a brief political interlude
September 29, 2010
Dear Local Tea Party "Patriots,"
Seriously? Seriously? Give me a good reason to believe that your movement is more than code for thinly veiled bigotry.
You are the reason we can't have nice things.
- Adrienne
(There may be a more content heavy post later in the day, once I can move past my incoherent rage. We'll see.)
Colbert covered this last night.
I'm planning to go to the Stewart/Colbert rally on 10/30 if any one wants to car pool from the Philadelphia area.
Posted by: matthew | September 29, 2010 at 10:32 AM
I am utterly horrified. (And I have to admit, slightly relieved it wasn't in Tennessee.)
Posted by: Catherine | September 29, 2010 at 11:59 AM
New York State skews really right wing Republican once you get out of the cities and college towns, which means that they are generally outnumbered but are still there. But, yeah, as much as I pick on Tennessee, I'm well aware that racist nuts aren't just in the South.
Posted by: Adrienne | September 29, 2010 at 01:56 PM
yup. i agree that this is terrible, horrible, no-good, and very bad. but explain to me how the actions of one person with tea party "affiliations" (which are what, exactly?) renders the whole bunch equally racist? kinda like the actions of some violent muslims don't reflect on the non-violent majority of muslims?
Posted by: laura in nj | September 30, 2010 at 08:05 AM
You have a very good point, laura in nj. I need to check my own assumptions and will do my best to not tar the entire group with the actions of a few.
Posted by: Adrienne | September 30, 2010 at 08:34 AM
Oh please. The tea party is rooted in the fact that the president is black.
Posted by: matthew | September 30, 2010 at 10:58 AM
You are right, Matthew. I went to the tea party rally in Otego on 9/18 & most of the speakers said, "We need to take our country back." But they never said back to or from what. But you know what that code means: take the country back from that black guy in the white house! My husband carried a sign that said on one side: Ignorance is bliss. & on the other: Knowledge is power. One guy immediately got in his face & said, "You think all these people are ignorant? You are a jerk!" My husband replied "I'm just using my free speech."
Posted by: Barb | September 30, 2010 at 12:06 PM
Also, Bob McCarthy of Sidney was the Worst Person in the World on Countdown with Keith Olbermann. Sidney Freaking New York!
Posted by: Barb | September 30, 2010 at 12:11 PM
Exactly. Anti-taxes, anti-big government, those are the same old flags that Republicans have always carried. Where were these tea baggers when Bush was growing government and deficit? Not a peep.
Posted by: matthew | September 30, 2010 at 01:00 PM
saying that "X group is all about Y" is a little simplistic, no matter who says it. it's easy to point out in other people, but we often forget that we are someone else's "other people."
and i know this is re: a later post but people reading memoir should not get pissy when opinions are shared. just sayin'.
Posted by: laura in nj | September 30, 2010 at 04:13 PM
Adrienne, I just finished "Sweater Quest" today, and that book is a permanent treasure! Usually I pass books on to various friends, but I want to read this book again and again. My knitting friends will have to buy their own!
Thank you, and keep writing.
Kathleen
Posted by: Kathleen Smail | October 02, 2010 at 12:23 AM