Are We Exaggerating the Importance of the Tea-Baggers
Read Time:3 Minute, 21 Second
I must confess that the editorial staff of MMA is guilty of talking about Tea-Baggers, a lot; sometimes weekly, if not daily. It is not because we consider them important in the changing fortunes of our time, because we do not. It is just that they are so darn much fun to write about. If you think about it you will no doubt realize that the Baggers are a Bunch of Boobie Birds, who are led by Boobie Birds like Sarah Palin. They carry signs that make no sense and often contain gross misspellings-IF YOU LIKE OBAMA YOU ARE A MORAN-nonsensical statements-OBAMA IS THE NEXT HITLER- or, one of their top ten: OBAMA IS A SOCIALIST WHO WAS BORN IN KEENYA. They carry guns, talk about secession, and screech about “government health care,” when, in point of fact over 50% of Baggers are collecting Medicare, Social Security, or both. So the Baggers are a ball. That is the bottom line. Now here is a little item from Politico about, well, you guessed it, the importance (or lack thereof) of Baggers:
2009 was the year when many journalists concluded they were slow to recognize the anti-government, anti-Obama rage that gave birth to the tea party movement.
2010 is the year when news organizations have decided to prove they get it.
And get it. And get it some more.
Part of the reason is the timeless truth in media that nothing succeeds like excess. But part of the reason is a convergence of incentives for journalists and activists on left and right alike to exaggerate both the influence and exotic traits of the tea-party movement. In fact, there is a word for what poll after poll depicts as a group of largely white, middle-class, middle-aged voters who are aggrieved: Republicans.
But just read the succession of New York Times stories, profiling newly energized activists who are “bracing for tyranny.” Or follow the dispatches of the CNN crews who went along with two national Tea Party Express bus tours. Or delve into the crosstabs of polls conducted in the past few weeks by the Times, CNN, and, POLITICO about the opinions and demographic characteristics of tea partiers. Or check out the blogger the Washington Post hired to chronicle their movement.
The findings have been unveiled with the earnest detachment of Margaret Mead reporting her findings among teenage girls in Samoa.
Indifference has given way to curiosity, and —in recent weeks especially— to a nearly manic obsession that sometimes seems to place the tea partiers somewhere near the suffragettes and the America-Firsters in the historical ranking of mass political movements.
Pew’s Project for Excellence in Journalism, which tracks media reports, found that the tea parties consumed a steady measure of news for most of this year before exploding during tax week to compete with the Icelandic volcano for attention and outstripping health care with 6% of all media reports that week.
But various sides have their own reasons for finding something new and arresting in the spasms of outrage personified by the tea partiers. The right sees the protests as evidence of a popular revolt against President Barack Obama—proof of a changing tide they believe will bring massive victories in 2010 and 2012. The left sees them as evidence of incipient fascism and an opposition to Obama rooted in racism—proof of the beyond-the-pale illegitimacy of large swaths of the conservative moment.
The tea party “movement,” meanwhile, has little organizational structure to speak of. True tea party candidates – as opposed to establishment figures like former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio who have gladly adopted the label – have failed to make a dent so far in Republican primaries. The one true tea partier poised to make a splash, Kentucky GOP Senate candidate Rand Paul, is an imperfect example thanks to his being the son of Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas), who still commands a national following after his quixotic presidential race.
Happy
0 %
Sad
0 %
Excited
0 %
Sleepy
0 %
Angry
0 %
Surprise
0 %
0
0
Are we exaggerating the importance of teabaggers? (we buy gold) Not to put too fine a point on it (we buy gold), no. Lots of tebaggers (we buy gold) have genuine grievances (we buy gold), lost their retirement value, (we buy gold) just like everybody else, except Wall Street (we are buying the gold).
https://madmikesamerica.com/2010/03/the-lawyer-and-the-engineer-a-clockwork-beck/
G. Gordan Liddy pimping the blinge, biatches.
Mother Hen you’re right! I looked at Becks’s site one time and it was almost a parody of itself, every inch jammed with ads for buying gold.
They are just comedy gold. That is why people continue writing about them. Like watching a train wreck, you know you should just keep going but you want to see the wreckage. That’s my take on it.
Anyone else notice that the ad by the tweet window for this article is for GOLD? I wonder what triggered that? Mentioning teabaggers, Glenn Beck, or both?
And don’t forget the best sign of all, “Keep the Government out of my Social Security.” Fuuuuu…OK.
I quite like Tetley Tea Bags. A nice cup of Tetley Tea in the morning is as good as it gets.
America is behaving very oddly at the moment.
Its a good thought… but Mike, they are getting their own network. Much like John Birch-ers… before it was over, the damage done by them (to the country as a whole) was actually very profound. I think it’s kind of naive’ to think they have no cumulatory affect on politics or what is going on in the moment. They are responsible for a 24% of the vote, according to independent polling. I guess I’m saying so because I can see and feel their presence so intimately where I am demographically. Glen Beck has a large following in my county. And with Dick Chenney making a hit for Rubio down here,I have to stop and think about it… what effect do the ignorant, the fearful, the haters and the racists… what effect is spreading through them?
Just saying…