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RedditI've been trying my darndest not to follow the supposedly "grassroots" right-wing tea party revolt (organized by the likes of Dick Armey, Fox News and the Club for Growth) against dear leader Comrade Obama, but it's too amusing to completely ignore.
The best coverage of the would-be revolutionaries comes from the Washington Independent's Dave Weigel, himself a libertarian and recovering man of the right. On his blog Weigel points to a rather illuminating op-ed in the Austin American-Statesman by Matt Mackowiak, who compares the wannabe tax revolt to the cult hit Fight Club. Mackowiak writes:
The coming revolution is akin to "Fight Club," the 1999 film that follows the struggles of day to day life for a regular guy who starts an underground fight club as radical and not terribly productive psychotherapy.
As Brad Pitt's character, Tyler Durden, says in the movie, "Fight Club was the beginning, now it's moved out of the basement, it's called Project Mayhem."
As Weigel rightly notes, "Project Mayhem, of course, was the militarization of the Fight Clubs into terrorist cells that blow up banks." And here I was thinking that Democrats were supposed to be the terrorist appeasers! So clearly Mackowiak is a just a fringe wingnut, right? Well, actually he's the former press secretary to Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson, who is thought to be a principled conservative. So just how accepted have the Tea Parties become inside the GOP?
Jonathan Martin breaks down which GOP leaders will be attending the festivities on Tax Day. John Boehner is a yea, but Mitt Romney, Mitch McConnell and Eric Cantor are nays. Why might they be skipping this radical revolution? Well maybe even GOP leaders are a tad uncomfortable with the overheated rhetoric at these gatherings. At a tea party organized by deranged Fox News host Glenn Beck, a man talks about how Commies infiltrated America and a woman yells "burn the books!" I hesitate to point out that's something the Nazis did. Roll the tape, please.
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Whatsa Matter ARI,
Protests in the streets the baliwick of the Left only?
Don't object too much. One of them may spike your rifle with a flower. (or maybe a dollar bill).
Chip
Posted by william.harry13 at 04/15/2009 @ 11:02am
where are these people from?
Posted by darladoon at 04/15/2009 @ 11:23am
How bad is it when your meeting makes a Sarah Palin rally look like a meeting of the Eisenhower Administration?
LOL
Posted by Mask at 04/15/2009 @ 11:51am
where are these people from?
Posted by darladoon at 04/15/2009 @ 11:23am
Same place as you, obviously.
Whassa matter, can't handle a little "competition"?
Posted by ACook at 04/15/2009 @ 11:55am
WTF?
Let me see if I got this straight...
To understand tea parties, read Dave Weigel
because Weigel talks about Matt Mackowiak
And mackowiak talks about Tyler Durden
Durden says something about blowing up banks
(Now Durden isn't just a fictional character; he is a figment of the imagination of a fictional character in a fictional work called Fight Club.)
This proves people who think taxes are too high are terrorists.
QED
Posted by Darin_the_Big_Fat_Troll at 04/15/2009 @ 12:37pm
"National Priorities Project says that more than thirty-seven (37) cents of every income tax dollar goes to military spending. By contrast, environment, energy and science spending projects split 2.8 cents of every tax dollar, while housing, community and food programs split 3.8 cents."
as posted on todays democracy now!
The rest of that money is said to pay off the interest on OUR own money to the PRIVATE (not-so-federal) "federal" reserve (there are no reserves either)
yea, that great Obama, putting in former head of NYC "federal" reserve Tim (I don't have to pay my taxes) Geithner as our Treasury Secretary (talk about piracy - this is a financial hi-jacking of our government) and our taxes are supporting the WARs and Military Industrial Complex over our own infra-structure and citizens.
http://enemyartistkristofer.blogspot.com
Posted by kristofeR! at 04/15/2009 @ 12:39pm
Posted by Darin_the_Big_Fat_Troll at 04/15/2009 @ 12:37pm
Darin, what do people that want to burn books "prove" as?
Posted by Mask at 04/15/2009 @ 12:50pm
What I think the goal of the Tea Parties should be is to point out that government poses the gravest threat to liberty.
We need Government to be sure. But, how many of you really believe today's Congress has you and your family's long-term interests in mind?
Collectivism is not the answer folks. And that is exactly where our politicians are leading us. That is a direction worth fighting against.
Posted by freiheit1 at 04/15/2009 @ 1:06pm
Darin, what do people that want to burn books "prove" as?
Posted by Mask at 04/15/2009 @ 12:50pm
I can't see the video because our IT dept blocks it so I can't comment. I can't even speculate what books she wants burned. Is it the Tax Code? That might make sense. But I suspect she's not talking about Huck Finn.
Posted by Darin_the_Big_Fat_Troll at 04/15/2009 @ 1:26pm
Collectivism is not the answer folks. And that is exactly where our politicians are leading us. That is a direction worth fighting against.
Posted by freiheit1 at 04/15/2009 @ 1:06pm
Whether or not additional collectivism is the answer depends on the quetion.
Like death, I am resigned to the inevitability of more collectivsm. As people age, they die. As cultures age, they die as well, but not before they lose their sense of adventure and "can do" spirit. When a culture gets lazy and says it's easier to live the life of a parasite than to experience the pride of making my own way even if it's more difficult, that's when cultural death and greater collectivism set in like rigor mortis.
Posted by Darin_the_Big_Fat_Troll at 04/15/2009 @ 1:31pm
Posted by Darin_the_Big_Fat_Troll at 04/15/2009 @ 1:26pm
No, actually Darin, she mentions UNIVERSITY textbooks that "brainwash"...like books on evolution.
Care to try again with this new information?
Posted by Mask at 04/15/2009 @ 1:36pm
I've got a tea part parade going by my house right now! I like the parade. It points out some useful things.
What strikes me are the anti-Obama signs.
(Willful ignorance about who caused the problem)
The confederate flags.
(difficult to comment on that lowbrow statement, but the civil war rages on)
The original tea party was a revolt against the big boys coming in and ousting all the mom and pop tea sellers. Sort of like Wal Mart moving in. Now these 'informed' people are gathering and twisting, perverting the original meaning of tea-party. The root cause that they should really be protesting against has been happening for years and was largely an invention of the conservatives in our system. Now conservatives are protesting against something they helped create. Selfishness fell down - now it can't get up.
It's an incredibly bright example of: "I was for it before I was against it".
I have to chuckle at the ignorance and stupidity here, which is the real enemy. One has to wonder if it's actually genetic.
Posted by ficheye at 04/15/2009 @ 1:41pm
Oops.
Now that taxes are going down for most people, the tyranny of govt is in plain sight to many that supported rendering.
Posted by crabwalk at 04/15/2009 @ 1:44pm
Darin, what do people that want to burn books "prove" as?
Posted by Mask at 04/15/2009 @ 12:50pm
Talking about "burning books" at a tax protest doesn't make any sense at all. It could be she's a plant like the Guy in the front row of the Hillary pep rally holding a sign that says, "Iron my shirt"
Posted by Darin_the_Big_Fat_Troll at 04/15/2009 @ 1:45pm
What's wrong with Confederate Flags? Their Preeetiiiiii!
Posted by william.harry13 at 04/15/2009 @ 1:47pm
Hey, what can you expect from people that fired on a federal fort, then call it The War of Northern Aggression.
Not that they are FOR slavery. Nope. That is a common misconception of "the left", that the confederate flag is a symbol of human enslavement and anti-Americanism.
People that are FOR rendering of teenagers, FOR wireless wiretaps conducted by the federal government, FOR firing on ATF agents serving warrants, FOR off-budget wars with no tax increase, FOR no-bid contracts for foreign infrastructure rebuilding, FOR gulags in Cuba, FOR bundled campaign contributions from corporations...
but against propping up the bank they may need to get a business loan to start the new company they will need to start when their employer fires them to prop up the bottom line.
Posted by crabwalk at 04/15/2009 @ 2:10pm
Posted by crabwalk at 04/15/2009 @ 2:10pm
You talking about crazy people? Them's the only peeps I know whut fit that deescription.
An, Laws-a mighty, we got plenty o' dem right'chere in huh?merica!!
My folks claim that it's the 'You not the boss of me' party. It's the one thing they all seem to agree on.
Shucks. Makes you wanna get mad.
Posted by ficheye at 04/15/2009 @ 2:27pm
Posted by Darin_the_Big_Fat_Troll at 04/15/2009 @ 1:45pm
Ahhhhh, yes, Darin.
There are NO crazy right-wingers, just "liberal plants"....gotcha!
Posted by Mask at 04/15/2009 @ 2:37pm
Posted by snowball666 at 04/15/2009 @ 2:42pm
Typical Darin MO will be to admit "Oh, I'm not saying there aren't a few nuts on the Right"...when he was trying to say that. Then act all bipartisan'y and pretend his other posts didn't mean what WE "think they meant".
Then change the subject ASAP.
Posted by Mask at 04/15/2009 @ 2:49pm
Trailer-park trash they are!
The right-wing wackos are coming!
The right-wing wackos are coming!
The right-wing wackos are coming!
Flash one light if they are Libertarians!
Flash two lights if they are Republicans!
Then, ride all night long!
Don't forget to dump the tea into the sea!
Posted by parrotuya at 04/15/2009 @ 3:00pm
No, I'm sorry, you can't fake that kinda stupid.
That lady is your 'base'. Love it or...
Posted by snowball666 at 04/15/2009 @ 2:42pm
Faulty stereotyping, how crude. Didn't think you would stoop to the level of Mask and the Crabman
Posted by antisocialist at 04/15/2009 @ 3:03pm
Lol @ parrotuya.
Posted by FDR43 at 04/15/2009 @ 3:10pm
I haven't been to a tea party, but I've just been informed that as a vet I'm susceptible to extremism. I did give myself a chemical burn today, between sessions of testicular cancer support group.
Posted by gangpapist at 04/15/2009 @ 3:29pm
Come now SNOWBALL666. If they seceded again where would you get your next pair of cotton jammies? An' whose gonna shoot yer next meal? Huh? Who?
Posted by william.harry13 at 04/15/2009 @ 3:29pm
Just came back from a rally at the state capital. As I walked up to the building a family walked by me. Kid was wearing a 'Jesus' T-shirt. Mom carried a 'Socialism doesn't work' sign. They looked ready to spit on me, even though they don't know me.
When I got to the capital, there was a pastor, of course, who used to be a drug addicted lefty, but he's been found now, of course, and Obama is a socialist, of course, and let's all yell 'no more pork' (incidentally Alaska is the top recipient of pork dollars - apparently Palin takes a break from moose and caribou once in a while).
I found the signs most enlightening, my favorite being 'Reaganomics worked - the new deal doesn't'.
There is danger from terminal stupidity here. These people voted in politicians that created the mess, now they're bitching in a frightening way against anybody who proposes a solution that might mean making some concessions. That means Obama/liberals/somebody who can spell better than them, etc. It's like a child screaming when his mom puts a band aid on.
I've got some problems with the way the current crisis is being handled. But these people are just crazy and desperate to blame someone else for the problems they wished upon themselves. Let's face it; these folks wanted to preserve the hope that they could, one day, be the very people that all of the wealth trickled up to. Selfish, me-first people. The very roots of the civil war. It wasn't just slavery. It was that bizarre mindset that allows a person to see other in misery and see it as necessary to get what they want. And even enjoy it. A caste system, if you will, where stupidity prevails over intelligence.
Posted by ficheye at 04/15/2009 @ 4:06pm
I couldn't force myself to sit through listening to those moronic fools ramble on again, but what exactly was the brainwashing method Obama is using? Was he talking about television or the computer?
That idiot saying he's done paying taxes and that he told his accountant he's done paying taxes may have some explaining to do if the IRS audits his whining ass. Since he publicly stated on youtube he wasn't going to pay taxes and he can afford an accountant, he may very well end up being paid a visit by the very evil people (IRS) that he thinks are after him.
But, folks you heard it first. Marketing got us into the mess, and marketing will get us out of it! LOL I'll bet the rest of the world will buy into that one too.
Posted by Wolfgang1 at 04/15/2009 @ 4:08pm
BURN THE BOOKS!!!!
especially them university brainwashin' ones...like that "evolution" crap...
brainwashing...
rightwingnut parlance for "education"...
Posted by ibbleblibble at 04/15/2009 @ 4:09pm
Posted by ficheye at 04/15/2009 @ 4:06pm
Everybody voted in politicians who created the mess. I'll agree that the Reps have more to do with it.
You'll find people across the spectrum that want to be the 1%, what do you think mainstream hip-hop is about?
I think some of their frustration is that they feel like there is no real representation for them. sound familiar? Cause yes, the Reps trade free markets for corporate welfare every time.
On the other hand, I'm sympathetic to the idea that government is more dangerous than greed. Ballooning deficits, meaning more debt to less democratic nations should scare everybody. If the bail-outs/stimulus lead to hyper-inflation, which they could, Obama is done, and all this talk about the Reps fading into irrelevance overnight will look pretty premature.
The banking mafia wins either way, while working to middle partisans blame each other for pulling a lever or wearing a T-shirt. There will be blood. The ruling class needs it. Napolitano wants it. The hard left wants it. The hard right wants it. The only thing I'm sure of is there will be blood in the streets, and Pelosi, Boehner, and their GS cronies will sip mai tais in Turks and Caicos and laugh.
Posted by gangpapist at 04/15/2009 @ 4:52pm
Too much thinkin' is trouble! When you think two and two equals four, STOP! You gotta pray until it equals five.
There was a whole lot of Jesus being evoked today at the so called 'tea party'. The really scary thing is that a lot of these people are gun owners as well.
Where were all these people when the TARP funds passed under the Bush administration? Where were the protesters then? It's like they are basically against the results of the election, at this point. So who are the fascists? Glen Beck, possibly. Now, after six or seven months delay, it's convenient to blame it all on someone else. Git 'er done!
Posted by ficheye at 04/15/2009 @ 4:54pm
Posted by gangpapist at 04/15/2009 @ 4:52pm
I'm with you, gang. Just kind of pisses me off when one side spends so much time pointing the finger at someone else when everyone is responsible. And I'm with you about the government angle as well.
I just wish this anger could be channeled into something more constructive than finger pointing. I realize that it is a very common human trait, but if more of us could take the high road maybe something positive could actually happen.
When I start thinking about purchasing a firearm to protect myself from overzealous morons I just start blogging a little more. The gun show is coming right up...
Posted by ficheye at 04/15/2009 @ 5:01pm
Posted by ficheye at 04/15/2009 @ 5:01pm
Oh, you should get the heater.
Posted by gangpapist at 04/15/2009 @ 5:10pm
I spent 3 hours at today's Tea Party in SF. Most everyone was from out of town (Marin.) About 500 people were there, about 95% White. This is actually a bit MORE integrated than last Saturday's left New Way Forward rally against the bailouts.
The leaders were all about the stimulus, "pork," lower taxes, and anti-"socialism." There were also strong anti-immigrant speeches and signs, frequent singings of the national anthem and chants of "USA, USA."
My sign said "Left & Right unite. Stop the Bankers' Takeover. Jail, not Bailouts!" I got many nods and thank yous for this message, and no criticism, although one person stood behind me for a few minutes with a sign that said "Infil-traitor" There were several of us there from New Way Forward and other Leftists, and we got some good conversations going. The one thing everyone agrees on is no bailouts for the banks.
The action was bigger than recent Left rallies, which in SF is discouraging. But the event was promoted heavily on right-wing radio and on Fox, an advantage we never have. I do think we should continue to try to connect with these people as much as possible. David
Posted by DavidSpero at 04/15/2009 @ 5:38pm
Posted by DavidSpero at 04/15/2009 @ 5:38pm
Nice post.
Posted by antisocialist at 04/15/2009 @ 5:48pm
You go connector-guy?
Just one question though, what do you mean by "anti-immigrant?"
Posted by gangpapist at 04/15/2009 @ 6:30pm
first ? should have been !
Posted by gangpapist at 04/15/2009 @ 6:30pm
Posted by DavidSpero at 04/15/2009 @ 5:38pm
Actually, you do have a point ... the "left" should indeed join, and to as large a degree as possible, each and every tea party. Appropriate "the movement" in point of fact...
So as to remove the top down handling and control. And make it of, for, and by, the people.
The permanent war faction of the ruling class has mobilized its shock troops, they (the troops) just don't know it yet.
One wonders at the conversations (along without doubt a much steeper slope into oblivion) and copious apologies, if Palin had won.
Posted by V at 04/15/2009 @ 7:14pm
"Stop being useful idiots. Please! We are being deceived into thinking we are enemies."
Posted by freiheit1 at 04/15/2009 @ 4:41pm
Ooops. You had a point too...
But pawns are just as dangerous.
Posted by V at 04/15/2009 @ 8:08pm
And, way to go Dave ...
Posted by V at 04/15/2009 @ 8:12pm
This whole tea party bullshit is just another desperate attempt to remain relevant from the Kool-aid guzzling base.
The premise is phony as well as their indignance.
They're still mad that they lost and can't handle it.
They should have a kool-aid party.
Posted by koroviev at 04/15/2009 @ 8:44pm
Posted by koroviev at 04/15/2009 @ 8:44pm
The AIG hype and the protests that followed were just as manufactured.
There are plenty of flavors to go around. I don't begrudge anybody for attempting to remain relevant.
Posted by gangpapist at 04/15/2009 @ 9:01pm
Oh, dang, was hoping RIO/comanche was going to show up on this thread about protestors...
"Uhhh....,sorry Chris but that "Vacuum" is between the ears when it comes to protesters!"----Posted by comancheamerican at 04/13/2009 @ 07:26am
"The Viability of Protest Politics" by Christopher Hayes
Posted by Mask at 04/15/2009 @ 9:54pm
Collectivism is not the answer folks. And that is exactly where our politicians are leading us. That is a direction worth fighting against.
Posted by freiheit1 at 04/15/2009 @ 1:06pm
that's insane.
Posted by frosty zoom at 04/15/2009 @ 10:06pm
I think these tea party rallies are so corporationy. Its like corporations are footing the bill to pay for these tax funded parks they are using. I think we need to ignore these rallies so we dont give the corprations what they want. I say "Dont work get paid" the liberal way. Long Live The Left!!!
Posted by obamass at 04/15/2009 @ 10:15pm
I was at Houston's Tea Party for just over 3 hours....arrived early enough to be 30' from the stage. Very nice crowd, easily in the several thousands....there were 3 helicopters buzzing around and more cops than needed.
As in other Parties around the country, no elected politicians spoke. The one speaker who I was really glad to see and hear, was John O'Neil! Yep, he of the Swift Boat Vets fame.
As in SF cited by another, our event had a decent representation of minorities. One of the stage `hostess' was black.....and one speaker was as well. Another speaker was born Cuban and came to the US at age 7....while yet another, was born Russian but came over also young and later worked over 30 years for Exxon. These immigrant-Americans know what to fear...through their parents' first-hand experiences.....and their warnings need to be heeded!
Posted by Happy at 04/15/2009 @ 10:17pm
keep my post you pussy duecebags. How about some debates
Posted by obamass at 04/15/2009 @ 10:29pm
I now understand why the readership of The Nation is in decline, given Mr. Berman's ability to confuse smarmy condescension with useful commentary. This tone is parroted by apparatchiks like "V" and "ficheye"; avoid any interest in the various motivations for tea party participants, or whether they have any understandable reservations about unread, deliberation-free stimulus packages, or whether the Obama Chamberlin approach to Iranian theocracy is evidence of idiocracy.
Posted by synaptickillfile at 04/15/2009 @ 10:47pm
Posted by synaptickillfile at 04/15/2009 @ 10:47pm
You're wrong about ficheye. He's not an apparatchik.
Posted by gangpapist at 04/15/2009 @ 10:51pm
...evidence of idiocracy. Posted by synaptickillfile at 04/15/2009 @ 10:47pm
I realize that there may be a different tone at some other gatherings... my thoughts were primarily about the one that I attended in Washington state.
However, I also think that, ideally, 'their' motivations should be 'our' motivations. And I fully accept the reality that some of Mr. Obamas methods may not be perfect, to say the least. But disassembling the American financial system and reassembling it in record time, to please many who will ultimately never be happy with his administration is something that, ultimately, may not be possible. You cannot reinvent the capitalist system overnight... it needs to be stabilized to prevent collapse, then morphed into something better at a reasonable pace.
And I do understand these peoples motivations to gather, and I support it. It's just the tone of the gatherings that bother me. It might differ from place to place, but the close quartering of the religious right with those who are unhappy with the workings of this crisis seems an odd fit and one that makes me dubious about the psychology at work here. It makes it more difficult for those with progressive views to form a bond with those who have legitimate concerns.
Hopefully this will temper your analysis of me as an apparatchik.... I am smarmy, however. And likin' it. Also, I cannot change my views on Glenn Beck.
Posted by ficheye at 04/16/2009 @ 03:14am
Faulty stereotyping, how crude. Didn't think you would stoop to the level of Mask and the Crabman
Posted by antisocialist at 04/15/2009 @ 3:03pm
I see you below me. Polish the dome, please, the reflection is detracting.
Posted by crabwalk at 04/16/2009 @ 07:59am
Posted by crabwalk at 04/16/2009 @ 07:59am
Curious as to what "false stereotype" Larry thinks I've ever offered? Most if not all of the time, anything I say about him...he eventually agrees with?!?!?!?
Posted by Mask at 04/16/2009 @ 08:39am
imagine , if you can, if the anti war demonstrations had had a TV network behind them, organizing, shilling 24/7. the mall would not have been big enough to hold them all.
I went to an anti Iraq war protest. we had hundreds of thousands, they got a few thousand at best.
Posted by emile duBois at 04/16/2009 @ 09:01am
"The original tea party was a revolt against the big boys coming in and ousting all the mom and pop tea sellers."
that's a real stretch. it's nonsense. these were guys who had warehouses full of tea.
Posted by emile duBois at 04/16/2009 @ 10:22am
that's a real stretch. it's nonsense. these were guys who had warehouses full of tea. Posted by emile duBois at 04/16/2009 @ 10:22am
So explain it using a better comparison. I was generalizing because there's not enough room to write out the actual history.
Posted by ficheye at 04/16/2009 @ 12:03pm
Here, I'll help:
The Boston Tea Party was a direct action protest by colonists in Boston, a town in the British colony of Massachusetts, against the British government. On December 16, 1773, after officials in Boston refused to return three shiploads of taxed tea to Britain, a group of colonists boarded the ships and destroyed the tea by throwing it into Boston Harbor.
Sorry about the generalization.
Posted by ficheye at 04/16/2009 @ 12:06pm
Posted by ficheye at 04/16/2009 @ 12:03pm | ignore this person | warn this person
tea was an internationally traded commodity, at a time when there were few. the colonies did not grow any tea.
the issue was not a tax increase but rather a tax DECREASE. the crown wanted to import a whole lot of much cheaper tea, leading to huge losses for the tea merchants, who had warehouses full of high priced, because of high taxes, tea. with the cheap tea available, they would have been bankrupted.
the tea merchants had incidentally engaged in a bit of speculation in the warehousing of tea.
Posted by emile duBois at 04/16/2009 @ 12:12pm
The Boston Tea Party was a direct action protest by colonists in Boston, a town in the British colony of Massachusetts, against the British government. On December 16, 1773, after officials in Boston refused to return three shiploads of taxed tea to Britain, a group of colonists boarded the ships and destroyed the tea by throwing it into Boston Harbor.
Posted by ficheye at 04/16/2009 @ 12:06pm | ignore this person | warn this person
this is too superficial, as it leaves out much of the background.
Posted by emile duBois at 04/16/2009 @ 12:21pm
I think the salient point here is that the Boston tea party was not a popular uprising, but rather the action of wealthy capitalists. but then that covers much of the so called american revolution.
Posted by emile duBois at 04/16/2009 @ 12:27pm
this is too superficial, as it leaves out much of the background. Posted by emile duBois at 04/16/2009 @ 12:21pm
You filled in the blanks, emile. Wikipedia is not always very concise.
Forgive me, but wasn't the issue 'taxation without representation'? The British had cheap tea that they added a tax to, whereas the colonists were able to profit from the sales of tea that they were able to purchase though their own channels.
The British were effectively erasing the colonists profit margin. Is that incorrect? Just seeking information.
Posted by ficheye at 04/16/2009 @ 12:38pm
Perhaps it was the first time that FAUX populism was used to support the case of bizness guys? Posted by snowball666 at 04/16/2009 @ 12:54pm
I think that your statement makes it as clear as anyone possibly could. Thanks.
Posted by ficheye at 04/16/2009 @ 1:05pm
Forgive me, but wasn't the issue 'taxation without representation'?
this was indeed the larger issue. the stamp act put a tax on any kind of transaction, like a will executed, and many others. the tea thing was used for propaganda purposes for over two hundred years.
the crown raised taxes and then when the colonists demurred, they withdrew the tax, or lowered it. that was the crux of the tea thing. they were pissed off that the tax was rescinded. this is 180 degrees different from the popular narrative.
as I have mentioned before, I am separated from my books, and I cannot give this matter more research.
Posted by emile duBois at 04/16/2009 @ 1:14pm
the american colonists had the smallest tax burden of any british subject.
Posted by emile duBois at 04/16/2009 @ 1:16pm
Posted by emile duBois at 04/16/2009 @ 1:16pm
Thanks emile. That truly clarifies this issue for me. In fact, as you said, it has been completely twisted around.
I would venture to guess that most people have the fictional account firmly ingrained in their psyche.
Posted by ficheye at 04/16/2009 @ 1:39pm
Posted by ficheye at 04/16/2009 @ 1:39pm | ignore this person | warn this person
of course. I was fortunate to escape being taught american history here. I was not taught it at all. I am an autodidact, strictly self taught.
I don't mean to be hyper critical. I just like to kick the can around.
Posted by emile duBois at 04/16/2009 @ 2:56pm
I just like to kick the can around. Posted by emile duBois at 04/16/2009 @ 2:56pm
No worries. I don't like to 'think' I know something either. It's better to be brought up to date. If you know more than I do, I wanna hear it.
As I read more about it, it's a very complex issue. I can see why a 'fairy tale' came into being. Check out the wikipedia article sometime. I'm certain that there are errors in it, but it gives you a better overview than the schools teach.
Posted by ficheye at 04/16/2009 @ 3:37pm
The clown who wrote thie drooling piece 'protests far too much'.
Posted by tucanofulano at 04/16/2009 @ 3:41pm
I am going to be a counselor there! Play guitar around the campfire... we'll make smores! Go snipe hunting!
Posted by ficheye at 04/16/2009 @ 5:07pm
Protesting is only valid when the leftists and statist do it. Otherwise it doesn't count.
Posted by apoorspic at 04/16/2009 @ 9:45pm
I think the salient point here is that the Boston tea party was not a popular uprising, but rather the action of wealthy capitalists. but then that covers much of the so called american revolution. Posted by emile duBois at 04/16/2009 @ 12:27pm
I think that WAY oversimplifies the matter. Paul Johnson says that Lord North passed an act to allow the East India Company to get itself out a financial mess by sending its tea directly to the US. This would undermine the colonists who smuggled tea to avoid taxes, who feared the effect on prices. And, let's face it, the East India company was the WalMart of its time.
7000 people gathered in the Old South Meeting House the night of the tea party to protest the import of English government-subsidized tea into Boston. I strongly doubt that all of them were "wealthy capitalists". About a 1000 men took part in the dumping of tea. This happened in 1773. The Stamp Act was repealed in 1766.
The Tea Party was one event in the timeline of the American colony's estrangement from England. To dismiss all those events as actions of "wealthy capitalists" is both slanderous and moronic.
Posted by twillie at 04/16/2009 @ 9:58pm
http://www.thenation.com/blogs/action/ignore.mhtml?who=twillie
moronic yourself. read more history. they rescinded the tax and imported the tea from india. if you own a warehouse full of tea, one of the most expensive commodities of the time, you are a wealthy capitalist.
Posted by emile duBois at 04/16/2009 @ 10:29pm
About a 1000 men took part in the dumping of tea.
absolute nonsense.
On the night of December 16, 1773, a group of about 60 men, encouraged by a large crowd of Bostonians, donned blankets and Indian headdresses, marched to Griffin's wharf, boarded the ships, and dumped the tea chests, valued at £18,000, into the water.
"To dismiss all those events as actions of "wealthy capitalists" is both slanderous and moronic. Posted by twillie at 04/16/2009 @ 9:58pm | ignore this person | warn this person"
I did not say this.
Posted by emile duBois at 04/16/2009 @ 11:31pm
The AIG hype and the protests that followed were just as manufactured.
There are plenty of flavors to go around. I don't begrudge anybody for attempting to remain relevant.
Posted by gangpapist
I don't begrudge them their right to protest....
I'm just calling it as I see it.
There is a huge crisis going on and tough decisions had to be made.
Nobody likes the bailouts of AIG, et al...but what would have happened if they weren't done? How many jobs would've been lost?
The idea of the Stimulus Bill is scary to any American, but something had to be done.
Not a murmur about saddling future generations with debt while our country waged two costly wars yet afforded tax cuts to the rich... Now the tea bagging commences.
Also, I finally watched the attached video and I am never shocked by the ickiness of the wing-nuts. That book burning lady was awsome..."Yeah, burn those college, brain-washin books! The evolution crap! Rock on!"
Rock on, book burning lady. Rock on....
Posted by koroviev at 04/17/2009 @ 12:05am
Rock on, book burning lady. Rock on.... Posted by koroviev at 04/17/2009 @ 12:05am | ignore this person | warn this person
the burning of books is often followed by the burning of people.
Posted by emile duBois at 04/17/2009 @ 07:36am
google has 600,000 books. let 'em try to burn those.
Posted by emile duBois at 04/17/2009 @ 10:36am
when the Mongols destroyed Bagdad in the 13th century, there were 40 libraries in Bagdad.
Posted by emile duBois at 04/17/2009 @ 11:58am
baghdad
Posted by emile duBois at 04/17/2009 @ 12:09pm
7000 people gathered in the Old South Meeting House the night of the tea party to protest the import of English government-subsidized tea into Boston.-----Posted by twillie at 04/16/2009 @ 9:58pm
How many showed up in Boston two days ago?
Posted by Mask at 04/17/2009 @ 12:45pm
Posted by snowball666 at 04/17/2009 @ 12:48pm | ignore this person | warn this person
your history is confused. those were mongols NOT Magyars.
Posted by emile duBois at 04/17/2009 @ 1:05pm
About a 1000 men took part in the dumping of tea. absolute nonsense. On the night of December 16, 1773, a group of about 60 men, encouraged by a large crowd of Bostonians, donned blankets and Indian headdresses, marched to Griffin's wharf, boarded the ships, and dumped the tea chests, valued at £18,000, into the water. "To dismiss all those events as actions of "wealthy capitalists" is both slanderous and moronic. Posted by twillie at 04/16/2009 @ 9:58pm | ignore this person | warn this person" I did not say this. Posted by emile duBois at 04/16/2009 @ 11:31pm
Since you've got me on ignore, there's not much point in debating, but you really ought to give your source, unless you were there yourself. I gave my source.
And, reread your own post. "the Boston Tea Party was not a popular uprising, but rather the action of wealthy capitalists, but then that covers much of the so-called american revolution." Your words.
Posted by twillie at 04/17/2009 @ 9:52pm
Posted by twillie at 04/17/2009 @ 9:52pm | ignore this person | warn this person
who says I have you on ignore? don't be pathetic.
look, every one , I repeat, everyone of the founding fathers was a rich capitalist. slave holders, land speculators etc. not a working man among them.
that said, you are correct in that some of the actions were dominated by a popular uprising. but not the tea party.
the fact that a thousand people are reported to have watched, does not make them participants.
I have often noted that the american revolution was not a revolution in the classic sense, like the french revolution or the russian revolution, both of which swept away the ancien regime.
no, the american revolution was more of a secession. the people who were in charge for the most part remained in charge, but they severed the connection with the home office.
Posted by emile duBois at 04/18/2009 @ 09:00am
"Why might they be skipping this radical revolution?"
What about MoveOn, Acorn?...Astroturf anyone?
Posted by FreedomRanger at 04/18/2009 @ 12:38pm
move on is a grassroots organization which helped elect a president. Acorn is in the business of helping register new voters, with much success. the tea baggers are not in this league at all. what have they accomplished? nada.
Posted by emile duBois at 04/18/2009 @ 2:12pm
"To dismiss all those events as actions of "wealthy capitalists" is both slanderous and moronic.
slander
A type of defamation. Slander is an untruthful oral (spoken) statement about a person that harms the person's reputation or standing in the community. Because slander is a tort (a civil wrong), the injured person can bring a lawsuit against the person who made the false statement. If the statement is made via broadcast media -- for example, over the radio or on TV -- it is considered libel, rather than slander, because the statement has the potential to reach a very wide audience.
not very smart, are you?
Posted by emile duBois at 04/18/2009 @ 3:32pm
slander
1. defamation;calumny.
2. a malicious, false, and defamatory statement or report.
It's OK if English is not your native language. It can be tough to learn, but I'll be willing to correct you whenever you make one of your frequent mistakes. However, stop being such a toffee-nosed wanker.
Posted by twillie at 04/18/2009 @ 5:01pm
If the statement is made via broadcast media -- for example, over the radio or on TV -- it is considered libel, rather than slander, because the statement has the potential to reach a very wide audience.
what I wrote on this mass media can only have been libel. your command of the english language does not impress.
Posted by emile duBois at 04/18/2009 @ 7:05pm
However, stop being such a toffee-nosed wanker.
YOU are going to correct my english? hahahahahahaha
Posted by emile duBois at 04/18/2009 @ 8:42pm
On the other hand, the esteemed grammarians Strunk and White did say in their book, The Elements of Style, that you shouldn't start a sentence with however ...
Posted by emile duBois at 04/18/2009 @ 8:43pm
You're giving the legal definition. Common usage definition may be slightly different. Like, what I wrote.
I bet Strunk and White say something about capitalizing the first word of a sentence, too...
Posted by twillie at 04/18/2009 @ 9:10pm
I am lazy with caps, I confess. but I don't start a sentence with Like. you are outa yer league bub.
Posted by emile duBois at 04/18/2009 @ 9:44pm
"I am lazy with caps, I confess. but I don't start a sentence with Like. you are outa yer league bub."
Gee, if you say so, Blanche. Got a source for your Boston tea party misinformation, yet?
Posted by twillie at 04/19/2009 @ 3:48pm