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No commentary needed from me.
h/t: @ProudLib
The truth behind the Tea Party Movement: mocking and laughing at the grief of others… |
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| By: KarenM Friday November 20, 2009 1:09 pm | |
The truth behind the Tea Party Movement: mocking and laughing at the grief of others… |
|
| By: KarenM Friday November 20, 2009 1:09 pm | |
No commentary needed from me.
h/t: @ProudLib
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17 Comments
Thanks, Karen. That’s very disturbing behavior. And apparently quite typical of the movement.
Yes, it is, Jim, but there’s nothing like a video to drive home the point.
I lived on the south side of Chicago and couldn’t wait to get away. This is typical behavior,not of everyone, but of a substantial minority in that area. It never hurts unless it happens to them. Completely shameful.
Wow. You are right, Karen. Hearing about the tea party protesters is one thing. Witnessing what animals they are, empathy-less animals, is another. This is horrifying. I will pass this along. The peer pressure of the mob, is right.
if it is now, it didn’t start out that way. and i’ll remind you also that it was us, the supposed liberals, who were publicly laughing and mocking the grief and distress of others.
we blew an organizing opportunity to provide an alternative analysis/explanation and instead left the field wide open to the likes of glenn beck and worse to enjoy our :”tea bag” jokes.
as john emerson says, republican populism is fake but democratic elitism is real.
That was something else, Karen. This is the same group that cries crocodile tears for the persecution of Sarah Palin…..
Personal Stories will win this for us the Tea Baggers laughing at a Mom who lost her Daughter and unborn kid that will seal the deal is the Media covering this at all?
Who cares the Media said the Public Option was off the table the Blogs and the Unions said different no media coverage unlike the Astroturf Tea Baggers yet the public Option is now more popular than all the Blue Dog Dems who bragged over the summer they had killed Healthcare.
Selise the anger is real losing homes jobs etc however the racism the lack of empathy the enjoying of others pain? The Tea Bagger High Command called GOP hate groups to inflate turn out obviously.
Anybody who stayed with that group as it changed and its been only what a little over a year now is the kind of person who would not ever listen to us.
Dick Armey created this group and forced these rapid changes he was never going to let us work with the Tea Baggers any Bagger who cooperated with us on something would have been fired.
There are plenty of other places to go to argue for more jobs and people losing homes places without that much hate, racism or GOPers like Dick Armey controlling the group Worldview.
I like to think the lake is one of these places.
As far as being Elite goes thats what all the GOPers say when we use facts against them.
As far as laughing at them (which I did) well it is funny when they accuse us of hate when we make jokes about them with Facts Dana Perino not watching the Democratic Convention because we were being Mean to Bush is a good example.
Yet they think they are funny when they make jokes about violence and killing people ( Glen Beck joking about giving poison tea to Nancy Pelosi for example). That is when they are not actually saying lets violate and kill people
like Abortion Doctors.
Dana Perino and the GOP never say jack about that to Rush.
No we were mocking Racism and attacks on Obama and imaginary worries/lies about Death Camps and Obama taking away our guns.
This is a sad, bitter commentary on the GOP and its “tea party” ilk. They are nothing more than goose-stepping brutes who care only about themselves and their money. What’s really frightening is that they no longer make any effort to mask their racism and disdain for the have-nots in this country, and have a total disrespect for the presidency. Well, here’s a news flash -what goes around always comes around and they will get theirs when the time comes. A nation “indivisible” indeed. They’ve proven to the world that American citizens can be seriously divided and I’m sure our enemies around the world have taken notice.
Sometimes I, too, question the mockery & derision of teabaggers, but I have to agree with most of the other posts back. I come from a very fundie, rightwing teabagging family and know quite a few teabaggers:
1. The vast majority of teabaggers are unable to hear or listen to anyone who is not spouting their very narrow talking points. Trust me on this one, they have been very well indoctrinated/brainwashed into not giving any of our likes the time of day.
2. We can spew provable facts until we’re blue in the face, but I agree with another post – that’s when we’re called “elitists.” These folks don’t deal in facts. They are being trained/indoctrinated/brainwashed both by their churches and RushHannityBeckOrielly to believe the steady stream of lies and b.s. Facts are for sissy elitists, doncha know? Reel murkins don’t need no stooped fectz.
3. A somewhat sizeable portion of teabaggers are NOT hurting at all. Speaking from my perspective of knowing quite a few, they are well off, still employed (with not much worry about losing their jobs or their homes), and still enjoy the good life. This group is VERY self-absorbed (having been trained to be so by their mega-churches), self-involved and greedy to the enth degree. They are mainly concerned about having to pay any taxes ever for anything, although if something happens to them or their family, they are the first in line with their hands out. And no, they do not feel any cognitive dissonance.
4. Granted that another portion of the teabaggers may have economic or other problems that the country club set doesn’t. But those teabaggers are really unlikely to listen, either, and they are more likely to be unable to think or reason things through clearly. This group is the most brainwashed and just acts out emotionally.
5. Most teabaggers (of any ilk) are racist, but they are also extremely DISTRUBED by the fact that “god” “allowed” someone who wasn’t from their “group” to win. The fact of BHO winning (which is ALSO why many wish to claim that he didn’t win, or that he’s a Kenyan, etc) has flown in the face of their weird professed belief system that “god” ONLY favors them. If you have the belief that ONLY your crowd is “right” and that “god” ONLY favors you, then what does it say when the other side wins? It is a HUGE threat to their made up reality. And THAT, I think, is why we are seeing this seething, but odd, rage about nearly everything. It is their entire belief system which is being challenged by the Dems coming back into power, and the rightwing establishment – via the churches, Fox, and rightwing incendiary radio/tv – is very much playing on this (and they, the Christo-facist corporate overlords, KNOW this all very well and plan for it and play it like a piano; they are very good at this).
We can argue ’till the cows come home whether it’s “right or wrong,” “good or bad” to mock teabaggers. I have mixed emotions about that, but I confess to having done my fair share of it – while also spending some time on certain blogs actually debunking some of their werid claims with facts.
However, I find it highly unlikely that the left can somehow “work with” these folks to find common cause. It’s a nice thought but IMHO, not feasible.
What I do think might be feasible is working with the non-teabagger, more “old school” Republicans/Independents, who possibly have more open minds and more willingness to collaborate. THAT is where I would like to see the left focus attention on building coalitions.
Teabaggers: imho, a lost cause. fahgeddaboudit.
Selise:
I confess that I two had a few mirthful moments at the teabaggers’ expense, though usually quietly to myself. Only once, did I have to explain the joke to someone.
Still, there is that ancient comedic tradition of pricking the conscience of the king, or of those in power (in this case the teabaggers), using comedy or satire, if necessary. That the teabaggers did not know how big a target they were making themselves only increased the size of that satirical bubble.
I still hold that satirizing or mocking the powerful has some modicum of virtue, while mocking those without power, the underdogs, the weak, the grieving has absolutely none.
I think you’ve pretty much nailed it there @12 – especially point 5. Well done
Thanks. I’ve spent my whole life in the midst of these teabaggers (in their various stages of devolution), so I’ve had a long time to watch, analyze & figure it out. Never, ever made sense to me to be that way, but that’s how it is.
The amazing thing is that I came out of the heart of darkness to have the leftie perspective that I do. THAT is what I can’t figure out, but I’m grateful to be who I am!!!
But yes, Point 5 is key: I learned a long, long time ago that their “foundations” were very unstable, which is interesting bc of Jesus’ parable about building your house on a firm foundation of stone, not sand. Well, anymore, they don’t read the New Testament much, but still… I IMBIBED most of the teachings of Jesus, as I feel they were meant to be understood.
The rest of my family: not so much. And they really do believe that unless you believe exactly (to the letter) what they believe, then you are actually worshipping satan (no joke). It’s a very, very narrow and shakey world that they live in, and really it’s hard to sustain that your narrow way of being is the ONLY one that’s valid. After a while, it doesn’t make sense. But they’ve been manipulated solely for the purpose of being ripped off by their Christo-fascist overlords of the C Street Family and Lewin Group variety.
I could go on, but will stop. Suffice it to say that it slays me how these creeps manage to rip off my very aged mother, who daily gets stacks and piles of these ranting letters in the mail (mostly all bald faced lies) and due to her dementia, but also her religulous beliefs, she is constantly sending out $10 & $20 checks to these scum sucking bottom dwellers.
And that, my friend, is one of the ways that they do it. Disgusting…
agree completely. you said it much better than i could have. the thing is we don’t know who among the followers is grieving just by looking at them and it’s not fair to label them all as if they were all the same (racist, stupid, etc).
(i’d also say that racism should be stood up to where ever it is found — but only where it is found).
also, i’m sorry that i was too blunt and then came back late to the thread. your comment was very kind and thoughtful. thank you very much for it.
Actually, Selise, I was grateful for your comment, since it inspired a very worthy discussion. And thanks for coming back.
As long as no one is trolling, I’m happy as a clam.
onitgoes, I also appreciated your post, and especially that point 5. It reminded me of something that Molly Ivins has been quoted as saying. To paraphrase… once you learn your parents have lied to you about race, you wonder what else they lied about. Obviously, about the relative importance of the old and new Testaments, at least in your case.
I was fortunate to grow up without racism being a real issue in my family. My father was in the military, and racism of any kind was a no-no.
Now gender and class are a completely different story. Lots of those kinds of wounds in a military family, especially one with Irish-Catholic dna. You will almost always find me rooting for the underdog. There must be some exceptions, but I just can’t think of any off the top of my head.