His message to me:
"The biggotry knows no bounds. No one cares that he's black, no cares he has a funny name. No one except the progressives who would rather scream racism when someone has legitimate concerns about policy. It's much easier to snipe at those who disagree than to actually explain a position. Please tell him that he doesn't have to be a fascist dictator, that seems to be what he wants to be. I'm tired of labeling socialism wrapped with arrogance as progressive. Especially when these horrid ideas are many steps backwards when comes to promoting freedom. Remember freedom, it was being able to choose not to have insurance without government punishment. Freedom is not being taxed into submission. Freedom is busineeses not having to shell out millions, remember BO saying businesses were going to save money? Remember him saying the people would have 5 days to review bills before he would sign them, remember the transparency that was suppose to be the most ethical congress, remember BO, the speaker and Reids anti war tirades accusing the troops of horrible crimes, wanting to give up and go home, remember closing Gitmo, remember the laser like focus on jobs? Those three are not progressive, they are dictator want-to-be. I say these things not because pelosi is black or reid is black, (oh, wait they aren't) I don't agree with Clarence Thomas and Walter Williams because they are white (oh, wait they are black). Obama is just the latest of big government control of people and that is why I stand against him and all he represents. In the 70's women proclaimed keep government out of the womb, today we should all be screaming don't let them touch my body. There are ways to help people who really want insurance and can't afford it with out this travisty. Helping someone does not require punishing others and to do that would truly be progressive."
So, I've got it all wrong, and tea party opposition to Barack Obama's policies have nothing to do with race.
Just to be clear, I don' think that opposing liberal policies makes you a racist. I don't believe that George Will is a racist. I don't think that the decent, common sense conservatives I know in my own personal life are racists.
The teabagger however, is a different animal entirely.
This movement has been birthed out of the fearful minds of self-isolated cultural backpedallers, the bored and unfulfilled imaginations of loyal and frustrated talk radio junkies, sycophants, and conspiracy theorists in tin-foil hats. Surely there have been some decent folk caught up in this carnival show. People get caught up in things. People like to feel meaningful, and to have their private beliefs validated. We like to feel ennobled, like we're part of something bigger. No community is stronger than the one that is formed in the face of adversity, even if that adversity is all smoke and word games.
Sure, there are some decent people on board, but I wouldn't bet my money that they represent fifty percent. It's not Dwight D. Eisenhower or William F. Buckley marching in front of Capitol Hill, or clapping until their hands bleed at inane Michelle Bachmann speeches. The fact of the matter is that there is no smoking gun, and reality is much more subtle and boring than the average teabagger will accept. To quote Dennis Miller:
"The biggest conspiracy has always been the fact that there is no conspiracy. Nobody's out to get you. Nobody gives a shit whether you live or die. There, you feel better now?"
But I hear you loud and clear Bill. Thanks for stopping by. I wonder though, have you read this study yet? I'd be interested to hear your thoughts.
Oh, and yeah. There's nothing racist about the tea party movement at all:
a slightly different version of this post has been cross posted at The Daily Kos.
Spence:
ReplyDeleteI think you've got (or perhaps are simply presenting) your facts a little wrong on this one. The Tea Party Movement is/was manufactured by Dick Armey and the Freedom Works campaign sponsored by insurance companies and energy concerns. I find it so comical when I look at that sign that says "Monkey See Money Spend" 'cause in fact its the Tea Party members that are just blindly following a bunch of outdated slogans and symbols hung in front of them by a group of people that wouldn't let them within 2,000 yards of their driveway let alone have them over for dinner. Like the military people that had to continue to believe in Bush/Cheney about Iraq cause it was too painful to come to terms with the fact that those guys fucked them up the ass for a couple billion dollars the Tea Party people are actually acting against their own interest but are too butt-fucking stupid to realize it. Rupert Murdoch's lauging his ass off when he goes to sleep at night. And he should.
Maybe I am wrong, Lodo. I haven't heard the claims you're making before. I'll have to look into it.
ReplyDeleteFrom my understanding, the whole tea party thing happened organically. Originally, it was a small group of Ron Paul supporters who got co-opted by Glenn Beck & his supporters, and now the republican party is co-opting the Beck version, hoping to ride the tide of lower and middle class white conservative disaffection to success in November.
But that's just my take. I'll look into what you said.
PS, I like the idea of Rupert Murdoch laughing his ass off as he goes to sleep every night, but it's funnier to think that his laughter isn't connected to anything in particular. It's like a tick or something, or maybe he's a helium junkie like the dentist from 'Little Shop Of Horrors'.
Certainly a comic-villain quality to Murdoch. I don't get my information from anywhere more esoteric then you probably get yours Spence. But I think its pretty-much been established that Dick Armey and FreedomWorks propagated the whole 'Tea Party" thing. Fox News and Glenn Beck supported (and really promoted) it, and it seems to have tapped into some very real elements of American psychology. You'll never go broke in this country railing against the government. Just ask Richard Ailes. Its a lucrative schtick.
ReplyDeleteLodo is right about Dick Armey and the Freedom Works. This grass root orginization was started to fight health care reform by someone who worked for the insurance industy.
ReplyDeleteDick Armey was a senior policy adviser for DC-based lobbying firm DLA Piper, whose recent and/or current clients include "pharmaceutical maker Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, ... health care provider Metropolitan Health Networks, and the pharmaceutical firm Medicines Company.
First off, I need to make an error correction: The dentist from 'Little Shop Of Horrors' is a nitrous oxide junkie, not a helium junkie.
ReplyDeletesecondly, I would never question Rupert Murdoch's ability to spot and exploit a moneymaker in the offing, especially one that bolsters his personal ideology as well as the Tea Party movement seems to.
Whether or not the Astroturf allegations are true (I could imagine some of that going on), the most disturbing thing to me is how sheep-like and willing to be mobilized so many people seem to be, especially when you realize how ludicrous and transparent most of the tea party propaganda is.
Mobs give me the creeps, regardless of what they are mobbing about.
As I was collecting the above tea party pictures for Bill Stevens, the following quote from Winston Churchill kept popping into my mind:
"The best argument against democracy is a five minute conversation with the average voter."
Oh that's a classic line!
ReplyDeleteI like how you support that you aren't a biggot by making more biggoted comments. Calling the Tea Party "teabaggers" is another sign of your biggotry. Yes the signs you show are questionable at best but not an indicator of EVERY Tea Party member's personal views on race and are not the majorities views. You found pictures that support your premise and you want or need nothing more, you choose to roll around in your ignorance just as a pig rolls around in his pen. You are uninformed. Before I judge any group a people I spend time with them, without exception I find some I do not like, some are marginal and the majority seem to be good people. I admit that most groups that I go to evaluate are groups that believe or are doing something that I agree. There is not a reason for me to go to Rev, Wright's church because I find his message bad in many ways. I will not declare every member of that church as racist and evil because the leader seems to be. The Tea Party stands for Taxed Enough Already. It has not a single racial motive, standard, or idea. I'm sure that some of the questionable signs were well intentioned and some not. I would have to talk to the person to make that determination. You are making a decision on thousands of people based on the actions of a few. Your standards of truth are far from exact, your motives plain and your prejudices are obvious. If you do not want to be judged by the standard of those on fringe of any of your beliefs, please do not do the same to others.
ReplyDelete"You found pictures that support your premise and you want or need nothing more"
ReplyDeletetranslate:
"You found evidence to support your point, and you want or need nothing more."
Hilarious. Did you read the study I linked to?
And of course you ignored the caveats:
"Just to be clear, I don' think that opposing liberal policies makes you a racist. I don't believe that George Will is a racist. I don't think that the decent, common sense conservatives I know in my own personal life are racists."
and
"Sure, there are some decent people on board, but I wouldn't bet my money that they represent fifty percent."
Bill, or Joshua, or whatever your name is, your argument (and your movement) is a puff of smoke.
My point on the pictures is that you found less than 1% of signs that are questionable and instead of contributing it to the individual, you want to condemn the majority of the group. I will continue to call that biggotry. You are wanting to apply a stereotype. Secondly, I read the opinion piece that you linked to referencing a study. I could not find the study to read, I'm not saying it is not out there, or the author is a liar or that he misrepresented the facts of an actual study, I can't find the study to read. I read your disclaimers and that is what sealed the deal to make you a biggot. You are not willing to bet that a majority of a group that you do not associate with, do not know and only want to believe the political views that make it easier to stereotype people from the sidelines without doing the leg work to find out for yourself. Keep listening to the nut jobs like Keith Olberman, Chris Mathews, CBS News and the others that only get air when Obama loosens his belt. You do not know the Tea Party and your biggotry is obvious when you use terms like teabagger. I understand, this is your page to spew your misguided hate and label people you don't know, it is your right and I am happy that you can. Enjoy yourself.
ReplyDeleteJoshua, you're full of shit. While individuals may get special dispensations for being willing members of groups, groups as a whole deserve to be judged by their fruits. double entendre intended.
ReplyDeleteBe you NAMBLA, the TALIBAN, ACORN, The Tea Party, The Democratic Party, etc., your collective actions merit judgement. I'll be more flexible when evaluating you as a person, but your group will be judged, and I'm not going to feel bad about it.
You do the same thing. You just did it with CBS. Don't feel bad about it either. You looked at the evidence and made a judgment. Let's not be relativistic pansies here. What we do matters, and the organizations we belong to count.
Let's be real.