tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post5236733893309412631..comments2023-10-16T07:13:12.123-05:00Comments on A plain blog about politics: Catch of the DayJonathan Bernsteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15931039630306253241noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-186409112824978022013-03-21T23:30:17.380-05:002013-03-21T23:30:17.380-05:00What was there to post about that wasn't crack...What was there to post about that wasn't crackpots in Tea Party rallies?Crissahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13389565751169783614noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-19829052676811251682013-03-21T21:44:04.294-05:002013-03-21T21:44:04.294-05:00"Keep your government hands off my Medicare&q..."Keep your government hands off my Medicare" is a good example of how signs in a crowd <i>can</i> be relevant. For the past few years, the Tea Party leadership--and indeed, much of the GOP establishment--has been denouncing Obamacare as a "government takeover of the health-care system" while at the same time attacking it for its cuts to America's actual government health-care system. Some of the statements by actual Tea Party leaders have been almost as nonsensical as that iconic sign--witness Michelle Bachmann's warning that Obama intends to <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/post/bachmanns-nonsensical-medicare-obamacare-claim/2011/06/20/AGkqpPdH_blog.html" rel="nofollow">turn Medicare into Obamacare</a> (which would actually mean <i>privatizing</i> it along similar lines to Ryan's plan, but never mind). It should be little wonder that some Tea Partiers are apparently under the impression that Medicare is a private program while Obamacare is a public one. That's what much of the propaganda on the right has been designed to make people think. So highlighting that sign isn't, in my view, making a cheap shot based on one ignoramus in a crowd; it's illustrating something that's been coming straight from the top.Kylopodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06932528611103718373noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-67679267737715740772013-03-21T20:01:45.852-05:002013-03-21T20:01:45.852-05:00Which isn't the same thing as saying that &quo...Which isn't the same thing as saying that "the Tea Party are a bunch of racists" or that the guy with the horrible sign is a typical Tea Partier. But nevertheless is part of the story.Jonathan Bernsteinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15931039630306253241noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-73125547533787323372013-03-21T20:00:27.152-05:002013-03-21T20:00:27.152-05:00Yup, I'll agree with that.Yup, I'll agree with that. Jonathan Bernsteinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15931039630306253241noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-85474309277433562382013-03-21T19:00:09.282-05:002013-03-21T19:00:09.282-05:00And, in the case of the Tea Party, subsequent rese...And, in the case of the Tea Party, subsequent research (you know, of the type Coburn likes to de-fund, except this wasn't NSF funded) has demonstrated racial antipathy to be a statistically significant predictor of Tea Party support.Matt Jarvisnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-28100382848444021072013-03-21T18:48:50.064-05:002013-03-21T18:48:50.064-05:00This is probably even more true of Occupy protests...This is probably even more true of Occupy protests.Consumatopianoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-37965058912996813162013-03-21T16:51:51.444-05:002013-03-21T16:51:51.444-05:00As they were just forming, it was probably fair to...As they were just forming, it was probably fair to say that the Tea Partyers didn't know what they were about either, certainly not as a group. These things take time to sort out.Scott Monjenoreply@blogger.com