The Chucksphere

I’m a bit behind the curve when it comes to blogging about current events. I got out of school a couple of weeks ago and I’ve been suffering a difficult transition to living in this hell-hole again. Anyway, I saved this draft article on 17-April, after the peak of the media frenzy over that Tea Party nonsense. I mean, they absolutely have the right to protest (about whateverthehell they want); but these people seem to be either willfully ignorant of the true meaning of hte Boston Tea Party, or outright manipulating through dubious association (the truth is probably somewhat of a mixture, especially if hte astroturfing allegations are true). The only things these protests have in common with the Boston Tea Party are 1) anger and 2) the involvement of tea. The difference here being that there is no “taxation without representation” (unlesss you live in D.C., in which case I totally support you). It seems to me like it’s manufactured outrage; this guy and his fine suit say it all: “A 3% tax hike for 5% of the wealthiest is 100% TYRANNY!”

But this whole thing seems to have blown over, so I’ll just leave you with a list of links I found while researching this story a month ago*:

10 Most Offensive Tea Party Signs (Huffington Post): I am particularly stuck by the children with signs.

Fox News Teabagging Bias Montage (Democratic Underground)

Freedom Works’ Long History of Teabagging (Talking Points Memo): The source of the astroturfing allegations.

Death and Taxes: A guide to where your tax dollars go

Nationwide Chicago Tea Party (Wikipedia)

Tea Party Protests (Wikipedia)

*Why does a month seem like a million years when you’re dealing with politics? A buzzword enters the lexicon and everyone raves about how this will be the next big thing or this is the current defining reality, and then a month later it’s dead. After the 2004 elections, the Democratic Party was “dead;” then they won the next midterm election and won the White House. Now the Republicans are “dead.” No one in the media seems to take much of a look at history, everything will always be defined by today’s talking points or hype.