I know several people who I can imagine doing those things, but as far as I know actually haven’t.
But I’m curious as to what sort of person actually takes the time (presumably taking a day off work) to go to these things. Also what sort of mindset must someone possess to create an Obama/Hitler/Commie poster and scream their heads off about the perceived injustices perpetrated by his administration.
A lady I work with attended the Sept 12th ‘Tea Party’ in Washington, DC. (I’m in Texas.)
I did not ask what her t-shirt or sign said (or if she had one).
I did ask about her trip.
She told me that it was her first trip to DC, that she (and her husband) got a room for about $100.00 bucks near the zoo, they loved the Metro, they missed their appointment to tour the Capitol, and they really enjoyed being with a large group of like-minded people.
She thinks the size of the crowd was in the range of the larger numbers being reported by some news outlets.
She meets many of the stereotypes that come to mind when you think of a typical tea party participant.
My aunt went to the July 4th Tea Party in D.C. She’s a lovely woman in general, but she’s a fan of Glenn Beck and thinks there’s some sort of shadowy cabal of puppetmasters behind Obama. She and my uncle were actually disappointed at the gathering they went to - said there were only about a thousand people there and not much enthusiasm. From her report, it seemed like they mostly went down to see what it was all about and to feel like they were a part of something.
One of my coworkers has been to a Tea Party and went to the rally in DC. She says the crowd in DC was much larger than what’s being reported - I can’t remember exact numbers, though, because I pretty much tune out all politics. Overall she’s a pretty normal gal, though.
I suppose the same kind of people that took off work and created similar types of posters that showed Bush out to be a war criminal/ environmental terrorist and went to similar events and screamed the heads off about “the perceived injustices perpetrated by his administration”.
Can you not admit that BOTH sides engage in this type of behavior? Or do you believe that Bush really was a war criminal and Obama is nothing but a benevolent leader?
And you should be thankful that these people can behave this way here in the US. Look what happens when people act this way in Iran, Venezuela, Cuba, etc. They get their heads bashed in.
Yes I believe both of these things. I have some issues with Obama’s competence, but not about his intent.
An old friend and his wife are active, vocal Right-wing Whackadoodles here in Houston.
His deal is if it’s “reported” on the Faux News or AM radio then it’s Gospel because the Liberal, mainstream media buries any story that shows how “Patriotic Americans” really think/feel.
According to him Obama is a Socialist (apparently) sent to enslave and financially ruin all Americans.
If I didn’t “drink the Obama Kool-aid” regularly I would see this for the truth that it is but I’m just one of the misguided “Sheeple” so it’s his “duty as an American” to save me from myself.
We used to be pretty tight but we don’t talk much anymore, I miss (the old) him.
Unclviny
I used to be very good friends with a woman who attended the 9/12 whatever in Washington. I found this out from a mutual friend, and then checked my former friend’s Facebook to confirm.
It doesn’t surprise me. In the small South Carolina town she grew up in, all that is not Conservative is Evil. Sarah Palin is her hero, because she’s pretty and a decent speaker, just like my friend. She like people who remind her of herself, especially if those people have achieved some measure of success. She’s also an avowed racist who about had a shit-fit when my mother started dating a black man. I still remember her talking to my mother, “You can find a man whose decent, respectable…(big heavy pregnant pause)…whiiiittttee.”
Yeah, we aren’t friends anymore, for multiple reasons. She’s overall a pretty compassionate person, but she had some glaring flaws I just couldn’t explain away anymore. I harbor absolutely no ill will towards her, on the contrary I often ask about her and wish her the best. But her politics are totally wrongheaded in my opinion.
A couple of prosecutors I work with went to the 9/12 rally. I haven’t talked to them about it.
I went to the DC Rally on September 12. I’m not particularly radical or nutty. Seriously.
So why would you go to a nutbag rally?
Some members of my immediate family went to the Sept. 12 rally. They are hard core fiscal conservatives, but more socially tolerant than the stereotype.
They are really into Glen Beck, Limbaugh, Coulter, Palin, Fox News etc. They also are “birthers” and convinced that Obama is a socialist and pals around with terrorists. They are relatively well off and worked hard for what they have and afraid of thier wealth being redistributed.
The one I talked to about it is convinced that there were well over a million people there.
Nobody is arguing that the left protests also. The point is the REASON for the protests. You can’t seriously compare anti war protests vs the ignorance of the tea parties can you? the fact that they are protesting is inconsequential, its that they are protesting against scary words that they have absolutely no idea about simply because they heard it on FOX news.
There’s a woman I went to high school with whom I haven’t seen in 23 years. Recently, she initiated contact on facebook. On her main page, she boasts of having multiple cosmetic procedures – collagen, botox, etc. I must say she’s begun to resemble the Crypt Keeper a bit.
She’s big into the tea parties. Also just moved to Montana.
I will leave the conclusions to the gentle reader.
I’m going to move this to Great Debates in the hopes that the conversation can remain fairly civil. I’ll leave it to the GD mods to decide if it needs to be in the Pit.
twickster, MPSIMS moderator
My parents love this stuff. They’ve watched FOX and listened to Rush forever. Why? I dunno. They know it’s BS whenever I talk to them about it, or politics in general. The nearest I could put it is it’s like rooting for your team even when they suck bad. My parents are financially conservative and nativist but otherwise very socially liberal (not religious, no hangups with sex or drugs, pro-choice, pro-science, and so on). They don’t believe in the birther stuff or anything like that either.
A pretty good friend of mine and his mom went to the September 12th rally. He’s a conservative Republican, but not particularly “nutty”.
I know two people (a couple) who went to a tea party. They are not remotely as you describe. One of them was a (Bill) Clinton voter.
I know another guy who thought about going but ended up with other plans. He is Muslim.
I don’t know anyone from tea parties or town halls, but a buddy of mine is going to protest the G-20 meeting this weekend. The conversation went a little like this.
me: “you hear about that g-20 meeting this weekend?”
him: “yeah, I’m going to protest that shit.”
me: “what you’re one of those people, why?”
him: “to tell them whats up. To get their shit together.”
Nice kid and all, still a good friend of mine, but just a bit misguided I guess. Oh, that and he does A LOT of psychedelic drugs.
Consider me not baited.