Today is the big event billed as “Taxpayer March on D. C.” In actuality, it is the “I Hate Obama Rally.” The GOP seems to be latching on to these conservative protests. A few top Republicans will speak to the crowd tomorrow; Republicans like Mike Pence, Eric Cantor, John Boehner, and Jim DeMint. However, top Republican strategists are concerned, according to the Washington Post:
But top Republican strategists and many party observers also worry about the impact that the most extreme protesters might have on the party’s image, including those who carry swastika signs or obsess over the veracity of Obama’s Hawaiian birth.
Mark McKinnon, a former adviser to Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) and other Republicans, said there is an “opportunity for Republicans” to tap into legitimate fears about an overreaching federal government. But he said that “right-wing nutballs are aligning themselves with these movements” and are dominating media coverage.
“It’s bad for Republicans because in the absence of any real leadership, the freaks fill the void and define the party,” McKinnon said.
Who are the real Republican leaders? McCain seems to be the Senior Stateman of his party with Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee turned TV entertainer following up. Who knows what Sarah Palin is or where she fits in. Eric Cantor certain has a following as does Bobby Jindal. Are these people involved with these “I Hate Obama” shenanigans?
The groups behind these ‘tea party rallies’ are rather undefined and loose-knit. Saturday’s march is sponsored by the same loose-knit coalition of groups that helped to organize health-care protests over the summer and anti-tax rallies in the spring. They include the Tea Party Patriots, ResistNet and Freedomworks, a Washington-based organization headed by former House majority leader Richard Armey (R-Tex.). The march has also been heavily publicized by Fox News host Glenn Beck as part of his “9-12 Project.”
The groups behind the protests include a broad array of self-described libertarians, independents and other factions, who have emerged as a force largely independent of GOP leaders in Washington. Some of that is by design: Leading activists among the conservative groups say they remain suspicious of a party that endorsed runaway deficits, a Wall Street bailout and other Bush-era policies they found objectionable.
Mainstream Republicans need to be very careful about who they align themselves with. The gun toters and the mustache drawers will be called out if they try to run for office.
The appearances underscore the increasing efforts by conservative Republicans to embrace the anti-Obama protests, even as others remain uncomfortable with the more extreme elements that frequent such gatherings. Some protesters this year have loudly disrupted community meetings, brought guns to Obama events and likened the president to Adolf Hitler
Perhaps those with the tinfoil hats will leave the GOP. Once that happens the rest of us can discuss real politics rather than erasing fake mustaches off pictures of the President.
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“…including those who carry swastika signs or obsess over the veracity of Obama’s Hawaiian birth.” Okay, this is BAD. I have blogged with at least one tea-partier and he doesn’t qualify as a Nazi-nut. I can totally understand protesting taxes and I have no problem with is (so long as it’s not on the 4th of July or in front of a retirement home). But this is just pure hatred and it is being encouraged. This needs to end now.
“aka I Hate Obama Rally”… your complete ignorance is really showing today.
By the way… I love how you far left radicals post threads of a late term abortion provider being killed (Tiller the Killer) but completely ignore when a pro-lifer is targeted and shot dead by one of your own.
And we all know the Democrats are the party of sanity and gentility–oh, except when they were accusing George Bush of being a Nazi, slamming the military (Murtha), and loudly booing Bush during a State of the Union over Social Security reform.
Indeed, they are the party destined for sainthood.
And I don’t “hate Obama.” I respect him and the office of the President. What I hate is the dissembling and the massive spending on as-yet unproven initiatives. Weren’t we promised that the stimulus would keep unemployment below 8 percent?
And where is the coverage of the ACORN scandal? They received millions in stimulus funds, and now they are caught dispensing tax-evasion advice to a couple posing as a prostitute and pimp who want to bring in underage girls from overseas.
Shhhh, everyone will think I “hate Obama” if I bring this gem up.
Maybe no one notices, but I generally refer to President Obama just that way, as “President” in CAPS. Only rarely does simply “Obama” slip out of my fingers, just out of laziness or carelessness, I guess.
That is a sign of respect.
This is all about the underlying, hideous factor of the racism that is so deeply ingrained in the American character. The attempt to portray this president (Of all people!) as a socialistic, left wing extremist doesn’t even pass the giggle test for people who have bothered to pay attention to their times and their history. Let’s face it – Franklin D. Roosevelt, he ain’t! They can’t obstruct his agenda with a manufactured scandal regarding his personal life, as they did with Bill Clinton. eleven years ago. Their only hope is for enough of the American people to become really frightened by the Big, Bad Negro Commie. An ironic description when one takes into consideration how boringly moderate Obama really is.
Think about this: In the last presidential campaign only one of the nominees of the two major political parties was born in the United States – Barack Obama – John McCain was born in Panama. Do you find it as revealing as I do that it was the black guy had his citizenship called into question? How much more proof do we need of the overt racism that is inherent in that party – or in our own country for that matter? Honestly, this isn’t rocket science, folks!
Joe Wilson and the nincompoops on the far right have opened a Pandora’s Box that may very well prove difficult to close. What they are now doing – consciously or unconsciously – are prompting their brain-dead masses toward violence. and intimidation. Who can forget the asshole who showed up outside one of the president’s Town Hall meetings in New Hampshire last month with a gun strapped to his leg? My biggest worry is that that little incident is merely a small illustration of worst things to come. If you are not seriously alarmed by what is now happening to our beloved country, you’re not paying attention.
And now Glenn Beck is all set to become the Martin Loony King of the Far Right with his stupid March of Washington today.
Isn’t life interesting?
http://www.tomdegan.blogspot.com
Tom Degan
Goshen, nY
Hello, your desire to be placed in time out is really showing today. I am not being rude to you and I expect you not to be rude to me. Turn ‘expect’ into ‘require.’
Emma, I try also but I got used to just saying Obama when he was running and I often slip.
You know, I thought about the acorn situation and truthfully, I don’t know enough about ACORN to even voice an opinion. What’s to cover?
I can retell the story everyone else has heard on tv at least 30 times. The Census has severed any relationship with that organization. Independent film makers caught some ACORN workers in Baltimore helping a couple skirt around the law on serious issues. It was a sting by citizens rather than law enforcement. Serious stuff.
That’s pretty much all I know…same as everyone else. I didn’t like what I already knew about the organization to start with so boo hoo. I am sure others will tear into them now.
Emma, you and I can both agree that there are people out there who dislike what they see at the tea parties who aren’t Democrats. I would also say that most people who are at those things dislike the current President. Am I wrong? That seems to be the one theme, unless I am deaf and blind.
To all, I don’t understand why everything must be an either/or situation. Is it possible to respect President Obama, like some things he is pushing while disliking others, without going into psycho-rage? Can we criticize an individual such as Joe Wilson for a certain behavior without dragging out every Democrat who has been a rude, loutish AH during the past 50 years?
Many folks here seem to have a hard time differentiating between President Obama, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid.
“Either/or” is a logical fallacy. That’s why the “If you’re not with us, you’re against” us mentality is dangerous–it’s illogical, presumptuous and scary.
@Tom Degan
Great post Tom! Welcome. I am alarmed, yes, but down here in Prince William we have been living with organized racism and intimidation tactics for a long while. We have learned that eventually they go too far and implode under the weight of their own hatred.
I am worried about political violence. Political violence has already occurred so the time for worry has passed. But our country will get through this. It’s not like we did away with slavery without a push back. When slavery was in jeopardy what did the racists do? They pushed back harder. Same thing happened with the Civil Rights movement. There was horrible violence. But even still progress was the eventual result.
In America hate can never win because the average person is good at heart. It is sad that a the Grand Old Party has been reduced to organizing based on hatred. I don’t think it was by design. It was just a long slow slippery slope. They will rebound eventually. Or just split into two parties.
Emma, I’m glad that you do not hate Obama. But don’t try to paint a pretty face on what this movement is really about. I’ve seen hundreds of faces on TV today at the Right Wing Extremism Rally and there was not a single speck of pigmentation. You think they’d have the sense to hire a few people of color. There are some Americans, but not enough, who live such a sheltered life that they would not notice something is wrong when 99.9 percent of a rally of thousands of of people is white. This in a city that is majority minority and in an area of the country that is very, very diverse. Race is the 800 pound gorilla in the room here, Emma. You have to face at least that much. Candy coat if you must. But don’t deny what all of our eyes can see.
The only way I could back you up at all, Emma, is to say this: these people are afraid of the future. They are afraid of an America where white people do not have a majority. I don’t know why, but they are. They are afraid of an America where there are mixed race people running around. They are afraid of the young people who do not judge or hate based on skin color or sexual orientation. They know that the traditions of prejudice before patriotism are dying out. They fear the nation we are becoming. And Obama symbolizes that in so many ways. Father an African immigrant. Mixed race. Appeals to young people even though he is not that young. Patriotism before prejudice. It’s all scary for the old guard. Race is a part of that, but not all of it.
Sure, they might be worried that richest of the rich might have to go back to the tax rates they had under Clinton. But I really, really doubt that.
It doesn’t take long before the old race card is pulled. So, with the Democrats these days, you’re either with us, or your an Obama-hating racist.
That argument is wearing thin, and will eventually cost left all credibility.
Besides, I thought Carter was an awful President, worse than the current one in some ways, and should never have been put in office. Can you find a way to inject racial hatred into that?
Shelly, how can you (and Mr. Degan) possibly be privy to the minds and hearts of thousands of American demonstrators? Where do you get your “facts”? You’re sounding perilously like the Fox News watchers you so gleefully deride–one side of the story, all day, all the time. Or do you just make this stuff up and assume it’s true?
How much of a racist is my Hispanic colleague who voted for Pres. Obama but is now having deep regrets? What about a couple I am friends with in Florida who voted for him, but now have attended a tea party to protest the “stimulus”? Where do you classify them on the racial-hatred scale?
Your knee-jerk assumptinos of racism sound an awful lot like prejudice, Shelly and Tom. You may want to look that word up to see what it means.
Not plausible Emma. You don’t have to be a Democrat or a minority to see the writing on the wall. What do you say to Mark McKinnon (quoted above) who ran George W. Bush’s campaign and advised John McCain? Is he imagining it too? This is another skirmish in our nation’s centuries long race war, fated when our founding documents declared all men equal.
I am not a Democrat, but I smelled a rat from the very first Birther rally. The fact that it has grown beyond that is a testament to how desperately the Republican party needs strong, principled leaders who are courageous enough to reign these people in.
And why do you suppose the demonstrators are overwhelmingly white and middle class? Could it be because the only grandiose promise the President has made to that group is that they will be presented with the bill for all of his largesse?
Time to get on with my day and go to work. There are people lining up outside my house waiting for my tax dollars to be handed to them.
Emma, it’s not that I’m happy that race is dividing our country the way it is. I respectfully ask you to listen to yourself in your last post. You are framing this in a way that basically says our mixed race African American President is trying to hurt the white middle class. I’m not happy at all. I’m really very uncomfortable with this.
But don’t try to say that Tea Bagger America amounts to the ENTIRE white middle class. Even if there are thousands of people partaking in Glenn Beck’s publicity show today, it’s only a small fraction of the white middle class.
This is a very extreme, fringe group of people. They are stoked by race issues as your own comment indicates. I am not saying that they are bad people. I truly feel sorry for them. They are so afraid. I think they are made afraid by people who are motivated by greed, power, and profit.
But that’s just my take.
What should be clear to everyone is that this very small fraction of our society is NOT the white middle class. It’s a small fraction of that. One day soon, I think it will be clear this small fraction of society was as WRONG ABOUT OBAMA as they were WRONG ABOUT BUSH.
It’s the SAME FOLKS, Emma. They just tend to be wrong because they are manipulated by the wrong types of emotions. The negative ones.
Ahhh, it’s sooooo much fun to watch the far left come unhinged at the notion of “change and hope” only lasting for 6-8 months. You may be watching Socialism’s last gasp of air! Keep calling it hate and racism! Please, just keep repeating the “racism” mantra over and over. Take ads out in newspapers, buy huge billboards! You can fool some of the people some of the time……
ShellyB, I believe you’ve met your match in Tom Degan! If I could arrange the two of you to have your own cable TV channel, I’d do it in a heartbeat! You’ve got the message America needs to hear again and again and again coming from the left.
It’s not the middle class organizing and running the tea parties, as far as I know.
I just watched a little bit of the Glenn Beck special for the Tea Party extravaganza. He was very disappointed with the crowd estimate. 60,000. He said it must be wrong. He trying to play the role of a journalist in terms of his demeanor. Even though his words and his laughable little video project were hardcore right wing advocacy if not propaganda.
But I give him kudos for maintaining his marbles. He must have been heavily coached to bottle up the twitching, screaming, and crying. This made it a lot less disconcerting to watch than I expected.
His man in the field made no pretension at all about being a journalist. He was bouncing off the walls with excitement to be around so many people who are also in the 10 percent of the population that does not intersect with reality. And loudly exclaims as much.
Early in the show, the man in the field tried to characterize the group as saying “They are Black, they are White.” But his cameras couldn’t find any evidence of that despite the numerous crowd shots.
@Posting As Pinko
Great point, Pinko. But the consumers of the Glenn Beck program and other right wing extremist media campaigns (talk radio) are mostly middle class. That doesn’t mean that they are MOST of the middle class. It just means that the middle class supplies the 10 percent of our total population who believes in the intricate network of lies designed to blind them to their own self interest and the best interest of our nation.
Emma is smart enough to realize that. I think even Racist Moniker Man is smart enough to realize that.
But there’s no law that says 10 percent of the population can’t try to take over the government. In PWC we saw less than one percent try to take over the government and they succeeded for a few months before it completely backfired and Gospel Greg became a laughing stock a la Glenn Beck.
mmmmm, the natives are restless! Keep it coming! Class-Warfare!, Racism! Extremism! Hatred!!
I have to say, when I was on the “other” side and worried about Bush and his policies, I hated that people made me out to be an idiot just because I saw a different reality. I remember being against the Iraq war, from the very beginning, and I felt like I was being labeled “unpatriotic” because I thought we were headed into a nightmare with our eyes closed.
There is a fringe that scares me, no doubt about it. The visceral hatred for President Obama is quite frightening. But, there are legitimate concerns from people regarding how much money is being spent and how it will all turn out to be a benefit and not a drain on this nation. I for one believe the money spent is necessary!
I appreciate your recognition that there are legitimate concerns being raised by the protesters. Not only do I disagree about the necessity of the money being spent, but I disagree with the underlying premise of redistribution of wealth.
I have a couple of patents (which have not made a dime), but I do intend to see if they can be marketed. If these re-distributive policies are successful, then I will pursue these new technologies elsewhere.
march on Washington d.c video response
I think all of this speculation about racism actually cheapens the Obama Presidency. What, is no one supposed to consider the President a worthy opponent? Are we supposed to just cave, shut up and pay our exhorbitant taxes because he’s a black guy and should get a break?
Sounds a lot like affirmative action to me. And here I thought the man was rather well-educated and well-spoken.
All good points Elena and Kelly. But if the anti-Health Care Reform lobbyists are going to exploit people who organize around racism, then it is just disingenuous to say that racism is not involved. If you are going to exploit it, you own it. Don’t exploit it and then try to say “Oh how awful that you noticed the ugliness! Your fault for noticing. Not my fault for exploiting!”
Sure there are many people who have concerns that have nothing to do with race. But somewhere in the political calculus they decided that they couldn’t go to battle without the screaming extremists. Probably thought they couldn’t get enough media attention. Or couldn’t get big enough crowds.
That is why no one in elected office is willing to stand up to the Birthers or the Deathers or the other zaney extremists who are so focused on Obama’s ethnic background, immigrant father, funny name, etc.
If people like this McKinnon guy were getting any traction in the GOP, I would say your point has some merit. But the sane and responsible ones are being drowned out by the extremists and conspiracy theorists.
As a Democrat, I would not like it at all if “Truthers” got all the media attention and had a big rally on the National Mall and became synonymous with the Democratic party. I think that the leadership would put a stop to it if such a thing even started to happen. Nip it in the bud.
But the Republicans are afraid to stand up to the buds of their party. Probably because they fear there is not much left to grow if the nip any of those buds. Or they are just afraid of the wrath of Rush Limbaugh. I don’t why. I think it’s disaster for the Republican party. I’d applaud it. Only I am, along with many others, concerned about the political violence, hate crimes, and assassinations that have already taken place since Obama took office. I’m concerned that more will come.
I take it back. Racist Moniker Man is not smart enough to realize much in the realm of reality. Again, if you can’t even hide your racism when you chose a fake name to blog under, what good is it to pretend racism is not involved?
But Emma and Kelly, I do sympathize with you. There is a really problem in your party with the extremists and racists getting more than their fair share of attention. You can blame those who are noticing and speaking out. But we are not the problem. Your problem is the millions and millions of people who are taking note and not speaking out. They’re just making judgments about where the R’s are coming from. And they are not impressed.
@Tom Degan
You’re really scraping bottom if you have to troll for hits to your blog here. 🙂
What bothers me: swastikas, violence, hysteria, believing the media and other leaders without questioning.
What doesn’t bother me: marching to protest taxes.
@RingDangDoo
Tom has a great post on the Beatles.
There are two distinct cultures within the Republican party, and people from both camps (center right and far right) are trying to hold that coalition together. When there is no civility or decorum, and where a lack thereof is celebrated and rewarded, this can be a messy process. But this isn’t all that different from President Obama trying to hold together Democrats who demand the Public Option and Blue Dog Dem’s who prefer the cooperative approach, or trying to hold on to support from anti-war Democrats while extending a hand to moderates and hawks. The only difference is that the Republican party has no clear leader right now. When it did, when McCain was the standard bearer, he was able to tamp down the lunacy. This was not that long ago.
And since the election, I want to point out that the RNC is making an effort to appeal to minorities, elevating Michael Steele to Chairman for instance, or tapping Bobby Jindal to give the response to President Obama’s first speech before the joint session. What must happen now, or at least soon, is that Republican leaders must stand up to the far right elements of the party, not so forcefully or disrespectfully that they desert the party, but firmly enough that the center right show reestablishes its authority over the far right, which by definition needs to take a back seat if the party is going to survive. The establishment Republicans all know this. It will take a coalition, though, to impress it upon the excited base of the party. And it will take a great leader at the head of that coalition. Right now, there is a leadership vacuum as is always the case when there is no presumed or actual Presidential nominee. But this will change.
There will be two wars for the soul and the future of the Republican party. First will be the primaries of 2010. Then will come the Presidential primary of 2012.
And this, my friends, is the real problem with schizophrenia. What happens when ShellyB finds out her sense of “reality” has been lying to her, probably for years?
great post Last Best Hope. I hope the Republican Party can find its way, a viable democracy needs good and healthy debate@Last Best Hope
This really wasn’t intended as a thread for everyone to insult each other. Ithink the concerns people have go far beyond racism. I am not saying some people don’t have issues over race, just that anyone out there at the protests is a racist is not a fair statement.
Furthermore, this looks like a different crew that what I have seen at the townhall meetings. Fewer tinfoil hats by far. Some of the people I am hearing have some legitimate concerns.
So is this the rise of a new party? What will the party look like and what will become of the old 2 parties?
Off topic but someone here surely knows. Regarding victim compensation for 911–amounts varied from about $300,000- $3,000,000. The average compensation was about $1.3 million per victim killed.
Where did this money come from?
Did pentagon victims get compensated?
What determined the amount people got?
Much of it was Saudi, wasn’t it?
But Moon Howler, you set it up with the AKA I Hate Obama comment.
@Posting As Pinko
>>>Tom has a great post on the Beatles
I’ll “Let It Be”. 😉
M-H, you’re right. But it is a sensitive subject for a lot of Republicans.
Funny how Racist Moniker Man attacks me for echoing things that moderate Republicans are saying. Even right here on this blog post. But no, he ignores that and go after me for agreeing. I prefer reality based Republicans who talk about small government, low taxes, and wars whenever possible. These Teabaggers, Birthers, and Deathers make no sense to me. There is no hope of having a dialogue. But it’s not my call to make. It’s for the Republicans to decide. If you want Teabaggers, Birthers, and Deathers to run the party, go for it.
It’s not my call to decide the future of the Republican party.
Okay. I may be siding with the moderate Republicans. But tat’s because they are right. But extremist Republicans: you should be mad at the moderate Republicans not me. If you really want the GOP to remain “The Party of No Minorities,” the party of Deathers, Birthers, and Hatemongers, then it’s the moderate Republicans who stand in your way. Not me.
@Moon-howler
@ShellyB
You seem to have a “deep reach” on teabagging.
I have to back up what Shelly B said. Of course, people have a lot of concerns that need to be addressed. Also, I am not saying that anyone who opposes President Obama or who discusses those feelings on this blog is racist. However, as I’ve stated in the past, I hate when people refer to race/racism as a card. It is a real thing that merits discussion at times.
Granted, race issues are not always the root of the problem when they are brought up, but that does not mean that are to be dismissed whenever they are mentioned. Just as it looks bad on someone who sees racism in every aspect of life, it looks EQUALLY bad on someone who shuts down and dismisses its possibility whenever it is mentioned.
As far as the people I know personally who are supportive of the tea parties…one is a young guy in his 20s who loves to get angry at happy hours and shout his conservative ideals. At one such happy hour, he got very soused. An African-American guy tried to offer him a Hennessy, and he loudly refused. He said that a good Carolina boy like himself would never drink that stuff, because it was a black man’s drink. Not his finest hour…(there are many more stories about this dude being prejudiced against various groups of people).
The other guys I know that have vocally supported the tea parties have been known to tell jokes about minorities at work during lunch. I am not saying that everyone or even most in support of or attending the tea parties is racist, but that this concept definitely has attracted some of the more prejudiced people I am acquainted with.
@ShellyB
You did get all three: racist, extremism, and hate, so good job there. Still nowhere close to coherence, but certainly on par with your usual work. Grade: A
@DiversityGal
I don’t know, I think Shelly would agree with me that’s ALL about racism and extreme hatred all the time. Anyone who dares to question the great unifier, the bringer of hope and change is clearly motivated by extreme racial hatred (Shelly, you’re free to use that one!). There were possibly 1.2 million extreme racist hate-mongers in DC today! Sleep well!
@ShellyB
You need some Valium and a fifth (at least) of Tequila to reset your internal ‘clock’. Your nonsensical diatribes make Republicans look really good!
@Slowpoke Rodriguez
>>>You seem to have a “deep reach” on teabagging.
But if there was….
Well, if she didn’t….
I knew a gal that….
Oh, never mind.
🙂
@An Ordinary Joe
Do the people out there on the mall like Obama? You could have fooled me.
Let’s see, I started a discussion of racism because I said people hated Obama? Now that is a stretch. BS.