Ripping Open the Scab of Bigotry
by JC
Frank Rich cast some light into the dark morass of tea bagging and the GOP today in the New York Times article “The Rage Is Not About Health Care”:
“If Obama’s first legislative priority had been immigration or financial reform or climate change, we would have seen the same trajectory. The conjunction of a black president and a female speaker of the House — topped off by a wise Latina on the Supreme Court and a powerful gay Congressional committee chairman — would sow fears of disenfranchisement among a dwindling and threatened minority in the country no matter what policies were in play. It’s not happenstance that Frank, Lewis and Cleaver — none of them major Democratic players in the health care push — received a major share of last weekend’s abuse. When you hear demonstrators chant the slogan “Take our country back!,” these are the people they want to take the country back from.”
I’ve been wondering all along why the tea baggers would be so dead-set against a health care bill that is basically a bag of republican ideas–including a mandate conceptualized by the Heritage Foundation–working off of the model that republican Mitt Romney signed into law in Massachusetts. A plan that furthers the republican goal of moving public wealth to private corporations. I daresay we’ll be hearing plenty from those trying to upsell this republican plan as progressive legislation the rest of the year. But that will do nothing to assuage the baggers and their GOP and Fox/Rush/Palin chearleaders.
Rich traces the roots of the tea bagger revolt back to Sarah Palin’s introductory speech at the RNC convention. With that speech, it suddenly became fashionable again to whip the right-wing crazies into a frenzy with a bunch of veiled bigotry and disinformation. And one way to curry favor with the new diva was to try and emulate or outdo her.
“Take our country back” has become the rallying cry for the current wave of hysteria and bigotry in this country. The problem is, however, that it was never “their” country in the first place. The country belongs to all, equally. Even those who are legally immigrating here.
If there was anybody who has a legitimate claim on “Take our country back”, though it would be Native Americans. I once listened to Bearhead Swaney out at the National Bison Range, on an anniversary of the Hellgate Treaty tell a nice little “joke”: What did native people call this land before the white man came? “OURS!”
We are witnessing nothing more than the second coming of white man to America.
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March 28, 2010 at 7:14 am
Yes but the reality is that although miniscule in number, they break a mighty wind. And each and every time they fart, the press is there to cover it. Hence, their numbers seem MUCH larger than they truly are. But old, fat, racist dudes in period costume and little flag hats screaming until their chubby pink little faces get red and purple gets old real quick. At first they were a curiostiy. Then they became annoying. Now, they’re simply ridiculous and counterproductive, for they offer nothing except hatred and anger. And it is the Republican Party that will inherit this mighty breaking wind.
March 28, 2010 at 9:11 am
Since you broached the subject I have a question.
Will Native Americans be forced like us to pay for health insurance? Or are they exempt?
March 28, 2010 at 2:26 pm
Tribal sovereignty rises above state’s rights in this country BS.
And yes, Native Americans have been granted an exemption. But so have those who are on Medicare and VA, legal immigrants (who have been here less than 5 years), those too poor to afford it and don’t qualify for Medicaid, and….
You going to hold a grudge against them, too? Well that’s a dumb rhetorical question, because of course you are.
And more accurately, nobody is “forcing” you or anybody else to buy insurance. If you don’t carry insurance, you’ll pay a penalty. Just like driving without car insurance–which in most cases will cost more than the health insurance penalty, and includes a night in jail in many counties.
And all you really need to do to exempt yourself is to declare your religion is 7th day Adventist, Scientologist, or one of the other many that will spring up to cater to those unwilling to participate. Kind of like the way you get your kid out of the requirements to have vaccines. You against mandatory vaccination for school kids, too, BS?
And if you’re looking for precedent, look no further than Medicare, where everybody 65 and older must enroll.
March 28, 2010 at 4:58 pm
All I wanted was a simple answer.
First sentence would have sufficed.
March 28, 2010 at 9:15 am
Swede, do you have a treaty with the government? Just wondering. BTW, your question pretty much identifies you as part of the mighty breaking wind.
March 28, 2010 at 9:45 am
By their boorish and ignorant behavior, Teabaggers have rendered the far right irrelevant.
Mainstream republicans are increasingly wary of their party’s participation and support of racists and bigots.
The crazier they get, the more irrelevant they become. We should thank MSM for the coverage.
March 28, 2010 at 9:51 am
I want MSM to cover them more. Crazier these bigots and racists get, the more irrelevant the repulican party gets.
You shine a light on evil to expose it.
March 28, 2010 at 12:04 pm
There’s an actual, honest-to-God Teabagger running as a Democrat in HD92.
March 28, 2010 at 12:21 pm
Better than that Rusty, alot of Dems agree with Teabaggers.
From Rasmussen.
“Democrats, perhaps not surprisingly since their party currently controls both the House and Senate, are more evenly divided. Forty-five percent (45%) of those in Nancy Pelosi’s party say that their views are closer to the average member of Congress. However, 28% of Democrats say their views are closer to the average member of the Tea Party.”
I’m thinking MT Dems even agree more.
March 28, 2010 at 12:51 pm
Extreme right wing dreams fueled by incomprehensible oblivious ignorance.
The braver they get with their predictions, the more foolish they appear to reasonable citizens.
Carry on.
March 28, 2010 at 1:01 pm
Are you one of the “reasonable ones”?
March 28, 2010 at 2:11 pm
There we go with the tea bagger polling firm and its robo calls. Meaningless drivel. All Rasmussen does is poll reaction to tea bagger rhetoric, as reflected in the media. It’s methods and goals have pretty much been written off by most respected pollsters and poll analysts these days.
Regardless, I’ve never said there aren’t tea bagging dems and bigots among them. After all, how can the right find wedge issues among democrats if it isn’t willing to exploit overt racism and homophobia?
Pretty simple really. And it still doesn’t make tea baggers the paragons of virtue that you wish them to be.
And it’s nice to know which side you’re on, BS. I wouldn’t have expected any less.
March 28, 2010 at 4:56 pm
Got a better MT poll JC?
March 28, 2010 at 1:40 pm
kind of off topic, but: paul craig roberts calls it quits!
after a long career that included acting as assistant secretary of treasury under reagan, and a columnist for little rags like the wall street journal and business weekly, he’s hanging it up.
read his good bye: link must read. here’s a sample:
March 28, 2010 at 2:23 pm
I read him all the time at counterpunch.org. He’s probably just down with mainstrean publications. Roberts is one of the best writers out there.