The Democrat Thread

[BigSqwert]

[NorthSideSox72]

I thought the Tea Party was about taxes that have just gotten too high despite the fact that for 98% of the country taxes haven't been lower in over 60 years.

There is some tax panic in there, but really its core is more about out-of-control spending. And if they stick to that, I'm pretty much in agreement with their concerns.

 

Then of course, as with all movements, you get hangers-on, idiots, psychos, and co-opters, all of which add in layers of B.S. about Obama being Malaysian/Communist/Fascist/Nazi/Socialist/Alien. And the people who scream about taxes when, as has been pointed out, are still quite low on a historical scale.

 

[BigSqwert]

"Imagine if the Tea Party Was Black" - by Tim Wise

 

Imagine that hundreds of black protesters were to descend upon Washington DC and Northern Virginia, just a few miles from the Capitol and White House, armed with AK-47s, assorted handguns, and ammunition. And imagine that some of these protesters - the black protesters - spoke of the need for political revolution, and possibly even armed conflict in the event that laws they didn’t like were enforced by the government? Would these protesters — these black protesters with guns — be seen as brave defenders of the Second Amendment, or would they be viewed by most whites as a danger to the republic? What if they were Arab-Americans? Because, after all, that’s what happened recently when white gun enthusiasts descended upon the nation’s capital, arms in hand, and verbally announced their readiness to make war on the country’s political leaders if the need arose.

 

Imagine that white members of Congress, while walking to work, were surrounded by thousands of angry black people, one of whom proceeded to spit on one of those congressmen for not voting the way the black demonstrators desired. Would the protesters be seen as merely patriotic Americans voicing their opinions, or as an angry, potentially violent, and even insurrectionary mob? After all, this is what white Tea Party protesters did recently in Washington.

 

Imagine that a rap artist were to say, in reference to a white president: “He’s a piece of s*** and I told him to suck on my machine gun.” Because that’s what rocker Ted Nugent said recently about President Obama.

 

Imagine that a prominent mainstream black political commentator had long employed an overt bigot as Executive Director of his organization, and that this bigot regularly participated in black separatist conferences, and once assaulted a white person while calling them by a racial slur. When that prominent black commentator and his sister — who also works for the organization — defended the bigot as a good guy who was misunderstood and “going through a tough time in his life” would anyone accept their excuse-making? Would that commentator still have a place on a mainstream network? Because that’s what happened in the real world, when Pat Buchanan employed as Executive Director of his group, America’s Cause, a blatant racist who did all these things, or at least their white equivalents: attending white separatist conferences and attacking a black woman while calling her the n-word.

 

Imagine that a black radio host were to suggest that the only way to get promoted in the administration of a white president is by “hating black people,” or that a prominent white person had only endorsed a white presidential candidate as an act of racial bonding, or blamed a white president for a fight on a school bus in which a black kid was jumped by two white kids, or said that he wouldn’t want to kill all conservatives, but rather, would like to leave just enough—“living fossils” as he called them—“so we will never forget what these people stood for.” After all, these are things that Rush Limbaugh has said, about Barack Obama’s administration, Colin Powell’s endorsement of Barack Obama, a fight on a school bus in Belleville, Illinois in which two black kids beat up a white kid, and about liberals, generally.

 

Imagine that a black pastor, formerly a member of the U.S. military, were to declare, as part of his opposition to a white president’s policies, that he was ready to “suit up, get my gun, go to Washington, and do what they trained me to do.” This is, after all, what Pastor Stan Craig said recently at a Tea Party rally in Greenville, South Carolina.

 

Imagine a black radio talk show host gleefully predicting a revolution by people of color if the government continues to be dominated by the rich white men who have been “destroying” the country, or if said radio personality were to call Christians or Jews non-humans, or say that when it came to conservatives, the best solution would be to “hang ‘em high.” And what would happen to any congressional representative who praised that commentator for “speaking common sense” and likened his hate talk to “American values?” After all, those are among the things said by radio host and best-selling author Michael Savage, predicting white revolution in the face of multiculturalism, or said by Savage about Muslims and liberals, respectively. And it was Congressman Culbertson, from Texas, who praised Savage in that way, despite his hateful rhetoric.

 

Imagine a black political commentator suggesting that the only thing the guy who flew his plane into the Austin, Texas IRS building did wrong was not blowing up Fox News instead. This is, after all, what Anne Coulter said about Tim McVeigh, when she noted that his only mistake was not blowing up the New York Times.

 

Imagine that a popular black liberal website posted comments about the daughter of a white president, calling her “typical redneck trash,” or a “whore” whose mother entertains her by “making monkey sounds.” After all that’s comparable to what conservatives posted about Malia Obama on freerepublic.com last year, when they referred to her as “ghetto trash.”

 

Imagine that black protesters at a large political rally were walking around with signs calling for the lynching of their congressional enemies. Because that’s what white conservatives did last year, in reference to Democratic party leaders in Congress.

 

In other words, imagine that even one-third of the anger and vitriol currently being hurled at President Obama, by folks who are almost exclusively white, were being aimed, instead, at a white president, by people of color. How many whites viewing the anger, the hatred, the contempt for that white president would then wax eloquent about free speech, and the glories of democracy? And how many would be calling for further crackdowns on thuggish behavior, and investigations into the radical agendas of those same people of color?

 

To ask any of these questions is to answer them. Protest is only seen as fundamentally American when those who have long had the luxury of seeing themselves as prototypically American engage in it. When the dangerous and dark “other” does so, however, it isn’t viewed as normal or natural, let alone patriotic. Which is why Rush Limbaugh could say, this past week, that the Tea Parties are the first time since the Civil War that ordinary, common Americans stood up for their rights: a statement that erases the normalcy and “American-ness” of blacks in the civil rights struggle, not to mention women in the fight for suffrage and equality, working people in the fight for better working conditions, and LGBT folks as they struggle to be treated as full and equal human beings.

 

And this, my friends, is what white privilege is all about. The ability to threaten others, to engage in violent and incendiary rhetoric without consequence, to be viewed as patriotic and normal no matter what you do, and never to be feared and despised as people of color would be, if they tried to get away with half the s*** we do, on a daily basis.

 

Game Over.

[Balta1701]

For BS

[BigSqwert]

Doh! I was out of the office most of last week. Just catching up.

Edited April 26, 2010 by BigSqwert

[BigSqwert]

There is some tax panic in there, but really its core is more about out-of-control spending. And if they stick to that, I'm pretty much in agreement with their concerns.

Why won't they say a peep about the out of control defense spending? It's hard to take them seriously if that's something they never even consider.

 

Everything that goes into defense costs us about a trillion dollars a year, most of which goes into fighting the Russians in 1978. Fighter planes for all those dog fights we get into with the Taliban, submarines to foil their evil plot to blow up our ships with car bombs, and space lasers to shoot down their exploding underpants...scream about handouts, this is what they should be protesting. -- Bill Maher

[Balta1701]

Why won't they say a peep about the out of control defense spending? It's hard to take them seriously if that's something they never even consider.

Defense spending doesn't count. All that matters is they're giving all my money to those poor, lazy, unemployed totally non-racially divided group folks.

[NorthSideSox72]

Why won't they say a peep about the out of control defense spending? It's hard to take them seriously if that's something they never even consider.

Who says they don't say a peep about that? Bill Maher? Yeah there's a reliable source of information.

 

[bmags]

NSS, i'm glad you're back. And I'm glad you are still fighting the good fight. I, on the other hand, don't have time for evenhandedness...black and white baby, and i'm Gandolf the white.

[Balta1701]

NSS, i'm glad you're back. And I'm glad you are still fighting the good fight. I, on the other hand, don't have time for evenhandedness...black and white baby, and i'm Gandolf the white.

It's spelled Gandalf

[BigSqwert]

Who says they don't say a peep about that?

They have? Where and when?

[FlaSoxxJim]

NSS, i'm glad you're back. And I'm glad you are still fighting the good fight. I, on the other hand, don't have time for evenhandedness...black and white baby, and i'm Gandolf the white.

 

You're soothing Yang to Kap's raging Yin.

 

And so. . . Balance is restored to the Filibuster Universe.

[FlaSoxxJim]

It's spelled Gandalf

 

He avoids copyright infringement litigation this way.

[Rex Kickass]

http://www.suntimes.com/news/nation/220077...-042610.article

 

ASHEVILLE, N.C. -- An armed man who was spotted at a North Carolina airport parking lot just after Air Force One departed and said he wanted to see the president was to appear before a judge Monday.

Authorities arrested Joseph Sean McVey, 23, of Coshocton, Ohio, on Sunday afternoon at the Asheville Regional Airport and charged him with going armed in terror of the public, a misdemeanor.

 

A first appearance in court was scheduled for Monday, said Sgt. John Lutz of the Buncombe County jail, where McVey was being held on $100,000 bond.

 

McVey told an officer in the airport parking lot he wanted to see the president and he had a car equipped with police gear, including a siren and flashing lights, though he did not work in law enforcement, authorities said.

 

Security was heightened at the airport Sunday because President Barack Obama was leaving after spending the weekend vacationing in Asheville.

 

At about 2 p.m., airport police saw McVey get out of a maroon car with Ohio plates and that he had a sidearm, airport police Capt. Kevan Smith said. Both airport police and the Secret Service questioned him and he was taken into custody. The suspect was nowhere near the president's plane, which had just departed, and was in a rental car return lot that is open to the public, Smith said.

 

His car was equipped with clear LED law enforcement-style strobe lights in the front and rear dash, Smith said. The car also had a mounted digital camera in the front window, four large antennas on the trunk lid, and under the steering wheel was a working siren box.

 

When McVey got out of the car, he was listening to a handheld scanner and radio that had a remote earpiece, Smith said. Police said he was monitoring local agencies and had formulas for rifle scopes on a note in his cup holder.

[NorthSideSox72]

They have? Where and when?

They are upset with government spending levels. From what admittedly little I've seen in speeches and quoted statements from their leadership, they don't exclude military spending from that equation. Some might, I don't know, but you seem to THINK they feel that the military isn't subject to it. I just haven't seen any evidence as such, only your assumption.

 

As an example, Ron Paul, the Libertarian that he is, was quite against many of our military endeavors.

 

[BigSqwert]

They are upset with government spending levels. From what admittedly little I've seen in speeches and quoted statements from their leadership, they don't exclude military spending from that equation. Some might, I don't know, but you seem to THINK they feel that the military isn't subject to it. I just haven't seen any evidence as such, only your assumption.

 

I'm pretty well read on current events and since the inception of the Tea Party I have yet to hear a speech, read an article, see a misspelled sign in a crowd, etc. that slams out of control military spending.

[Balta1701]

They are upset with government spending levels. From what admittedly little I've seen in speeches and quoted statements from their leadership, they don't exclude military spending from that equation. Some might, I don't know, but you seem to THINK they feel that the military isn't subject to it. I just haven't seen any evidence as such, only your assumption.

 

As an example, Ron Paul, the Libertarian that he is, was quite against many of our military endeavors.

When you do polling data whether scientific or unscientific, they wind up being almost exactly like the rest of the country. They think that "Foreign aid" and "Waste" makes up a huge part of our budget and that's the part they want to see eliminated to balance everything, but when you ask if they're willing to cut Medicare, or unemployment benefits, or Social Security payments, or to end wars to do it...there's strong opposition. And when you ask if they're willing to cut Foreign Aid to specific places, like Israel...well, no, we can't cut that either, we like them.

[HuskyCaucasian]

RNC: THe Law Doesnt Apply To Us

The Republican National Committee is continuing to send out a misleading fundraising mailer labeled "Census Document," just weeks after Congress passed a law aimed at banning such mailers.

 

In response, the Democratic member of Congress behind the new law slammed the RNC for "trying to make a buck on the Census." But Michael Steele and co. are claiming the new law doesn't cover their mailer.

 

An RNC mailer obtained by TPMmuckraker bears the words "Census Document" and, in all caps, "DO NOT DESTROY/OFFICIAL DOCUMENT," on the outside of the envelope. In smaller letters, it says: "This is not a U.S. government document." The new law requires, among other things, that such mailers state the name and address of the sender on the outside of the envelope -- something the RNC's missive doesn't appear to do. Inside, a letter from RNC chair Michael Steele, dated April 12, asks recipients to fill out a questionnaire about their political views, and solicits donations donations of as much as $500 or more. (See the mailer here.)

....

But RNC spokesman Doug Heye told TPMmuckraker: "We simply looked at the new law, saw that it did not apply to our mailer and continued with the mail pieces." Heye did not elaborate on the RNC's view that the new law did not apply to its mailers.

 

Ultimately, that judgment will likely be one for the U.S. Postal Service to make. But whatever happens, there's no question that the mailer violates the spirit of the law. It's no secret that the RNC, perhaps thanks to its chairman's erratic performance, is facing competition in attracting money from GOP donors. But it's noteworthy, nonetheless, that it's so wedded to one deceptive fundraising tactic that it's willing to double down even after Congress has attempted to ban it.

[Balta1701]

[bmags]

I have to say, any version of a last name of mcvey/vay/veigh just seems like bad news. If your last name is this please change it before the name grows octolimbs, piercing your brain and controlling your movements.

[CanOfCorn]

obama might be a facist, we have no way of knowing.

 

Only strikeouts are fascist.

 

/green

[kapkomet]

There's no such thing as socialism "on our political spectrum." There's a political spectrum and everyone fits on it as such. American conservatives don't define political ideologies.

 

LMAO. OF COURSE there's a political spectrum in our country that's different then most other places. Hell, you all should be happy I'm defining it that way. Think about it.

[StrangeSox]

kap, of course there is a political spectrum. Obama is "left" on that spectrum in the US, but he'd be moderate-right in a lot of other countries. That doesn't mean we redefine the word socialism, though.

[kapkomet]

kap, of course there is a political spectrum. Obama is "left" on that spectrum in the US, but he'd be moderate-right in a lot of other countries. That doesn't mean we redefine the word socialism, though.

 

 

The point here is that Obama is pulling the country hard left. Compared to past years, this is hard left. Not Billy C. left nut on a blue dress left. Hard left.

 

It turns this into a Euroweenie state. And frankly, that's socialism. Obama clearly belives this is the best policy for this country.

[StrangeSox]

Evidence, please. Most of the "hard left" in this country are pissed off at Obama for various reasons.