Saturday, April 18, 2009

Freedom Meets Jeering Response Again

By Smitty
After a substantial buildup, the Tea Parties seemed to be exactly what you wanted: lots of principled dissent, zero violence. The initial pull of Technorati URLs exceeds 120 links. If we've overlooked you for some technical reason, flog me with the rubber chicken.

We'll meander through the suspects. Some are becoming familiar enough that I'll doubt they mind allowing a few newcomers to bubble up, for variety's sake.

In accordance with Rule 2, let the Full Metal Jacket Reach Around begin!

  • Paco starts us off with an object lesson in Rule 2: create an award, and declare This Blog the winner. The rest of you, take note. He notices RSM's review of Insty's NYP column, and muses at length over leftist idiocy (but I repeat myself). His RevolutionTea Party post is amusing. I must admit that I don't understand how he thinks Pelosi can mend a city on stilts. I hear botox induces vertigo. She'd fall and shatter her face.
  • Cynthia appears to have enjoyed the gore-thrower picture in excellent climate change review. She chides us gently for not ignoring Meghan on gay marriage. We're all in character here. Her thoughts on giving a Tea Party interview are worth bookmarking--you know that the protest is merely at the beginning stage, don't you? She got a bit esoteric with the tetra-gammadion photo for the first mandatory volunteer camp. Don't you just feel the re-education?
  • Donald Douglas had an impressive roundup of Tea Party links. He roundly denounced the DHS 'screw you' note to the right wing.
    He also managed to find a photo of RSM wearing more than a Speedo. RSM took the stage himself to announce to the Tea Party attendees: You don't have to call me "Darlin'", Darlin'. He also blended Rules 2 and 5 most agreeably.
  • Dad29 started the week with a pointed Tea Party Wolverines reminder. He also liked the contrast offered of between the Tea Parties and other protests. His initial reaction to the DHS slam-o-gram concluded with the following observation:
    Given that Planned Parenthood was founded by a racist/eugenecist (whose admirers included A. Hitler), and that the vast majority of their locations are proximate to minority populations, what actual, real-live "white supremacist" would object to abortion?
    The next day his misgivings about the DHS 'screw you' increased, though he was still unsure the report was real. While we should continue to hope for the best from our government, the lesson here is that healthy skepticism is an increasing requirement.
  • Pundit and Pundette liked the pirate roundup, and had some helpful links of their own.
    Their Right Wing Extremist post also features a Navy classic which, prior to 9/11, was only flown by the senior ship in the active fleet (USS Constitution notwithstanding).
  • The Pirate's Cove knows for whom to cheer. They also picked up the Bush Blaming post. Did you know that DHS-srew-you report was also W's fault?
  • Carolyn Tackett took some umbrage at a comment by our zampolit, Young 4 Eyes. Y4E: you've triggered the creation of a "Spank the Weasel" day over in the closet. As a non-weasel, it is my intention to remain ignorant of the details, but Carolyn is rumored to have amazing dexterity with pliers and blowtorch. She also linked the astroturfing post.
  • The BlogProf admits to a severe case of clickophilia. We're feeling you, man. Why else do you think we get our FMJRA on? He joined in the mockery of the DHS-screw-you report with a fitting demotivator. And he echoed my sentiments on the equally despicable Penn State video. Students: can't live with them, can't do anything unspeakable to them.
  • Troglopundit's wholly original cure for the GOP:
    If only we could move beyond this totally bummer anti-plus-size rhetoric, maybe the Republican Party could be a majority party again.
    He was nonplussed at the thought of lefty infiltrators at his local tea party. He did condescend to offer a roundup of media coverage of the Tea Parties. Finally, he offers Rule 5 speculation about George Lucas. This blog demands further photographic research before coming to any conclusions.
  • Moe Lane wants to know if you're a right wing extremist, too. This prompts a musical interlude:
Ah.
    His characterization of Andrew Sullivan is itself worth more than the man's opinion. He cleverly throws down a link on his podcast page, knowing that we'll slavishly link him. Fausta's voice is the more interesting of the two. Sorry, Moe. Three levels of bloggers, eh? Ah, he mentions the blog by name.
  • The Backyard Conservative linked to RSM's AmSpec article on "The Left's Coordinated Message Operation". She also had a Jeremiah Wright moment, peering into the nasty possible future afforded by collectivist policies.
  • Meanwhile, Obi's Sister took substantial interest in the pirate situation and the Portugese water dog. She also has a quality rant on the Florida Highway Patrol.
  • The Classic Liberal has been added to "the Top 100 Libertarian Blogs and Websites at The Humble Libertarian!" TCL also notes that the DHS-screw-you report came on the heels of "releasing the report titled The Modern Militia Movement."
  • Political Byline slammed the Green Room as "Just another Neo-Conservative echo chamber". Paleo Pat also pooh-poohed the rightosphere reaction to the DHS-screw-you report. As a veteran myself, I think the reaction has been rather tame. We just need a standing Friday afternoon screamfest down in Lafayette Park. This administration, based on three months of flailing, can be counted upon to provide plenty of material to scream about.
  • Chapomatic caught up with the Rick Moran post rather cryptically:
    I observed when in DC that there were two types of Congressional staffers with which I would interact: the interns straight out of college getting the resume bullet, and the professional staffers who ran the place.
  • Kirbside liked the WOW "Leeroy Jenkins" reference. No, I don't WOW and hadn't heard of the reference. Just glad the whole thing didn't turn out to be a self-Leeroy-ing. Kirside may also be developing a blogcrush on HotMES. This blog is a strong proponent of romance in these dark days.
  • Under a genuinely cool graphic, Lab Experiments had an interesting Tea Party preview
    What is it that we, Media Matters and its progeny must be concerned with? What do we care if people protest, if they are confident in the power of their views? We must be concerned with not appearing to be or painted as fearful of these folks while opposing them.
    The answer lies in one of the most ingenious marketing events of all time, the Ben & Jerry's "What's the doughboy afraid of?" campaign. In the early 1980s, Ben & Jerry's was an upstart "premium" ice cream maker in Vermont struggling to get shelf space to compete against Pillsbury's Haaagen-Daz brand.
    But Pillsbury, as do many food wholesalers, wasn't keen on giving a competitor room to grow, so it pressured stores not to give Ben & Jerry's shelf space.
    In response, Ben & Jerry's hit on a protest theme: "What's the doughboy afraid of?" The campaign took off, sprouting bumper stickers, t-shirts, and generally great publicity for Ben & Jerry's. Pillsbury eventually gave in, and Ben & Jerry's got its shelf space.
    The doughboy campaign holds several lessons for the Tea Party movement
    and he goes on from there.
  • Dan Collins picked up our Pirate Rescue Fallout
  • And RVFTLC liked the Right Wing Extremist graphic.
  • Jimmie at the Sundries Shack seems to have broken the Technorati code, with the best lefty blog pre-Tea roundup I've seen thus far. Great work, sir.
  • The Liberty Papers was among the first blogs to pick up the DHS-screw-you report. We keep this up, and civil servants may recall for whom they work.
  • Fisherville Mike has a marketing suggestion for the Hagerstown Suns:
    The Hagerstown Suns have hired the 16-year-old twins of blogger the Other McCain for the grounds crew. I wonder if they'll have an Other McCain promo at the ballpark, where guys get in free for wearing a Speedo.
  • Common Sense Political Thought appreciated the Salvation Army as a right wing extremist organization link.
  • Fausta linked us on a beefcake post for the ladies in the crowd.
  • Flap's blog now understands Krugman is part of the Journolist cabal.
  • Monkey Darts also picked up on the Troll Taxonomy post.
  • The excellently named Gold-Plated Witch on Wheels weighed in last Sunday on the lefty Democrisy.
  • Stephen Gordon liked RSM's title for the video of him on Rachel Maddow's show. Wow. What a tedious person is Rachel Maddow. We all owe Stephen a beverage for not doing something unspeakable.
  • The Hooded Utilitarian seemed to think there was tension between RSM and AoS regarding how much credit to give BHO over the pirate rescue.
  • Instaputz, "Systematically documenting the putziness of Glenn Reynolds, Pajamas Media, and various other Putzen," gives RSM a thumbs up for anticipating the noble savage card getting played in defense of the Somali pirates. There is hope for this one.
  • The JABbering Stooge "A random schmuck mouthing off about the state of the world", picks us up for the Shorter Entire Wingnutosphere. I stand by my efforts in this regard with pride, you weenie.
  • Whereas the Right, Wing Nut "A cry of common sense in New Jersey's liberal madhouse!" noted our continuous updates on the pirate rescue. Google Reader über-goober!
  • John in Carolina offers a left-handed compliment to Susan Roesgen
    Some bloggers are saying today Roesgen is America's "worst reporter." I think she's better described as typical of most MSM reporters in terms of her political bent and not as good at most of her peers at holding her temper.
    If that piece of work is 'typical', then we must truly thank St. Gore for the webbytubes, that have brought salvation from crap.
  • The KURU Lounge on the DHS-screw-you report:
    The Other McCain - More on Right Wing Terrorism and the Department of Homeland Security - It gives the impression, undeserved or not, that the Obama administration is becoming a left-wing incarnation of the Richard Nixon administration, with lists of political enemies and wiretaps at the headquarters of their opponents
    Lose the kid gloves already: the DHS deserves copious floggings about the head and shoulders with a rubber chicken.
  • Larry disclaims all interest in Rule 2, and asserts merely to enjoy the writing.
  • The Michican Blogger gave a shout as a part of the Tea Party roundup.
  • Nicedeb linked the Jane Hamsher Epic Fail clip from here.
  • The PA Pundits brought in the Bama Tea: How Big Is Huge? post.
  • The Rhetorican enjoyed the Governor Perry link.
  • Rhymes with Clown has a good laugh at Ygelsias.
  • Western experience picks up on the phrase "Trust me, there will be more shoes dropping over the next few days, as we learn who was behind the DHS smear", amidst a thorough roundup.It's really like the General Betray-us smear, only, this time it's our own government, not an arguably tasteless 1st Amendment usage.
  • Whatever is Right refers to the Rick Moran post in a jolly rant about the Tea Parties.
  • Capital Research found amusement in the Jane Hamsher whining, citing the blog.
  • News-In picked up the Troll Taxonomy.
  • Oliver Willis takes notice of the attention paid him by this blog.
    Blast it, my effort to silence the right wing has been uncovered by a writer for the… American Spectator. They were alerted by commandant Benen’s missive about their fakeroots protests, scheduled for tax day (More from Benen here, where he tries to fool the right into thinking we didn’t write our posts on George Soros’ say-so). No doubt, they are certain that writing about this made-up protest by Fox News & co. was a coordinated activity? Why? Well, that’s how they do things and they’re projecting as usual.
    Furthermore, they’ve convinced themselves that we’re afraid of this now, like we’re supposedly afraid of every craptacular thing they do when in fact… we’re laughing at you.
    Dude, it has nothing to do with striking fear, and everything to do with generating independent thought.
  • The "Atheist Bikini" seems to have PoliGazette rather intrigued.
  • The Skepticrats weigh in with Rule 5 outrage about two overlooked Fox correspondents. Gallant.
  • Stop the ACLU rained on the progressive parade concerning the pirate rescue.
  • Outside of Technorati, we've captured a few random links:
  • Rick Moran had a muddling response to the feedback offered him:
    This is a point made by Stacey McCain, Jim Treacher, and others - that I am consciously (or subconsciously) accepting the narrative offered by the left on people like Beck, Limbaugh, Coulter, Hannity, and other conservatives; that we should ignore the exaggerations, the false contextualization of remarks, the cherry-picked quotes, that the left routinely uses to demonize them, and through them the entire right.
  • Philip over at Who-Whom chracterized the Troll Taxonomy post as "Dumb". Thanks for noticing, boss. He also picked up the rant against public schools:
    Now, McCain is a sharp guy. Which is why it’s so hard to understand where this deranged knuckleheadedness is coming from. It’s equal parts ignorant, naïve, paranoid, and delusional.
    What is it about public schools that sends otherwise rational people over the edge? These are, remember, the institutions responsible for producing one of the most thoroughly educated populations in history. The institutions that freed book learning from the clutches of the wealthy, making the 3 R's available to all citizens. Are they perfect? Hell no. There's work to be done, starting with breaking the teachers' unions, but to call them "Moloch" (as does some crazy in the featured YouTube) is asinine. And assclownish.
    Could it be . . . memories of wedgies and swirlies and unrequited schoolboy crushes, maybe? Not the leonine RSM!
  • Thanks to Pat in Shreveport for sending the links straight away. She offered fine thoughts in response to the Troll Taxonomy. She critiqued Ross Douthat's Tea Party review, and also transcribed a portion of RSM's speech in Alabama, concluding
    The only way the speech could have been better would have been if he'd been wearing his speedo.


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