And Code Pink? At least THEY can titillate the media sufficiently to get coverage, albeit as crackpots. That’s better than the “don’t rock the boat” pennyloafer pols can do.

Sorry, but I completely disagree with your approval of Code Pink.

As someone who’s participated in protests since the days of draft card burning & Vietnam, I don’t see media coverage of Code Pink as furthering any “liberal” cause.

Instead, Code Pink provides a neat way for right wingers to characterize “critics” on any issue as batshit crazies. There are ways to get attention, and then there’s wearing teabags on your head — or wearing a pink hat, shirt, sign, etc.

Code Pink does much more harm than good.

Coverage anywhere except FOX was scant comparatively and no one wanted any part of the utterly racist idiocy going on there.

I agree with you, but one of the things that makes me crazy is when I’m in some “public” venue — e.g., waiting in the line @ car rental, waiting for my flight at the airport, in the food court @ a shopping mall, etc. — and ALL that’s on the ever-present tv is FOX.

To me this means their “message” gets broadcast to a far wider audience than that which would choose it willingly.

FWIW, I always ask that the channel be changed from FOX whenever I’m in one of these situations.

I might add Obama is in a bind. The wealthy can be literally lethal if they see their privileges threatened. In Family of Secrets by I think somebody named Baker, Baker suggests GHW Bush was involved with the JFK assassination, having been involved with the CIA since he graduated Yale. Baker suggests JFK got assassinated because he intended to leave Vietnam and was making overtures to Cuba. Obama’s making way overdue overtures to Cuba, but they may be just as dangerous.

So the Teabagger’s “influence” was magnified several times over by media complicity: Taking careful tight shots of the tiny teabagging crowd to make it seem larger; Neil Cavuto making up impressive sounding crowd numbers when he didn’t remember he was miked; and every paper in the country reporting on this ginned-up tantrum as if it were a real political event.

The corporations own Congress and they own the media. Until we change that, our victories will only be temporary, and our effectiveness will be decimated.

And Code Pink? At least THEY can titillate the media sufficiently to get coverage, albeit as crackpots. That’s better than the “don’t rock the boat” pennyloafer pols can do.

I like the way you think, Malcontent. I’m reading Altemeyer’s book The Authoritarians, right now. It is really great and I’ll recommend to anyone here who wants to know more about RWA (Right Wing Authoritarian) types.

But of course the right wing radio people are really pissed off about the OLC report and taking umbrage on behalf of the Vets (which they are not) and since they can’t claim McVeigh as on of their own they are busy explaining that he was backed by people in the Middle East. Yes, that’s right. Someone wrote a book about it and so they are latching onto this explanation. They are the real conspiracy nuts.

Tea parties stroked the egos of the recently marginalized and tweaked their rage in a social environment. When you are in the depths of a rage your humanity is dimmed and your capacity to reason is gone.

It effectively ensured that OLC torture memos on the following day would be self-censored by the right wing dead-enders. No opportunity for gear gnashing logic to creep in, no discourse, just make yourself feel like you are doing something to help America escape from the liberals.

You saw the hostility directed toward Obama at the rallies.

So how many steps are we from signs at events where they hang the president or burn him in effigy? And will Fox news come out and say, “There is no way we could have anticipated people would direct their anger at the President in such a graphic way! We of course don’t condone violence toward anyone —except fascists and Socialists (aka Obama).”

I’ll add that I was pleasantly surprised that it actually took FOX news to make these events happen at all and that, even then, morons like Cavuto had to fudge the numbers. You just know FOX wishes they had hopped on it a month ago, but something tells me they were still under the illusion that it would all happen over the Internet and they could keep their “Fair and Balanced” facade going until the day of the show. Malkin, Putz and Redstate, however, failed miserably at running with the ball Santelli passed over to them and it took the big money people to get the word out to the racist zombies too stupid to organize on the web.

And, I also noticed some conservatives wouldn’t touch it. LGF, for instance, has really distanced themselves from the Palinite lunacy. They avoided the teabaggers like the plague and are currently at war with Glenn Beck and other foaming wingers. I honestly don’t even recognize LGF anymore. They’ve managed to become fairly unmockable.

Popcorn futures are up!

A while back, I proposed that the first Pennsylvania target for organizing once EFCA passes (or maybe even before) would be the bar/restaurants that Club For Growth Toomey owns with relatives in the Allentown area. Lots and lots of former union members in that area, people who got screwed out of their pensions when Bethlehem Steel and other companies washed them away by going through bankruptcy.

Targeted organizing to start, just for the fun of it. Do you think the Teamsters will organize waitstaff?