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Any party goers here? (Teaparties on July 4th apparently!)
Henroid
Mexican kicked from Immigration ThreadCentrism is Racism :3Registered User regular
Mexican kicked from Immigration ThreadCentrism is Racism :3Registered User regular
So due to a mix of laziness and bad luck I had to run out to the post office to file my taxes. Bleh. I decided to mix in a couple trips, one of them being to the bank. And lucky me, there was a rally (not a teaparty unfortunately) going on at the fountain across from the bank here in Tyler! I mean, I guess this is the town square. I digress.
After doing my business in the bank, I walked on up to the rally to see what the hubub was about. The gentleman speaking, who I don't know, was going on about what people can do to make the government follow the will of the people. It was generally fair, talking about writing to people in and out of your districts, talking about how you can still inform them of how you're going to help promote their opponent candidate, etc. I mean hey, democracy right?
Because of that I decided not to be a party-pooper and yell out stuff like, "Yay Obama," or sign their petition with
Obama. These folks were, for the most part, just being fair. Though I was a little dismayed at the presence of children, but what the hell ever.
Probably the most exciting thing there was the, and pardon the stereotype, angry fat bitch who was doing the extreme anti-Obama yelling at cars on the corner. Her friend wasn't too bright, pointing out that I had driven by several times and was SUSPICIOUS (everyone there had taken all the parking, what the fuck was I supposed to do). For them I considered yelling at, but didn't. I'm a hack I know.
So has anyone else seen or participated in any of the rallies or teaparties going on today? For ElJeffe's sake, let's stick to the events of today and nothing else please.
Edit - So it turns out there are similar events being planned for July 4th.
After doing my business in the bank, I walked on up to the rally to see what the hubub was about. The gentleman speaking, who I don't know, was going on about what people can do to make the government follow the will of the people. It was generally fair, talking about writing to people in and out of your districts, talking about how you can still inform them of how you're going to help promote their opponent candidate, etc. I mean hey, democracy right?
Because of that I decided not to be a party-pooper and yell out stuff like, "Yay Obama," or sign their petition with
Obama. These folks were, for the most part, just being fair. Though I was a little dismayed at the presence of children, but what the hell ever.Probably the most exciting thing there was the, and pardon the stereotype, angry fat bitch who was doing the extreme anti-Obama yelling at cars on the corner. Her friend wasn't too bright, pointing out that I had driven by several times and was SUSPICIOUS (everyone there had taken all the parking, what the fuck was I supposed to do). For them I considered yelling at, but didn't. I'm a hack I know.
So has anyone else seen or participated in any of the rallies or teaparties going on today? For ElJeffe's sake, let's stick to the events of today and nothing else please.
Edit - So it turns out there are similar events being planned for July 4th.
Henroid on
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It was six guys on the corner of city hall waving signs and yelling at traffic. We've already been soured as a town on that corner due to an antiwar protest group having used that same corner at lunch hour on Wednesdays every good-weather week for years prior to Obama's election.
This is lunch hour on Wednesday.
EDIT: Oh, yes, and the antiwar protest group was twice as big with three times the signage.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6G3fvNhdoc0
Does that count?
You know, the sad thing is that some part of their message isn't one I take exception with... I'm not a fan of taxes, of gov't putting its nose in everywhere, or of gov't waste. Also, as Henroid mentions, the part about people becoming active in their political destiny is good. But, then the group started in with the "Obama, show us the birth certificate" shit, and I hung my head.
NO! LINCOLN! TAXES! HRRRUGGGGGGGGGGG!
"[Obama]'s a fascist!"
"Why?"
"Because he is."
"The President is a fascist."
"Yes."
"Why would you say something that offensive?"
"Because he's a fascist."
Which is kind of funny as this is one of the passages that I most identify with Abraham Lincoln's philosophy.
That would seem to promote the notion of tax dollars being used in order to ensure an equality of opportunity. Socialism!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCA-3q6t57Q
We ended up with lesbian separatists, the Black Panthers, communist separatists, the Weather Underground, and generally a great deal of unfocused, extremist anger.
People who felt as though they'd been locked out of the political sphere -- mostly due to being firmly in control of that sphere for so long, nearly 40 years -- turned to apolitical means to make their voices heard. The liberal activists, ideologues, and thinkers turned away from politics, and willingly abandoned the Overton window. Essentially, the left ceased to be politically effective, and this in turn drove the left to abandon politics, in a vicious circle.
I think an important aspect here is the emphasis on separatism -- many of the most extreme and radical groups that rose up in the late 60s and early 70s on the left emphasized separatism or rebellion, sometimes violent. These were people who felt so left out of the political discourse that the only response that made sense to them was to extricate themselves from America entirely.
I see a similar tone gaining momentum among conservatives. Most of their language is that of people who feel disenfranchised, ostracized -- outed. They, like liberals from 1932-1968, were firmly in control of the political landscape, and now feel as if the rug has been pulled out from under them. Their country has been taken away from them. And similar to the radical liberals of yore, they have misinterpreted their privileges as rights. The tea parties are a perfect example of this. It's not focused, it's not informed. It's nebulous anger and a desire to be free of what America now is and America's politics. I mean, what was the original tea party, if not separatist? They're channeling that same anger of the dispossessed. Or just watch Glenn Beck to see what I'm talking about.
The reason I say this is exciting is that the separatist liberalism of the late 60s and early 70s tarnished the entire range of liberal ideology, even that of moderates. It made liberal a dirty word. It allowed conservatives to grab the patriotism label. It discredited progressivism as a movement. It moved the Overton Window to the right.
I think we are seeing the beginnings of something very similar -- some more protests, even some organized radical groups, and a bombing or two and I think you've set the stage for completely impotent conservatism for the next thirty to forty years.
Obama gets a lot of comparisons to Reagan, but I really think he's more like our Nixon (except honest). Transitional, not too partisan, fairly popular, burdened with a predecessor's war and following a period of polarizing social politics.
But we should get excited because our Reagn is just 16-20 years down the pipeline, and then we can have some serious unchecked liberalism. 90% top marginal income tax rates ho!
"Are you covering todays tea parties? I am trying to decide what networks are fair, and would like to know if I can tune in to you."
"Will you be reporting on the news today? The actual news, of the tea parties going on all around the country, or will we be seeing more of Obama's dog."
Uuuuuuuuuuugh.
I really hope someone just makes it crystal clear that this has NOTHING to do with taxes. I like how Obama today came out, pointed out the giant tax CUTS he's put forth so far in office, and then talked about his plan to overhaul the way the tax department and tax filings work, and no one has cared.
"These tea parties are beacuse we want lower taxes!"
Obama lowered taxes."
"...We need to be heard!
"Obama also is going to overhaul the tax system."
".......he's a facist!!!"
A: Obama was elected President during his first term in the Senate.
B: Obama is in his first term as President.
Therefore, Obama must be drawn with a Hitler mustache.
And please remember that he's doing this at a protest that has nothing to do with term limits.
That's not what happened at all. And the 40 years of dominance was measured as Democratic Control over the Legislature (more specifically the House), rather than the Presidency. The 60's-80's extreme liberalism was just a result of crazy boomers reacting to their times, not due to Nixon being elected after 8 years of domestic liberalism. Particularly since Nixon continued most of that liberal mandate in a number of new areas. This is not exactly unique, but it doesn't have the parallels with the 60's radicals that you are drawing. Nor the causes for it.
At least they're at the right building. It would be hysterical if they were by the Picasso outside City Hall, rather than at the Federal Complex, complaining about Federal laws.
Not to participate, mind you. Just to gaze in wonder at the dozen or so Philly conservatives they managed to scrape up for the event.
They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30227452/
Those whacky socialists and their permits.
They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
partisan source but apparently someone in DC threw a box over the White House fence leading to a temporary cancellation of the protest by the SS.
They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
Because I don't think our's is until the summer sometime, bunch of whiners.
I'll never understand why people insist on demonizing the other side with name calling and blatant lies, when all it does is make them look like idiots, and guarantee that anyone who agrees with them, even rational intelligent people, will be ignored because of it.
I'm fiscally conservative, and want taxes to be as low as possible, but people complaining about taxes in the States makes me laugh. Oh no, the rich are going to have to pay 39% income tax! How terrible! The rate definitely isn't much higher in other developed nations! Oh, wait...
The highest tax bracket here is nearly 50%, and people don't complain nearly as much.
...April 15th is the day that taxes are due in the United States.
They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
Which still seems like a silly reason to call it tax day. Most people(or God I hope so) don't do anything on April 15th, they've organized and filed their taxes over a period of days, weeks or months in advance.
Add in the fact that the people who put it off until now are the people what owe money. If you're getting a refund, on average you filed two months ago.
It's the result of Rovian politics which knowingly condenses complex issues into simple catch phrases and then seeds them through right wing media like Fox News to be blurted out at every instance possible, making it almost impossible to debate against because you can bring up that fact that 95% of people (everyone at these tea parties for sure) are getting a tax cut, but they just yell back "SOCIALISTTTTT"
I did manage to track this so-called "tax freedom day" down, and coincidentally it was two days ago. Canada's is in June.
The "tea party" being reference is to the Boston Tea Party. People are trying to work it up as if they're being taxed without fair representation.
In teabagging news:
Stickin' it to da Man!
They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
Not to mention that most of the taxes are automatically withheld (by estimation) from your paycheck, so the taxes are being paid over the entire year, not just on Tax Day when you make up the difference.
Fuck, I look forward to Tax Day because it means i'll get a fat rebate check around then.