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I would have given you a large amount of cash had you made a "Generic Angry Slogan" sign.
Being stuck, for the moment, in rural Louisiana, I noted signs proclaiming a Tea Party rally at the small town square.
Parking my car with its rather obvious "Obama '08" bumper sticker a couple of blocks away, I hoofed it to the meeting in time to hear the first of three speakers, plus a couple of songs about Jesus sung by a nice tween girl.
It was about what I expected.
Pretty much all white, in a county that is 34% black, with a lone hispanic gal at the end, who tried to hold a quiz-show with the audience using some really badly worded questions and whose prize was a 2 hour DVD explaining all about "creation science".
The speeches were all rather general, filled with logical inconsistencies, a couple of factual errors, and regurgitated propaganda, heard somewhere else.
The main thrust of the thing seemed to be "the goverment is telling you not to believe in God", which I found rather odd. No specific examples were given to support this theory.
There was gentleman with a sign saying "remove Obama". I didn't ask him how this would be brought about within the bounds of the Cons ution.
A local radio host of a Christian talk show got up and said that "we were paying too much in taxes". I resisted the urge to point out that about 50% of Americans don't pay income taxes, nor that the total % of GDP that went to the Federal Government in income taxes both corporate and individual was only about 20%.
I asked him after he was done speaking what that % was, but he didn't know the answer, which dovetails rather well with other informal polls done at such gatherings.
All in all, I was not really all that impressed with the overall level of rationality.
"goverment bad, bla bla bla, taxes bad, bla bla bla, we're a christian nation, bla bla bla.
They spent a lot of time talking about how politicians should listen to them because of their views, but didn't mention how those politicians should deal with anybody who might not agree with them.
All emotion and ignorance, with a smattering of self-righteousness, and intolerance for dissenting views.
I feel icky.
I would have given you a large amount of cash had you made a "Generic Angry Slogan" sign.
Next time, I might just do that. I would then be a real live infiltrator, instead of an interested observer.
I did offer a good-natured proof-read of one gentleman's sign. I might not have agreed with him, but that doesn't mean I couldn't offer a bit of help.
When they passed around the donation pail, I made myself scarce though. Editing is one thing but material support to spread ignorance... not my thing.
Louisiana gets more FED money than they can ever hope to pay into the system - stupid!
RG, the 'icky feeling' may just have been your location.
Pawns serve a purpose brah
And no, not for the evil corporate astro-turf gods.
Yet another thing I didn't mention.
Louisiana gets more FED money than they can ever hope to pay into the system - stupid!
Yea brah, the humidity is killer there.
I'm waiting for a Leftist infiltrator to show up dressed like a Klansman and shoot video of it similar to how that one kid did talked to ACORN when he dressed up as a pimp. Go around talking to people and notice how they don't think you're out of place or inappropriate in your hatred. It'll rawk!!
son was it similar to these ignorant morons??? ...
son was it similar to these ignorant morons??? ...
Son, no need to double post.
Let me see if I understand this.
There is this group of people that have similar characteristics, and you are morally and intellectually superior to them?
Is that what is meant by tolerance?
Maybe you should go to the Appalachia and show them that you have a full set of teeth and can spell words?
I've been to a number of political rallies, even a couple in '08 for Obama.
For whatever reason, I didn't feel the need to post a critique of it. Odd, really but I guess I didn't have a point I needed to make?
I think this is a fair criticism.
More on this on my lunch hour.
Teef are overated.
I have been to a couple of Democratic/lefty rallies that had many similar characteristics to the Tea Party gathering when Bush was president.
I wonder if the left had a TV network as obviously biased as Fox, with talking heads like Beck and Limbaugh stirring things up what would have happened.
Next time I visit one of them, I will post some impressions.
, I might even say something nice about the Tea Party gathering a bit later.
You know, that's a fair point. Where is the left version of Fox? Furthermore, why isn't there one?
a ing false equivalence, just like MSM faking "balance"
anti-war-for-oil demonstrators (aka traitors) with legit grievances against the oilmen in the Whitehouse had/have merit in reality. The lawlessness has since been proven beyond a doubt, justifying the protestors.
tea baggers financed and inflamed by capitalists, corps, VRWC, and Fox Repug Network about totally false, paranoid boogeymen like socialism, marxism, birth certs, Muslim, "my baby", "death panels", govt takeover of health etc, etc. have no grounds in reality.
MSNBC can be fairly biased and I think its fair to portray Olberman as the Anti fox although I obviously don't think he's as bad as say Hannity or Beck. Then again I never want to compare Madow to anyone on Fox because I think she's actually incredibly fair.
I think the moral of this story is that it's funny how the Louisiana Tea Party, this one sounds grassroots (not part of the Express), seems to forget - somewhere in all their complaining about Federal Government intrusion - that they recieve more money from the Federal Government than they put in.
There's really no point to make if the Tea Party folks are saying "take away every en lement I have and take back your Federal dollars, I just want my freedom"...but that doesn't appear to be what's happening in this social uprising.
PS: Maddow is not fair, I've seen her push talking points just as blatantly as anyone on Fox. I like her more than Fox, but over the last few months my opinion of her "fairness" has gone down the ter.
It's online, and it's called the Daily Kos.
She also does some great fact-based investigative work and policy critique which nobody else I can think of off the top of my head is doing... on any political wavelength, at any major network.
I don't always agree with her politics, but she does always (I know -- strong word -- but accurate, in my experience) articulate her rationale such that you can follow her logic and determine at what point you take issue. A lot of sane conservatives could watch her, I think, without fuming too much (unless she's in the grips of a liberal meltdown, like she was recently with her state senator).
Finally, she has an interesting interviewing style that is simultaneously sheepish and ruthless.
I honestly wish one of the networks could produce a fiscal-conservative-oriented program that was as well-researched, open to real discussion, and fair-minded as hers.
you know i was just going to post something about those....
whenever i've been to one, or even when i see the pic's from them, it just seems so random.
just random anger.
i mean i thought they were about taxes, but then you see people protesting health care, or against immigration, or abortion, or religion, every now and then you see the racist signs but every group has their loonies. i just don't get it. why don't they just pick one subject and run with it?
it really gives the appearance of blind anger the way the have it set up.
She began her show last night almost exactly like RG's OP.
That was precisely my impression.
There was an older couple there with signs that pretty much laundry lists of conservative talking points.
"YES" to a list of things
"NO" to a list of things (such as "bleeding heart liberals")
Railing against ALL taxes, state, local, but primarily federal.
As I have stated before, I truly wish that these people would pick a state, congregate there, and get rid of all the big bad state/local taxes that they hate.
I would guess that they would start imposing those taxes pretty quick once they realize how many services like 9-11 response and so forth they had to give up.
Wouldn't that be a criminal's paradise for all sorts of scams and cons?
How fast would they go crying for the FBI when some organized crime sets up shop, and their underpowered state police force can't compete with the Bn's backing up the drug cartel that has taken over county X's airport to ship stuff in.
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