The problem with these tea parties is that they are really just expressions of unarticulated rage. And any successful piece of activism has to be specific and coherent. Even the core message (Taxed Enough Already) isn’t particularly helpful because the vast, vast majority of the protesters just received a modest tax-cut. Their grievances are all over the place, although they’re mainly pissed off about deficit spending. I think they’ve made it plain that they don’t want to pay more taxes to fix the deficit problem, but they have no message about what wars and programs they’d like to slash. We’re left with nothing to chew on.
It’s kind of like the McCain campaign without Sarah Palin. Except it’s also like a Palin Rally.
http://flprogressive.blogspot.com/2009/04/dfh-blogger-speaks-at-pensacola-tea.html
This is citizen action in action.
nicely done.
I think they are mainly mad that there is a black man in the White House.
Not to mention the black woman standing next to him.
nalbar
Yeah …. that’s just the extra kick in the nuts … they’d be whining as long as a Democrat is in the WH .. remember Clinton’s 8 years?
Seeing all these people with bags hanging from their hats, crazy signs that are non-cohesive in their message(s), WHAT? So I made captions as I scrolled thru for sheer self amusement. Here’s my fun one because it can “multi-task” any of those photos: “Great Balls of Ire.” And “Fringe Non-Benefits” came close.
Exactly. They’re not a real protest – they’re “10 Minutes of Hate”. They’re an outlet for a whole mess of resentments, not a political force. They have no message, no coherent ideology, and no real grievances beyond “we lost the election and that pisses us off.”
And the folks at the top who organized these things – and make no mistake, any initial grassroots nature of these things was co-opted and destroyed by the conservative think tanks, conservative radio talkers, and FOX News early on – didn’t want them to be anything but that. The very LAST thing that the head honchos of the “conservative movement” want is a people-powered movement. So they give them a fake outlet, let them shake their teabags in anger and give speeches about how Barry Soetoro should go back to Kenya and demand to see birth certificates. And then they can all go back to work tomorrow, seeth in their resentments but be happy that they just struck a blow against their hated enemies. And the guys at the top of the conservative movement breathe a bit easier for a little bit because the folks that they’re using and stealing from have been fooled for one more day.
The rage is there from the economic situation and the perceived assault of the “good folks with values”.
The GOP and rightwing talks shows are just trying to articulate and spin that rage in such a way that it benefits the Republican Party.
And forestalls a populist movement that eliminates the tax privileges of the rich.
A profile of one lady attending the Syracuse, NY tea bag party (linked by Atrios) gave her background as being dependent on government disability payments and having too low an income to have to pay taxes.
From the quote with the picture, it is clear that the fear of socialism has to do with the fear or the reality of having to be in lines (possibly with people you never imagined you would be in line with).
If you’ve ever had to apply for Food Stamps or go to a free clinic or even collect unemployment insurance, you can spend as much as a day waiting for your interview or whatever. That’s what underfunding social services and public clinics does. And I bet that is what most of these folks fear about “socialism”.
It lacks the excitement of standing in line to get a concert ticket or a ticket to a high-profile sports event.
And it slaps folks in the face that they are not “better than that”, that it isn’t just a matter of laziness.
Damn, I wish I had written that.
An absolutely perfect summation.