ... our immigrant grandparents - great-grandparents came here for a BETTER LIFE and worked hard for it ..... We DO NOT wish to replace our liberties and our freedoms that we cherish - yes, that's right - cherish ....that our fathers fought so hard to protect. The Tea Parties across this Nation, as you very well know, were SYMBOLIC of the Original Boston Tea Party -
Time to GROW UP!!!

[MOProud]

I need to grow up!?!? I express my pleasure or displeasure with our elected officials at the ballot box...not by putting on a powder wig from Party City and throwing tea bags at the White House. That's about as childish as it gets. It's like watching a child throw a temper tantrum because he didn't get his way.

[neutrino74]

"liberties and freedoms that we cherish" ?

Like the the GWB trashed the fourth amendment with illegal spying on Americans. Like the the GWB violated people's rights by detaining them indefinitely without access to the courts? I think that cherish does not mean what you think it means.

[justsomeguywhocameby]

"Republicans, I think you are confusing tyranny with losing. It's supposed to taste like a s#!t taco."

Jon Stewart

[Zeppelin00]

Jon Stewart, huh? That explains a great deal.