Here's one sure sign this is not the revolution: Somewhere near Washington DC there's a truck driving around full of tea bags.
Yes, the plan today was to dump 1,000,000 tea bags into the Potomac River as a protest of -- uh -- the government. Unfortunately, the proper permit for dumping a truckload of Lipton into the Potomac could not be obtained! WHAT? NOT OBTAIN THE PROPER PERMIT!? Well, FINE, then they were going to dump the 1,000,000 tea bags on the ground! ON THE GROUND! In the *park.* NO! THEY DID NOT HAVE A PERMIT FOR DUMPING TEA IN THE PARK EITHER!! Even after the protesters offered to dump the tea tags onto a tarp for easy clean-up, the authorities weren't crazy about the idea. So the hundreds of protesters (HUNDREDS! HIDE YOUR CHILDREN!) packed up their tea bags and went home. Because nothing says "HANG 'EM HIGH!" like a quiet obeisance to the local dumping ordinances.
So much for the event billed as the largest grassroots movement in history. Guess what teabaggers? Fox News got what they wanted out of you -- a big fat ratings day. Show hosts coming at you from across the country! Live music! Parades! Tea! All on Fox! Of course, it was fair and balanced reporting, exactly the same coverage they gave to those silly anti-war protests which a few (hundred thousand) people attended in a couple (thousand) cities around the country (world). If you want a hearty chuckle, watch this montage of the slavering, drooling promotion from Fox News.
I mean, it's a little bit silly. But hey, invoking the Boston Tea Party was always ridiculous. First of all, Americans in Boston were protesting taxation without representation. Remember November 4? We all voted. You lost. Obama has cut taxes on 95% of the population. Even that top tier of income earners, for whom the tax cuts have been repealed, are still paying a lower rate than they did under Reagan. Maybe that's why no one was really *that* mad, not mad enough to break any laws anyway, except for some guy who threw a box onto the White House lawn, effectively shutting down the only protest in Washington that was actually functioning.
For a great example of *really super angry* protesters who are ready to storm the Capitol and take back control of their country, watch this video of a nice lady explaining to a small crowd why they have to comply with Secret Service after the box-on-the-White-House-lawn incident. Listen closely and you'll hear one mob member mutter quietly, "We should just have our tea party right here!" That's right -- a TEA PARTY! In your FACE, Obama!
It was supposed to be the beginning of a revolution! They were mad as hell and they weren't going to take it anymore! Well who doesn't love a little activism? Too bad it all ended up with a lonely man driving around in a truck, no place to dump his two tons of tea.
Is this movement conservative? "No, it's been completely nonpartisan, with libertarians and republicans alike."
ReplyDeleteI do not think that means what you think it means, lady...
if I hear one more person say "teabagging" I am going to burst into incontrollable giggles. They should urban dictionary that word (NSFW if you google...) Snort.
It's funny watching how idiotic these people are, they don't even understand what they are protesting, why it is completely inappropriate, and how it is a complete fail.
The incoherence is breathtaking isn't it? grrr socialists, grrr fascists, grrr no pay taxes, taxes bad, nObama, Obama isn't an American, back on the gold standard, no international currency, blah blah blah. Face it people, what you're angry about is that you lost, and aren't in charge anymore.
ReplyDeleteGrow a pair for goodness sake, it might help with the teabagging... And the whole teabagging thing is way past silly. You should have seen my teenager choke and blush when he heard that one mentioned on a news program. Somebody has been reading urban dictionary eh? thanks so very much conservatives, just what I wanted to be discussing with my children...
Honestly this has nothing to do with Obama and more to do with an oppressive, archaic system of taxation that is being abused by the very people elected to represent us.
ReplyDeleteIf you have never had the joy of trying to pay federal income taxes for employees or yourself and dealt with the mind numbing bureaucratic nonsense that it entails then it may not have the same meaning for you. To send in tax checks, have them return it for no reason months later, then be told by the IRS they have no idea what check you are even talking about, despite the fact you are holding it in your hand, only to receive a delinquent tax notice on the check that the IRS RETURNED, is maddening, not to mention scary. With the IRS you are guilty until you can prove yourself innocent, well unless you are a politician of course, then it’s all good.
Let’s not forget the use of tax dollars to bail out corrupt corporations at the expense of everyday working people. We bust our butts to make our businesses work and assume all our own risks should they go down, as it should be. Why should my taxes go to prop up failing businesses with inept managers. That is what bankruptcy laws were made to handle after all.
So yes, I am fed up with ALL elected representatives that have ignored the voices of the people and continue to operate under this coercive system. Since all the calls and letters to representatives on these topics have thus far been dutifully ignored then perhaps there needs to be other means to get their attention. Tea parties may not be perfect but they are a start.
And being I lean Libertarian I have no horses in this race. Both parties are a disgrace, the vast majority of whom should be run out of town on a rail.
Anyway just my impassioned two cents for you today. But please don’t forget to declare them on your taxes. Some corporate big wig somewhere is depending on your generosity to make the payments on his private jet after all. :-)
Julia, I think I do get what you're saying, and thanks for responding with humor! :) I think that *your* message (and the message of anyone for whom this was truly non-partisan) was confused by people like the guy carrying the sign that called Obama "some Kenyan" trying to destroy America and then said, "HOMEY DON'T PLAY DAT!!!!"
ReplyDeleteYou know.... how about instead of making fun of people who's protest didn't go as planned.. how abt acknowledging that despite how pissed off they were, they still followed the rule of law. Unlike, say the G20 protesters who broke into the Bank of Scotland for example.
ReplyDeleteKind of like how gun control laws only take guns out of the hands of law-abiding citizens, not the criminals.
And also, for the record... Conservatives and others involved in this movement do not refer to it as "teabagging". That is a lame joke that is being strung out by the left-wing media and those who either don't get what it's about, or don't care to. So don't blame Conservatives for that one.
The liberal media? Fox news has been the one calling it teabagging.
ReplyDeleteI think it is completely appropriate to ridicule people who think they are making a point when it is clear that they do not understand the origins of the movement, nor what the word partisan means.
Taxation without representation was the original issue. Not taxation period, not a democratically elected government votes with bipartisan agreement to try to fix our fiscal problems, not "liberal media" caused events-- and you ought to check your research on that, there are several studies showing that the media as a whole are not "liberal" though certainly there are some leaning that way--and fox news is anything but fair and balanced, so that is an easy target to ridicule.
It's impossible not to ridicule a movement that carries signs calling for the *death* of members of congress, naming names of those that should be *hung* for traitors -- and then files out quietly when Secret Service tells them not to litter on the White House lawn. It's just too funny not to - I CANNOT HELP MYSELF. :D
ReplyDeleteYou know, I think this paragraph would make an awesome childrens book. _The Tea Party That Wasn't" by Lydia. :P Sort of read in the same tone that one would use for Grover in _The Monster at the End of This Book_.
ReplyDelete"Yes, the plan today was to dump 1,000,000 tea bags into the Potomac River as a protest of -- uh -- the government. Unfortunately, the proper permit for dumping a truckload of Lipton into the Potomac could not be obtained! WHAT? NOT OBTAIN THE PROPER PERMIT!? Well, FINE, then they were going to dump the 1,000,000 tea bags on the ground! ON THE GROUND! In the *park.* NO! THEY DID NOT HAVE A PERMIT FOR DUMPING TEA IN THE PARK EITHER!! Even after the protesters offered to dump the tea tags onto a tarp for easy clean-up, the authorities weren't crazy about the idea. So the hundreds of protesters (HUNDREDS! HIDE YOUR CHILDREN!) packed up their tea bags and went home. Because nothing says "HANG 'EM HIGH!" like a quiet obeisance to the local dumping ordinances."
@peanutga11ery - foxnews is just like any other news org - they will do or say whatever to get ratings. They may have a more "right of center" slant than the rest of the networks, but at the end of the day, it all comes down to ratings. I'm friends with one of the leaders of the movement, and I can assure you that term does not come from those within the movement.
ReplyDeleteI didn't say the media caused the teaparties. I said they used the term that started as a lame joke to marginalize the message and poke fun of the millions across the country who are fed up.
The term "teaparty" comes from the rant by Rick Santelli. It's not about "taxation without representation" although that's what I call it when the elected officials stop listening to their constituents and don't read the bills before passing the laws (hello CSPIA, hello TARP, hello every dang bill this session of congress has passed) It's about fiscal responsibility and those of us hard working Americans who are sick and tired of the government taking our money to pay for other people's mistakes.
Let's face it, some people out there who are getting foreclosed on, shouldn't have been allowed to buy a house in the first place. TARP (which I fought against btw) was supposed to help those with "bad mortgages". Instead, the Treasury Sec. decided bad mortgages were a bad investment. Gee! Who'da thunk? And because the TARP bill gave him unlimited power over the money, with no checks and balances, he spent it all on other things. So now Congress has passed a bill allowing for more billions of dollars to pay for the mortgages, and bailing out the banks, the auto industry, even the press for crying out loud. It's insane! Where is the line? When does America finally say enough is enough?
Don't think the GOP gets a free pass from those of us who are pissed abt the bailouts and the massive deficit due to be piled on our kids as a result of the billions and trillions of dollars being thrown around DC these days. We remember TARP, and we know who rubber stamped it, and no we are not happy. I know this has been a long path, and I've not been pleased with either party for the direction they've taken us.
It wasn't about dislike for the Obama Admin, despite the dopes who thought it was. I mean, hello! TARP was under Bush! But you and I both know there are always a few idiots in every crowd... Sometimes more then others. :)
The protests in Arizona were quite different than those in your state, apparently. The one in Phoenix was attended by 10,000+, young and old, Democrats and Republicans, but people were united in their belief that they were tired of seeing their taxes squandered (and now the taxes of future generations)--not just by this administration but by the last one, too. It was a peaceful protest. Perhaps you should get your news from new sources?
ReplyDeleteI read up a bit on the Washington D.C. tea party and it seems like it was poorly planned and disorganized, for organizers to say "we thought we had a permit" - well, either you do or you don't! City ordinances typically have clear rules about what's not allowed at a large group event on public property. Dumping is one of those things that's probably not allowed anywhere. On the taxdayteaparty.com site someone said in the comments section on the Wash. D.C. page that someone from the Daily Kos (liberal) dumped the box of tea bags over the fence while accomplices created a diversion. Have no idea if that's true. I couldn't find an official site for the 4/15 D.C. tea party by the D.C. tea party organizers, though it appears they've put something up after the fact for future events. Of all the Tea Parties that one should have been the biggest and best.
ReplyDeleteThe Tea Party Rally in Virginia Beach was well-organized and they set some ground rules for the attendees, one being no signs mentioning Obama by name because of the impression it might give (specifically it would give the left-wing media fodder to have a field day with and discredit the cause even further). A few people still had Obama signs but nothing particularly offensive. Tea bags and pork rinds were collected and distributed by volunteers to the local offices of Senators Webb and Warner and Reps. Nye and Scott. Have no idea how those were received but at least no Secret Service hackles were raised.
I want to go to a big rally in D.C. around the 4th of July and there's a lot of buzz on the 'net and social networks about it but no cohesive firm plans even though it's been bandied about for 2 months already. I've seen plans for an event at the Mall and other plans for another one near the White House (Lafayette Park). IMO there should be ONLY ONE REALLY BIG rally/protest, otherwise the cause and it's message will be diluted.
Well, ya gotta admit, it was mighty civil of those protestors to offer to dump their tea bags on a tarp for easy clean up. LOL
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