“Be fluent in conversational tea-bag in just a few short minutes…” says NPR.
Seriously? Just so we’re clear, the issue is not the content – trust me, there is much worse out there – but the fact that it’s NPR. National PUBLIC Radio. And our tax dollars are paying for it. So basically, the tone is “HAHA look how we’re spending your money, Â tea baggers!!”
Defunding works, Congress.
I went a lot of places this year. And I took a lot of photos. Here are some of the highlights.
The DC Tax Day Tea Party: April 15th, 2009. The first time I ever went to a rally - I emceed. It was 40 and raining and generally hellish. But incredible.
Me with Riley and her mom Gloria at the Tucson Tea Party on July 4th. Totally opposite of the above photo - over 100 degree day in the desert.
Rebecca Wales, Marsha Blackburn, Me, and Teri Christoph at the 9/12 March.
Crowd shot of the 9/12 March on DC. Nothing tops this march in my top 2009 moments.
The RFC boys and I at the Smart Girl Summit in Nashville, TN in September. Clearly, we were hard at work.
Kristen Hawley, Michelle Malkin and I in Nashville after the Smart Girl Summit.
Me with Michelle Bachmann at the Nov. 5th House Call rally.
Me with some of our New Jersey Smart Girls before I spoke in Jackson, New Jersey this November.
Of course there were a ton more. It’s been a hell of a year.
In case you missed it, teabagging is now an acceptable term from Presidents.
Here’s the thing. I’m younger than a lot of my readers. I was 11 when I learned what a “Lewinsky” was from my President. Classy, right? That’s a huge problem. It brought something that was not even on my radar into every day conversation, and made it not only acceptable, but entertainment. If I was older, I probably would have been humiliated. However, it was just novel and funny to a middle schooler, and our President made it okay.
Unfortunately, in the past few days both President Obama and President Clinton have referred to us as teabaggers. I wish I was making this stuff up. Say what you will about Bush, but he was faithful to his wife, and he never would have called the opposition “teabaggers”. As Melissa Clouthier pointed out on twitter yesterday, “Do we really want the President of the United States using a term that describes one person sucking another person’s testicles ?” We can’t be PC about this.
Our silver tongued President referred to us as “those tea bag people” while among Democrats, and it was caught by a reporter. That’s all we are, right y’all? Tea baggers who show up with guns and rant about how Obama is a Kenyan Muslim?
Um, no.
I had a fascinating conversation with a self-professed liberal author this week. She was working on an article and seeking to understand the Right. After an hour long conversation in which we discussed my stance on war, education, free markets, freedom, capital punishment, drug legalization, and everything else we could cover, she closed with “well, you’re not a bad person, and you’re not crazy.” Um, thanks?
She acknowledged that the media had made a “caricature” of us. She was stunned to find out I’m not a birther. I was like, no, honestly a lot of us cringe when we see those signs at events. That’s not what we’re about. In short, “It’s the economy, stupid!” It’s not about Obama, or abortion or anything but freedom and the desire for the government to get off our collective back.
However, I can’t fault her for expecting a rabid, gun toting, illiterate degenerate. As a California liberal, her coverage comes from the main stream media. I was grateful for the chance to give her some insight to the idea of personal accountability and liberty. Did I make a convert? No. I know she didn’t mean her closing comment as an insult. But it’s sad that it took an hour long conversation for her to reach that conclusion… and that she felt it necessary to qualify that I wasn’t a racist nut job at the end.
What else can we expect? We have been reduced to a caricature of what we really are. We are portrayed as a racist, fringe minority by Republicans, the media, and the President… can we really expect people who don’t know us to take us seriously? I don’t have an answer. I’d like to think that people would understand freedom and therefore see the motivation. That hope is dimming.
The short story is that we’re NOT insane. I have to look at it this way: it’s indicative of our culture on a larger level. We demonize what we don’t understand, and we demonize the things that are a perceived threat. The idea that people are threatened by freedom is an article unto itself. There was an article a short time ago that referred to conservatism as “brain-dead” and lamented the loss of our great thinkers. This is all part of the same cultural shift. That’s our world. The sound-bite media and the fear of the opposition is not a problem confined to conservatism. I suppose, though, that when conservatism in the past has relied so heavily on it’s scholars, it’s more of a loss. The Left, at least for the past 40 years or so, has relied on activism. It has a history of social change, protests, and revolts. The Right, not so much.
Isn’t it odd to see the roles reversed? The conservatives are the ones protesting and revolting. We’re the ones showing up in force, because we have no other choice. Meanwhile, we have our Glenn Becks and Keith Olbermanns in a talking points war, doing their best to mock and discredit one another. I don’t think things have been so polarized in our country in a really long time.
So where are we headed? When there is no decorum from the highest elected office in the nation, when we are simply reduced to caricatures of ourselves, do we have power? Do we actually have a voice?
Yes. We do. We saw it last week at the polls, and we will continue to see a swing. I believe we’re at a breaking point, and in America, I believe we will break on the side of freedom.
Posted in conservatives, General Controversy, Media Fail, Obama, Tea Parties
Tagged Bill Clinton, Obama, Tea Parties
Because clearly they’re entirely too accomodating to dissenting viewpoints.
If anything, the Democrats’ problem is that they permit too much dissent—unlike the Republicans, who demand “lockstep marching.” In fact, if Democrats would learn to be just a little less tolerant of dissent, they might get a lot more done.
Yeah, they just get STEAMROLLED. Poor little Democrats, bullied by the Republicans over and over again. Like that time they kept the House floor open to make sure that Republicans also had time to speak. Or maybe that time they took the time to hear the concerns of the public on the stimulus package before it was rammed through.
Or maybe when they listened so closely to concerns about health care. They were SO RECEPTIVE to widespread concern that President Obama didn’t have to go on TV 4 times a day for an entire 3 month stretch to say the SAME THING over and over. Republicans were just bastards who didn’t bother offering any other plans.
Uh, right. (Side note: I need a sarcasm font desperately.)
They have done everything in their power to silence protesters and dissenting voices. Period. The media coverage has been laughable.
They have a 60 seat supermajority in the Senate. They have a 70 seat advantage in the House. They have a President who is willing to ram through as much horrible legislation as possible. They don’t need one Republican to accomplish anything. Not one nasty little GOPer has the ability to stand in the way of the their Utopian society under Team Lightbringer.
I have no patience for the pity game. Man up, lefties. You have the power to do whatever you want. You claim the the whole world wants your version of America. In the words of our President, “the stars have aligned”. Why aren’t you making this happen?
Democrats are realizing that their constituents don’t want them to support these proposals. They’re risking their jobs by consistently casting “yes” votes for bad bills. We are the ones that hired them. We have the ability to fire them.
WE are the ones standing in their way- you, me, and everyone else who has voiced their opposition. Keep holding their feet to the fire.
Posted in Congress, conservatives, Democrats, GOP, Liberals, Media Fail, Obama, Politics, Tea Parties
Tagged Congress, conservatives, Democrats, Dissent, GOP, Liberals, Obama, Republicans, Tea Parties
Protests and the conservative message are an unnatural pair. As I heard someone joke at a conference years ago: What do we want? Gradual change! When do we want it? In due course! In fact, that’s a great case against the idea that the momentum at town hall meetings, where folks who want limited government and low taxes are speaking up, is contrived.
I’m thrilled to see that this stigma is changing, that protesting is no longer reserved for hippies and Truthers.
But I have a confession. Personally, I’ve never been part of a protest, a town hall meeting or a tea party. Sure, I’m mad as hell about some things on the table and the way the country might be heading, but I haven’t reached that moment where I’m compelled to take to the streets.
Until today.
I’m motivated to speak up and head out to one of these events, but not for the reasons you might think. I am going to make it a priority to attend a couple town hall meetings for the good guys. I want to go and thank them for standing up for the values that make this country strong. (“Values” of course means respecting life and liberty, but I see a moral value too in standing up for prosperity–for making decisions that promote business growth and keep more money in the pockets of the people who earn it to spend it, save it, invest it and yes, donate it, as they please.)
There are no perfect politicians, as there are no perfect people–but there are people making tough choices to support what’s best for America–what aligns with its rich history and what’s logical to ensure its strong future. Republicans who are distinguishing themselves as leaders against a radical, government-takeover of the health care industry need support. Democrats who have taken an unpopular stance against their leaders need to be thanked, especially when those tough choices represent the will of the people they represent. Their job is difficult and when they do the right thing, they deserve our recognition.
If voters create an atmosphere that not only punishes those who do the wrong thing, but also rewards those who take a hard stand, perhaps more politicians would be willing to make the tough choices they fear might cost them their political careers. It would send a great message to those who would consider entering politics, too; we need leaders and legislators, and if we don’t provide a bit of a backbone for them, what incentive do good people have to put themselves and their families through what’s otherwise a pretty ugly system?
Visit your local legislators’ websites and see if they are holding public events while they’re in town for the next few weeks. If your senator or congressman is one of the good guys, thank them for doing the right thing and responding to their constituents. If your legislators are among those on the fence, thank them for their thoughtful consideration and encourage them that they’ll have your support in the future if they take a stand against a cumbersome, intrusive government plan.
Cross-posted at CatherineFavazza.com.
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Tabitha has been kind enough to invite me to contribute to her blog while she’s workin’ on other stuff this week. I’m Katie Favazza and, like Tabitha, I’m part of Smart Girl Politics. You can find me and read more of my blog posts at CatherineFavazza.com. I also invite you to follow me on Twitter.
I took a field trip to New York City, via DC, to speak at the Staten Island Tea Party. Yes, I had fun. Yes, I almost died on the way home. Saw Ground Zero. Did some shopping, some eating. Lots of eating.
The Tea Party was fantastic. There was a storm. And by storm, I mean monsoon. A flood inducing torrential downpour – and as many as 700 crazy people weathered it and stood out in the rain. Lightning struck the water we were on top of, which complicated things temporarily, and we spent the rest of the afternoon huddled under a pavillion.
Some Blackberry snapshots:
Ground Zero
The Statue of Liberty, as we crossed to Staten Island.
Feeling very Sarah Palinish in Wendy’s glasses.
A field full of Italians. 
The crowd.
Me. Preachin’.
Here’s the thing with the Tea Parties. I’ve been a part of four of them now, all in very different parts of the country. Staten Island, New York. Tucson, Arizona. Washington, DC. Richmond, Virginia. Each city had a a completely different vibe. Here’s the thing: It’s all in the next steps. Rallies are great, but the point of them should be to get people fired up and then give them a chance to plug in, to volunteer or donate.
I get really excited when I show up and they tell me about another event – a health care panel, a campaign involving their local representatives. THAT is the goal. Take it to the next level – Tea Parties will lost their luster, but the whole intention is to have something to show for them
Tea Party coordinators – what do you have to show from your rally? Have you been able to support a specific issue? Have you focused on a particular candidate to support? Held panels to keep the dialog going? If the answer is no, then what are you doing with the energy created by the rallies? Don’t let it burn out.
Posted in conservatives, Politics, Tea Parties
