# I'm not sure why, but the "Tea Party" Tax Protests really rub me the wrong way.

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-sure-why-but-the-tea-party-tax-protests-really-rub-me-the-wrong-way/493149>\
**Category:** The BBQ Pit\
**Created:** [April 15, 2009, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-sure-why-but-the-tea-party-tax-protests-really-rub-me-the-wrong-way/493149 "2009-04-15T05:01:00Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Jamaika\_a\_jamaikaiake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7993a0/32.png) [@Jamaika\_a\_jamaikaiake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jamaika_a_jamaikaiake)\
**Post date:** [April 15, 2009, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-sure-why-but-the-tea-party-tax-protests-really-rub-me-the-wrong-way/493149/1 "2009-04-15T05:01:00Z")

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I don’t think that it is the protests themselves. Dissent is patriotic, and I applaud people for voicing their political opinions.

I think it is the way these protests are framed. Take this quote by organizer Glenn Reynolds:

> [@](#):
>
> These aren’t the usual semiprofessional protesters who attend antiwar and pro-union marches. These are people with real jobs; most have never attended a protest march before. They represent a kind of energy that our politics hasn’t seen lately, and an influx of new activists

The audacity of this fellow! Now, I voted for President Bush in 2004, and I was convinced at the time that invading Iraq was a reasonable idea, but many of my friends went out to protest the invasion of Iraq in 2003, and (as I do now) I respected their patriotic display of political opinions. Now _that_ was a true grassroots display of fervor! _These_ protests are outwardly supported by a major news outlet (Fox News)[link](http://mediamatters.org/countyfair/200904060023)

I guess when liberals protest it doesn’t count? The protests preceeding the invasion of Iraq were fucking huge, and just ignored. Now that it is conservatives are protesting, the protests are more legit somehow?

I know this OP is rather disjointed, but I wanted to know what you all thought. Am I crazy, or does it all seem kind of off?

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**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\
**Post date:** [April 15, 2009, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-sure-why-but-the-tea-party-tax-protests-really-rub-me-the-wrong-way/493149/2 "2009-04-15T05:23:38Z")

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The term of art is “Astroturf”\< the manufactured pre-fab grass-roots insurgency. The Soviets used to do similar stuff with spontaneous worker’s demonstrations.

Gotta confess, I’m morbidly interested. Not so much the “events”, but the spin they generate. Be on the lookout for camera angles that imply but don’t confirm a seething mass of humanity.

It’s gong to be interesting, in the watching-sobebody-eat-a-bug sort of way.

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**Author:** ![tumbleddown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tumbleddown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tumbleddown)\
**Post date:** [April 15, 2009, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-sure-why-but-the-tea-party-tax-protests-really-rub-me-the-wrong-way/493149/3 "2009-04-15T05:30:48Z")

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They rub me the wrong way because they’re so factually, politically and intellectually illiterate and backwards. I don’t think that the majority of people who are so fired up to attend even know what it is they’re actually protesting.

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**Author:** ![Jamaika\_a\_jamaikaiake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7993a0/32.png) [@Jamaika\_a\_jamaikaiake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jamaika_a_jamaikaiake)\
**Post date:** [April 15, 2009, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-sure-why-but-the-tea-party-tax-protests-really-rub-me-the-wrong-way/493149/4 "2009-04-15T05:36:23Z")

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> [@elucidator](#):
>
> The term of art is “Astroturf”\< the manufactured pre-fab grass-roots insurgency. The Soviets used to do similar stuff with spontaneous worker’s demonstrations.

Yeah, I saw that on the wikipedia page for the protests. Is this kind of claim easily provable? Do you have something I could read?

[QUOTE=tumbeddown]

They rub me the wrong way because they’re so factually, politically and intellectually illiterate and backwards. I don’t think that the majority of people who are so fired up to attend even know what it is they’re actually protesting.  
[/QUOTE]

Yes. It not that they are wrong, but that they are really really ignorant.

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**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\
**Post date:** [April 15, 2009, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-sure-why-but-the-tea-party-tax-protests-really-rub-me-the-wrong-way/493149/5 "2009-04-15T05:53:04Z")

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Of course. Think Progress and Talking Points are very good bets for this sort of thing

[http://thinkprogress.org/2009/04/14/lobbying-clients-teaparties/](http://thinkprogress.org/2009/04/14/lobbying-clients-teaparties/)

(Lefty site! Tighty righty advised to proceed with anti-cooty protocols carefully observed!)

[http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/04/freedomworks-long-history-of-teabagging.php?ref=fp1](http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/04/freedomworks-long-history-of-teabagging.php?ref=fp1)

Very concise overviews, details vary, horror/dismay ratios similar…

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**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\
**Post date:** [April 15, 2009, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-sure-why-but-the-tea-party-tax-protests-really-rub-me-the-wrong-way/493149/6 "2009-04-15T06:04:08Z")

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> [@elucidator](#):
>
> Be on the lookout for camera angles that imply but don’t confirm a seething mass of humanity.

Just [count the umbrellas](http://www.weather.com/newscenter/stormwatch/?from=hp_news). As I just said in my other thread, God is not on their side.

Of course this is a manufactured corporate-sponsored “protest.” Very few of these people know what the hell they’re protesting.

Here’s a [nice website](http://www.savetherich.com/) with astroturf info, and an [amazing montage](http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x296782) from Countdown of how Fox is promoting the teabaggers.

[Still](http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x296649), [it’s](http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x294671) [very](http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x296893) [entertaining](http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x296672).

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**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\
**Post date:** [April 15, 2009, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-sure-why-but-the-tea-party-tax-protests-really-rub-me-the-wrong-way/493149/7 "2009-04-15T06:13:03Z")

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I’m just trying to figure out what the fuck tea has to do with anything. The comparisons between today and the tea monopoly in 1773 are just… non-existent. Is it because of the East India Company bailout or… what exactly? For that matter how many people participating in this (including my sister- even in your forties your big sister the Pentecostal telling you she’s going teabagging will throw you for a loop) even know what the hell the Tea Act or the East India Company were about (except that Clinton was responsible)?

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**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\
**Post date:** [April 15, 2009, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-sure-why-but-the-tea-party-tax-protests-really-rub-me-the-wrong-way/493149/8 "2009-04-15T06:34:17Z")

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To repeat myself, very few of these people know what the hell they’re protesting. That’s the beauty of it. Well, one of the many beauties (“teabagging” might be tops). These people are so stupid you can’t help but marvel and grin at the big pile of stupid.

Edit to say, sorry to call your sister stupid, but well, if the teabag fits…

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**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\
**Post date:** [April 15, 2009, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-sure-why-but-the-tea-party-tax-protests-really-rub-me-the-wrong-way/493149/9 "2009-04-15T07:03:22Z")

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-dup-

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\
**Post date:** [April 15, 2009, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-sure-why-but-the-tea-party-tax-protests-really-rub-me-the-wrong-way/493149/10 "2009-04-15T07:05:27Z")

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> [@Equipoise](#):
>
> Edit to say, sorry to call your sister stupid, but well, if the teabag fits…

Way ahead of ya.🆒

I was considering going downtown to watch the one here tomorrow but parking’s 8 blocks away and $5 a pop, so I don’t think so. It’s making me wonder if there’s a back-end deal to this with parking lots and concessions and the like.

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**Author:** ![GSV\_Consolation\_of\_Dreams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f1d935/32.png) [@GSV\_Consolation\_of\_Dreams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GSV_Consolation_of_Dreams)\
**Post date:** [April 15, 2009, 9:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-sure-why-but-the-tea-party-tax-protests-really-rub-me-the-wrong-way/493149/11 "2009-04-15T09:13:30Z")

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This made me laugh:  
[Schuster: If You’re Planning Tea Bagging Across The Country, ‘You’re Going To Need A Dick Armey’](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8i-OWDjOQfI)

The puns, double entendres, hell, even the graphic over his shoulder…gold.

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**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\
**Post date:** [April 15, 2009, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-sure-why-but-the-tea-party-tax-protests-really-rub-me-the-wrong-way/493149/12 "2009-04-15T10:28:23Z")

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What’s bothering me about it, besides it being astroturfing, is that taxes are as low as they have been since I don’t know when (before Eisenhower). It’s just so…(presumptuous? unimaginative? perseverative?)…of the right that they figure a tax protest will rile up the base.

It’s like protesting imperialism during the Carter administration.

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**Author:** ![Ocean\_Annie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8797f3/32.png) [@Ocean\_Annie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ocean_Annie)\
**Post date:** [April 15, 2009, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-sure-why-but-the-tea-party-tax-protests-really-rub-me-the-wrong-way/493149/13 "2009-04-15T11:14:47Z")

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This is an epic event with a full night of coverage, a nail biter. Stock up on liquor and snacks.

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**Author:** ![catflea12](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f6c823/32.png) [@catflea12](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catflea12)\
**Post date:** [April 15, 2009, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-sure-why-but-the-tea-party-tax-protests-really-rub-me-the-wrong-way/493149/14 "2009-04-15T11:35:09Z")

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Yeah, the blithering idiots are out in force on this tea-party thing

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**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\
**Post date:** [April 15, 2009, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-sure-why-but-the-tea-party-tax-protests-really-rub-me-the-wrong-way/493149/15 "2009-04-15T11:42:30Z")

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It’s not just a tax protest. It’s protesting government running amok. The fact that it’s on April 15 was just a bonus.

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**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\
**Post date:** [April 15, 2009, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-sure-why-but-the-tea-party-tax-protests-really-rub-me-the-wrong-way/493149/16 "2009-04-15T12:07:37Z")

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> [@Clothahump](#):
>
> It’s not just a tax protest. It’s protesting government running amok. The fact that it’s on April 15 was just a bonus.

[Jon Stewart]I think you may be confusing government running amok with government doing stuff you don’t like. See, you’re in the _minority_ now. It’s _supposed_ to taste like a shit taco.[/JS]

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**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\
**Post date:** [April 15, 2009, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-sure-why-but-the-tea-party-tax-protests-really-rub-me-the-wrong-way/493149/17 "2009-04-15T12:32:59Z")

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Perhaps the OP thinks these are the type of people who usually dismiss protest as unpatriotic. That’s probably true to some degree.

> [@Jamaika a jamaikaiaké](#):
>
> I guess when liberals protest it doesn’t count? The protests preceeding the invasion of Iraq were fucking huge, and just ignored. Now that it is conservatives are protesting, the protests are more legit somehow?

These protests are getting a lot of “lighter side of” coverage. The war protests were serious and most of the public approved, so it was important not to offend viewers and sponsors by giving the protests too much attention. The tax protests are small, so nobody’s going to be offended by the silliness.

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**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\
**Post date:** [April 15, 2009, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-sure-why-but-the-tea-party-tax-protests-really-rub-me-the-wrong-way/493149/18 "2009-04-15T12:46:13Z")

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> [@elucidator](#):
>
> The term of art is “Astroturf”\< the manufactured pre-fab grass-roots insurgency. The Soviets used to do similar stuff with spontaneous worker’s demonstrations.

Yes, this tea party stuff is a lot different from when the American people rose up in spontaneous anger and commmandeered buses to go out and protest at the homes of AIG executives.

Now _that_ was real grass roots protest.

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**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\
**Post date:** [April 15, 2009, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-sure-why-but-the-tea-party-tax-protests-really-rub-me-the-wrong-way/493149/19 "2009-04-15T12:47:42Z")

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> [@Marley23](#):
>
> These protests are getting a lot of “lighter side of” coverage. The war protests were serious and most of the public approved, so it was important not to offend viewers and sponsors by giving the protests too much attention. The tax protests are small, so nobody’s going to be offended by the silliness.

They’re getting a lot of “lighter side of” coverage by commentators like Maddow and Olberman, who the protestors as a group don’t watch, which is exactly the same thing that happened to the war protests. They were mocked by people like Hannity and O’Reilly, who the war protesters as a group weren’t the audience of.

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**Author:** ![LonesomePolecat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a88e57/32.png) [@LonesomePolecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonesomePolecat)\
**Post date:** [April 15, 2009, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-sure-why-but-the-tea-party-tax-protests-really-rub-me-the-wrong-way/493149/20 "2009-04-15T12:49:14Z")

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> [@Captain\_Carrot](#):
>
> I think you may be confusing government running amok with government doing stuff you don’t like.

Running up debts in the trillions is the government running amok. Refusing to control immigration to provide votes for the Democrats and cheap labor for the Republicans is the government running amok. Classifying the American Legion as a hate group is the government running amok. There are all sorts of examples of the government running amok (though, to be fair, neither of the major parties holds the moral high ground on that one).

> [@Captain\_Carrot](#):
>
> See, you’re in the _minority_ now.

Does this mean you guys are going to stop blithering about the tyranny of the majority now?

> [@Captain\_Carrot](#):
>
> It’s _supposed_ to taste like a shit taco.

You would know. You’ve eaten enough of them, and will again.

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