Friday, April 10, 2009

Texas Tea Party


Fox News hammers and yammers on and on about the great Tea Parties of 2009. On April 15, Glenn Beck will appear live at the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas to protest in the spirit of the Boston Tea Party. Well, fine and dandy. Having heard a lot about Born Again Mormon and recovering alcoholic Beck, he who cries and carries on a lot in front of the cameras, I check in on his Fox show from time to time. Most lately, yesterday. What I've seen with Beck is a showman and the sort of circus I used to watch in North Carolina a la The Praise the Lord (PTL) Club hosted by Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker back in the 80s. Only with a more strident political bent.

First on Thursday, Mr. Beck poured water over some dude, making clear his pouring was not of gasoline or aviation fuel, saying this is what the Obama Administration was doing to the average American. Then he lit a match. He had on Governor Rick Perry of Texas, who agreed with him on just about everything. Government needed to get out of the way and let good people do their thing -- that's the right way forward. Except they both also agreed the very same maligned government needs to do so much more to shut down the border with Mexico, without seeing any contradiction in what they were saying.
On the Tea Party thing, I also saw a web link for "They Think You're Stupid." Not sure who "They" represents, but am guessing that to Beck and the Fox Herrenvolk, I'm a They. If so, no: I don't think they are stupid, necessarily. No, not stupid, but crazy. Real crazy. Hope Mr. Beck enjoys his time at the Alamo on Tax Day. Perhaps he expects to be overrun by a Mexican Army, become a martyr, inspire a new Texas Revolution. I'd say good luck to him, but I wouldn't really mean it. What I would say is, belie the notion that the Tea Party movement is being "ignored." By all means, pay attention. Some 25% of the republic is on the same wavelength as Mr. Beck. It's good to remember also that 75% of the republic is not.

Today's Rune: Gateway.

10 comments:

the walking man said...

China foreign exchange reserves at $1.954 trillion


HMMM Seems to me there is a government that doesn't know how to get out of the way of letting good people do their thing. Maybe at the Alamo "they" should throw Ramen Noodles instead. At 10 packs for a buck it would be cheaper.

When I feel constipated and bloated I watch Fox news...Their particular rabid spin is always easier to take than an enema and it is more fun to take a dump while picturing them being "doused."

Distributorcap said...

i cannot watch fox news - especially beck. i can watch oreilly before beck. beck is a very dangerous person - we all know he is a clown and a douche - but a lot of people buyu into his schtick.

what really needs to happen is fox news needs to be shut down -- and the ONLY way that can happen is if people stop watching.

as bad as hannity, beck etc are -- nothing is worse than an outlet that will give a platform to people like them. roger ailes is the most odious man EVER born in this country

JR's Thumbprints said...

As more newspapers shut down their print editions and go online, folks like Beck become more viable to people who just don't get it. There's something magical about bringing those papers into our homes, reading them over a cup of coffee, and contemplating whether the articles we're reading are honest journalism. Nowadays, we can click here and there and observe which sites are getting the most hits. Mr. Beck deserves claims he's reborn, so let's get on with his baptism.

Anonymous said...

Really, are you guys still pleased that you supported Obama and voted for this runaway politician? He took a tour of Europe, Turkey, and Iraq, and all that he appears to have accomplished is to bad mouth the USA and brag on Muslims. Now you want to shut down any opposition to the lunatic left. Go Beck! Go Limbaugh!

Joe said...

"Now you want to shut down any opposition to the lunatic left. Go Beck! Go Limbaugh!"

And keep going. Please. As far away as you can get.

Seriously, when did Erik or anyone else talk about "shutting down" any opposition? Sheesh. Right wing hysteria. What Beck, Limbaugh, Malkin, Hannity, Levin et al have discovered is that by constantly whipping up outrage they will get ratings and sell books. Good for them for being successful businesspeople. It's a great format for entertainment, it's a lousy format for trying to govern.

Charles Gramlich said...

If people were decent I'd agree with Mr. Beck. Unfortunately, the current crisis prooves that a lot of people aren't suited to be free to do whatever they want. Or they'll do it at the expense of the rest of us.

Anonymous said...

I agree with TWM. When China calls in the loans; Texas can be sold. MW

Erik Donald France said...

Thanks all for the comments -- Free speech and shared ideas always warmly welcomed!

Lana Gramlich said...

They're having such "tea parties" in our area, as well. Unfortunately non-Republicans are in a minority here, so it's not like I could summon a crowd of rabble-rousers to go counter-protest them. <:(

Anonymous said...

distributorcap wants to shut down Fox channel and then bubs says nobody advocates shutting down anyone. ya'll need to get your communists blogs straight.