Check out all the "tea baggers are racist" posts on /r/politics, coincidentally just when the health care bill is about to be passed. I'm pretty tempted to posit "psyops" here...
The "Tea Party" is real. It's as real as the outrage when someone questioned Bush after 9/11, or the support for the invasion of Afghanistan.
It's real because it was co-opted from a marginal existing movement by one entity, FOX.
FOX is the ultimate psyops tool. They have Western civilization covered.
Did anyone notice that during the lead up to the 2008 election, FOX essentially repositioned itself as a quasi-libertarian, pro free markets, pro capitalist network? A network that questioned the government, stood up for civil rights... after a decade of absolute commitment to the Bush administration?
The Tea Party came out of the Ron Paul movement (that FOX boycotted by not including Paul in the presidential debates) and was reimagined by FOX, primarily by Glenn Beck.
The technique I think that was used to accomplish this dilution of any real resistance or third-party was the gradual picking apart of FOX News credibility in the mainstream over the past 10 years - pundits like Bill O'Reilly and Hannity have undeniably become jokes to people who don't watch FOX.
The loss of public confidence in FOX was inevitable due to it's unfailing support of Bush policies like torture and the preemptive war.
The credibility of the network was so tarnished that MSNBC suddenly became 'the voice of reason'... right about the time Obama is elected.
Then all FOX had to do was sponsor and manipulate the first signs of any legitimate uprising and watch the remaining morons who stuck with FOX come out to play. Instant marginalization of any real grassroots movement.
MSNBC had a free ride ridiculing the Tea Party simply because it was affiliated with FOX. They could completely ignore the real libertarian movement which is much more concerned with ending or at the very least auditing the Fed.
So really, It's a combination of the two (MSNBC/FOX). Why use just one propaganda network when you can have two and people think they actually have a choice?
this is why all the independent thinkers in the movement moved to the Coffee Party. No Glenn Beck there. no FOX. just the original ideals of the movement, without the teabagger connotations.
Yes, and let's not forget about why the tea-baggers were created, which was to question why the US government was handing out trillions of dollars to banks.
No I'm pretty sure it's because some of them come off as racist. I know some teabaggers in real life and during several convos they are just an inch away from calling Obama a stupid nigger.
some. It's one thing to point out that a few idiots on camera, or in real life, are doing this stuff. That's going to happen, inevitably.
It's another to accuse millions of people of being racists on the basis of the actions of a few.
The burden of proof is on those making such accusations. And without that proof, dragging this issue to the degree that it is lately amounts to nothing more than rabble-rousing, to distract from the real issues.
First off, I don't think there are millions of teabaggers, and as with any other group, by not standing up and forcing people in your group to take down the Obama nazi pictures, and allowing racists into the group you are making a comment on your entire group.
Every group has to be responsible for their own members, and by not standing up to them it's a bad sign of what the groups intentions are.
/r/politics is a meeting place for racists that project their own racism onto others. It's really sad. If the only possible reason they can see for not liking this administration is the fact that Obama is black, then the racism shoe is clearly on the other foot. Kinda ironic in a way. They just don't understand how they can be racist considering that they support Obama who they say is black (I state "they say" because they are again the ones bringing up race. They are always the ones bringing up race.).
Most people who comment in /r/politics as well as US liberals. It's more the Democrats, but liberals in the US tend to think the same way as Democrats IMO.
You're right. Racism is seeing one's race as superior to others. People are always confusing classism and ethnocentrism with actual racism. Liberals and conservatives are classist, different cultures are ethnocentric, but people who believe mating outside one's skin color and rough facial features is "ruining the race" are actually racist.
No! Any false accusation based solely on race or the accuser's perception of how others see race is itself racism. You can't box in racism. Racism can be demonstrated in many ways.
Liberals often believe they know better than others. They often believe they know why others act a certain way. This is usually called elitism (or an asshole). So they don't just think they're superior to a specific race. They think they're superior to just about anyone that doesn't think like they do. So now they add false accusations of racism to their repertoire of self-superiority and it ironically turns THEM into racists.
I'm not quite sure what the point of you linking to that article is...
But anyway, it's not so much that I think these guys are plants (they may or may not be- it's certainly not unprecedented), but rather the degree to which this is being blown way out of proportion, to the effect of essentially smearing those who object to anything this government does, is rather suspect.
All this proves is that a few vocal idiots can find themselves on national television cameras from time to time- and that this makes for good TV for those who are drooling for anything that plays in favor of their own "team".
You're right. Racism is seeing one's race as superior to others. People are always confusing classism and ethnocentrism with actual racism. Liberals and conservatives are classist, different cultures are ethnocentric, but people who believe mating outside one's skin color and rough facial features is "ruining the race" are actually racist.
25 comments
8 pleasant_chap 2010-03-21
The "Tea Party" is real. It's as real as the outrage when someone questioned Bush after 9/11, or the support for the invasion of Afghanistan.
It's real because it was co-opted from a marginal existing movement by one entity, FOX.
FOX is the ultimate psyops tool. They have Western civilization covered.
Did anyone notice that during the lead up to the 2008 election, FOX essentially repositioned itself as a quasi-libertarian, pro free markets, pro capitalist network? A network that questioned the government, stood up for civil rights... after a decade of absolute commitment to the Bush administration?
The Tea Party came out of the Ron Paul movement (that FOX boycotted by not including Paul in the presidential debates) and was reimagined by FOX, primarily by Glenn Beck.
The technique I think that was used to accomplish this dilution of any real resistance or third-party was the gradual picking apart of FOX News credibility in the mainstream over the past 10 years - pundits like Bill O'Reilly and Hannity have undeniably become jokes to people who don't watch FOX.
The loss of public confidence in FOX was inevitable due to it's unfailing support of Bush policies like torture and the preemptive war.
The credibility of the network was so tarnished that MSNBC suddenly became 'the voice of reason'... right about the time Obama is elected.
Then all FOX had to do was sponsor and manipulate the first signs of any legitimate uprising and watch the remaining morons who stuck with FOX come out to play. Instant marginalization of any real grassroots movement.
MSNBC had a free ride ridiculing the Tea Party simply because it was affiliated with FOX. They could completely ignore the real libertarian movement which is much more concerned with ending or at the very least auditing the Fed.
So really, It's a combination of the two (MSNBC/FOX). Why use just one propaganda network when you can have two and people think they actually have a choice?
0 6E20C897492341170CB7 2010-03-21
this is why all the independent thinkers in the movement moved to the Coffee Party. No Glenn Beck there. no FOX. just the original ideals of the movement, without the teabagger connotations.
0 [deleted] 2010-03-21
Someone is not paying attention.
7 cojoco 2010-03-21
Yes, and let's not forget about why the tea-baggers were created, which was to question why the US government was handing out trillions of dollars to banks.
4 [deleted] 2010-03-21
Thank you. For those of you who don't know what cojoco is referring to- see this blast from the past video, and the corresponding website.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKZmIzEMUN8
http://www.teaparty07.com
6 [deleted] 2010-03-21
No I'm pretty sure it's because some of them come off as racist. I know some teabaggers in real life and during several convos they are just an inch away from calling Obama a stupid nigger.
1 [deleted] 2010-03-21
some. It's one thing to point out that a few idiots on camera, or in real life, are doing this stuff. That's going to happen, inevitably.
It's another to accuse millions of people of being racists on the basis of the actions of a few.
The burden of proof is on those making such accusations. And without that proof, dragging this issue to the degree that it is lately amounts to nothing more than rabble-rousing, to distract from the real issues.
2 [deleted] 2010-03-21
Ya. That's why I used the word some.
-1 [deleted] 2010-03-21
Then what's your point....?
2 [deleted] 2010-03-21
Nevermind.
1 quelar 2010-03-21
First off, I don't think there are millions of teabaggers, and as with any other group, by not standing up and forcing people in your group to take down the Obama nazi pictures, and allowing racists into the group you are making a comment on your entire group.
Every group has to be responsible for their own members, and by not standing up to them it's a bad sign of what the groups intentions are.
5 [deleted] 2010-03-21
It's really ridiculous. And sad. The same old formula of divide and conquer is being shown to work yet again.
3 Vorlath 2010-03-21
/r/politics is a meeting place for racists that project their own racism onto others. It's really sad. If the only possible reason they can see for not liking this administration is the fact that Obama is black, then the racism shoe is clearly on the other foot. Kinda ironic in a way. They just don't understand how they can be racist considering that they support Obama who they say is black (I state "they say" because they are again the ones bringing up race. They are always the ones bringing up race.).
4 cojoco 2010-03-21
I'm sorry, but I completely did not understand your comment.
Who are you saying is racist?
0 Vorlath 2010-03-21
Most people who comment in /r/politics as well as US liberals. It's more the Democrats, but liberals in the US tend to think the same way as Democrats IMO.
2 [deleted] 2010-03-21
You're right. Racism is seeing one's race as superior to others. People are always confusing classism and ethnocentrism with actual racism. Liberals and conservatives are classist, different cultures are ethnocentric, but people who believe mating outside one's skin color and rough facial features is "ruining the race" are actually racist.
0 Vorlath 2010-03-21
No! Any false accusation based solely on race or the accuser's perception of how others see race is itself racism. You can't box in racism. Racism can be demonstrated in many ways.
Liberals often believe they know better than others. They often believe they know why others act a certain way. This is usually called elitism (or an asshole). So they don't just think they're superior to a specific race. They think they're superior to just about anyone that doesn't think like they do. So now they add false accusations of racism to their repertoire of self-superiority and it ironically turns THEM into racists.
4 cojoco 2010-03-21
No, being elitist is not racist, but it also doesn't mean that you're not being a dick.
2 macabee 2010-03-21
So do Conservatives.
So do Libertarians.
So do Communists.
So do Anarchists.
So do Fascists....etc. etc.
1 [deleted] 2010-03-21
Actually, Narkynark is correct.
From Wiki,
(Same definition that's at Merriam-Webster's website)
2 Vorlath 2010-03-21
That's my definition, not Narkynark's.
2 greenw40 2010-03-21
God knows the KKK were such bleeding heart liberals... wait...oh right, a vast majority of racists in America come from the far right.
2 catlebrity 2010-03-21
Yeah, these guys were plants!
http://chattahbox.com/us/2010/03/21/the-morning-after-tea-partys-spitting-racial-epithets-gay-slurs-linger/
1 [deleted] 2010-03-21
I'm not quite sure what the point of you linking to that article is...
But anyway, it's not so much that I think these guys are plants (they may or may not be- it's certainly not unprecedented), but rather the degree to which this is being blown way out of proportion, to the effect of essentially smearing those who object to anything this government does, is rather suspect.
All this proves is that a few vocal idiots can find themselves on national television cameras from time to time- and that this makes for good TV for those who are drooling for anything that plays in favor of their own "team".
2 6E20C897492341170CB7 2010-03-21
if you don't think reddit has been infiltrated, you're not paying enough attention.
2 [deleted] 2010-03-21
You're right. Racism is seeing one's race as superior to others. People are always confusing classism and ethnocentrism with actual racism. Liberals and conservatives are classist, different cultures are ethnocentric, but people who believe mating outside one's skin color and rough facial features is "ruining the race" are actually racist.
2 greenw40 2010-03-21
God knows the KKK were such bleeding heart liberals... wait...oh right, a vast majority of racists in America come from the far right.