Geraldo Rivera covering the April 15 Tea Party
"Stay safe there, Geraldo."
Tomorrow, April 15, is not only the day taxes are due, it is a day that will be marked all over the US by angry tax-payers, who are tired of seeing their taxes raised in hard times by a government-be it federal-state or local that never tires of wasting our money. Tomorrow, thousands of people are expected to turn out at "tea parties" all over the nation to show their displeasure.
Given today's revelation about the Dept. of Homeland Security report on the "threat from rightwingers', I suppose dozens of agents will be assigned to infiltrate the demonstrations, take photos, write down license numbers, identify the ringleaders and make sure all the names get into the DHS computer system. Maybe the National Guard will be called out to maintain order.
The media on the left is also taking note with a critical eye. Last night on MSNBC's "Countdown", liberal commentator David Shuster, sitting in for liberal commentator Keith Olbermann, was interviewing liberal commentator Lawrence O'Donnell (that's all they have on MSNBC) on the subject. O'Donnell opined that the whole thing was ill-advised, no leader wanted to be identified with it, and anger was misdirected since tax increases came about when Bush was president-not Obama.
Mr O'Donnell conveniently left out California, which just got hit with the biggest state tax increase in US history even though we were already the most heavily-taxed state in the country. Who was responsible for that? A Democrat-run state legislature, aided by Republican-in-name only Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, and a handful of Republican sell-outs (who are now on their way to being recalled by the voters).
Mr O'Donnell, we are angry at both parties. We are angry at the Democrats because your party should be renamed the Tax and Spend Party. We are angry at Republicans because they have not done what they promised they would do-fight new taxes and fight unnecessary government spending. We are angry at the entire government-federal, state and local for what they are doing to us so they can get more money to spend on their pet projects for their pet constituent groups.
And what do the likes of Lawrence O'Donnell and David Shuster say?
"How dare they?"
In reality, it's only once in a blue moon that normal, everyday folks are stirred up enough to protest because we normally appreciate our country and are happy to live here. It's almost always the far-left crazies who turn out to protest this or that because they essentially believe America is a really bad place. But when people like tax-payers say, "enough is enough", by the reaction on the left, you would think the Republic was on the brink of collapse. The last time I remember such a reaction was the 2000 election fiasco in Florida when a group of white Republican guys in suits in Miami tried to prevent a handful of Democrat vote counters from taking the ballots into a closed room to count. From the mainstream news accounts, you would have thought blood was flowing in the streets of Miami. Absurd.
So it will be interesting to see how the media covers (if they cover it at all) these events. Will the protesters be described as a handful of kooks or dangerous rightwingers intent on toppling the Republic? Or will they ask the question "the whole world wants to know"....
How dare they?
11 comments:
It's almost always the far-left crazies who turn out to protest this or that because they essentially believe America is a really bad place.My Conservative-to-English dictionary translates:
"I don't want to take the time to understand their positions, so I'm just going to dismiss their arguments with an easy strawman."
Lance,
How many demonstrations have you seen by people like me?
Who says you can't protest? Can you show me where the government has denied you that right? You're perfectly free to protest. People are also perfectly free to criticize you or even ignore you.
Just wondering though, where were these protestors the last 8 years when Bush spent us into oblivion? Suddenly less than 3 months into his term and everything is now Obama's fault. Get real.
What difference does that make?
I'm not debating your overall thesis, I'm debating your assertion that the reason why people protest is because they "believe that America is a really bad place".
Maybe they think America is great and worth protesting for.
There was a couple of very good protests by people like you Gary way back in 1773. It led to the formation of a free Republic.
Going to a tea party tomorrow! Should be a blast!
Lance,
If they think it's so great why do they criticize it so much, use words like imperialist, racist etc?
Bryan,
These protesters (and me) blasted Bush for not limiting spending and stopping govt growth.
Are you missing the point? If I protest taxes, illegal immigration, socialism etc., I now attract the attention of DHS?
Yes, you and others can respond to what I say and disagree or tell me I am full of it. That is your right. DHS or the FBI should investigate every McVeigh out there or the militias. I am on board with that. But don't tell me I am worthy of govt investigation because I opposed (legally at the ballot box) the "historic" election of Obama or complain about taxes or illegal immigration. Don't tell me that I am a threat to national security.
Yeah, Gary, because that's what they ALL do. Why do you conservatives refer to Obama by the N-word and say that he's the anti-Christ? After all, that's what I heard some of them say, so they must all say that.
Excuse me, Lance,
Who is referring to Obama by the N-word?
Some relatives of my wife.
But Gary, I'm being facetious with that point. I'm just saying that you use a mighty wide brush when you claim that protesters use the phrases that you mentioned.
It's like that anti-Schwarzenegger rally you wrote about some time ago. There were some people there who had a bunch of racist slogans about illegal immigrants, but you defended the rally, pointing out that they were the minority and didn't represent the whole crowd. Same thing applies here.
Lance,
When it comes to terms like imperialist and racist, I have been listening to those terms since the 1960s. It gets old.
I don't think the Schwarzenegger rally was a good example. The speakers weren't calling Mexicans scum. A handful of known racists (known to the guys with mikes) made unacceptable comments.
At the protests rallies I am referring to the speakers use terms like Imperialist and racists. I think there is a difference between a rally of ordinary tax-payers where a few fringe people show up and a rally where the speakers are fringe people.
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