So reads one of the many picket signs on display at the county courthouse this afternoon as a mass of Humboldt Tea Party Patriots gathered for one of many
tax day rallies
nationwide. Our man Andrew Goff is in the field and submitted this vid of the launch.
Goff estimated the crowd at approximately 250. Some pics:
This probably means nothing, but it’s amusing nonetheless: Last night at the Humboldt County Democratic Central Committee meeting, Eureka Mayor/candidate for 4th District Supervisor Virginia Bass sought to distance herself from conservatives by professing her support for same-sex couples and her opposition to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Now, note the “This little piggie” sign on the left here.
And note what it was written on.
And in a quiet, possibly even unnoticed show of counter-protest, former Arcata City Councilman Dave Meserve crunched some numbers:
And finally, a statement upon which we can all agree:
This article appears in Roads and Redwoods April 2010 (North Coast Journal).
Wake up white people!
Seems like there’s an awful lot of Red on display for an ostensibly capitalist-friendly event.
Dissent is patriotic.
10 dollar pins? Tax included I hope!
Jeesh
Dissent is patriotic.
It also appears that willful ignorance, dumbassery and all-around douchenozzleness are patriotic as well.
These fuckwhistles have no clue as to what they are dissenting, there just happens to be a nigger in the White House and gay Democrats calling the shots on Capitol Hill and they can’t stand it.
You have Jonny-NRA standing there with a slam against ACORN, the mind, it boggles. Ask him about Exxon profits, or ask him how much less he is paying in federal taxes this year after Congress pushed through tax cuts for 95-percent of citizens.
They are racist, hate-filled shitbags who deserve nothing but ridicule and mockery.
You didn’t just drop the n-bomb and try to call tax protesters racist did you?
I guess we have some whip crackin’, pasty ass, brown teeth havin’ Smothers Brothers lookin white boys callin the shots on Capitol Hill. They are a bunch of racists, I tell ya.
The n-bomb? What the fuck is an n-bomb? I used the word nigger a word that pops out from my teabagging mailing list. I get them from all across the nation and if there is one universal theme to the teabaggers it’s their open, hateful racism.
Are you really that fucking obtuse, or do you work at it?
I attended. They are a rolling just add water photo-op machine. All those home made signs were ready for folks to pick up and display. I would guess the same for the flags although I did not see where all the flags came from. These folks have got event planning down! Their message is a bit abstract but they have their act together.
The group was friendly, chatty, glad to see each other. Nice bunch of folks.
TeaBagMe: You think because you are parroting some racist ass bullshit that doesn’t make you a racist ass bullshitter?
This whole deal ain’t never been about race. It’s about tax. We’re tired of paying for wars, Great Society programs, and the economics results of crooked institutions like the Federal Reserve.
White liberals making this protesting about race is racist as hell. Stop hiding from the goddamn issues.
The woman signing the National Anthem and handing out the signs is the wife of a local millionaire many times over
Fantastic! Fight for every last penny sister!
"Don’t pull Gandmas plug!"
The burlesque buffoonery of these people takes the wind out of the sails of sarcasm.
If you watch closely Seth Kinman appears periodically in the bottom right corner. No surprise he’s a teabagger.
The Tea Party increasingly reminds me of the Westboro Baptist Church in terms of its illogical fanaticism.
I for one would like a more open debate, focused on issues instead of name calling. Dissent is patriotic, its not a liberal only option or a conservative only idea…and ‘Teabaggers’ dont appear to be dumb- least according to the GreyLady
Poll Finds Tea Party Backers Wealthier and More Educated-
http://community.nytimes.com/comments/www.nytimes.com/2010/04/15/us/politics/15poll.html?sort=newest&scp=2&sq=tea%20bag%20educated&st=cse
People believe what they want to believe, and the more evidence you show them that is counter to their beliefs, the stronger they dig in their heals.
Judging by the Tea Party protest signs, it seems the far right has sunken as deeply into conspiracy theories as the far left did under Bush.
Was just having this discussion with various views on the Chomsky piece. Hard to argue with someone who can remember being there, but some of my coworkers seem to be trying to pull it off.
Let’s see—George W. Bush’s massive tax cuts and war machine destroyed the Clinton budget surplus. No “rainy day” budget surplus any more. Huge increase in government spending on war. Meanwhile the libertarian ideologues dismantled bank regulation and oversight.
Obama inherits a mess — massive budget deficit, the Great Recession, and a banking crisis. He pushes through a stimulus bill that from a fiscal standpoint is small in size relative to the George W. Bush war machine, and pushes for a return to reasonable bank regulation.
So, a reasonable person might expect the Tea Party to have emerged as a robust protest against George W’s imprudent fiscal management of our federal government. But no. Where was their massive protest against the Bush deficit? Against the Bush war machine that has resulted in thousands of our young people coming home in body bags?
But, as soon as we elect a Democratic (and Black) President, suddenly these Tea Party folks notice that there’s a big budget deficit. They attack the man we hired to clean up Bush’s mess.
Frankly, I have zero respect for these Tea Party folks. No consistency, no real intellectual honesty. They just hate to see anybody other than a right-winger running our federal government, and they can’t concede.
"Poll Finds Tea Party Backers Wealthier and More Educated"
They may be wealthier, but they are obviously not well educated.
God Bless Dave Meserve.
Amen.
His was probably the only sign there that made any sense.