(Vanity) Washington in Hot Water, or, The Tea-Baggers

The tax-day tea parties have come and gone. The MSM, the conservative media, and the blogosphere, have all observed and commented; and the question currently being asked is, "What now?" This question is a bit premature. Before we know what is going to happen, we need to know what just did happen -- and what didn't.

The reaction of the MSM has been a mixture of derision, insults, and stunned disbelief -- kind of like the famous remark by Pauline Kael in 1972:

This partly explains the response of the MSM and the talking heads^(*). For example, Anderson Cooper on CNN made a vulgar comparison of the protests to a page right out of The Urban Dictionary, designed to show both his disdain and sophistication, and to smear the participants. However, his comments quickly boomeranged -- left unsaid was the accusation that he was implicitly advocating a mild form of sexual assault; and the further implication that he was leaving himself wide open as the victim of said assault (as he and the rest of the MSM were apparently "asleep" while the momentum towards these events was, er, brewing).

Other spokespersons for the left had their say. ~~Aphrodite Callipygea~~ Janeane Garofalo engaged in bigotry and personal insults towards the protesters as follows:

"You know, there's nothing more interesting than seeing a bunch of racists become confused and angry at a speech they're not quite certain what he's saying. It sounds right and then it doesn't make sense. Which, let's be very honest about what this is about. It's not about bashing Democrats, it's not about taxes, they have no idea what the Boston tea party was about, they don't know their history at all. This is about hating a black man in the White House. This is racism straight up. That is nothing but a bunch of teabagging rednecks. And there is no way around that. And you know, you can tell these type of right wingers anything and they'll believe it, except the truth. You tell them the truth and they become -- it's like showing Frankenstein's monster fire. They become confused, and angry and highly volatile. That guy, causing them feelings they don't know, because their limbic brain, we've discussed this before, the limbic brain inside a right-winger or Republican or conservative or your average white power activist, the limbic brain is much larger in their head space than in a reasonable person, and it's pushing against the frontal lobe. So their synapses are misfiring."

Janeane can be PWNED in just one sentence. "What part of TRILLION DOLLAR BAILOUT don't you understand?^[+]" But that's just part of the story. What's fun about reading her comments is the vast amount of projection and desperation packed into a few short sentences. You can tell that Janeane gives herself great credit for being able to pronounce the words "limbic system" -- as though reading Tom Wolfe imbues one with wisdom and sophistication. But what's even more interesting (speaking of primitive responses) is the automatic, almost reflexive reach for the race car. Racism is what liberals accuse others of when they don't know what else to say, but still want to indicate disapproval. And the surest refutation of her claims is the complete lack of news coverage on the topic: if there had been the slightest whiff of racism at these rallies, we would have been subjected to an immediate journalistic front on the subject, complete with interviews of the white supremacists and TV specials full of comparisons to the 1928 KKK march on Washington, D.C. But the only mention of racism is from Janet Napolitano's breathless DHS report on the resurgence of race-based terrorism (linked to returning veterans, pro-life protestors, and opponenents of immigration amnesty) in the United States. Tell me again Janet, where were all the burning crosses at these Tea Party rallies?

Speaking of FAIL, another favorite comment on the topic is the agitprop of CNN's latest dimwit, Susan Roesgen:

“I think you get the general tenor of this. It’s anti-government, anti-CNN since this is highly promoted by the right-wing conservative network Fox.”

Well, she was right about the anti-government: right behind her was a large sign which she conspicuously neglected to mention, which read: "Republicans Suck Too." Which means that unless the sign holder was thinking solely of Richard Steele, racism was NOT the focus. And as far as anti-CNN? Financial reporters are required to disclose their investements. Why not political reporters? Why didn't Susan mention that she'd applied for a job at Fox -- twice -- and been turned down? It sure sucks to be at a low-ranked network, doesnt it, Susan?

All these things are indications of how much the Democrats were taken by surprise by the Tea Parties -- they didn't have time to formulate and craft a concerted message for mass consumption as a counter-argument -- much as their attacks on Sarah Palin were disjointed for the first week or two after her nomination. Democrats are masters at astroturfing, at the "rent-a-mob" protests of hippies, Union Thugs, Communists, gays, and socialists all getting together to drown out and intimidate opponents by force of numbers. (Joe Sobran refers to the left as "The Hive" because of such -- well, collective -- behaviour. Not for nothing does socialism categorize people first and foremost as members of a group.) But genuine populism, not organized or fronted by a professional lobbying group is new to them.

So much for the Democratic response. What do all these things tell us about where the Tea Party movement should go?

For this question, the sign "Republicans suck too!" contain a real hint as to the true message and significance of the tea parties: far from being engineered, they are truly grass-roots and unscripted events. Look at what happened to those members of the GOP who tried to don the mantle of leadership over the tea parties. In California, both GOP chairman Ron Nehring and Gov. "RINOnator" Schwarzenegger got booed during the Sacramento tea party. In Greenville, South Carolina, GOP Rep. Gresham Barrett (who supported the TARP) bill was hooted down: literally, with air horns. The anger is not at Democrats alone; it is not at Obama alone. It is at the political CLASS -- those who feel that they are entitled to take our money, and buy votes for themselves with it; that they are entitled to engage in social and financial engineering against our express wishes as voters, and then blame us for the poor results; against those who have forgotten the meaning of "We, the people".

The resentment against Washington, against the elites, against the party apparatchiks and spin-meisters is here; and the confusion of the Washington class is that there is no one figurehead, no one spokesman, to besmear and discredit to make this go away. In fact, the only way that this will go away is when the vermin who currently infest the halls of power are forced into retirement -- and at that, one without fat guaranteed lifelong pensions.

The next question is, how do we channel the commitment, without becoming just one more easily-dismissed focus group? How do we start our own "long march" through the institutions, reclaiming them from the socialists, the Marxists, the parasites and their enablers? "If you rob Peter to pay Paul , you can count on the support of Paul." Where can we find those who will stand up for Peter, who will not be corrupted once they reach office? It is not the Constitution which is a fault -- only those weasels who have not only learned how to game the system, but set up quasi-permanent institutions to help them do so, while shielding themselves from personal accountability.

The Gramscian assault on Freedom has seemed unassailable -- because it has been well thought out, and executed with care and patience over time. We cannot starve the beast: because we will be cast into prison over the income-tax. We cannot storm D.C. with pitchforks, tar, and feathers: because that is "terrorism". We cannot even tell the truth about candidates within such and so many days before an election: lest we run afoul of McCain-Feingold "reform" laws. We cannot even get the truth out, because the press is in the tank for the forces of enforced serfdom.

1) Let us reverse-engineer Gramsci's approach. We must re-take the institutions which allow the hoodwinking of the easily-led: the press and the educational establishment. Janeane Garofolo likes to make fun of our "ignorance": let us pillory and and ridicule her off the of public stage, as countless souls have done to Susan Roesgen. If she can't intelligently defend the income tax, then she is as bad as the fictitious "ignorant rednecks" she affects to look down on. Even worse, since she seeks to impose her will on us without sufficient understanding or justification.

2) Not only do we need to re-take the institutions, but in the meantime, let us seek to *supplant* them. If ignorance of the founding principles of this country is the problem, them make a point to read and inform yourself. You don't have to wait for a public school, or a Marxist-led professor at a University, to do so. The Heritage Foundation and the Cato Institute are excellent resources. And once armed with knowledge, talk, speak, and write. Make it socially acceptable to be patriotic for the country as founded: the melting pot, not the rainbow; unity as Americans, based on shared values, not disunity, based on ethnic or sexual features; a shared practice of self-reliance, not a toxic spirit of co-dependency and victimization.

3) Let us seek candidates who have come up from the grass roots, who have consistently espoused, and voted according to, the principles of frugality, accountability, and limited government. If and when they are attacked, defend them loudly, and criticize the motives and funding of their detractors. Remember -- the country got in this state because the turnout of informed voters is so low, allowing a small block of moonbats to exert disproportionate influence. The reason the Tea Parties worked, is that we outnumbered the moonbats: and so many people attended, or knew personally someone who had, that the toss-off lies by DHS, by the press, by the annointed, were not even plausible. This approach can and should be repeated, until we recover the dream of America which has been under siege by the forces of collectivism, of socialism, for so long.

(*)(The newspapers by and large did not cover these events, but given their budget and staffing cuts, this isn't surprising.)

[+] Janeane doesn't seem to show any understanding that, like the original Tea Party, these Tea Parties are based on outrage over the government's favoritism regarding one industry in bed with the elites: today, the mortgage industry; back then, the East India Company. Incidentally, Janeane, you look like a smoker: how do you feel about the heavy federal taxes on cigarettes, which disproportionately impact the disadvantaged?

Anderson Cooper on CNN made a vulgar comparison of the protests to a page right out of The Urban Dictionary, designed to show both his disdain and sophistication, and to smear the participants. However, his comments quickly boomeranged -- left unsaid was the accusation that he was implicitly advocating a mild form of sexual assault; and the further implication that he was leaving himself wide open as the victim of said assault (as he and the rest of the MSM were apparently "asleep" while the momentum towards these events was, er, brewing).

Anderson Cooper merely divulged one of his favorite pastimes.

In my little town of 12000, located in the communist haven of Westchester County, NY, we are holding an open meeting on 4/29 to set up a nominating committee to select three candidates to run in November to take control of the board. It was seized by dims four years ago, but the republicans were not much better. Spending has increased by 55 percent in a very short time and taxes by even more. All three candidates must agree to a simple platform, initially, 0+0=0. Zero salary, zero benefits-no medical and no pension which equals no tax increase. Current board members get 55k in salary and benefits per year for a part time job. Then they get We intend to cut spending by at least 25-30 percent within six months and fire our overpriced outside town attorney, terminate lifetime retiree health benefits, outsource the highway department—which currently does a god awful job and institute a host of cost savings and transparency measures. Then its on to the school with a meat cleaver to the budget.

This is how we take back the town. With no salary and no benefits, no wants to stay around more than a term or two.

We may even run under the T-Party.

We cannot starve the beast: because we will be cast into prison over the income-tax.

Not true at all. If ten million committed patriots all stopped feeding "the beast" simultaneously, none of them would go to prison for it.

We cannot storm D.C. with pitchforks, tar, and feathers: because that is "terrorism".

We certainly can, and will probably do so in the coming months. And no, it is not "terrorism" if we assemble peacefully. In fact, we had better descend on Washington in the millions, or this situation will escalate into a real insurrection.

Things I never expected to hear, or learn, in my whole life (and wish I hadn’t):

1) A new definition for tea bag.

I’ll post 2) as soon as I think of it.

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