The teabagger’s sign read, “Give Tiger a break, Obama’s screwing the whole country.”
I didn’t know Tiger needed a break. Gosh, they really do feel sorry for millionaires, don’t they?
My buddy asked, “Once again my poor mislead sis. u got anything 2 remedy her sickness?”
I’m afraid she and others like her may not see their anger as part of a “sickness”. Here’s some “medicine” that she will likely refuse, but it will help immunize you and others from her condition.
The screwing the angry man’s sign mentions was more likely from the Republicans and conservative Democrats. I’ll share some real fact-based information with you about this.
Remember when protesting meant something? Like protesting a government that wanted to send your ass to Vietnam to die, and... for...what? Now THAT was something to protest. Those people had a real grievance.
Millions of us protested Bush/Cheney’s murderous war based on lies about Iraq. That was also a legitimate grievance. The so-called “liberal media” didn’t show near as much of that as they do the thousands, or hundreds, of teabaggers, though that’s another story.
Now the tea bagging Ditto Heads and Becker-heads whine and cry about taxes, Constitutional taxation. Never have such privileged white folks whined so much about so little. Obama CUT most people’s taxes, but they are either too stupid to know that, or too rich to care, or are just plain hateful racists. They shriek about Big Government spending, but want their wars, Medicare, and Social Security. Yes they do.
They themselves are socialist enough to want Medicare and Social Security. But they don’t want to hear that. (Remember the “Take your government hands off my Medicare” sign?)
They want more tax breaks and tax cuts for the RICH REPUBLICANS. The teabaggers are puppets dancing to the Republican Big Money Band. Never mind they are making out like bandits with all the wealth that Reagan started redistributing to them.
Teabaggers are spoiled crybabies. They are the whitest, widest and whiniest crybabies ever.
Here’s the REAL redistribution of wealth that the Republican teabaggers don’t want you to know about.
This is from the Tax Policy Center.
Post-Reagan Income Re-Distribution:
Historical Income Distribution for All Households:
In 2006, the most recent data available, the top percentile of earners made 55.7 percent of all pre-tax income. The bottom 40 percent of earners made only 13.2 percent.
Average Pretax Income In Dollars
Bottom 20% / Top 1%
1980- $15,500 - $504,200
1985- $14,800 - $675,900
1992- $15,500 - $817,700
2000- $17,100 - $1,508,500
2006- $17,200 - $1,743,700
Share Of Income (Percent)
Pretax Income
Bottom 20% / Top 1% / Top 10%
1980- 5.7 % - 9.1% - 30.5%
1985 - 4.8 % - 11.5%
1992- 4.4 % - 12.3%
2000- 4.0 % - 17.8%
2006- 3.9 % - 18.8% - 41.6%
Wow! SOMEBODY has been making a killing these past years.
And this is only up to 2006. The trend has not reversed in the last few years.
Some teabaggers like to complain about what Obama is doing to our jobs.
Here’s something ELSE they don’t care to know.
Look at the Bush/Obama transition years and the trends in job losses and gains.
So you see, the poor conned-servatives would rather listen to Limbaugh and Beck say things that make them angry, than to learn the facts. I think they like being angry. It’s easier to blame others and have scapegoats for everything that’s gone wrong. I’m afraid it is the dark side of human nature. It is the authoritarian personality. If you substitute the word “Jews” for the words “liberals, or “progressives”, in Limbaugh/Beck talk you’d get a clear picture of where they learned their game.I wish I knew what else to do for them. We can only tell them the truth.
That kool-ade they’re drinking must be very delicious indeed.
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25 comments:
The goons on GTL annoy me enough that I really don't enjoy hanging out there.
As you said in a comment to your previous post, it's not debating. They turn discussion into insults and the redefinition of terms.
Orwell understood all too well that in order to end a debate that isn't going your way, you must first go to the root of the problem, and destroy the meaning of the words themselves.
Evidently, Lewis Carrol understood this too.
`When I use a word,' Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, `it means just what I choose it to mean -- neither more nor less.'
`The question is,' said Alice, `whether you can make words mean so many different things.'
`The question is,' said Humpty Dumpty, `which is to be master -- that's all.'
Once the meaning of words necessary to a debate are destroyed, the people can no longer participate in the debate. When debate becomes impossible, then it becomes impossible to organize and create resistance to new state policies, as we've lost the ability to describe them in a manner that other people can understand.
The debate over taxes ends up in the same realm. We lose the ability to talk about it in a meaningful fashion, when random words with random meanings become hair trigger catch phrases. The words replace their meaning.
I agree that job losses accelerated under Bush.
I don't know that the Obama side of the chart is accurate, or portrays what we think it portrays.
It's my opinion that the gov has become more outrageous in lying with statistics and job losses have slowed, because the economy has leveled out. Put together it makes it appear that we're doing better with Obama, when it may mean simply that we've slowed our pace of decline.
As gasoline prices are still rising, I expect we'll soon see a resurgence of bankruptcies and lost jobs.
Wease,
The Reich Wingers prove the Orwellian concept of "newspeak" every time.
Dismantle language and the ideas and arguments against totalitarianism collapse.
Although there are definitely measurable improvements in our economy and maybe jobs as well, it's still all built on a house of cards. They refuse to fix it.
The Klanbaggers aren't going to listen to a n____r, and it doesn't really matter how good they have it.
People need to understand what it is the Klanbaggers are REALLY angry about. They're furious that their white society is getting browner and browner. The election of 2008 drove that home to them, and they've gone completely off the deep end as a result.
You got it JR!
Oh yeah Dave, at the NRA convention!
JR,
As their "brain" Rush says, they want the America they grew up in. Yes, the segregated, cross-burning, McCarthy era was "their America".
Jim,
My favorite new lies are Beck's, "Bush was a progressive", and Limbo's, "Guess what? Faisal Shahzad is a registered Democrat". NOTHING is too wrong, outrageous or stupid for the Reich Wing.
Saw the other day where taxes when averaged out are at the lowest since 1950. Around 98% got a tax cut last year and still they bitch. The elite on the Far-Reich have done a masterful job of selling the tax-cut mantra to the masses. I mean why would anyone except the Uber-Rich worry about the inheritance tax??? That only applies to the top 1-2%!!
If we revived the corporate tax rate that we had when that commie Reagan was president, we could just about balance the budget. And yet Reagan could do no wrong, according to his dimbulb followers.
Very well said Dave. According to government data released earlier this week, middle class Americans are now taxed less (% of income)than they have been at any time since Wilson was President.
As long as these folks gontinue to get all their info from Faux Noise, Teabuggery shall ramble on in irate ignorance.
Kulkuri, Tom, and Tomcat,
Wouldn't it be fun to rent a billboard and put "DOUBLE the taxes for the richest one percent!"?
That would really send them into a howling fit.
But many of the richest 1% pay no taxes at all. 2 X 0 = 0 :-(
What makes me laugh is that Obama and the teabaggers agree on policy at least 95% of the time.
You all sound just like the whiners you castigate. I bet you all want for little. Olbermann...? Really? I am amazed Keith Olbermann is still on the air. MSNBC, shamelessly the most liberal, dispicable 'news' network ever devised. Rachel Madcow's smirky, condescending monologues are nauseating.
It is too bad that everybody can't rally around a political figure. But, when one is so divisory as is BO and his cast of super-nerds, ignoring the will of America, pushing through a health reform bill at the most critical economic time in 80 years, vowing for an open forum type presidency when it's as secretive as any ever has been, bowing to foreign leaders like a subordinate, taking lightly Islamic terror on US soil, not calling it what it is: radical Islam and not 'random nutjobs', distancing from Israel, gussying-up to communists like Venezuela's Chavez.
Tea Party is a grassroots movement that is, and you should appreciate this, organic in nature. No photo-ops, no leaders to speak of, just folks who are tired of BO and his band of goons & nerds turning their backs on the people who actually pay for this country to exist.
Do you really want your government to be in control of your life?
That kind of thinking is what sent Russia into disrepair, Cuba into poverty, N Korea into its sad state. It's the capitalists who make, and the government (lawyers, bureaucrats) who take.
The definition of a conservative is 'someone who owns something'. Unless of course you are guilt-ridden rich, or have some other agenda like abortions, or are an artist and can only get work if you morph into another dumb Obama-worshipper.
And, no, nobody got tax cuts.
I don't think anybody is scared of the 'browning' of the US. What I want to end is the freedom that people can get into the US. "Open Borders"??? Are you kidding me?? Even Mexico's president laughs in our face about that, and the libs give him a standing ovation. You gotta be kidding me? He should have been escorted from the room to a Delta flight to MC.
I have no problem with Hispanics. Most are good, devoutly religious, family-oriented, hard-working, fiscally conservative, sacrificing people who will produce much in the USA. God Bless 'em! But, they either need to do that in their home country, or do it here Legally. If they are legal, pay ALL their taxes, I think you guys will be surprised where their political allegiances lie.
No, I don't want the government telling me what to do, and when. I don't want to be the frog in the boiling water when I was warned as it was getting hotter. Be careful how much power you give someone over you.
The danger might not be the one you elect, but the ones after him/her who push that power to more oppressive lengths.
Sorry to run long. Just a humble guy's opinion.
I'm not here to really argue or anything. I saw a post of yours on a Fox News site, so I wanted to see what you thought about things. I like seeing other points of view.
I consider myself part of the TEA Party. But, I don't think I'm racist or angry. I also am not complaining about Obama's taxes from this year at all.
I do agree that there are many conservative blogs that may stretch the truth or skew things to provoke anger. I have seen the same in some of the comments made on this very page.
I have three main problems with our government: hardly anyone wants to take accountability--it's always the other party's fault, out of control spending really on both sides--Bush was pretty out of control too, and no one on either side really wants to work together. They forget they work for us. All they care about is getting re-elected. It seems that bloggers are the same way. Bash those that think differently rather than trying to understand other points of view. Dave, you have made some valid points. I think that there are conservatives that have also. It's a shame that instead of hating, we can't all come together and realize that yes, we are all American. We might think differently. But, we need to learn to work together. Hating other ideas doesn't help with that. Wasn't it Obama who said that if you should try listening to other points of view such as Glenn Beck and Huffington Post? I believe he said something like that at the University of Michigan.
Divided we fall people.
HFESIH,
Interesting. I don’t know how anything of mine would end up at a Fox site. Maybe I was a target of someone’s ire.
Anyway, thank you for your thoughtful comment. I respect your open mindedness. Too many radical right types can only call us Marxist/Communists out of ignorance, anger, and frustration with what we are saying. They completely miss the entire point of our emphatic pro-democracy convictions.
Your comment seems to indicate you are not one of the radial authoritarians who spew the hatred and intolerance. In fact, I agree with most of what you’re saying. I try not to hate anybody. I have family members who listen to Beck. I am firmly convinced they are deceived, but I love them.
Speaking of Beck. Anyone who would say a black man, who was raised by a white mother and grandparents, is a racist who “hates white people” is clearly provoking anger. And when he accuses the opposition to Republicans of being mostly “Marxist/Communists” he is clearly fomenting anger by blatant falsehoods. I try to monitor political commentary coming from both sides. The distortions and falsehoods come mostly from the right. This is because they are working to get over half of the public to vote for the interests of the economic elite. They have the money and the motive and the means to indoctrinate the voters towards their agenda.
I have often invited conservative folks to show me anything close to the equivalent from liberal media figures. They cannot. Now if someone were to say “Republicans are Nazis,” I’d allow their point.
The fact is, and Ron Paul has even stated so, that Obama is a corporatist. Most members of the House, Senate and Administration are. If there is any object of anger and hatred from the Left it is this: The influence of corporate money is corrupting our government and is antithetical to democracy. Our vote is nullified when we have only corporatist candidates on the ballot.
Let me put our case as simply as possible. "Corporations are not persons." "Money is not speech."
I’m sure most Tea Party people are decent enough and want the best for our country. Besides the obvious presence of at least a few racists and their signs, our complaint with the Tea Party is simple. Although individuals may personally claim they are a “grass roots” movement, there is no doubt that Republican/corporate front groups, along with Fox, have financed and promoted their largest rallies. If it is a revolution the Tea Party wants, they’d better decide between corporatocracy and democracy.
If we are upset with our government, maybe we should be upset with those powerful interests that pull the strings on the politicians. They won’t listen to liberals or working class conservatives. We are all in the same boat.
Dave, you covered well, some points I wanted to address.
You brought this up, and I think it's a valid question.
If the Tea Party is an independent organic group with no leaders, then why are a number of 'leaders', like the founder, Dick Armey, still organizing the events and deciding which Republican campaigns the Tea Party donation will finance?
Why is it that Republican lobbying groups in conjunction with Fox News paying for and organizing the rallies while also providing the message?
As to illegal immigration, how will American businesses compete without the cheap labor pool? They need illegals to keep costs down.
Isn't it the socialists who want to tell businesses who they can hire and what they should pay?
Is it the business of the Tea Party to ask for increased and enforced regulations that hurt American business?
What are they? A bunch of commies?
They are beginning to sound like my Grandfather's generation, a bunch WWII vets who came back and filled America with Socialism, by joining organizations like the Teamsters and UAW.
The Tea Party confuses the crap out me. Such an oddball study in contradictions. And they don't even make good parrots.
As a final aside, I find it amusing that they assume that if you don't join their herd, then you must be an Obama supporter. they can't seem to conceive of the notion that people can be sick of both the red and the blue corporatists.
Wease,
I think most of them don't want to understand us. We are the designated enemies chosen by their authoritarian leaders. That's all they need to know.
This is why I admire "Hatred From Either Side" for his curiosity and civility.
Dialtone,
Thanks for your input. I will respond to your comment, though I doubt you will return to see it. It would seem to me, judging by your list of resentments, false accusations and Fox/Limbaugh talking points that you are definitely of the angry, authoritarian right.
First I want to point out where we agree.
“The danger might not be the one you elect, but the ones after him/her who push that power to more oppressive lengths.” You got that right. Since there are no corrections to Bush/Cheney warrantless surveillance of Americans, we will see even greater abuse of the Fourth Amendment to the Bill of Rights. Since nobody is accountable for torture and abuse of prisoners, that will only worsen.
Then you say something like, “It’s the capitalists who make, and the government (lawyers, bureaucrats) who take.” Are you sure about that? Ever hear of Wall Street banks?
“The definition of a conservative is 'someone who owns something'.” I’ll tell you what it really is. Conservatism is whatever the one percent economic elite say it is. I would love to see where any “conservative” disagrees with their corporate masters. You and those servants of Mammon are of the same opinion, all the time. If you are a Christian you should be doing some soul searching.
Rather than dissect all your errors, let me just directly address one. “Nobody got tax cuts.” Wrong. I did, and millions of other Americans did. It was in the so-called Stimulus act. That is simply a fact.
I guess only Fox, “shamelessly the most RIGHT WING, dispicable 'news' network ever devised” should be on, eh? Sounds like the “fair and balanced” world view of the radical right. Does it occur to you MSNBC has a conservative program host? Ratings keep them on the air. If MSNBC were lumped into everyone’s basic cable like Fox, their ratings would be even much higher.
So you don’t like Olbermann and Maddow. Why is that? Have you ever listened to the content of their programs, or just glared at the screen for an Orwellian Two Minute Hate? Do they give too much information that your belief system abhors? You seem as angry with them as I am with the lies of Beck and Limbaugh.
I invite you to a challenge. You show me any falsehood from Olbermann and Maddow. This cannot be just your disagreement or opinion. You will need to back these assertions with documented evidence.
After you produce these instances, I will likewise show you at least five instances of Beck/Limbaugh false accusations or blatant lies against liberals or about democrats. One for five. Fair enough?
So far, not one conservative has accepted my offer. I wonder why?
Dave,
I did come back. Surprise!
I don't have time at the moment to get you the backing about Olbermann & Maddow. They are opinionists like the rest. Take a few facts and editorilize for 2 minutes, empassioning their take on the issue. I have spent more than a 2 minutes on both, although it is difficult. I also switch to CNN quite often, I couldn't find the MSNBC station for a while & just found it the other day, so I'll be checking it out more. CNN is 1 number from FoxNews so it's easier to find.
Not saying Fox is always 'right'. It is definitely conservative-leaning. No doubt about that. And I get annoyed with them sometimes, as well, particularly Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity.
I haven't listened to Limbaugh in years. Though he is a brilliant person and has particular insight that is right on much of the time, his self-adoration and over-the-top ranting wears me out. Just my opinion, but it seems he has lost some traction in recent years. There are better conservatives out there who are rational, reasonable and entertain other opinions.
Thank God for FoxNews. People should view many news sources to truly get a balanced view. But, without FN, all we'd get is a steady diet of one opinion.
Any talking head who is perpetually outraged will soon wear out most of his/her listeners. I believe most Americans are not 'far' left or right. But, it seems that most liberals are young, and as they age, own more, pay more, they become somewhat conservative, at least fiscally.
Wall St banks are in most every policitians pocket. Clearly, some of the more wicked people on earth have Wall St addresses. And nobody gets elected to a high place in America anymore without tens of millions of $. No more 'Mr. Smith Goes to Washington'. Sad. That Wall St was bailed out makes me sick. So there are no other profitable American banks willing to take portions of AIG, et al, business? Let them fail. And, what did they do with the money? Partied like it's 2009.
W. Bush was not the most conservative guy we ever had, and disappointed a great number of conservatives. (BTW, I am not a republican card carrier. I am conservative, but will go with whomever seems to have a plan for keeping America safe from those within/without who intend to harm/kill us.) I was not sad to see Bush go. Cheney was a bully, no doubt. But, I'm not a Biden fan, either. Maybe as a young guy, but nowadays he's just an old WA snake oil salesman.
W Bush spent us into the poorhouse, was bent on taking Iraq, did not close the Mexican border, and seemed to become overwhelmed later on. This segue's into another point: I do not believe a human being can be President of the US for 8 years, effectively. Not in the last 100 years has there been a president (besides Roosevelt, arguably) who was able to do that job without major fallout, including Reagan. The job is simply too much.
I do not agree with your definition of conservatism. The tenants of it that I believe in are, the power to build something, be creative, profit from that creation, and also fail/learn/rebuild and do it again, to have relevant governmental boundaries, not be taxed to death, yet have a government dependable enough to protect me/us from fraudulent entities, and enemies foreign & domestic, maintain federal roads, etc.
'Dissecting my errors'...Ha! Well, I simply do not have time to read every point on every issue. Feel free to dissect. I will respond, as well. I will assert that you - and the rest of us - have no idea what is really going on in Washington. BO's band is going to tell you as little as possible, as do most Admin's. The News agencies make fortunes daily on feeding us what they want us to hear.
See, I've run long again. Shall return...
Dialtone said, "Thank God for FoxNews. People should view many news sources to truly get a balanced view. But, without FN, all we'd get is a steady diet of one opinion."
I find most of the stations outside of Comedy Central, have very similar opinions. Many follow the lead of Fox News, even when Fox is repeating easy to disprove falsehoods.
Rachel Maddow and Keith Olberman are the rare dissenters.
I found a long time ago, that if I actually read the bills or watch the speeches myself and pay attention to the words, I'll often form an opinion based the words, that differ dramatically from what FOX says. I've also discovered that if I actually quote portions of a bill with no real opinion on various sites, that liberals will call me a baby killing conservative and conservatives will call me a whiny liberal.
Evidently, both sides tend to hate the actual facts.
Before Rush Limbaugh suffered brain damage from his substance abuse problem, I was a regular listener. I'd get a bit riled up about what the Clintons were doing, then I'd go research what he said, and discover that 80% of it was a fabrication. Worse, I'd find that there were perfectly valid reasons to get mad at Bill Clinton, but the Mainstream Media, including Rush, didn't cover it, because those things suited their agendas.
As to voting for the guy who'll protect us... 100% safety is really just a myth. You can't be 100% safe all of the time. Even if these guys locked you in a cell for your own protection, they can't protect you from the guards.
It's a myth that everyone in the world constantly fears for their safety. Most people of the world feel safe from invasion and oppression. They live their lives oblivious to the fears of Americans. It's also a myth that every kid herding goats, dreams of the day he can kill Americans.
We know that 9/11 was financed by the Bin Ladens and the House of Saud. Our own government tells us this. Further our government tells us that the hijackers came from Saudi Arabia and Egypt. So what do we do to retaliate? We attack Iraq. We don't go after the people responsible. Because they own our banks.
The bully on the playground never attacks the bully that beats him up. He passes it down to the smaller kids. We do the same. And like those bullies. We live in fear that someone might retaliate.
Dialtone,
I’m happy to see you back. Your civility and reasonable tone are most welcome.
I’m not sure what “balance” Fox brings. While some actual news is read, it bears little resemblance to journalism and is rarely anything but a conduit for Republican talking points. There simply is no equivalent for the Democratic Party. In fact, journalism itself is disappearing from our media. Anyway you look at it; Fox does not stand up to fact checking as well as the others. I’ve never seem them retract anything.
If the much believed conservative myth of “liberal media” were true, then Fox would be a balance. Unfortunately, as we liberals struggle to point out, American media is not “liberal”. It is a corporate owned information distribution system. It advances no serious change to the status quo, or challenge to the nexus of corporate/government power. Once in a while they even give themselves away when they talk of someone outside the “establishment” mentality.
Corporate media have no respect for Ralph Nader or Ron Paul.
We remember MSNBC fervently waving the flag and beating the drums for Bush’s unprovoked invasion of Iraq. Phil Donahue and Jesse Ventura both had their highly rated programs cancelled because they questioned the war.
The Tea Party folks love to invoke “we the people”, and I’m sure that is what they feel. However, their corporate/Republican sponsors are only in it for advancing the interests of the economic elite. They are indoctrinating people into such extremist ideology that they equate Constitutional taxation with tyranny. They encourage the lies about Obama and Democrats being Marxists and Communists. These are absurdities. (And as we know, “Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.” – Voltaire)
Democrats are almost as corporate owned as Republicans, for Pete’s sake. There is far too much anger and disinformation at play here, and it is not conducive to compromise or any other solutions. It is intended purely to get more votes for Republicans.
The very words, liberalism, conservatism, progressives, Tea Party, etc. are all very divisive as well as fluid in meaning. That is also not conducive to solutions. I’m one of those “liberals” who supports the Second Amendment. That would be enough for many progressives to shun me.
Too much of what is lumped as conservatism is corporatism. This is why I defined it as I did. I agree with most of your idea of conservatism. The economic elite are doing their best to convince people that conservatism is entirely within the agenda of the wealthiest upper class. It is not, of course.
Do you want to know who I think are the real conservatives? The Amish.
Republican conservatism is primarily interested in increasing the wealth for the economic elite and corporate entities. Many Democrats also embrace the same kind of revolving door, corporate foxes in the regulatory henhouse mentality.
As I keep saying, the influence of corporate money is corrupting our government and is antithetical to democracy. Our vote is nullified when we have only corporatist candidates on the ballot. Corporations are not persons and money is not speech.
Corporations should not have more rights than people, and less accountability. Corporate “personhood” is the problem. Their money, sanctioned as “free speech” does not belong in the political process of a democracy. Free speech is the right of individual persons, not the highest bidder.
Is this unreasonable to you?
Dialtone,(Continued)
Now, about that Fox spin you put on a couple things:
Chavez is a democratically elected, term limited Socialist, not a Communist. Term limits were imposed by the people’s vote and Chavez accepted it. That’s not communism.
If he were a Communist he would not have tolerated all the media opposition that went so far as to support the Bush backed coup in 2002. If that happened in communist China or the Soviet Union, the station owners would have been executed.
American corporate media, mostly Fox, call him a Communist, while a buffoonish egomaniacal jerk may be closer to the truth.
Obama’s bow, like Bush’s holding hands with the Saudi, was protocol, not subordination.
One more thing. I like what you say about the Presidency. It requires a man of honesty, wisdom and courage. Not much of that going around lately. My feeling is if someone WANTS to be president, he probably should NOT be president.
Wease,
I don't recall anybody but Republicans bitching about Clinton's "Crime Bill". Was I the only person outraged by the death penalty for a non-violent crime? It was there... for growing pot.
It's interesting that folks are upset that Obama bowed to a Saudi Royal, but are fine that both Bush's were cozy enough with them to kiss their cheeks.
Men kissing men, good. Men bowing to men, bad.
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