Tea Party? More Like A Klavern.

Jill Tubman exposes the racist underbelly of tea party protests:

Were you wondering what happened to all the rabid, wild-eyed bigots yelling, “Kill him!” and “Terrorist” and “Socialist” carrying stuffed monkey plush dolls at the McCain-Palin rallies? It’s easy in our jubilation over Obama’s victory to forget the many people in America who were deeply fearful and hate-oriented towards an Obama presidency. Those people didn’t just shrug their shoulders at the Democratic victory in Nov 2008. No, they’ve re-organized. Largely abandoned by the Republican party who tapped cynically into their ignorance, fear and hatred and whipped these folks into a racist lather as a Get Out The Vote strategy, the Tax Day Tea Party people have used the internet to find each other and organize.

[...]I’ve been parsing the words and the racists have been very careful to cover their tracks and fury that a black man is President. But not well enough. I’m starting to become pretty convinced at this point that “socialist” is a some kind of code word for “nigger”.

I've been watching this so-called "movement" develop, too, with a great deal of disgust and animosity on my part. Why are crowds of white people, seemingly from every trailer park in the land, so concerned that people making over $250,000 will see their taxes rise by 4%, while their own taxes decline? Why the complaints that the government is spending too much money, when they said nary a word while George Bush spent money like a drunken sailor? Why do they seem to share a particularly vehement animosity for Pres. Obama, the Democratic party, and, most confusingly, policies that benefit them? And yes, these crowds are 100% white, in every video I've seen. What's eating them?

Well, as Ms. Tubman noted, now we know where those nutjobs at the Palin rallies last fall went to: they're making the Lipton Tea Company rich by spending their time and money mailing teabags to politicians! They didn't go back under their rocks, they didn't go back to the double-wide and hit the Jack Daniels; no, they're buying guns and copies of The Turner Diaries, preparing for some soon-to-come apocalyptic event. Jill Tubman goes on to note that Stormfront, the neo-Nazi organization, is loving it:

Ladies and gentlemen, I think every WN needs to not only attend the April 15th Tea Party nearest you (I’m going to the Alamo in San Antonio) but then stay involved and help provide leadership to this movement.

I believe that this is the white revolution we’ve been waiting for.

It doesn’t look what we expected but this is it.

I’ve seen probably 50 videos on TV showing previous marches and what strikes me is that the participants are all WHITE. It stands to reason . . . we’re the ones being taxed to support Affirmative Action, Welfare and other worthless social programs. It’s our tax dollars going to ACORN and supporting the 12 million illegals swarming into our neighborhoods.

There you have it: ACORN, affirmative action, and "other worthless social programs"--like Social Security and Medicare, no doubt--are ruining our nation.

Watching the reports tonight of the turnout nationwide, I'm somewhat gratified that the turnout was underwhelming. The teabaggers had turnouts of hundreds at best, dozens more likely. But a new report from Homeland Security worries me. The report, available here and stoking the ire of the wingnut bloggers everywhere, identifies right-wing extremist groups as a new and growing source of terrorism.

Politico:

“The consequences of a prolonged economic downturn — including real estate foreclosures, unemployment, and an inability to obtain credit — could create a fertile recruiting environment for right-wing extremists and even result in confrontations between such groups and government authorities,” the report warns.

The report explains that threats so far have been “largely rhetorical,” but points to the April 4 shooting of three police officers in Pittsburgh as a “recent example of potential violence associated with right-wing extremism.”

The document points to both the economic downturn and election of President Barack Obama as potential recruitment tools for militant groups.

“Many right-wing extremists are antagonistic toward the new presidential administration and its perceived stance on a range of issues, including immigration and citizenship, the expansion of social programs to minorities, and restrictions on firearms ownership and use,” it reads.

But to the wingnuts, this is treasonous talk! Forget that the worst act of terrorism on American soil before 9/11 was committed by an American veteran. Forget the several cases of rightwing nuts committing suicide by cop. And most of all, ignore the racist undertone in the tea bag parties today.

John Cole adds:

You know what really irritates me about the tea parties? The basic fact that if right now, it were President John McCain and not President Obama, and nothing else had changed, these tea parties wouldn’t exist. You know it, I know it, and even the teabaggers know it. It is just such transparent bullshit that it is offensive. The most these guys ever did during the last lost eight years was put a limp Porkbusters logo on their website, but now that we have President Malcom X George McGovern Shabazz, they are freaking out like there is no tomorrow. So absurd.

Cole is spot on; damn right, it's offensive and absurd. We've got a real mess here. I don't know what could be the solution, except for information, intelligence, and persistence. We need to ignore the idiots, bigots, and racists, and work on restoring our country. (And a few firearms in the hands of sane people wouldn't hurt, either. Why should the wingnuts be the only ones able to defend themselves?) We need to stop watching Fox and listening to FatAss Limbaugh. And we need to vigorously confront and combat this ignorance whenever and wherever it appears. That shouldn't be too hard, just look for the teabags.