Who knew the girl on the left was such a profound threat to our Constitution. Menacing isn't she? I know, hard to believe but the keepers of the truth have deemed it so. Her name is Ann Myers, and don't let those braces fool you, she is one dangerous 16 year old girl.
How dangerous? Well get this, she didn't think Michele Bachmann knew the Constitution well enough and so she wrote a letter to Rep. Bachmann and challenged her to a debate. *GASP*
The horror! How did the Tea Party react?
"After it started getting media attention last weekend, commenters on tea party websites have threatened to publish her home address and some have threatened violence. The 16-year-old from Cherry Hill says several commenters have called her a "whore."
The Tea Party, keeper of all that is right and noble in our country has it right. We can't have young citizens, whores no-less, think they understand the Constitution. Ms. Bachmann will tell us what is in it, and even more importantly, what to believe. And if that authority is challenged? Use fear and intimidation. And if that doesn't work? Well, we all know the Tea Party is above violence.
Of course it's fake right? Because a black man can't possibly be legitimate.
They won't be satisfied. EVAR.
I loved the last line. It's a dead give-away as to their strategy.
"We'll keep our eye on it. We'll keep digging....But it certainly opens up that can of worms that there are at least questions."
This is where the War for Your Mind comes in. Agenda Setting theory is a media theory which posits that the more something is talked about in the media, the more salient it is on people's minds. It's been tested again and again and proven true. When asked what are important issues facing the country, again and again, people cite those things that have been highlighted in the media. This prompted noted media theorist Bernard Cohen to pen: “It (the press) may not be successful much of the time in telling people what to think, but it is stunningly successful in telling its readers what to think about.”
The echo chamber of the right has been well documented (ThinkProgress, SourceWatch, Know Your Government). Rachel Maddow does a nice piece on a particular lie regarding Obama's trip to India last year that is worth watching. She goes on to unpack some of the crazy lies that frequently show up in our news cycles and how they come to be.
This is important to recognize because the more the various media outlets report on topic, the more likely it will be covered. And when enough media sources say things that aren't true - they become true in people's minds.
Rick Perlstein had a great article in Mother Jones, Inside the GOP's Fact-Free Nation that's worth the read just for the historical look of political lying. But inside his piece is an analysis of one factor that helps us understand how this has come to pass. He writes:
There evolved a new media definition of civility that privileged "balance" over truth-telling—even when one side was lying. It's a real and profound change—one stunningly obvious when you review a 1973 PBS news panel hosted by Bill Moyers and featuring National Review editor George Will, both excoriating the administration's "Watergate morality." Such a panel today on, say, global warming would not be complete without a complement of conservatives, one of them probably George Will, lambasting the "liberal" contention that scientific facts are facts—and anyone daring to call them out for lying would be instantly censured. It's happened to me more than once—on public radio, no less. In the same vein, when the Obama administration accused Fox News of not being a legitimate news source, the DC journalism elite rushed to admonish the White House. Granted, they were partly defending Major Garrett, the network's since-departed White House correspondent and a solid journalist—but in the process, few acknowledged that under Roger Ailes, another Nixon veteran, management has enforced an ideological line top to bottom.
The inability to call lies lies because of the need for "balance," coupled with the 24 hour news cycles, coupled with a zealous willingness to lie to further their cause*, has led to a media circus where outrageous claims become part of the daily discourse in multiple media outlets. And when multiple media outlets talk about it, people think that it is important and thus must have merit. Even if it is a lie. Gobbles, the infamous Nazi propagandist once said "If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it."
As long as there are questions, there is controversy. And you can bet your ass that they will keep asking the questions.
But the question I really want answered is how come none of those people in the top video have rejected the accusation that they all fuck goats? Remember, as long as the question is out there, we'll keep digging.
* Perlstein's article also exposed a culture where lying is justified on the right as long as it furthers a noble cause, summed up excellently by this quote from evangelist C. Peter Wagner "We ought to see clearly that the end does justify the means, if the method I am using accomplishes the goal I am aiming at, it is for that reason a good method."
In my previous post Rachel told us about the declining numbers of the Tea Party...
But take heart! All of you who want to defend America from evil people not like you, you aren't alone.
Ricky over at Cause for Concern shares a video of South Carolina Tea Baggers who are carrying the standard! I think he summed it up best with the title of the video: OMFG, S.C., Tea? ROFL
Racism in the tea party? How do you get that from things like this? "The United States has a higher standard of living than Mexico because it's populated by white people." No racism to see here... just move on to .... Orange County?
...I know everyone has heard about the GOP official in Orange County sending this photo around:
A while ago I got a kick out of watching a video of Victoria Jackson of former SNL fame rant about Obama at the Pasadena Tea Party. Why would I get such a kick out of it? Well, for one, she is so completely over the top. Honestly, at first I thought it was a parody... that's how bad she is. But then as I realized she was serious I even more hysterical because she sounds insane. And to think the crowd actually thought she had any relevant arguments!
I searched for more of her appearances and watched them all for a hearty laugh. One of the things which struck me was how she tried to smear Obama as an Alinsky-ite or as someone who used Alinsky-like tactics. Here is a clip of a song she wrote... (which may make me revoke the crown of Worst.Lyric.Ever from Eminem)... IF you can last to the 1:25 - 1:30 mark on the video, it is the place where she details one piece of her 'evidence' that Obama is a communist - he taught a course on Saul Alinsky.
The article you see floating over her left shoulder is from the World Net Weekly titled:
This caught my attention because it's a common trope on the Right - accusing their opposition of using Alinsky tactics. Now I actually know a thing or two about Alinsky tactics because I was trained as a community organizer in the tradition of Alinsky. I know people who worked with Saul in Chicago. I've read his books. I've taught the same trainings, and using those 'tactics' helped the communities I worked in win better affordable housing, prevented a truck route from being placed right through the middle of a Latino neighborhood, advanced health care, fought for improved services for the homeless, and more.
A lot of the criticism about Alinsky comes from some of his more creative tactics. In his book Rules for Radicals he writes about principles for tactics, some of which include:
Ridicule is man's most potent weapon. It is almost impossible to counteract ridicule. Also it infuriates the opposition, which then reacts to your advantage.
A good tactic is one your people enjoy.
In my experience these have proven true. For example, when I worked on the truck route issue I noted above, one of the arguments the city made was that the noise levels would not constitute a problem for the homes in the neighborhood. So... in preparation for a public meeting we held on the issue, folks from the neighborhood went out to the existing truck route, set up a camera and microphone and recorded trucks driving by. Then, during the meeting, we had the City Code Enforcement Officer bring in his decibel measuring device (this is what they use to tell you if the music is too loud at your party...) turned up the sound of the trucks driving by to the level the City said it would be, and had the meeting continue with the sound of trucks driving by. It was obvious to everyone in the room, city officials, the media, the public, that it was impossible to carry on a conversation over the sound of the trucks. We made the city look like schmucks. The folks loved it. And, we won.
But I'm left with this memory of Victoria Jackson disparaging Alinsky-like tactics and all that was a while ago.
The other night, we decided to have a family movie night. Some friends had given us a cute movie called
No More Baths. Now this movie is produced by a company called Feature Films for Families and it's all about teaching how kids can come together to create positive change.
Here is what Amazon reviews said:
"Am I my brother’s keeper?" to 10-year-old Keagan, this isn’t a question but a way of life. After learning to help others by watching his parents work as legal-aid attorneys in his youth, Keagan puts his lessons to good use by watching out for his aging neighbor Jake. Years ago, after a fire took his family, Jake opened up his home and heart to the children of Glenwood Springs who come to play on his lot each day. When Jake gets in the way of a greedy developer, government bureaucrats are content to push him aside, but they don’t anticipate Keagan McPhie. Keagan organizes the Glenwood Springs Kids Corp into a powerful force of peaceful protest to help Jake and remind adults of their responsibility to a friend in need.
Starring none other than.... Ms. Victoria Jackson! (Who, plays the exact same character she plays on SLN and as Speaker at the Tea Parties... a bleached blond bumbling airhead....)
My mind exploded...
See, in the movie, the hero Keagan "organizes the Glenwood Springs Kids Corp into a power force of peaceful protest". OK, all nice and good... but what tactics do they use? When their initial protest of a march doesn't work, they call together a meeting to think about how they could leverage their parents to helping Jake. As you probably guessed from the title, they opt for No More Baths! A tactic that not only uses ridicule, but is guaranteed to be one that Keagan's people (the other kids) enjoy.
The little band of kids soon realize that not bathing isn't enough, so they up the ante by playing in the dirt and mud to make sure they're really filthy. My kids loved this scene and the scenes where they refuse to bathe. And as the protest continues, Keagan and his band of 'filthy' Alinsky-ites involve the media (another good tactic for any organization trying to get its message out).
My family enjoyed the movie and had a lot of fun... but I was left with this bizzaro world moment where Victoria Jackson starred in a movie extolling the virtues of Alinsky-like tactics...
Which leads me to wonder.... Is Victoria Jackson a communist?
The Tea Party has racists elements in it. Period. (See signs below for proof).
But CNN's Don Lemon missed a big chance here, and I think a lot of other folks have as well. There is this insanity to personalize the public; by which I mean, this incessant pursuit to get people to say they are sorry.
The Tea Party is a public institution and Mark Williams was acting in a public role when he posted his 'satirical' letter to Lincoln on his blog (I'll give him it was satire... racist satire...). You can see a screen shot of the blog at the bottom of this post but the point I'm trying to make is how we have moved from public to private...
We witness it here in this interview with racist Mark Williams...
The key point of Williams post was misdirection and he continues it in this interview. Lemon reads the quote from the blog post emphasizing the word ‘colored’.
Lemon: Are you still defending this as satire Mark?
Williams: I defend the idea behind it… but when a group that calls itself ‘colored people’ says it is against freedom, and emancipation, and it’s against self-determination… uh, the first thing that pops into my mind is that those colored people must be speaking for some bizarre group of people that I’m not familiar with…
Lemon sticks on the word colored…
Williams later in the interview… “I used the intent behind their resolution”
Lemon, trying to get the on air scoop of “I’m sorry”…. : Are you sorry for writing those things?
Williams: (F*** off, I’m not going to say it… ) "When their goal in the resolution they passed was to increase government dependency…"
The NAACP’s resolution condemned extremist elements within the Tea Party, calling on Tea Party leaders to repudiate those in their ranks who use racist language in their signs and speeches.
What racism you ask?
By focusing on the personal Lemon missed a huge hole in the Tea Party’s argument. If he had asked Williams to repeat the resolution, or read it to him, he could have followed with…
“Mark, you’re a smart guy, tell me how a resolution that calls on you and other leaders in the Tea Party to repudiate those who use racists language... how is that akin to increasing government dependency? Or how is rejecting racism akin to standing against freedom, emancipation, and self-determination?"
Instead of getting him to say he's sorry, how about ask him about how he is using misdirection to avoid the charges of racism?
If are interested in more of how the Right uses racist language, I urge you to check out
I invented a time machine. One that allowed me to go all the way back to May 25th. So what did I do? I found evidence of a conspiracy. A truly diabolical conspiracy. The kind hatched in a secret lair hidden in an ice cap.
Shhh... come close so nobody hears *looking around nervously,* my source over at Zero Energy Construction came forward with all the details. This is too hot to handle, so I'm sharing it right away. Remember, you didn't hear it from me....
Dear Tea Party Friends,
I have a confession to make, a confession that may shock and alarm you. I am a liberal Democrat, and at the last strategy session/homosexual blood orgy, I became aware of a dastardly plot being perpetrated by my fellow socialists. As many of you in the Tea Party have correctly guessed, the census is a trap. Let me repeat that for the search engines: the 2010 census is a trap. Porn, porn, porn.
Whatever you do, do not fill out and return the census survey. Yes, it’s only 10 questions, and it only takes 10 minutes, but that’s not counting the years you will spend in forced labor camps once Nancy Pelosi rounds up everyone who bought Going Rogue and puts them to work in the medical marijuana fields. Think of your children, who will be confiscated by liberal shock troops (black liberal shock troops) and used to feed the giant underground blast furnaces that President Obama has installed beneath the White House to power his…
Okay, I’m still working on that part.
Some people, even a few in your own party, will try to tell you that the census is just a benign headcount that collects demographic information about the country. Some may even say that the census is an important way to make sure you are fully represented in Congress, and that if you don’t fill it out, your party might lose seats when the congressional district lines are redrawn.
It is very important that you hit these people with sticks.
The 2010 census is an unprecedented conspiracy of epic proportions, way worse than the 2000 Census or the 1990 Census. It’s a complicated plot, with layers upon layers of deception and misdirection, but let me see if I can explain it as simply as possible. The census process is composed of three steps:
Distributing the census survey to every home in America.
Encouraging all Americans to complete and mail back the survey.
Race war.
This is the truth they don’t want you to know. Whether you’re a Republican, a Tea Partier, an NRA member, a Texan, or you just plain hate the Jews, it is very important that you do not, under any circumstances, complete the 2010 census.
Army of bat robots. That’s what the underground blast furnaces power. The ones Obama is going to feed your children to. For real.
This domestic terror stuff. Rachel Maddow did a segment on it on the 12th. Take a look.
And Crooks and Liars gives us a good run down on other low life's:
"The Maine incident is only the latest in a long string of cases of serious domestic terrorism emerging from the extremist Right since 9/11. Some of the others include:
After posting the previous post I remembered the horrific shooting in TN. The shooter was a guy named Jim David Adkisson. He opened fire during a church service.
He did leave a note as to why. The .pdf is tough to read but in it he writes:
Know This If Nothing Else
I. This was a hate crime: I hate the damn left-wing liberals. There is a vast left-wing conspiracy in this country and these liberals are working together to attack every decent and honorable institution in the nation, trying to turn this country into a communist state. Shame on them.
II. This was a Political Protest: I'm protesting the liberal Supreme Court Justices for give the terrorists at GITMO constitutional rights. I'm protesting the major news outlets, ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, PBS for being the propaganda wing of the Democrat Party. It's criminal what they're getting away with. They're traitors. They must be stopped. I'm protesting the DNC running such a radical leftist candidate. Osama Hussein OBama, yo mama. No experience, no brains, a joke. Dangerous to America. Hell, he looks like Curious George!
III. This was as Symbolic Killing: Who I wanted to kill was every Democrat in the Senate, and house, the 100 people in Bernard Goldberg's book. I'd like to kill everyone in the Mainstream Media. But I knew these people were inaccessible to me. I couldn't get to the generals and high ranking officers of the Marxist movement so I went after the foot soldiers, the chickenshit liberals that vote in these traitorous people. Some one had to get the ball rolling, I volunteered. I hope others do the same. It’s the only way we can rid America of this cancer, this pestilence!
... I'd like to encourage other like minded people to do what I've done. If life ain't worth living anymore, don't just kill yourself. Do something for your country before you go. Go kill Liberals!
So this is the thinking we're dealing with. And shows like Glenn Beck on Fox are warning people that we're on the road to radical socialism and it must be stopped!
"He will spend the rest of his life behind bars for killing Greg McKendry, 60, and Linda Lee Kraeger, 61, after opening fire with a sawed-off shotgun inside the church where more than 200 people were gathered to watch a children’s musical. He admitted wounding six others."
The problem is that there are others out there just like him.
With the election of Obama the wingnuts have gone crazy. Unfortunately I predict we'll see a rise of homegrown militias again, as we did during the Clinton administration. Remember what that was like?
Are these folks just fringe crazies? Maybe. But these fringe groups have members who receive training through our military. For example, the Southern Poverty Law Center has documented cases where White Supremacists groups encourage members to join the military for training.
Way back in 2003, when most of the country was terrified of Islamic terrorists, the federal government broke up a major terrorist plot. "F.B.I. agents discovered a weapons cache containing fully automatic machine guns, remote-controlled explosive devices disguised as briefcases, 60 pipe bombs and a chemical weapon -- a cyanide bomb -- big enough to kill everyone in a 30,000-square-foot building." This was a huge disruption of a terrorist network that received little media coverage. The frightening thing to me is that the terror group were homegrown 'patriots'. This is known as the Noonday Conspiracy and you can read more about it here.
Watch the following video. Listen to the rhetoric. And then ask yourself if you think they are serious.
(Great music isn't it? From the movie The Last of the Mohicans (1992)).
Menacing isn't she? I know, hard to believe but the keepers of the truth have deemed it so. Her name is Ann Myers, and don't let those braces fool you, she is one dangerous 16 year old girl.
Menacing isn't she? I know, hard to believe but the keepers of the truth have deemed it so. Her name is Ann Myers, and don't let those braces fool you, she is one dangerous 16 year old girl.
he writes about principles for tactics, some of which include:
. 
(you can see a preview on Amazon.com).
