Huge Anti-Bush Rally in Downtown Anchorage!
An Anti-Bush rally? That’s really how I had to look at this. The last eight years have seen the national debt soar to heights we could not have imagined when Bush took office. The taxes we pay on this April 15 reflect Bush tax policies. The hardships we feel reflect Bush philosophies. Bank bailouts? Bush administration. We privatize profits, socialize losses, give tax cuts to the rich, and pay for two unnecessary wars, and this is what we get. And yes, it’s all Obama’s fault.
I just couldn’t resist heading down to the Federal Building at lunchtime today to see the local “Tea Party” rally. On the way, as I approached the rally site, I saw a few people heading in that direction. I usually can count on the fact that I don’t actually know anyone at rallies frequented by those on the other side of the aisle, so I was quite surprised that I noticed my coffee lady! The woman from whom I purchase my lattes was carrying some kind of cryptic anti-government sign! A conservative who owns a latte shop! It’s sort of poetic in a “Who knew?” kind of way.
And as we approached the parking lot, the first sign we saw was this one:
Wow.
We parked and walked over to the corner. I’m guessing there were about 700 people there. I’ve gotten pretty good at judging rally sizes this year, so that’s my best guess. There was lots of red, white & blue, and hooting at passing cars, and LOTS of honking. Somehow I always manage to situate myself next to a woman between the ages of 19 and 30 who shrieks “WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” in my ear, like only a woman between the ages of 19 and 30 can. This prompted me to do a lap around the block.
There were hairsprayed moms with children in patriotic garb, there were fiscal conservatives on their lunch break, there were angry people who think Obama is coming to take our guns, there were angry people who think Obama is a socialist, there were angry people who’d rather be dead than European, there were wistful people holding Ron Paul signs. I have sort of a soft spot in my heart for Ron Paul fans. I don’t know why. They’re just so passionate about the philosophy. It certainly not Paul’s personal charisma or dashing good looks, so it feels sincere. But I also feel sometimes like going up to them and whispering gently behind my cupped hand into their ear….”It’s ooooverrrr.” 
And of course, there were a few Bob Bird signs. He was the Alaskan Independence party candidate for senate. There was a distinct AIP feel at the event, with a generous helping of signs having to do with “sovereignty” and the Alaska constitution.
Spontaneous small crowds chanted U-S-A, U-S-A! Someone with a bull horn across the street was saying something I couldn’t make out. I’ve been to Obama rallies, and Palin rallies, and anti-Palin rallies….but a Patriotic/anti-Government rally that’s really mad at the debt brought about by George W. Bush and therefore thinks Obama is a communist….excuse me, “Kommunist,” is just kind of strange. And after about 45 minutes, I started getting that queasy “I gotta get out of here” feeling that I used to get at the Palin rallies last fall. I think it was right after I saw this:
People were mad, but I got the sense that they really didn’t know who or what they were mad at. They were mad at China, and France, and Obama, and the federal government, and taxes, and bailouts, and home foreclosures, and Europe in general, and liberals and communists and illegal immigrants, and “the lazy”. And it struck me that the grassroots conservative frustration with the last eight years, somehow got funneled all together and packaged into these rallies, which were actually, of course, carefully coordinated by the likes of Newt Gingrich, Dick Armey and a cabal of conservative think tanks. The purpose was most definitely divisive partisan politics, but the anger and frustration of ordinary Americans was used as the wedge. It would have been nice if they had decided to protest fiscal irresponsibility and corporate shenanigans eight years ago when we could have done something about it. Now we’re just faced with cleaning up the mess. Oh….that’s right. They would have had to admit it was Republicans who caused it.
OK, I would like to go on record saying that I likeEurope. (waves to European Mudflatters) I’ve been there and it was very nice. It pains me when Americans do stuff like this. I cringe. And it took me a little while to figure out that “USSA” is supposed to be the “United Soviet States of America”. I just thought they couldn’t spell.
Did you know that if everyone who voted for Obama, voted for Eric Croft for mayor, he’d win in a landslide? Please pass the photo above to your progressive friends to remind them to vote. It actually does matter. Remember, all politics is local. And look what happened to our last progressive mayor! If you don’t know, you can ask him. He’s living in Washington D.C.
I liked this one. Which one are you drinking? Tea, or the red Kool-Aid? Part of my hopes that this guy is really a progressive that slipped in there, and nobody noticed he was poking fun. But probably not… I got a good chuckle anyway.
Ah, the lazy. You know…all those people who got laid off.
Oh, look! It’s Eddie “you’re a bunch of socialist baby-killing maggots” Burke, there to spread the love. Nice border patrol hat. Maybe he’ll be leaving us to go wander the border of Alaska and Canada to keep all those people with decent health care from invading our country and taking over.
Ah, yes….we mourn for those halcyon days of George W. Bush. Everything was just fine then. And now that socialist Obama has singlehandedly gotten us 11 trillion dollars in debt in three and a half months. (head meets desk)
Oooooo! Goody! I’ll have some nice red wine and chocolate, please. And no jet lag!
I think I remember studying in history class that they passed on this particular flag design because, frankly, it was just too creepy. I think that was a good reason.
Rumor has it that congressman Don Young attended the party in Wasilla, and was photographed standing under a sign that said “No More Pork.” Don Young is the guy whose annual fundraiser is a pig roast. A real, whole pig….because of how much pork he brings home. If I had known he’d be standing under that sign, I would have driven to Wasilla in a flat second. Oddly, there were no reports of lightning or spontaneous combustion when he did.
And last, but not least, I looked at the following sign and I wondered to myself what Fox News or other conservative punditry might have said if they had seen this sign at a progressive rally that occurred during the Bush administration. Somehow, I think there might have been something about “unpatriotic” or “Why do you hate your country?”
So now, I think I’m going to kick back and enjoy a nice cup of tea.
GO ANCHORAGE! Love ya!
Love ya, wouldn’t want to BE ya!
I just have to chuckle, maybe because I don’t know how else to react.
We drove through that crowd…the vibration was awful……you are really strong, akm.
You’re having tea? I want whiskey. And I never want whiskey.
What am I not getting? I live in NYC-we pay taxes and don’t even get money back from our own state. We send money to DC and we don’t get it back. I am of the opinion US taxpayers have their tax-payer money going to Alaska. Are Alaskans saying they don’t even want to begin to support their own state? Do they want the rest of us to completely subsidize them?
In the words of the robot on “Lost in Space” ( my one tv show allowed during the week when growing up-picked because I liked it and it was one hour long) “This does not compute.”
Perhaps we can convince them to move to some non-socialist country for the next 4 years. That would be nice. I hear Mexico has lots of drug-running jobs available for those who are not lazy.
AKM, peppermint tea is good for taking away that ‘ICK’ feeling. I might have some right now.
Thank you for laying your stomach on the line.
Oh, THANK YOU, AKM, for writing about this. All day long we’ve been bombarded with news of these ridiculous “tea party” protesters, who don’t seem to have a clue about the real cause of our economic disaster – GW Bush and the neocons before him, who went on a spending orgy for the past (how many?) years. But yeah, now it’s all the fault of the Obama administration! Duh. The current administration is keeping us from falling into the next Great Depression by rescuing this nation’s financial system after the NeoCons’ plundering party.
I honestly think part of the right wing’s Grand Plan is to under-fund the educational system in this country in order to swell their ranks. The dumber the populace, the easier the plundering. Just blame it all on the Left-wing “Commies” when they have to come in and clean up afterward.
Also, one thing that I wish I could ask some of those folks is, exactly HOW MUCH do you think you should have to pay for the public services that you partake of in a year’s time? Each kid in public school costs us around $4800 in state funding, and I sure wouldn’t want to see the bill for my REAL share of the costs of road maintence, police & fire services, local government administration, and on and on. The Anchorage municipal property tax bill for the average $308K home is going to be approximately $4000 this year. Perhaps these protesters should look at what residents of other Northern states pay for property taxes, state income taxes, and local taxes to support their habits. Might be an eye-opener.
Rachel has Ana Marie Cox on and they are calling the D.C. tea party “the fizzle in the drizzle”. Ana went and is reporting racist signs calling the President “shoeshine boy”………such self loathing with these people. Thank you for the report AKM !! I posted this on the last thread. “Responses” are lame and misinformed.
http://taxdayteaparty.com/teaparty/alaska/
fantastic, smart, funny, insightful post! wow! i still don’t know who you really are (cause i got off that doogan teabag guy’s email list) but all I know is that you’re a pretty necessary part of this “discussion”! thanks…..
Taxation without representation? Yes, we’ve got that right here in the District of Columbia. We pay federal taxes and all we want is a congressional representative. Is that asking too much?
Ok, tens of thousands attend a tea bag party. Then what????? This helps how??
ok.. deb mostly lurks here since the election…but after reviewing the photos…I’m gonna go all “snarky”….which, most likely, is BETTER than “mavericky”…and say….Eddie Burke has put on his “winter weight”???? just sayin….
Racist. Xenophobic. Paranoic. Religious. Uneducated and ill-informed. But like most of the pictures I’ve seen of teabaggers around the nation, there is a distinct lack of younger protesters. Very few people under the age of 40. These are the final remnants, the last generation that depended on church and MSM for their morals and information.
OT – but what a NY Times article: not flattering at all!
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/16/us/politics/16palin.html?_r=2&partner=rss&emc=rss
Statehouse Journal
For Gov. Palin, a Rough Return to the Day Job
By WILLIAM YARDLEY
Published: April 15, 2009
JUNEAU, Alaska — Before Tina Fey and “Drill, baby, drill,” there was mud season here in the Alaskan capital. This soggy, socked-in spring has been no exception, but it sure has been different in other ways. For Gov. Sarah Palin, Republican meteor, getting back to governing has not been easy.
***
Meteor – sounds right, after all, we all know what happens to then eventually – they crash & burn!
We had a protest in our town, too! About 50 people, few of whom looked like they had a pot to pXss in, stood on what passes for our town green, right next to the crowned frog riding a snail statue (don’t ask), waving signs that intimated they were unhappy with the tax situation, with Obama, and with the bailouts. The light turned red. I stopped right in the thick of things. A white-haired gentleman darted out from the curb, waving a sheet of type-written paper at me. When he got to my car he tried to thrust it in my window. I waved him off.
“No thank you,” I said politely. “I look at things another way.”
He directed a gimlet stare in my car window. “Do you pay taxes?” he asked suspiciously. (Don’t be too hard on him; I drive an elderly car, was far from my sartorial best, and was still reeling from the twin blows of discovering that I owe taxes in five digits AND my credit card company has tripled my interest rate not because I’ve missed a payment but, hey, because they can.)
So back to the gimlet stare, and “Do you pay taxes?”
“Yes, I do,” I said. And you know what? I was proud. No matter how hard things are right now, I have done well enough in my business to be considered capable of contributing. It’s a lot–I believe reform is necessary–and I hope it’s not so much next year, but you know what? I’ve lived below the poverty line. This is better.
The light turned green. I stepped on the gas and rolled regally away. “You want to give it to me?” he shouted after me.
I thought about that. It seemed like an odd thing for a teabagger to say. Isn’t their whole schtick that everybody should be able to do it on their own? That they don’t want to give anything to help those who are struggling? Why would he invite me to bail him out while he was protesting that very thing?
Mystery.
A big “shout out” to AKM for braving “the front”!
Long-time follower, first-time poster – just had to say:
“Misery loves company”, or “birds of a feather” and all that.
How many of these “upholders of the first amendment” do you suppose feel that same passion for the sixteenth? Or is it time to change the “rules” (aka constitution) to suit their agenda? Sound like anyone else we know.
Just wondering……
What does DON’T TREAD ON ME with a coiled snake even mean? If it was a war-tankm i could make some sense out of it – I think – but snake? That would be more like DON’T SNEAK ON ME – except that doesn’t amke any sense either.
LOVED the kool-aid sign – thanks for the photos AKM !
AKM, I wonder if your “coffee lady” is in reality the Alaska Standard’s “AK GOP Webmaster” who noted on their live blog that they ran into you at the Wasilla demonstration? (I left a comment to that effect on P. 4 in the last blog topic here)
No doubt it’s a small world, and politics seems to both bring it closer together, and make each of us in that small world lightyears apart.
Hmmm. I wasn’t at the Wasilla demonstration. I went over and read their comment. Hilarious! They said I was there 15 minutes early so I could claim the event was a failure, but not to worry that they took my picture and would post it later. LOL! Guess they’ll feel funny when they notice I was actually in Anchorage, and reported the turnout at 700 people. (shakes head)
AKM
Great summation AKM! I wish it was required reading for the misguided teabaggers (at least for those who can read and comprehend)). But they are only allowed to read what FOX tells them to, as they scramble to find bible verses that they can twist and turn to support their insanity.
Just don’t let ‘em in the woods, please.
I admire you so much, AKM. You are so intrepid and wise.
Clearly, ‘tea-baggers’ have NO ideological consistency. But that’s never stopped the GOP before, has it?
How many disparate factions can be served by one big tea party? Sounds like weak tea, to me. And that goes for your “coffee lady,” too!
I wonder how it feels for the right to be in the minority now? I suppose this is just their way of letting it all out, but wow what a bunch of dingbats!
I would like to know how many of those dorks paid over 800,000 in taxes like Obama did this year? I would think every last one of them got a tax break thanks to Obama.
So… given the first picture, above, I take it that Mad Wayne Anthony is not a fan of tea or any other type of teabaggery, eh?
Funny how the bushies spent 8 years not complaining about running up the federal deficit. But now, after less than 3 months, it’s all chardonnay.
Rumor has it that congressman Don Young attended the party in Wasilla, and was photographed standing under a sign that said “No More Pork.” Don Young is the guy whose annual fundraiser is a pig roast. A real, whole pig….because of how much pork he brings home. If I had known he’d be standing under that sign, I would have driven to Wasilla in a flat second. Oddly, there were no reports of lightning or spontaneous combustion when he did.
That pretty much sums up the hypocrisy of their whole “revolution.” They don’t really know what or why they are protesting, but it really just boils down to a bunch of right-wing loonies trying to prove that they are still relevant. If they really were protesting the government spending and pork, obviously King Pork Young would have been stoned on sight. These people don’t realize the benefits that we receive from the government daily in many forms. We pay taxes to fund government programs that benefit the lives of all of us. We elect officials to determine how our tax dollars should be spent to benefit us in the best way possible. These people have been part of the election process, so they’ve had a chance to vote and receive their “representation.”
Chalk this up as one more great contribution of the Bush presidency. A bunch of loony people. Luckily we have a great leader who is ready to shoulder the responsibility and lead us out of the mess that he inherited. I wish I had his strength. Great write-up AKM!!
After watching, reading and listening to the TeaBag coverage, I can only say it has much less to do with taxes then it does for the pure hatred they have for President Obama and the color of his skin. Sorry, but I saw one two many signs having nothing to do with taxes; ‘show us your birth certificate” “Obama is the new Hitler” and the most revolting, referring to Obama as “shoe shine boy”. The Rachel Maddow show was spot on with her coverage and summary of what the real motovation of these protests are and I whole heartedly agree. Sad, very sad.
Ok, I have been snarking about the teabaggin’ all day long (even wrote a blog entry about it). However, after looking at the pictures, I feel the same way I did looking at the McCain/Palin rallies–sad, disgusted, pissed-off, incredulous, but mostly just sad.
These people are being duped by their party, and they like it. Most of them probably paid less taxes (if they paid at all) this year than last year, and they will be getting a stimulus check in the mail sometime soon. Are they going to return that money? I think not.
What an incredible waste of time, and in my mind, it’s reeks of racism. Can’t give money to the brown people and the poor people (we’re not poor; we’re middle-class!) and teh gayz and anyone else with whom we don’t agree, but we have to keep pouring money into wars that aren’t going to end any time soon because, well, just because.
I can’t even snark any more, and that’s just a sad sight to see. asiangrrl without her snark is like putting lipstick on a pig…no, wait, that’s not what it’s like. It’s like Palin trying to do an unscripted interview–painful.
Also.
K8KZ, jinx, buy me a caffeine-free diet Pepsi!
After watching a lot of news about the rallies today, it occurred to me that most of these tea bagger folks are desperately trying to have a little payback for their humiliation from the record-breaking and adoring crowds for Obama on election night and inauguration day. Our public displays of support for Obama disgusted them. Shamed them. They have been stewing ever since. They don’t know quite what they really believe in, but by golly, they made quite a variety of signs today and waved them proudly. Whether their slogans make sense or not.
I have to say the most offensive sign I saw in a photo (on Daily Kos) was from my own Chicago – The American Taxpayers are the Jews for Obama’s Ovens – Yes, even in blue Illinois, there are frightening rightwing wackjobs. (And there are frightening ex-governors, too, hoping to go on the TV reality show – I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!)
“BIG SIGH” Oh well. Every dog has its day. Today was theirs. We get to go back to Obamatime tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day. . .
I was browsing some of the Huffpo pics as well.
Just like one of Celtic Divas pics these people need to ask someone
(smarter then them) to read their sign before they embarrass themselves all over the internet.. (signs don’t have spell-check)
I picture the two people with the t-shirts on saying “I’m with stupid”… with each one of them having a big arrow pointing to each other.
Oliver Twist said … “Sir..May I have another..?” Yes you may…
http://images.huffingtonpost.com/gadgets/slideshows/1391/slide_1391_20048_large.jpg
And Celtic Divas.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3639/3445893128_50f2fd67fc.jpg
Okay. I have been reading and commenting on this blog since that fateful August day. And yes, I have considered the idea that I might need an intervention at some point. And still I read. And I tsk-tsk and shake my head at the Alaska Follies. But this event really cheeses me off.
I can almost forgive the moronic gits in other states who don’t understand what teabagging really is (not just for WTF?), that they are not taxed without representation, that it’s really the Republicans who created the economic mess (albeit with the complicity of Congressional Democrats).
But for sheer hypocricy I’m awarding the Blue Ribbon to this crowd and their compadres in other Alaska towns who tea bagged today. My frickin’ tax dollars make it possible for y’all to live your bullsh*t frontier stinky beard beer gut flannel shirt red suspenders damn the law helicopter wolf shootin’ bible thumpin’ degenerate hatin’ wife rapin’ lives. MY FRICKIN’ TAX DOLLARS. Delivered to you by Socialists Ted Stevens, Lisa Murkowski and Don Young.
You’ve gone and pushed me over the edge.
baaaa
(sheep talking)
Wired, honey? Wow, that was impressive!
I’m not joking.. tea consumption in this house is at an all time high right now. I’m drinking it with honey and double cream instead of milk, just because, you know, I can.
These people are doing wonderful things for the economy – the post office, the tea industry, signs and markers, etc. I think we should encourage them in these utterly useless protests, and just try not to laugh *at* them in their presence.
Wait till you get home and look at the photos, and then remember the real meaning of tea bagging, before you laugh hysterically..
Next thing you know, they’ll be turkey slapping, or tossing salad..
If you don’t know, don’t google those.. 
Nan? Talk me down!
I also read the Alaska Standard. They are bloging in real time, and one of the bloggers stated that he has your picture AK and will publish it there.
I wasn’t even at the event in Wasilla. AKM
I put my business up for sale yesterday. Goodbye Anchorage, I can’t take it anymore. If you want a business, like kids and want to be here – send me a message. Is it going to be better somewhere else? From my rock in the middle of the Sonora desert, maybe.
Snoskred has the right idea. I’m going to go make a cup of tea right now as a way to reclaim that fine beverage. As an Asian American, I am offended that they have taken away my BOC! (Beverage of Choice).
From the ADN
[quote]
Mary Ann Krasselt, 66, pointed to a sign reading “No! to radical Obama and his socialist taxes” toward the intersection. She wore her husband’s Revolutionary war costume — tricorn hat and all — and she said she can’t afford to retire from her sales job.
“And I’m worried about a civil war.” [she said]
[unquote]
Is she worried she won’t have anything to wear?
and this:
[quote]
“Today we stand up and tell our government we demand you start listening to us, the people,” organizer Cheryl Brooks, an out-of-work accountant, told the crowd, to cheers.
[unquote]
and she’s out-of-work because ….. ??
YCMTSU
I had to look up teabagging, that is too funny! This whole thing is so strange.
akm, I am quickly becoming addicted to this blog and love the way you explain!!!! I guess the best way to look at it is everyone has to be somewhere!! Why oh why do you take pics and even mention Eddie Burke? Boy he is looking a little larger than usual!!! Thanks for you coverage and great blog!!!
Feeling better now that I’ve found some Sugar Lumps to go with those tea bags.
From Flight of the Conchords Season Deux.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcBpizQVZK8&feature=PlayList&p=856AF77B153432DF&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=23
(Answer to OzMud )
OzMud Says:
April 15th, 2009 at 7:31 PM
What does DON’T TREAD ON ME with a coiled snake even mean?
———————————————————
I have never looked it up…. But the way I always interpreted it meant…
Don’t ‘tread’ (meaning step on) on the snake because if you do it will turn around and bite you.
At the same time, I think it was King George of England as well who had his foot on the backs of the Colonists and oppressing them… with taxes as well.
So in effect it was a ‘revolt expression’. The words meaning…. PLUS the symbolism of the snake. (snake= ‘fear me’ or saying ‘ back off ‘ )
Hope that helps
Our founding Father’s were right wing extremists? Gee, I don’t think so.
And perhaps one of these intelligent, thoughtful, students of government can explain to me how Obama can be a Communist AND a Socialist AND a Fascist?
BTW love that first sign. Teabagging. LOL.
Green milk tea and a Cadbury caramel creme egg has helped a bit.
anadventurer, are you serious? You’re really leaving Alaska?
GOD BLESS AMERICA AND TEA!!!
PATRIOTS FOR OBAMA UNITE!!!!!!!!!!
Oh. I almost forgot.
We did just that on November 4th 2008, and we took our country back from these poor misguided fools who plunged our country into 8 years of illegal war and unbridled corruption.
So they want more of the same? After they let the Right bankrupt our States, our Fed, and a large number of those very same people who cheered when Scalia signed over ownership of our country, they want to give it all back to the liars and crooks of Bush/Cheney Incorporated? I hear a lot of hokey reaons, but they want to go BACK TO MORE OF THE SAME? ANd are upset with CHANGE?
I think they should channel all that energy elsewhere, where it belongs.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62_w7WmQmRo
That’s right. All that misguided energy should be focused on the one issue that really matters and we should all be able to agree upon.
Eat the Rich.
CHANGE HASN’T EVEN KICKED IN YET!!!!
HERE’S TO CHANGE WE CAN BELIEVE IN!!!!!!!!!!!
In the NYTimes today:
For Gov. Palin, a Rough Return to the Day Job
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/16/us/politics/16palin.html?_r=2&partner=rss&emc=rss
Largest gathering of nitwits in Anchorage since Palin’s return after losing the election.
The NYTimes article will actually appear in tomorrows edition
I think many of those at the “high tea” service need to get ‘outside’ a little more – I’ve never seen a mass attack of cabin-fever before, but these people are major ‘bushed’ and really “bush-league”. WOW!
Thank you, BigSlick. I needed that reminded that yes, we DID!
AKM~ You did good…Soooo sick Hannity, (lard arse) Rush, Beck..Wish there was an island for these jerks..Anyhoo thankyou for giving me a place to vent..II hope tomorrow will be a goodday for AK. Your due for one..:))
GINO is not going to be happy with the NY Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/16/us/politics/16palin.html?ref=politics
Ross is covered too, and not so favorably.
At one point, someone complimented her hand-painted clogs. “Cute shoes,” the person said. Ms. Palin responded, alluding to a recent dust-up over being seen wearing the logo of her husband’s snow machine sponsor: “I may not be able to tell you who paints them or I may be charged with an ethics violation or something.”
Speaking of “lard-ass’ limbaugh, feast on these articles in the latest Vanity Fair (best in depth articles around).
http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2009/05/rush-limbaugh200905
http://www.vanityfair.com/online/politics/2009/03/rush-limbaughs-10-dumbest-remarks.html
http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2009/05/james-wolcott200905
Same magazine with an article about “the best of the backlash against the tea parties”.
http://www.vanityfair.com/online/politics/2009/04/the-best-of-the-backlash-against-the-tea-parties.html
Nice job.
I’ve been stewing all day that everything being protested is a direct result of 8 years of the Bush Regime.
Not only that, but I wish half the people using the term realized what tea bagging really is.
It’s so hard not to call people stupid when they act so incredibly…ya know.
Is it only me (and way to go “wired differently”), or does anyone else see the danger of this movement by right wing nuts? Their beliefs, their hatred, blatant bigotry. Do the Republicans (and I’m making an assumption that most of these demonstrators were Republicans) realize that they are being manipulated. How do we break this chain of ignorance? It is so scary, but more importantly (for me anyway) I think I’m beginning to see how Hitler came to power.
I think I need to take a week off and hit the Applachian trail…just me and the dog. Need to regroup and recharge because I think it’s going to get worse before it’s gets better. It’s easy to look at the teabaggers, FOX NONEWS, republican leaders(?), and feel outraged and angry, but right now I just feel depressed. Depressed that I live in a country filled with so much hatred and venom.
I support anyone’s right to protest, but I do not support their right to incite ignorance.
Well, I just looked up what ‘tea-bagging’ means and all I can say is that those pseudo-women holding that sign are no ladies. Bigotry is alive and well in the GOP (grim old people’s party). Really, really sad. And why is it they are so obsessed with everything sexual – methinks there be a whole lotta anal types wandering around those hallowed halls of the shreiking wingnuts.
Wow, I wouldn’t think those puritans would be teabagging in public.
@anadventurer:
Hey, I hate to admit it, but I’m with you. I was online searching for homes and jobs in the Pacific NW today (you know, that freaky part of the nation that actually values readin’ and writin’ and such, also). I can’t take it up here anymore. If you think Anchorage is bad, try the Mat-Su Valley. I feel like I’m in one of those “time-warp” back-to-the-future type movies, only a really, really scary one. This is a beautiful place, but it’s not worth losing my sanity for.
Whabs, not to self-promote, but check out my blog.
Debra, that was part of my frustration. I felt the same danger when watching the McCain/Palin rallies that I feel watching the teabaggers. The thing is, I don’t think there is any breaking through to a large number of them. They will rationalize their beliefs until they die. Otherwise, what do they have left?
I was watching the Faux Noise coverage of the tea party in Sacramento and somebody got their sign right in back of Cavuto (on national TV!) and it was a picture of Hannity with his mouth open and it said “deposit your teabags here.” I wonder how long it took security to catch on. I hope to hear from that person on the tubes!
I find it very interesting that no one is really claiming to be behind the whole protest (isn’t protesting what liberals and progressives usually do, for which they are called un-American? hmmmm). I suppose it’s their effort to make it seem much more grass-roots than I believe it was.
And the other thing I’ve noticed, aside from the obvious glaring fact of the last photo, is that none of them bothered to check urban dictionary before they made up their signs and slogans. Pretty funny, as far as I’m concerned.
But mostly what I always see is that there are a lot of people who show up for stuff like this who clearly could benefit from a refresher course in American Government and American History, not to mention spelling. Maybe someone could point out to them that if they are or plan to cash those social security checks that the money is from the government and that means it’s . . . yeah, not a word they want to hear. I’ll believe they really mean what they are saying when they give the money back or refuse to take it in the first place.
I understand the anger, but I don’t get how they can be so blind that they are still clinging to the same goofy policies that landed us all in this financial mess.
I thought about going out, but decided to just stay home instead, drinking my tea. And now I think it’s time for some more.
The following is from the article on rude lowbrow (lard-ass limbaugh) – It seems time will thin their narrow-minded and hate-filled ranks:
“The dirty little secret of conservative talk radio is that the average age of listeners is 67 and rising, according to Sinton—the Fox News audience, likewise, is in its mid-60s: “What sort of continuing power do you have as your audience strokes out?”
Totally OT, but the snarky swipe at the Europeans made me think of this little european ditty of performance art that will make you smile for days:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EYAUazLI9k
Ah, yes. A tea party.
But it reminds me of the acting out behavior, that teenagers display when they are angry and do not get their way. They blame the current person in authority, and attack them for all the things they are angry about….without ever stoping to think that they had a part in making things the way they are.
While the Republicans are currently reveling in their freedom to hold “Tea Party” protests, they are not remembering what happened to anyone who openly protested against Bush during much of his years in office. Remember Bill Maher? Remember what happened to people attending Republican Bush events when they had teeshirts or bumper stickers that were even the slightest critical? The Republicans are currently using the words “Facist” and talking of freedoms being taken away. They’ve forgotten the Patriot Act, Guantanamo, Abu Ghrab.
Currently the Texas governor is making noises that it would be a good thing for Texas to secede from the United States. Doing so, just might be… for the rest of the United States, especially if right-wing Republicans from the rest of the states moved to Texas. That last one’s snarky, but their total self-righteousness and condemnation does get a bit tiring.
@ pearl89 Says:
@ Debra Says:
I feel like you do , Fox news is making these people go over the deep end and I pray we don’t have another JFK tragedy because of Fox news and rush limbaugh, I have never seen such hatred in a news media like hannity, beck ,greta and limbaugh, and that closet sex pervert o’reilly Fox news is destroying this country, they love palin, o’reilly says, I follow Palin’s and she’s doing a wonderful job in alaska.The ignorant people that watch fox are obviously not educated enough to read a paper or use the internet to make sure the facts are straight. I am ashamed of America today that we let these hateful people get away with their spinning lies and the fools that believe it .
Can’t we all just get oolong?
sorry if this is a repeat but always like to hail karl rove as the leader of the GOP’s teabag movement: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123984928625323721.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
please please please keep sarah, karl, dick and the rest of the dicks as the figure heads for what’s “right”…..
wolfe tone LOL!
I wish so much that that guy you saw there WAS an infiltrator. I get these spasms of bafflement at events like this and I’d give a lot to find out just what inducement was used to get otherwise-normal people to fall in line like robots and be used like this for someone else’s purposes. It just makes no sense. They must be getting SOMETHING out of it. Yet there seems to be no theme, no issue, no central demand uniting these people. It’s like having a rally for the cause of “Down with Evil”. Of course, no one is FOR EVIL.
They remind me so much of those people at Jonestown (speaking of Kool Aid), who ran, yes, RAN to take the poison, and feed it to the babies, with Jones egging them on, “Hurry, HURRY!” It just defies the imagination. It’s like they all put their brains in a jar on a shelf and became these mindless robots, or these grotesque shell-people like in “Night of the Living Dead”. At least THOSE folks were hungry! They had a united purpose! But it’s a mystery to me what would prompt these Alaskans to make these nonsensical signs and go on national media. Are they being PAID? How I wish one of them would come forward and spill the beans.
For all those “Christians” out there protesting–perhaps they should read about the snake and what happens to it in the book of Revelation. It got its head crushed by someone’s heal.
There’s no sense in what they say because it’s a coverup. It isn’t PC to trash minorities, so they use something that’s still acceptable and call him socialist and so on. They don’t like Obama and they don’t like anyone of any color that could or did support a minority.
As much as I don’t like paying taxes, I was proud to do it today–to support my country and say that I support my constitution. All of it.
BTW–to those that say things like “This is a democracy, and people have voted against gay marriage,” no, it isn’t a straight democracy. It’s a constitutional democracy with laws that protect the rights of minorities.
Otherwise, we could just all vote to shoot certain people from planes, and it would be OK. Right now, the religious right is actually reaping the greatest benefits from constitutional protections.
Its interesting to read these “progressive” blogs and comments. If someone disagrees with a progressive they are either stupid, hateful, or evil.
Are those thoughts learned behavior or is it just instinctive to believe that of the other side.?
Is there any possibility that someone who has another point of view might be dealing with an element of truth that you hadn’t considered? Is it worth thinking about what someone from the other camp says. Or should we just always attack….
Well, you can’t dismiss them because they aren’t going away, though I do remember the right wingers suggesting that liberals could live elsewhere if they didn’t like it!
5,000 American men and women dead in a botched war (not to mention Iraqis, Afghanis and other military forces), while the ex-President shrugged that he was mistaken. Economies all over the world threatened with crumbling because of a carpet-bagger mentality spawned by corrupt capitalists. Americans heading to Mexico for dental work and to India for operations that they cannot afford here. Hey, even getting dinged for taxes because my REPUBLICAN governor handed out cash like this was, dare I say, a socialist state. What’s not to love?
On Inauguration Day, people wept and cheered the world over. My daughter phoned me from the National Mall, and I could hear the crowd singing to Dubya’s last helicopter pass, “Na-na-na-na, hey hey, GOODBYE!” I’m still amazed by the international outpouring of joyful emotion that day, and the complete inability of the conservatives to acknowledge that they just might be wrong.
When you take a closer look, there seem to be two main groups opposed to the Obama administration: terrorists, and right-wing Republicans.
A word of caution – I mentioned Noam Chomsky last night on another thread here. The second part of his interview with Amy Goodman (Democracy Now!) was broadcast on Monday. When Amy asked Noam about “populist rage” I thought Noam’s response was very insightful:
Take a look at Germany. In the 1920s, Germany was the absolute peak of Western civilization, in the arts and the sciences. It was regarded as a model of democracy and so on. I mean, ten years later, it was the depths of barbarism. That was a quick transition. “The descent into barbarism” it’s sometimes called in the scholarly literature.
Now, if you listen to early Nazi propaganda, you know, end of the Weimar Republic and so on, and you listen to talk radio in the United States, which I often do—it’s interesting—there’s a resemblance. And in both cases, you have a lot of demagogues appealing to people with real grievances.
Grievances aren’t invented. I mean, for the American population, the last thirty years have been some of the worst in economic history. It’s a rich country, but real wages have stagnated or declined, working hours have shot up, benefits have gone down, and people are in real trouble and now in very real trouble after the bubbles burst. And they’re angry. And they want to know, “What happened to me? You know, I’m a hard-working, white, God-fearing American. You know, how come this is happening to me?”
That’s pretty much the Nazi appeal. The grievances were real. And one of the possibilities is what Rush Limbaugh tells you: “Well, it’s happening to you because of those bad guys out there.” OK, in the Nazi case, it was the Jews and the Bolsheviks. Here, it’s the rich Democrats who run Wall Street and run the media and give everything away to illegal immigrants, and so on and so forth. It sort of peaked during the Sarah Palin period. And it’s kind of interesting. It’s been pointed out that of all the candidates, Sarah Palin is the only one who used the phrase “working class.” She was talking to the working people. And yeah, they’re the ones who are suffering. So, there are models that are not very attractive.
…..As I say, the precedents are not attractive. Now, if—now even before the next presidential, if in the next congressional election the economy has not begun to recover, this kind of populist rage could boil over and could have very dangerous consequences. This country has a long history of being kind of ridden by fear. It’s a very frightened country. This goes back to colonial times.
You can read the transcript or listen to the audio here: http://www.democracynow.org/2009/4/13/noam_chomsky_on_the_global_economic
The Tea-bag party or whatever was designed to appeal to both the “R” wing-nuts and folks who are truly scared. Fox News and other outlets have been using it to serve their corporate masters (and I don’t mean that in a flip way – that’s who they are serving). I think it is/would be a big mistake for the left to start bashing folks who attended the tea parties. A better approach is to go after the organizers (Fox, The Republicans, The Christian Right, etc) and point out the inconsistencies. A flat tax favors the rich, ACORN – vilified by Fox, helps the poor and unemployed. If the progressive community is not careful the blow back could make George Bush the lesser look like Ronald Raygun looked when George was in charge. In short, things could get much worse for all but the richest members of our society.
Whoa, my fellow pups.
After spending the last couple days wanting to believe that the Anti-Tax Day protest was just more corporate hype, I too am disappointed to see the xenophobic faces of so many of today’s protesters. They look very much like the faces at the Palin rallies last fall.
They look like the faces of many of our neighbors.
If we can step away from our derision and repulsion for a moment and reflect – we all knew that most people have always complained about taxes. To get people to protest paying taxes is no great feat in itself. The genius in these protests has been the ability to wed disgust of taxes in general (it’s no coincidence that this occurred on April 15) with the stimulus package spending.
There is a lot of frustration out there because of the lack of retribution to those who stole our future with reckless derivative trading, the absence of acceptance of responsibility by CEO’s of failed institutions, and the frustrations of half the electorate from 2000 and 2004. They have to admit just how screwed we are because the administration (Bush) they put in the White House was thoroughly corrupt.
We need to recognise that this bitterness exists despite the changes brought by Obama. I don’t believe at this point that this bitterness has hardened and become non-retractable. For many, participating in today’s events was just a way of letting of steam.
But we must acknowledge their frustrations, anger and even fear. We must not become haters ourselves.
As the progressive movement evolves, we need to do an even better job of spreading the truth – reaching out with open hands rather than clenched fists. Woe to all of us if we can’t find common ground.
As a veteran of the anti-war protests of the 60′s/70′s, I can tell you that people who denied or mocked our protests only solidified the Movement.
It’s my hope that we remember that lesson and don’t become like those troglodytes who have opposed us .
After perusing various news sources about the Great Tea Bag Day, it’s pretty clear that the “protestors” really had no central theme to rally around besides hate for Obama. The rest of that hogwash is self-righteous, confused explanations and rationalizations. Excessive taxation? The Obama administration just put through the biggest tax cut in history.
Put simply, these people are still nursing sour grapes at the outcome of the election, exacerbated by the usual limbic qualities of fear, anger, and paranoia.
We have Palin to thank for a lot of this rancor. She pandered to and stoked the basest emotions and impulses in crowds for several months during the fall campaign. Once Obama won, all that rancor was still swirling around with little or no outlets for expression anymore.
AKM….keep dogging GINO. She’s a scourge on Alaska and this country. Her fans have idealized a myth. It’s up to the bloggers to keep exposing this nasty little myth.
I was down there, too, but I didn’t have near your patience, AKM. I lasted about five minutes, took a few quick photos, but got out of there as fast as I could. I am in awe of your fortitude.
And ‘scuze me for another post, but I just looked up teabagging and am APPALLED that any conservative (or anyone with any self-respect, really) would participate in such an event with a name like that! Even if the real intent of the event was entirely something else. I mean really! If this is a cause (whatever it is!) worth demonstrating for (or against), then surely a better issue name or slogan could be invented, other than this! It is disgusting and really, adds further fuel to the fire of what I was saying, that these people have totally put their brains in a jar and become complete mindless robots, to not only not have any real purpose but to ever engage in such a thing with such a name. It would take an awful lot of cold, hard cash to ever get me to participate in such a staged event with such a horrible name. I mean a HUGE AMOUNT OF MONEY. and I’d have to be desperate to get it..
Put simply, these people are still nursing sour grapes at the outcome of the election, exacerbated by the usual limbic qualities of fear, anger, and paranoia.
We have Palin to thank for a lot of this rancor. She pandered to and stoked the basest emotions and impulses in crowds for several months during the fall campaign. Once Obama won, all that rancor was still swirling around with little or no outlets for expression anymore.
I disagree with you. The Federal Government has been spending $.50 out of every tax dollar on military spending for the last 30 years. That’s money that has not been spent on education, health care or anything remotely concerned with the the folks that shelled out the cash. The Democrats are just as much to blame as Bush, Dlinton, Carter and Raygun (DOD spending went has gone up under Obama BTW). Rather than providing a return on taxes (or lowering taxes) our Congress and our Presidents have funneled into the pockets of a few folks who are already very rich.
As an aside I heard an interesting comment the other day that if you took NASA’s budget and gave it to NOAA, at it’s current rate of spending, NOAA would be set for the next 20,000 years – I have not checked to see if that’s really true. But, even if it’s only 1/2 true, what does that say about our governments concern for us or our environment. Hell, just look down The Inlet to Drift River.
yellerdogg, the problem for me is that they don’t look like me at all. They look exactly like the people I’ve always had to avoid for my own safety. When I watched the McCain/Palin rallies as well as the teabagging parties, I feel fear. All that hatred is directed at people who look like me. I also feel a profound sense of sadness. This is my country, too, damn it. No matter how often I’ve been told that I should go back to where I was born. I beg to differ as to the recalcitrance of these people’s hearts or minds. I have seen this kind of rage, hatred, and prejudice, and it tends to harden over time. I am not sanguine as to an effective way to affect a change. Or, let me put it more bluntly, I am not going to stick my neck out only to get it chopped off.
Ugh, I should proof before I hit send:
I disagree with you. The Federal Government has been spending $.50 out of every tax dollar on military spending for the last 30 years. That’s money that has not been spent on education, health care or anything remotely concerned with the the folks that shelled out the cash. The Democrats are just as much to blame as THE REPUBLICANS: Bush, Clinton, Carter and Raygun (DOD spending has gone up under Obama BTW). Rather than providing a return on taxes, in services (or lowering taxes) our Congress and our Presidents have funneled the money from taxpayers into the pockets of a few folks who are already very rich. And all the while they have been changing the rules so that the Rich and Corporate taxpayers bear less and less of the burden.
HI
Waves back from Germany!
hee hee…I had to lol with your take on these nut cases. I like the one too, which are you drinking? tea or kool aid.
Thanks for the daily chuckles, belly laughs and continuous “you can’t make this stuff up” posts. Love ya.
I feel like I’ve been teabagged so hard today that I’ll be cleaning pubes out of my teeth and hair for days! (yes teabagging can be someone just rubbing their balls on your head, for whatever reason:-)
Sorry for the off color sentence above, but my honey and I have been talking about this show of ignorance for hours now, and I just keep getting more angry! My other half is just so laid back that he never gets riled up over anything; he just sits back and laughs and says that all things come to pass and why bother raising our blood pressure over those things that we don’t agree with. After 15 years together we are still polar opposites. Guess that’s why we still are together
The worst part of it is that most of those that went to the teabaggings were followers that had no idea of why they were really there. 80% of those who where there with signs had no idea what they were representing or why they were truly angry, but they were.
Suffice it to say, I’m flossing very well before bed tonight to remove all distasteful stray bits of teabagging leftovers and getting on with my life.
Kudos to you AKM as I was going to go to the Wasilla event but I would not have been able to be an innocent bystander. I’m just too mad at these people; these “sheeple”, and their complete ignorance.
I keep going over to my little blog and starting posts but I don’t know what to say….no one reads my blog except for family, but I feel like I’ve got to get something out soon…..
Thanks for taking the bullet for us AKM! I would have had to have consumed an entire bottle of wine BEFORE and AFTER attending the teabag event!
@
CityKid Says:
I’ve been going after fox for months now, boycotting , calling their advertisers, it’s going to take a lot more calls to get the message across, I feel helpless. They really do have to be stopped, they take so much enjoyment in their hatred. They did their tea bag thing, wish we could get a T-GOLT day.
Thank God Obama Lowered Taxes, let them see that and wonder what the hell is going on and let them find out.
yellerdogg – I think it’s OK to call them out on racial and ethical issues. But, I think, those issues are really distractions to what is causing many of the problems in the first place. I could be wrong, but except when the colonists are pissed off and want to get their hands on the stuff the indigenous folks might be keeping them from (can you say WAR) racial issues are used as a way to divide and conquer. Does that make sense?
TROLL alert – these are NOT my words I DID NOT WRITE WHAT shilo442 claims! Shame on you SHILO442!
shilo442 Says:
April 15th, 2009 at 10:09 PM
@
CityKid Says:
I’ve been going after fox for months now, boycotting , calling their advertisers, it’s going to take a lot more calls to get the message across, I feel helpless. They really do have to be stopped, they take so much enjoyment in their hatred. They did their tea bag thing, wish we could get a T-GOLT day.
Thank God Obama Lowered Taxes, let them see that and wonder what the hell is going on and let them find out.
“Bristol is focused on college, advocating abstinence and raising Tripp.”
REALLY…as I posted @ adn, Did she finish HS? that both are teen, unemployed – so why is Levi the deadbeat? Their parents will help both of them, no need to keep Levi seperated from his son, [why does BP have MORE rights?]
Bulter is Also lawering for Levi!
76 CityKid Says:
April 15th, 2009 at 9:48 PM
Interesting post by Mr.Chmosky but I would point a significant difference between Hitler’s Germany and modern day:…..the ability to use propaganda effectively on a population to the exclusion of all else.
With the internet and all other available media these days, using propaganda to effect change in a population similar to 1920-1930s Germany would be virtually impossible now. The entities using propaganda would need a closed society like North Korea. Even in Iran, most houses have satellite dishes to get the internet and outside broadcasts. I have mentioned this before but Iranian police make sweeps of neighborhoods to remove the satellite dishes and by nightfall, the dishes are back up again.
I also take some exception to his statement that “grievances aren’t invented.” A large part of the grievances the rabid right-wingers have against Obama, in particular, are actually invented….by people like Palin, Beck, Limbaugh etc. We saw that very clearly during the election and these spokespersons continue to embellish their invention of “Muslim,” “communist,” “fascist,”
“socialist” etc.
What I do agree heartily with Chomsky is that demagogues do appeal to and stoke the fears of people…..whether those fears are based on reality or not.
OK, Off topic, but this is REALLY disturbing. The newspaper clip below is posted on Shannyn Moore’s website. It’s apparently the public letter written by Wayne Anthony Ross, in which he calls gays “degenerates”. He also says a lot of other really disturbing things (like advocating the idea that public opinion against a group of people should take precendence over their legal rights). Truly frightening. I’ll be forwarding this to the Judiciary Committee.
Here’s the link:
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_hWAVXHNngbk/SeaIZB7bVzI/AAAAAAAAD2o/QfLYh-NeN2Q/s1600-h/Alaska+Bar+Rag+May+June+1993+cropped+jpeg.jpg
Lee323 Says…. about Chomsky. I take your point but – propaganda, PR, advertising are all just methods to get people to behave in desired ways – The Internet has no effect. I think you are mistaking, truth and information with propaganda. The truth only gets in the way of propaganda if people pay attention to it. There are real grievances, and then there are those that are “invented” to get people to behave a certain way – guess I’ve gone full circle.
Oops – a correction- The article that I linked to is from the ProgressiveAlaska Blogsite, not Shannyn Moore’s. It is a 1993 letter to the Bar Association from Wayne Anthony Ross.
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_hWAVXHNngbk/SeaIZB7bVzI/AAAAAAAAD2o/QfLYh-NeN2Q/s1600-h/Alaska+Bar+Rag+May+June+1993+cropped+jpeg.jpg
Currently, there are not many good books around that deal with the topic of propaganda directly. My favorite is Propaganda by Jacques Ellul (Knopf, 1965). Ellul cites many primary sources. Though I would note that just about anything written about advertising and branding will cover the “how too” of propaganda – you just have to read between the lines.
83 CityKid Says:
April 15th, 2009 at 10:07 PM
Everything you’ve written is true…..but I’d wager if you asked a fair sampling of people at these rallies today to articulate the causes of their anger, it wouldn’t sound anything like your comment #83.
AsiangrrlMN is right….lots of xenophobia, fear of crumbling support for religious institutions, surreptitious racism, ethnocentrism disguised as “patriotism,” lingering rancor over Obama’s win….
Just take a stroll through the news sites and look at their signs…..pretty half-hearted on the taxation issues but really emotional on the cultural issues….
92 CityKid Says:
April 15th, 2009 at 10:29 PM “The Internet has no effect.”
Yikes! I definitely disagree with that statement. ”
One word….blogging.
Second, the internet….those sinuous, sneaky “intertubes” even make it to the foothills of Tibet, my friend. My neighbor is a “gamer” who has forged amazing friendships with people in China, India, Iraq, Russia etc. When the world is opened up like that….propaganda’s clutch on a given population is weakened.
Lee323,
I’m aware of all of that, and I’m aware that to many people in this country – facts don’t matter. I find it very scary. Like I said, most people on both ends of the political spectrum don’t really understand propaganda. Most people think it is about controlling what you think. A propagandist does not care what you think – they care about how you behave. Most folks left, or right, can’t tell you why they buy the dishsoap they buy or drive the cars they drive. If they try to tell you, you might hear a bit of the propaganda that swayed them to buy the product, but then again you might not. BTW, women buy more 4 wheel drive vehicles than men – just look at the advertising for the last 10 years.
asiangrrlMN and CityKid
I couldn’t agree with you more in calling out racism. Too often too many ignore hatred that is not directly aimed at them. We hurt our own cause though when we paint so broadly with our brush that any and all who differ from US in some of their beliefs/knowledge/opinions/attitudes must automatically be without redemption.
That was my only point.
Yeah, it feels good for us to let off steam too (also), but lets not freak out and deny the humanity of even those who disagree with us. Although Noam Chomsky said it much better than I, my post is in agreement with the points he makes.
asiangrrlMN, I acknowledge your fear. I can’t possibly know the depth of suffering you have experienced. We both seek justice and grace though and can’t afford the caution we feel toward those who would harm us to devolve into the same madness of xenophobia that directs our opponents lives.
97 CityKid Says:
April 15th, 2009 at 10:45 PM “I’m aware that to many people in this country – facts don’t matter.”
Sad fact, isn’t it?
The bright spots are the ’08 election and that two-thirds of the electorate are supportive of Obama’s plans.
My own 81 yo mother (with an IQ 140) is a rabid viewer of O’Reilly et al. Sigh. Still love her but can’t talk politics with her.
CityKid, Shilo442 was just responding to you, not trolling.
Citykid wrote -
TROLL alert – these are NOT my words I DID NOT WRITE WHAT shilo442 claims! Shame on you SHILO442!
Whoa! Hang on a minute.. you’re way off track there.
It was pretty clear to me (and likely to others also) that she was *replying* to what you said, because that’s the way Shilo442 has done it previously – eg
http://www.themudflats.net/?p=2970#comment-42592
Shilo442 isn’t a troll, in fact has been commenting here a long time.
Chill out, dude!
Lee823,
I do think The Internet has “good” effects. But in the main I don’t think it is as strong as proponents claim (and I’ve been wired in since nearly day 1). As I’m sure you are aware much of the “tea bag” organizing happened formally and informally on The Internet. Also, some of the most racist material I’ve seen since the mid-sixties came via email in the waning days of the last Presidential election cycle. If the voice of the people, interferes too much with propaganda – you’ll see efforts to place restrictions on how The Internet works and is used increase. By 1975 more than 50% or the so called underground newspapers that were publishing in 1968 in the United States had been fire bombed, closed by the IRS or closed by The United States Postal Service (just to note an historical example).
In Tennessee, we poured sweet tea in the river: http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2009/apr/15/tdec-sevierville-tea-dump-would-violate-water-laws/
Snoskred, sorry, but SHILO442 paraphrased what I said, but printed it as a quote:
CityKid Says:
I’ve been going after fox for months now, boycotting…..
I never said any of those things.
Did I miss something, if I did – sorry?
Lee323 wrote –
Interesting post by Mr.Chmosky but I would point a significant difference between Hitler’s Germany and modern day – the ability to use propaganda effectively on a population to the exclusion of all else.
I have to agree with this but perhaps not for the reasons one might expect.
It isn’t exclusion of all else, exactly – it is people choosing to exclude viewpoints that do not match their own. And I do it myself – I do not visit the website of someone like say, Sean Hannity, because I find his viewpoints to be outright lies and why would I waste my time going there?
It is a sad fact that there are people who blindly follow where people like Hannity and co lead, without bothering to follow the facts.
I tuned in to Bill O’Reilly tonight, just to see how he was covering all this tea party stuff. I lasted 6 minutes before I could not take any more lies and changed the channel.
I did not know what would happen to Fox once the Republicans were not in power anymore, but even in my wildest dreams I would never have imagined they would go off to a world of their own design, making news out of things which really are not news, and in fact choosing to *manufacture* news by promoting things they wanted people to go to so they could cover it as news! How insane is that? It is like those people live in an alternate reality, and I honestly don’t see how they can rejoin the real reality without de-brainwashing..
Citykid –
Shilo442 was not paraphrasing you – she was REPLYING to you.
asiangrrlMN and CityKid
I just went back and read my original post with which you took issue.
If you thought that by my describing the faces in the photographs as looking like our neighbors, I was making a racial statement – then I did a poor job in making my point.
For many – not all – today’s (yesterday’s?) protests were as advertised.
Anti-Tax.
Not all Republicans are racist. Nor is every Palin supporter. To believe and state otherwise magnifies unrelated differences.
Snoskred Says:
April 15th, 2009 at 11:11 PM
Citykid -
Shilo442 was not paraphrasing you – she was REPLYING to you.
I agree, and apologize to Shilo442 – the colon after CityKid threw me off. Shilo442 is not a troll – but and elipse…. would work better than a :
Funny how some of those “hand-made” signs showed up at rallies on opposite ends of the country.
For example, in DC:
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/gallery/2009/04/tax-day-tea-parties.php?img=18
and in Anchorage:
http://www.themudflats.net/wp-content/uploads/teabag15.jpg
Certainly there is the anthropological tendency for people to exhibit “tribal” behavior….which in the example of the internet means that certain people will only seek out sites that conform to their thinking and beliefs. Will they be exposed to other points of view? Probably not.
On the other hand, there are many, many people these days who have curious, flexible minds who enjoy surfing out of their tribal domains to check out other viewpoints, even if just through a friendship with a person they wouldn’t be exposed to otherwise.
The genie is out of the bottle as far as human discourse and interaction…..I guess I’m just a lot more optimistic that no single governmental entity will be able to stuff that genie back in the bottle.
Been fun talking with ya, City Kid……..
CityKid, if you’re still up – I believe shilo was addressing you, and just made a boo-boo.
hey Snos, sorry, I jumped right in to smoothe things. We’re both awake, I see. “Australian diplomacy” at work (it works for me).
Aussie Blue Sky Says:
April 15th, 2009 at 11:22 PM
CityKid, if you’re still up – I believe shilo was addressing you, and just made a boo-boo.
Yes, you’re right – I’m sorry. I’ve been “name stolen” before so I reacted too quickly. I hope Shilo forgives me.
105 Snoskred Says:
April 15th, 2009 at 11:10 PM
“I tuned in to Bill O’Reilly tonight, just to see how he was covering all this tea party stuff. I lasted 6 minutes before I could not take any more lies and changed the channel. ”
————————-
I must admit that I watched reruns of “Law and Order.”
Lee323 Says:
The genie is out of the bottle as far as human discourse and interaction…..I guess I’m just a lot more optimistic that no single governmental entity will be able to stuff that genie back in the bottle.
Been fun talking with ya, City Kid……..
Likewise, hope we get a chance to chat again. Sorry if I’m so pessimistic, but I’ve always felt that some good can come out of skepticism and pessimism – isms are sooo cool.
CityKid, I’m sure shilo would have no issue with you. Sorry about the name thing. I’ve had that happen to me also too. But the person who stole my name was a man and not a very nice man. It hurt me very badly at the time that a couple people believed it was me saying that stuff, and I didn’t post anywhere for six months afterwards.
If it happened to me now, I would make sure that the whole world knew it wasn’t me – just like you did. shilo will understand.
These bone heads rallying about tea bagging the governments are bunch of idiots! Do they not understand that the last 7yrs of Bush admin tax policy was partly to blame for the downfall of our economy? So what makes them think that allowing the wealthy to be wealthier and the poor to become more poor is going to do this country any good. Bunch of dumb heads is what I think these protesters are. Obama admin has already said repeatedly that his tax policy will not tax the middle class and 95% of Americans. Even if he did, it will just benefit this country to a better start. Shit, if I made $250k a yr, I wouldn’t mind paying a little extra for tax. Excuse me, but I sure didn’t see these right extremist protesting the streets when Bush drove the economy down the tubes!
Spot on!
<iLee323 Says:
April 15th, 2009 at 11:20 PM
Certainly there is the anthropological tendency for people to exhibit “tribal” behavior….
Anthropology and Sociology have everything to do with propaganda. I spent nearly 30 years at a rather large and well known East Coast Ivy League University. My department was in the same building as the Anthropology Department so I knew many of the anthro grad students. One of the biggest employers of Anthropologists is advertising agencies (same goes for sociologists).
Now off to bed – night all.
Aussie Blue Sky Says:
April 15th, 2009 at 11:36 PM
CityKid, I’m sure shilo would have no issue with you. Sorry about the name thing. I’ve had that happen to me also too. But the person who stole my name was a man and not a very nice man. It hurt me very badly at the time that a couple people believed it was me saying that stuff, and I didn’t post anywhere for six months afterwards.
Thanks for your understanding and I’m sorry to hear it’s happened to you. Name stealing can have really ugly consequences for all concerned – except usually the name-stealer who, I suppose just gets a good laugh (or worse).
OMG! Eddie Burke looks like my Palin-lovin’ ex husband. Just had to remark on this… now back to catching up on comments….
There were so many comments on the last thread that I had no idea a new one was up.
This ‘Tea Party’ (read anti-President Obama rally) 6 min. clip may have been linked already. I can’t believe that people honestly are this sheepISH.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNQUA0bI5b0&feature=player_embedded
Can’t sleep. So here are 2 links that I sent to my beloved today. 1 “on-topic” and the other “off-topic.” I hope you can put the information to good use in the future.
Based on AKM’s comments and the photographs AKM posted it would seem that some in Anchorage harbor a dislike for the French. Kind of odd, in this kids opinion, considering that The French elected a rich conservative for president last time ’round (and with a “hot” wife too). So here’s the French link – let’s all go to Paris next time we need to visit a doctor:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2009/apr/15/paris-pavement-cafes-bars-france
And so that we stay healthy longer, save a bit of money and because I like yogurt and Crème fraîche (maybe this isn’t as off topic as I thought) here’s the other link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/15/dining/15curi.html
Bon Appétit
I quote:
109 Scott in CA Says:
April 15th, 2009 at 11:17 PM
“Funny how some of those “hand-made” signs showed up at rallies on opposite ends of the country.
For example, in DC:
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/gallery/2009/04/tax-day-tea-parties.php?img=18
and in Anchorage:
http://www.themudflats.net/wp-content/uploads/teabag15.jpg”
Indeed they are the same sign as the one in the AK picture from the rally. Must have been printed up and distributed by some central agency. Fox? Somewhere else, I think in a report on the DC event, that some woman was leaving early and trying to give her sign to someone else. She said “you can hand it in after you are done.” Evidently she had been given the sign by the organizers’. She didn’t make it herself OR bring it.
Bonjour, Good Day, Cheers, Ciao, Buenos Dias, Guten Tag, Gruezi……
HAHAHA, they don´t want to be European……. Is ignorance really bliss?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8i-OWDjOQfI
This is the best yet!
It really is amazing how all the attendees at these nationwide TEA parties have convieniently forgotten it was thier beloved Repug Bush that is the cause of ALL that they are protesting. How can anyone possibly believe a President in office merely MONTHS could be responsible for so much damage to our nation?
And how can they claim patriotism while they spew such anti governism?
I was floored when Gov Perry actually had the audacity to suggest Texas should secede (sp?) as we would be better off ???????????????????????????????????? UNBELIEVABLE!!!!
I couldn’t help but think to myself “He sounds like he has been spending way too much time with Palin and her buddies”
I am gonna go enjoy my cup of green tea now..
Debra Says:
April 15th, 2009 at 8:57 PM
Is it only me (and way to go “wired differently”), or does anyone else see the danger of this movement by right wing nuts? Their beliefs, their hatred, blatant bigotry.
I know I see the danger. I fear we are headed for a second civil war in this country. And it’s not just the wingnuts at these tea bagging events that I fear. I fear the Republican wingnuts in our legislature who are saying things that to me border on sedition. Today Rep. Mark Kirk, said “people are ready to shoot anyone behind tax increases”. Add that to Michael Steele saying “strap it on” and Michele Bachman calling for people to be “armed and dangerous”, there is much to fear in our country today and it’s all coming from the right.
To katiebegood and Debra….Yes I see the danger! I have been VERY fearful ever since Palin was tapped and she started spewing her sewage from the stage and riling up all the wing nuts AND GETTING AWAY WITH IT!!!
I had hoped sanity would prevail once she departed center stage. But it appears that her kicking up such hatred and bitterness only set the stage for those closet haters to come out in the open to further spread the poison.
It is terrifying and depressing to see this happening……….