tea parties

The "tea party" movement: Page 6


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Sleazy low-level elitist Arnold Kling has no clue about Tea Parties - 09/15/09

Arnold Kling of the Cato Institute - presumably speaking only for himself - recently smeared the tea parties and showed how clueless he is about who's attracted to their "movement" (econlog.econlib.org/archives/2009/09/tea_and_sympath.html). Do they fit the stereotype of being white, small-town, uneducated racists? Not much racism, but otherwise I would say they fit the stereotype enough to make me skeptical that this is an important political movement. This country is becoming more urban, less white, and more educated. At most, this movement could turn out to be the right-wing equivalent of...

Max Blumenthal smears tea parties in "Teabagger Tour" video - 09/15/09

Low-wattage smear artist Max Blumenthal offers what he calls "The Unauthorized 9.12 Teabagger Tour", video attached (note the nice Euro touch in the date). I haven't yet watched it, but I'm going to guess that he's cherry-picked the more extreme attendees of the 9/12 Washington DC rally rather than trying to offer some sort of counter-argument to their more valid points; that's what people like him do.

Irony deficient Christopher Knight of LAT: "Glenn Beck's '9-12' logo based on communist and socialist designs" - 09/14/09

Christopher Knight of the Los Angeles Times offers "Glenn Beck's '9-12' logo based on communist and socialist designs" (link), a hilarious example of someone - in this case some sort of art critic - just not getting the joke. His shocking news is that the logo used for 9/12's march on Washington was lifted from Communist symbols. That's obvious, and it was intentional. To help Knight understand this, he should refer to the classics. See this discussion last month about how FreedomWorks controls the "grassroots" movement, specifically the logo: In that FreedomWorks response, forwarded to the...

9/12: Tea Party march on Washington DC live coverage (Glenn Beck, Freedomworks) - 09/12/09

Later today, one or two million (maybe less) extreme fiscal conservatives will be marching on Washington DC demanding that the government listens to them and their Randroid concerns. And, we'll be there - virtually speaking - offering coverage of this momentous event featuring millions of people throughout the day. Literally thousands of busloads of true patriots - as opposed to the other, non-patriotic Americans - will be bussed in (at their own expense) by FreedomWorks (run by the corporate lobbyist Dick Armey). Hopefully many will be wearing period costumes and playing fifes, since we know...

The tea parties, angry townhall ranters didn't have much impact on Obamacare "debate" - 09/08/09

If the tea parties and angry townhall ranters had much of an impact on the "debate" over Obama healthcare, one would expect them to be crowing about it and one wouldn't expect to see things such as a Gallup poll showing the poll numbers of the plan mostly unchanged from the beginning of August to the end.

The tea parties aren't just for extremist libertarian Randroids. Oh, no. Of course not. - 09/06/09

The video at [SEE UPDATE] shows a tea party organizer from Seattle reading a Randroid rant she wrote complaining about redistribution in relation to Obama healthcare. She wants people to be left alone rather than some being "plundered" in order to fund UHC. At root, her argument isn't just with excessive redistribution, with pork, with connected contractors, with the social negatives of redistribution, with the Democrats using it to obtain and maintain power, or all the rest.

Al Franken shows incompetence of Tea Party leaders, how they help Obama - 09/05/09

The attached video shows U.S. Senator Al Franken discussing Obama healthcare with a group of his constituents at the Minnesota State Fair.

More Tea Party brilliance: an answer video to a U-movie actress - 08/26/09

Glenn Reynolds elucidates that one of the tea parties groups has a new site: teaparty.thearenausa.com/insight/home.jsp While I enjoy :33 to :37 of the video in the upper right corner of that page (attached hereto), I have to wonder:

Demagogues get wish: Jim Moran townhall "descends into chaos" - 08/25/09

From this: Rep. Jim Moran's town hall meeting descended into chaos Tuesday night as protestors clashed -- in one case violently -- with supporters of a broad federal health care expansion, leading the 8th District Democrat to angrily seek to evict some of the loudest demonstrators. Moran and former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean addressed a crowd of at least 2,500 at South Lakes High School in Reston, weathering hours of catcalls and heckling mixed with shouts from supporters. Outside, a spillover crowd of protestors and counter-protesters shouted slogans at each other. A man in a Cato Institute T-...

"Energy Citizens": tea partiers' love for corporations goes unrequited (FreedomWorks) - 08/23/09

The American Petroleum Institute is starting a new astroturf movement called "Energy Citizens": rallies in "about 20 states" designed to: "put a human face on the impacts of unsound energy policy and to aim a loud message at those states' U.S. Senators to avoid the mistakes embodied in the House climate bill and the Obama Administration’s tax increases on our industry." You can download a copy of the API memo here, also discussed here and discussed here in a completely credulous fashion. If you've been following our tea parties coverage, you're probably thinking: "corporate astroturf? Call in...

Dick Durbin probably gets a chuckle from the tea parties' ineffective and childish chants - 08/22/09

Glenn Reynolds alerts us (pajamasmedia.com/instapundit/83880) that a crowd of protesters (pictured) formed outside Dick Durbin's office in Chicago and were chanting "no more Dick".

Tea partiers reach final stage, get their own blimp (Americans for Prosperity balloon) - 08/19/09

Aside from conducting parades dressed in Colonial garb, one of the cheap stunts that glassy-eyed Ron Paul fans pulled was flying their own blimp. Hey, it beats trying to make an argument. Starting earlier this year, the tea parties-promoting "grassroots" group Americans for Prosperity (linked to the Koch family [1], which is in the energy business) skipped the dress-up game stage and went straight for the gold: they've been conducting their own "2009 Nationwide Hot Air Tour" featuring a "70-foot-tall hot air balloon" (hotairtour.org, [2]): "This cap-and-trade scheme is nothing more than a tax...

OMG! Sheila Jackson-Lee uses cell phone during a constituent's worthless rant and before useless question from another - 08/12/09

If this were a worthless cable TV-style site, we'd be all over the video of Sheila Jackson Lee using her cellphone at a townhall while a constituent engages in a rant (video link). So, I'll leave the expected reaction to HotAir [1].

"Operation Embarrass Your Congressman": OK, but better questions please - 08/02/09

Like human ancestors emerging from the primordial ooze, the tea parties might be growing a brain. Someone who appears part of that overall movement has started a new campaign called "Operation Embarrass Your Congressman" (link) which is highly similar to my two-and-a-half year old plan outlined in the question authority summary.

Glenn Reynolds stoops to promoting giving politicians "bunny ears" - 07/12/09

Glenn Reynolds promotes the following picture at pajamasmedia.com/instapundit/81724, and it's difficult to find the words to describe just how pathetic it is. The picture shows someone wearing a Tucson tea party t-shirt standing behind Rep. Raul Grijalva and holding up two fingers in a "bunny ears" sign.

Andrea Nill of ThinkProgress misleads about Joe the Plumber immigration comments at tea party - 07/06/09

The Houston tea party featured an appearance by Joe the Plumber, who said the following: I believe in making sure our country is safe first. I believe we need to spend a little more on illegal immigrants. Get them the hell out of our damn country and close the borders down. We can do it. We’ve got the greatest military in the world and you’re telling me we can’t close our borders? - That’s just ridiculous.

Tea Parties for July 4th: locations, live coverage for Independence Day - 07/03/09

I'll be offering some live coverage of the July 4th Independence Day tea parties in this post. In the meantime, if you're looking for specific locations where you can protest and wave your loopy signs, see teapartypatriots.org, surgeusa.org/actions/july4.htm, teapartyday.com, or reteaparty.com/teaparties. But, before you go, please take a look at my extensive tea parties summary. At that page, I lay out all the reasons why those who aren't extreme fiscal conservatives might want to do something more effective instead. UPDATE: Apparently the most professional "party" this time is the one in...

More tea party stupidity from Jim Geraghty - 07/02/09

Glenn Reynolds links to this further example of tea party stupidity from Jim Geraghty: But if I may make a recommendation, try to walk away with something of a plan (after attending one of the tea parties). As (Instapundit) and I have noted, chanting and waving signs are great, but if you really want to influence the way government works, you have to put yourself in front of the folks who make the decisions. And those at the lowest levels - city and town councils, mayors, county boards, members of Congress - are rarely used to crowds of people passionately making the case for spending less...

"Where the Congressman Isn't", or more tea party briliance (Mark Kirk, cap and trade) - 06/30/09

Glenn Reynolds directs our attention [1] to a report [2] from Marathon Pundit. It's one more example of just how clueless the leaders of the tea parties are (bolding added):

Glenn Reynolds, RedState promote anti-intellectualism and intimidation (completely ineffective protest against Tim Bishop, tea parties) - 06/24/09

The attached video shows a group from the "Conservative Society for Action" protesting at a town hall meeting held by Long Island Rep. Tim Bishop. It's difficult to describe just how idiotic it is. Rather than going inside and trying to engage him in debate about his policies, they stand outside waving loopy signs, conducting a sing-a-long, and chanting various slogans. Not only that, but they cluster around the windows of the meeting location, no doubt intimidating those inside. In other words, they're engaging in anti-intellectual actions more often associated with ACORN, CodePink, and...

0.005% of Los Angeles' population turns out for massive tea party ("GayPatriot" doesn't approve comment) - 05/18/09

As the world goes to heck, the tea parties continue on whining at a heretofore unseen pace, with a massive protest in Westwood, California momentously occuring yesterday.

Tea parties continue mostly helping Obama at new, relaxed pace - 05/10/09

Remember how all the tea parties forced a sea change in Washington DC as formerly corrupt political hacks - weighed down by the tons of tea bags they'd received - changed their ways? Yeah, me neither. In fact, Obama will probably be into his second term before many of those involved realize just how dumb their leaders are. * One slight glimmer of non-stupidity comes to us from Buffalo, where the leader of one group - despite indicating several other problems - exhorted people to "Go to the public appearances of your state legislators. Call them out on these issues they have voted on. . . ....

"CodeRed": angry renters, tea partiers descend on Tucson city council meeting (Instapundit misleads) - 05/06/09

Here's what Glenn Reynolds says (pajamasmedia.com/instapundit/78071): MORE LOCAL ACTIVISM: Tucson Tea Party sends 1000 activists to City Council Meeting. I don't need to tell you that the truth is a bit different: 1. The page he links (tucsonteaparty.org/?p=6) says that more than 1000 turned out, yet the two MSM reports linked only say more than 700. The third doesn't give a number. And, the linked page includes this: The Tucson Tea Party, Arizona Multi-Housing Association, as well as the Tucson Realtors' Association encouraged their members to attend. How many real estate agents were there?...

Obama baits tea party protesters; will they be able to figure out what he's doing? (no) - 04/29/09

Earlier today, Barack Obama spoke in St Louis and said among other things: You see folks waving tea bags around -- let me just remind them I am happy to have a serious conversation about how we are going to cut our health care cuts over the long term, how we are gong to stabilize social security. Lets not play games. There's a very strong possibility that Obama wants to keep the tea party magic flowing, because those "parties" serve his interests. The partiers have no stated principles, they wave loopy signs, and there are so few of them (just 0.1 to 0.2% of Americans turned out) that they'll...

Tea party hilarity: Randy Barnett promotes Constitutional Convention to repeal federal income tax - 04/24/09

The leaders of the tea parties are more hilarious - and incapable of doing math - than ever, as Randy Barnett takes to the pages of the Wall Street Journal to offer "The Case for a Federalism Amendment/How the Tea Partiers can make Washington pay attention" (link). He proposes a feint involving a Constitutional Convention which would then encourage Congress to do away with the federal income tax: Article V provides that, "on the application of the legislatures of two thirds of the several states," Congress "shall call a convention for proposing amendments." Before becoming law, any amendments...

Jim Geraghty/NRO's idiotic ACORN-style plan (+ his idiotic email reply) - 04/23/09

Last week, Jim Geraghty of National Review's "Campaign Spot" weighed in on where the tea parties should go next and offered the following idiotic, ACORN-style plan (link, bolding added): If 100-1,000 people show up at a rally, the event may or may not get media coverage, and that coverage may or may not be snarky or dismissive. Congressmen may or may not notice, and the President's spokesman will announce he's not aware of them... But if 100-1,000 people show up at a town council, city council, etc. meeting, in most places, that's an earthquake. It varies widely, but most local government...

ReTeaParty.com's righteous Randroid rant - 04/22/09

ReTeaParty.com was involved in the past tea parties in some way and is currently planning a series of "parties" for July 4. At their site, they stress how independent and non-partisan they are. "Non-partisan" in this case apparently means "anyone who isn't reflexively sickened by Randroids", as they offer a video entitled "This is John Galt Speaking | A Montage of Modern History": link.

Intelligent & classy: Congressman heckled, booed at South Carolina tea party - 04/18/09

The attached video shows South Carolina Congressman Gresham Barrett being booed and heckled at a recent tea party. They even had an airhorn. Barrett is a Republican, but the reason for the reception was apparently because he voted for TARP. A few points:

Jan Schakowsky: tea parties are "despicable". Here's how to affect her political career - 04/18/09

A few days ago, Rep. Jan Schakowsky of Illinois said that the tea parties are "despicable" and "shameful." Now, Glenn Reynolds informs us (pajamasmedia.com/instapundit/76900) that she'll be making an appearance at the Peoria County Democratic Women's May Day Dinner on May 3 (link), saying: I WONDER IF ANY “TEA PARTY” PROTESTERS WILL SHOW UP?... There were 3,000 Tea Party protesters in Peoria. They might take exception to her calling them despicable and shameful. If you'd like to do something about this, there are two basic ways to do it: 1. Stand around outside with signs. However, there are...

Tea party turnout number: should you trust Pajamas Media or Silver's MSM-based estimate? - 04/18/09

Now, here's a tough one. Who do I trust less: Nate Silver, or Pajamas Media and Glenn Reynolds? Silver says that a bit more than 300,000 turned out for all the tea parties (link). And, he does that by linking almost 400 events in cities across the nation to local reports with their estimates of the turnout. On the other hand, pajamasmedia.com/instapundit/76884 links to pajamasmedia.com/blog/pjtvs-crowd-estimates-for-tea-parties-still-climbing: The estimated number of participants in yesterday’s tea parties - sent in by citizen journalists who signed up to the site to enter attendance data...

Irony meets stupidity: Chicago May 1 immigration rally might have gotten more people than all tea parties - 04/17/09

Media Matters for America offers a clip from Fox News in which Geraldo Rivera says (mediamatters.org/countyfair/200904160042): "[T]he grand total of all of the tea party demonstrators" was less than the number "at that immigration rally in 2006 in the city of Chicago alone" Even if the "parties" got a little more than that, Rivera isn't far off. And, that helps illustrate just how pathetic the entire "tea party" concept is. And, in my case, it's sadly ironic. Back in February 2007, I went to an Obama appearance hoping to ask him a question about the fact that the very same immigration march...

HotAir unwittingly shows futility, stupidity, perniciousness of tea parties (Susan Roesgen) - 04/17/09

Allahpundit of HotAir has posted two videos that - completely unwittingly - show just how futile, stupid, and pernicious the tea parties are: link.

Hartford tea party draws 3000; Instapundit thinks that would worry Chris Dodd - 04/15/09

Glenn Reynolds opines (pajamasmedia.com/instapundit/76738): "Hartford Courant: Hartford Tea Party Draws Thousands. That can't make Chris Dodd feel any better" and links to the contention that 3,000 turned out at that event (link).

Ed Morrissey makes reasonable albeit unrealistic case for tea parties - 04/15/09

Ed Morrissey of HotAir links to a new Gallup poll called "Views of Income Taxes Among Most Positive Since 1956" (link) and opines [1]: If 48% believe that their taxes are just right, it might be because that’s the exact same percentage that will pay zero in the near future, according to Barack Obama’s tax policies. With Obama’s emphasis on refundables, 48.7% of Americans will wind up paying no income tax at all. For them, zero is the right amount, and they have no reason to be unhappy... yet ...Unfortunately, in a short period of time, even those people will have to start paying taxes, and...

Tax Day Tea Party open thread: turnout numbers, pictures, sanity... (UPDATE: "They wanted to be like Code Pink") - 04/15/09

The Tax Day Tea Parties are finally here! All across the U.S., a sub-miniscule fraction of the U.S. population will be standing on street corners holding signs that will make them look bad and ultimately help Barack Obama by giving the false impression that his opposition is "mean-spirited" and weak in numbers. Pictures and turn-out numbers will follow as this momentous (for them) day progresses... NOON UPDATE: From the looks of it, the parties will be incredibly lucky to get 100,000 at all events combined, and it will probably be far under that figure. And, Glenn Reynolds shows exactly where...

Tea parties have arrived! Paul Krugman does hit piece on them. - 04/13/09

Paul Krugman of the New York Times might have done the tea parties a great big favor by giving them a great big pinata to whack at: the fact that Krugman tries to do a hit piece on them (link). Shortly after engaging in ad hominems and losing his train of thought for a few paragraphs, he says this: ...it turns out that the tea parties don’t represent a spontaneous outpouring of public sentiment. They’re AstroTurf (fake grass roots) events, manufactured by the usual suspects. In particular, a key role is being played by FreedomWorks, an organization run by Richard Armey, the former House...

HuffPost, The Atlantic, LGF, Gawker, Sullivan, C&L, & more spread smear video (Glenn Beck, "burn the books") - 04/12/09

The attached video is a local meetup for Glenn Beck's "912 Project" and features someone who's probably genuine giving an anti-Communism and partly paranoid rant. However, near the five minute mark, a lady's voice is heard shouting out "burn the books". She's then challenged by a male attendee who asks her whether she's serious; she replies that yes she is.

Honk three times if you're on the road to Idiocracy: bombastic Bob Basso gives final tea party talk - 04/11/09

Bob Basso - the motivational speaker and actor who's also a Youtube sensation [1] due to dressing up as Tom Paine and pulling a "mad as hell" act - is back with a new video which was shown as part of the Glenn Beck program.

Tea party schism? Will powerful backers try to push amnesty despite wishes of base? - 04/09/09

Dick Armey of FreedomWorks, Grover Norquist, and the Kochtopus are all involved in the tea parties in one way or another. And, all of them support massive immigration and would probably support new amnesty plans.

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