Tag: tea parties

The speech was a Rorshach test, Smitty. #rsrh

At least, it was for Kleinheider, coupled with a big heaping of sour grapes about how nobody wants to come out and march for left-populism the way that they want to march for right- and libertarian-populism (not quite the same thing).  For that matter, the sexual connotations in Kleinheider’s first paragraph* would provide interesting fodder for a remote psychological viewing, if I inclined that way.  On the other hand, I haven’t actually seen THAT WOMAN’s speech, so I probably shouldn’t even be opining on the subject.  On the gripping hand: it’s Sunday, and since when do people not opine on subjects just because of… any reason, really?

See Instapundit for a round-up of more reactions.

Moe Lane

*The erotic and sexual aspects associated with vampirism in modern Western society are of course well known; I suggest this post for a perusal of some of the literature.  And this one for a more pragmatic take.

Rhetorician’s Year of Failed Narratives.

#2 was particularly tasty, although my essentially kindhearted and easygoing nature dictates that I be kinder these days to those poor folks trying to spontaneously generate a left-populist movement out of… well, nothing.  Nothing at all*.

(H/T: Instapundit)

Moe Lane

*I know, I know: it’s fun.  Not as much fun as watching elements of the Left now try to co-opt a movement that they spent half a year sexually slurring, of course.  Those people really need to learn to embrace the concept of long-term planning.

Crossposted to RedState.

Eugene Robinson gets the name of RedState right.

It’s actually been a matter of some amusement for us over there: you could tell who the lazy or just dumb reporters were from their habitual reference of the site as Redstate.org, which it hasn’t been for years. Apparently, the Washington Post has gotten around to updating their files, bless their hearts. A shame that Eugene Robinson didn’t then try to actually talk to a Republican before he wrote his column, although I admit that it would have been harder than sneering at the Republicans that live largely in his head.

Let’s unpack a typical paragraph:

Will loyal members inform on others for harboring suspiciously moderate views?

Err, no.

Will anyone judged guilty have to wear a sign saying “Republican In Name Only” as penance?

Err, no.

Will there be re-education camps?

Err, no. Also: cheapening to the memory of victims in the tens of millions.

Will deviationists face the Enhanced Interrogation Technique of being forced to listen to the wit and wisdom of Glenn Beck, at ear-splitting volume, for days on end?

Err, no. Continue reading Eugene Robinson gets the name of RedState right.

Quote of the Day, Jane Hamsher edition.

Well, actually it’s from a Beltway Special sent to Jane Hamsher by Jesse Lee. For those who don’t know, Lee’s job is to collect the urine of Rahm Emanuel, dump it on the Left blogosphere, and then tell them that it was actually precipitation. He admirably does his job here:

The quote in question displays a disdain for bloggers, and while I’ll unequivocally give my word that I do not hear this sentiment from virtually anywhere inside the White House, this is difficult to disprove one way or another.

You can actually see the semantic content of that sentence drain away if you keep watching it for long enough.

Moe Lane

PS: This is one time where throwing gasoline on the fire seems… superfluous.  I mean, what can I say that hasn’t been said already?  Except that possibly some left-bloggers should be kicking themselves right now over their slavish attacks of such a libertarian-friendly group as the Tea Parties.

Oops?

Crossposted to RedState.

Reviewing the August Democratic Party’s town hall performances.

This is not going to be a link-fest; this is going to be a scolding.

Speaking as a former Democrat: August was a personal humiliation for me.  I would never have believed that the Democratic party could have produced such a crop of perpetually-terrified, start-at-their-0wn-shadow, two-for-flinching scaredy-cat politicians as the ones that showed up on our television screens and monitors, usually moving at high speed away from the cameras.  Note that I did not use the term ‘old women.’  They were running away from old women.  Extremely annoyed (and for good reason) old women, true: but you’d have thought that the Democratic party was facing the combined specters of the Mongol Horde, the bubonic plague, and Skynet, the way that their politicians stood not on the order of their coming, but went at once.

Yes, I know that the level of vitriol and projection on the people opposing health care rationing grates on a lot of people.  I’m one of them; probably the most teeth-gnashing aspect for me was watching the Speaker of the House call people who disagreed with her Nazis, particularly since (as somebody else pointed out) a goodly number of the people who she was slandering actually fought Nazis.  The casual sexual slurs and projection of motives weren’t particularly welcome, either.  But what highlighted it for me was the way that  the Democrats hid while they did all of that.  Telephone town halls.  Attempts to hold meetings without telling constituents.  Last-minute changes in venues.  Rigged question-and-answer periods.  Bussed-in ‘supporters.’  Some of them didn’t even dare hold a town hall – and more would have tried that trick, if they hadn’t been pressured into doing it by their Republican challengers.  And the ultimate item?  They’re going to hide behind a dead person and try to pass health care rationing that way.

Which, by the way, won’t work.

All in all, this was just… embarrassing.  I used to identify with this party.  Most of my family still does, in fact – and from now on, when political topics come up, it’s going to be awkward for everybody involved.  Them, for being stuck with a bunch of wimps representing their interests – and me, because I hate seeing my family distressed.

Incredible.  Simply incredible – in the more archaic sense of the word.

Moe Lane

Crossposted to RedState.

How to get sympathetic coverage from NPR on Tea Parties.

Hold out the hope that a national third party – i.e., continued control of the federal government by the Democratic party – will be the end result.  Personally, I think it’s cruel to get their hopes up like that.

Which should not be taken as a request to stop doing it, of course.

(Also via Instapundit – heck, the same post, even.)

Crossposted to RedState.

This is how they see you (image may be NSFW).

[UPDATE]: I’ve had a copy of the image sent to me that includes the URL.  The Google cache for the site is here; as you can see, not only did the image originate from the site, but the author him/herself was present at the Reston Town Hall, writing posts about it.  I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that I think that we’ve established that the flier found below represents a deliberate attempt by the Left to incite racially-motivated hate against the Right.

I apologize in advance for the ugly and graphic nature of the image that will be available for viewing after the fold: I would prefer not to show it, but unfortunately somebody decided that it was suitable for distribution after the Reston, VA Town Hall – and I can’t actually talk about it without showing it. Continue reading This is how they see you (image may be NSFW).

Organizing for America up to the task… of running potlucks. #teaparty

Via RS Reader izoneguy comes this heartwarming story of lowered expectations in the health care rationing wars. Yesterday, it was a nascent national movement dedicated to bringing The Audacity Of Hope And Change That You Can Believe In to the huddle masses; today, they’re trying to get enough people together for a decent potluck. And how is it working out for them?

“We had 10 people. Not a huge number, but good,” said Ms. Adkins, 55, who has been an Obama volunteer since the first day she saw him during a stop here on March 11, 2007.

Not that there’s anything wrong with potlucks; in fact, it wouldn’t be a bad idea for the Tea Party folks to start planning to have them after the town halls. Save some money on takeout that way.  Of course, given the number of people who show up to the town halls it’d probably make sense to split them up into multiple potlucks, but that’s a logistical issue. Continue reading Organizing for America up to the task… of running potlucks. #teaparty

Hey, Freedomworks has a mailbag!

Or at least an answering machine.  It looks like the folks over at MoveOn.org and the AFL-CIO decided to send some calls over to FreedomWorks, and with the usual result: slurs, profanity, sexual obsession, histor… actually, there is a lot of sexual obsession in the sample phone calls that Freedomworks have posted; it’s kind of interesting, actually. Anyway… historical inaccuracies, and of course everyone’s favorite: threats of violence.

In other words, pretty much par for the course.  We get sent this stuff all the time, over at RedState.  Heck, I get sent this stuff on a fairly regular basis here, and I blog about zombies.

If you’re losing Ben Cardin (D-MD)…

…a Senator who is barely known for defeating Michael Steele in the 2006 election (honestly, Maryland does not have particularly interesting Senators; sorry about that) – anyway, if you can’t get Ben Cardin to sign off on your ‘astroturf’ rhetoric, well, you have a branding problem.  Watch as he manfully attempts to avoid sweating on national television over the mess that his higher-ups have landed him in:

Cardin probably saw this poll (via @RobertBluey). 71% of adults want to attend a town hall involving health care, and are currently pegged at 50% for, 45% against. Turn those numbers into likely voters… and now you know why Senator Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) suddenly doesn’t think that health care rationing protesters are ‘un-American‘ after all. Not that she’s planning to actually face all those protesters; even if they are also 2010 voters…

Moe Lane

Crossposted to RedState.