Scenes from the Downward Spiral of Stupid:
What does “Don’t tread on me” mean, anyway? Maybe someone can enlighten a dumb Canuck. Whatever… if it’s anything to do with the Confederate flag, I know what that stands for, and it’s nothing I’d ever want to be associated with. Unfortunately, going through pictures from this little shindig, I saw a lot of those.
Oh and here’s a surprise: one of Teabagger organizers, “Freedomworks” (which is one of the corporate-sponsored groups who got Shona Holmes to lie about our healthcare system), ran true to form and initially lied about the turnout. They claimed that ABC was reporting 1.5 million people at the Mall, when ABC had reported nothing of the kind. According to fire department crowd estimates, it was 60-70,000 people. Which, as Josh Marshall points out, is relatively small by DC protest standards but nonetheless a decent showing. 70,000 is certainly a respectable turnout: I once attended a Who concert in Toronto that drew 72,000 people and it was a lot of people. Besides, everyone already knows what a couple of million people at the Mall looks like.
But getting back to the Teabaggers Parade, check out this Klass Act:
Ooooh, the irony… it burns almost as badly as the stupid: those signs were distributed by “American Life League“, the fetus fetishists who brought us the widely-ridiculed “The Pill Kills” promotion. Nice to see so-called “pro-lifers” making light of a man who’s been dead for how long? A couple of weeks? Kan you say Klass?
As a sidebar, I’ll probably get blasted for being politically-incorrect but I don’t give a flying fuck, for it must be said: your credibility on healthcare issues is in inverse proportion to the size of your ass. Onward…
Medicare pay for that scooter, buddy?
More home skooling in evidence:
I wonder if there’s anyone in this picture who actually knows what “socialism” means:
Let’s play “Spot the Skinny Person”:
Why walk when you can sit?:
Maybe it’s just me, but anyone who drives a truck like that one probably isn’t rich. In fact, they’re probably one of the people who’ll be getting a tax cut this year courtesy of the Obama administration. And who could probably benefit by some form of universal healthcare. What is it that makes these people turn so viciously against their own self-interest? (Hint: see bumpersticker.)
While these people are for the most part, laughably dumb (sorry baggers, but it’s impossible to be a fascist, a socialist, a nazi and a marxist all at once), there’s no question that something rotten is happening in that country, and sad to say, the election of a biracial President seems to have unleashed it.
UPDATE: Had to swipe this from Red Tory because it features one of my all-time favourite songs in a musical “tribute” to teabagger hate signs:
… and RT has more on the “Million Moron March“.
UPDATE II: Bina has more stomach-turning photos of these mental defectives.
(photo sources: photoset here, andrew’s photostream, huffpo – edited to replace picture that appears to be that of a child with picture of adults)
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unrepentant old hippie 
The “Don’t tread on me” with the rattlesnake is actually older than the Confederacy. It dates back to the American Revolution – in particular, a flag designed by Christopher Gadsden.
So basically, the teabaggers are historically and literally illiterate.
JAB – Thanks, that’s interesting. I like the flag with the little porcupine!
That the teabaggers are historically illiterate comes as no surprise. Practically nothing they say makes any sense… they scream about the constitution, but seem to have little awareness of what’s actually written in it. And on and on it goes.
In a sense, some of the signs I’ve seen are no worse than what I saw during Iraq War protests… “Bushitler” and that kind of thing. But those were targeted protests with one big issue. These teabaggers seem to be angry about everything, no direction, nothing to offer in the way of alternatives.
Basically they’re just saying “Our guy didn’t win and we’re pissed off”. Which is all good & well, but so what? The best they could do at the ballot box was 48%, not good enough for democracy. I think these people are closet fascists, actually.
The Gadsden flag has a WikiPedia entry. Here’s the link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gadsden_flag
Where are the Hispanics, Blacks and other visible
minorities? Where are the flannel shirted lesbians
or the other gays?
Does anyone in the photos have a trace of a smile?
Torontonian – Thanks for the link.
Believe it or not, I saw one or two black people, and one person who looked like they could be hispanic or even *gasp* middle eastern. That was about the extent of minority representation. Of course, the teabaggers as a whole are a minority 😉 that’s what pisses them off so much.
No, they don’t look happy. But then, they are supposed to be an angry mob, so I guess they’re playing the role.
Good morrow, all!
So Glenn Beck started up his “Million Moron March” and ended up with 70,000. The rest got confused and wound up driving to Washington State, where there is a bounty on morons and dipshits. We will never hear from THEM again, if we’re lucky.
Why are so many of these people obese? Is emulating Rush Limbaugh really a healthy life choice?
So the “Real Murricans” are fat, loud, stupid and desperate for their fifteen minutes of fame. And these are the people who will strike fear into hearts of lean, quiet, cunning and stealthy terrorists throughout the world? Pull the other one, it has bells on it.
So where are these “poor hardworking Americans” finding the time to go to DC, and the gas to drive there, and the money to feed themselves into making Free Willy look like Ann Coulter?
What, All-Star Wresting went off the air this weekend? NASCAR ran out of gas? Monster trucks are all in the shop?
We has met the enemy. Damn, don’t he look like us! – CTZen
Post 9/11 the US Navy switched from a Jack of 50 white stars on a field of blue to the “First Jack”. It has the 13 stripes, a(n uncoiled) snake, and the words “Don’t tread on me”; I always thought it was gaudy. The stars on the blue field were some of my first memories reporting on board my first Sub.
Hey Cornelius, MacDonalds was closed & no church pic-nic & no honky tonk joints open
Torontonian, they’re not smiling because the president is African-American & actually thinking of their best interests.
Good morrow, CK!
McDonalds? Closed? With a captive market like that sitting on its doorstep? WTF was the CEO smoking that day?
I’m lovin’ it! – CTZen
Great minds think alike, eh?
BTW, here’s how it looks from Mexico. Progressive bloguer@s everywhere are having a field day with this shit.
PS to Cornelius: That “Million Moron March” tag is a keeper. 😈
Bina – I just posted a link to your place, thanks. Good post, if somewhat stomach-turning.
CTZen – I’ve seen people all fired up and pissed off before, but I’ve never seen anything like this teabagger thing. For the life of me, I can’t figure out what it is they’re so pissed off about, and they don’t seem to know either.
Recurring themes are the size of government and keeping government out of peoples’ lives, but…
…Where were they all a few years ago, when the size of government had ballooned to be larger than any government since the Johnson Administration?
…Where were they when the Bushies were doing warrantless wiretapping? Where were they when Georgie suspended Habeas Corpus?
They’re delusional.
CK – They’re not smiling because Freedomworks has told them that they’re angry.
I’m becoming fascinated with this teabagger movement — the whole thing is driven by corporate special interest groups who have absolutely nothing to offer these people, and in fact would fuck them over royally if it came to a choice between making a few bucks or helping out the teabaggers. Incredible!
dizzlski – Ah, that’s interesting! I was wondering where all these flags came from… I thought the one with the snake might have something to do with the military, but I wasn’t sure.
You were in the US Navy, I take it? I’m Canadian, but thanks for your service, anyway.
JJ–thanks. 😀
BTW, did you see the last pic on my entry? The guy ADMITS he’s astroturfed. And he sees no irony in this whatsoever.
This is what’s called “defending freedom” in teabag circles. A pity stupidity doesn’t hurt the stupid, or he’d have such a pain in the rectum from all the unlubed fucking he’s getting.
OMFG. It’s because these people don’t even know what “astroturfing” is. His T-shirt says he’s “on” Astroturf? 🙄 FUCK, they’re stupid. Where the fuck did all these stupid people come from???
I hope the GOP is happy. This is what’s left of their base.
Looks like a tornado picked up an entire trailer park, dropped it over DC and then let it all explode on the National Mall.
The Gadsden “don’t tread on me” rattlesnake flag was inspired by Ben Franklin’s famous prerevolution political cartoon Join or Die which was a drawing of a snake cut into lengths with each piece labelled as a one of the colonies. Very inspiring and all until you consider it from the Canadian viewpoint that once all those colonies to the south joined together, what you ended up with was a huge poisonous sidewinder.
“I hope the GOP is happy. This is what’s left of their base.”
Hell, THEY think they’re winning. Even the most basic congressional headcount should tell them otherwise, but they really think THEY are the majority.
“Silent”, even. 🙄
Unfortunately I didn’t make arrangements soon enough to drive across the country out there to attend the march. I’m not alone. Next time there will be more than 10 million there & far less peaceful . BTW There are plenty of fat democrats. I’m EXTREMELY healthy . I’m one of the “uninsured” . Not because I can’t get it , because I don’t want / need it . No one asked. I don’t need a $3,800 / yr. fine because I don’t have any. I don’t need to be drafted into the health care field either. Or “end of life counseling” Or China style forced “family planning”.
It’s my mission in life to get people to stop eating meat&drinking wheat grass juice. That’s the kind of health reform we need , not government takeover of our lives. There is a detailed summary of the 1000+ page atrocity on http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2300214/posts . The pages & lines are listed for you so as to easily see what is actually in this thing. Facts are hard to argue with although I’m sure you’ll try.
Well, celestial, all the wheat grass juice in the world won’t help you if you get hit by a car. I assume you exercise since you are the picture of health – what happens when you blow out a knee or herniate a disc, or crash your bike and break an elbow? Or get cancer from air or water pollution courtesy of your Republican business friends? Or become incontinent just because you’ve gotten old? Etc. And for chrissake, I hope you never plan on giving birth, and if you do I hope for your offspring’s sake that they are healthy and don’t need neonatal intensive care or anything like that. By not having insurance because you “don’t need it”, you are a BIG part of the problem, not the solution. Oh and goooood luck getting the rest of your teabagging buddies to give up burgers and cola and start eating tofu and wheat grass juice. I may never stop laughing at that!
What is it that you don’t understand about the word “OPTION”, as in the phrase “Public Option”?
Btw, I was EXTREMELY healthy too, until I got diagnosed with MS. Thank goodness I have a Canadian husband who brought me to this humane country where I have the best care imaginable, and my taxes are almost exactly the same as they were in the US (and I lived in a state with no state income tax). Personally, I’d much rather pay my taxes and know that my neighbors are cared for regardless of their eating habits, instead of having to have a fucking bake sale every time someone needs an operation.
There is an article that says that the photos of the
Saturday demonstration were from a previous time
since it didn’t include the new National Museum
of the American Indian.
Indeed, the article mentions that the cranes in the
background date from the construction of an IMAX
cinema back in the ’90s!
Astroturf meets photoshop, perhaps?
Here’s the link to the article:
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2009/sep/14/tea-party-photo-shows-large-crowd-different-event/
celestial
I don’t understand what the problem is with the turnout — as I said in my post, I thought it was pretty respectable. No, not 2 million, but why does it have to be 2 million? You guys need to get some perspective: as protests go, it wasn’t a bad showing.
Look, I like the idea of grassroots uprisings against government just as much as anyone, but that’s not what this is (Freedomworks? Really? Please.) The teabagger people are being played, and sadly, everyone — including “Freedomworks” and Glenn Beck — knows it but them.
And wheatgrass juice ain’t gonna fix that.
Dr.Prole – Actually, preventative medicine is something that Canada’s (socialized!!) health care system has been promoting vigorously for the last few years. Rather than wait til you’re sick and medicate, how about not getting sick in the first place? It makes sense… if you’re not in the pocket of the pharmaceutical companies 😉
It’s funny that Celestial should be such a strong advocate of a form of medicine that’s universally despised by the private health insurance industry.
Torontonian – Wow. Using that photo was a bad move on someone’s part, that’s for sure — it calls into question any photos or crowd estimates from those kinds of sources.
I don’t know why they’re so disappointed with the turnout of 70,000 (maybe even 75,000) — that is a fuck of a lot of people, especially when most of them are batshit insane 😯
Rev – Interesting stuff. I sometimes wondered about that, especially now that these flags appear to be flying off the shelves of the Army & Navy (or wherever they get flags from in the US, I don’t think they have A&N).
JJ, yeah I just had my first commie mammogram today. Lovin’ the preventative care! Catching stuff early is fiscally prudent, Comrade.
Dr.Prole – Good for you, I assume all was well. You’re right to love preventative care — it saved my life.
Now, let’s play “What If”: What if you didn’t have health insurance? Would you have gone for that scan? Would I have? Nope. Would I be typing this right now? Nope.
(Although frankly, I think the prevailing attitude among wingnuts is that if you can’t afford health insurance, you deserve to die. Even in a bad economy. Scary.)
The US health care system is ranked 37th, between Costa Rica And Slovina by the WHO, France is #1 (Canada is 30th). Universal health care gives their economys a competative advantage, thats why they are recouvering faster from the recession than the US. GM Canada was OK but it was the parent company (US) that was bankrupt, partly due to health insurance costs. Health insurance companys in the US make billions and that does NOT get plowed back into the system. These people are so brain-washed by the right-wing media that they can’t find their ass with both hands.
@Celestial Seasoning Dude: There won’t be 10 million, much less armed and dangerous. It’s Washington, the most guarded place on the fucking PLANET. And it’s also the home base of the guy who can call out the army to squash all ten THOUSAND (if that) of you freeptards like fucking bugs, dude.
That is, if you’ve got the gonads to try it. Which I strongly suspect you puppies don’t.
Phatbiker – Both hands and a quartz halogen search light 😉
Oh, it’s all so sick and sad. It’s so obvious what’s going on here — even something as lame as the public option, which is really just a hybrid system, would be so devastating to the bottom lines of private insurers that they’re in a terrified panic to keep it from happening. They know all too well that when people see how well a public system can work, more and more will opt out of paying $1000/month for private health care. And even the policies they keep, they won’t be able to cut corners by refusing to do procedures because they’ll be competing with the public system.
Gee, I thought competition was part of a healthy free market system…?? No, none of it makes any sense. But these people aren’t deep thinkers, to say the least.
PS: Wheat-grass juice is quackery. Haven’t you heard?
Bina – Oh Christ, I hate to think how their paranoia would spiral if that ever happened 😆
They had a decent turnout, it was around 70k. Not bad at all. I don’t know why they’re so insistent that it was in the millions, when it obviously wasn’t. Even Fox News said it was in the “tens of thousands”. I thought Fox News always told the truth 😯
I tried wheat grass juice once and almost upchucked. Give me a cold Corona any day — barley grass juice! 8)
Yeah, I’ll take my wheat in the normal form: shredded and lightly toasted, with milk and a little brown sugar, or ground, mixed with yeast, kneaded, and baked into a nice crusty loaf. Fad drinks from the late ’70s are no substitute for real food, any more than they are a substitute for adequate healthcare–publicly financed!
JJ
Again with the “not all of them are deluded”.
I’m sorry but your liberal bias is showing.
They are all, without exception, lunatics.
Raving lunatics.
All of them. All.
sedum – Stop! Stop! I’m losing hope… 😉
I agree that all these teabagger-types are raving lunatics; any willingness I might have had to believe that a few of them might just be misdirected was kind of blown away by watching that video I posted further up the page. They are, to a person, batshit insane, no doubt about it.
It’s a real ‘tribute’ to the ‘excellence’ of their health care system that there are so many people wandering around who are in such obvious need of medication.
Before calling anyone a “moron” over what YOU ignorantly believe the Constitution has to say about YOUR favorite political stance… SIMPLY READ THE CONSTITUTION BEFORE MAKING ANY POST ABOUT IT AT ALL!!! http://www.usconstitution.net/const.html Please identify to everyone, just this once and for all time to follow, where there exists ANY Constitutional authority at all for the President to propose a Bill; for Congress to redistribute wealth; or for government to itself engage in any form of commerce whatsoever, (i.e., unconstitutionally competing against private insurers, owning economic interest in banks and critical industries, or redefining a free market as a “system” for governmental control). Please show where it is even legal to confiscate wages of any kind whatsoever, as such are legally defined as “equal and agreed upon compensation for output of labor,” and therefore without profit to the laborer, thus NOT legally considered an “income.” Therefore, under the Thirteenth Amendment’s prohibition, “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction” government cannot legally tax American wages by any manner whatsoever. Moreover, legally justify under the Fourteenth Amendment’s guarantee of “equal protection”; that the recipient of unearned governmental income (not taxable, as a “welfare” or other illegally privileged entitlement payment) cannot legally be forced to “earn” that income by contributing their own labor, but instead, a productive citizen’s labor-based wage output may be seized to pay for another able-bodied person, who themself is not forced to earn the benefit of it. When one person’s labor output is taken from them without reasonable compensation, all so another may enjoy a lifestyle without having to work for it themselves — THAT FOLKS IS CALLED “SLAVERY.” Is THAT the “change” you were contemplating for the nation? Enslave everyone else… EXCEPT YOU?!?! So now, who then is the “moron”? Is it those that march in support of an impartial and absolutely Constitutional government, one that is enforcing objective (thus entirely equal) color-blind application of law; or, those who desire to enslave their neighbors to pay for unconstitutional bribery programs for the privileged few, that they themselves wouldn’t care to contribute one red cent of their own to support? Hypocrite LIEberals talk the talk, but are immobile and uninterested when it comes to actually WALKING the walk of charity. What WILL all of those unproductive parasites DO when the productive have finally gone on strike, and thereby refuse to support any of you, but instead flood the government’s services with their own demands for payment and services?
Bill – That return key won’t bite.
Bah, Go Galt already then, Bill. And learn about what a paragraph is. They usually teach that in elementary school.
It’s pretty interesting how these wingnuts didn’t give a shit when GWB said re: the constitution “it’s just a goddamned piece of paper” and basically used it as toilet paper, and now they’re suddenly all well versed in its intricacies.
Sister Prole
Yes, one couldn’t be blamed for asking “Where the fuck were you when the Bush administration was doing (fill in the blank, there’s lots to choose from)?”.
Also, they seem to have no understanding of the real-world consequences of what they’re demanding. Although I am not a constitutional scholar like your democratically-elected president, I’m pretty sure there’s nothing in it about a whole lot of government-funded amenities enjoyed today by people like Bill — roads, cops, firefighters, public transit, medicare, social security, yada yada etc.
I’m all for going Galt if that’s what they want to do — but they need to understand that there’s a little more to it than taking a day off work and stiffing the waitstaff in restaurants.
Hey friend, you are about right concerning that scooter that old “MF” is sitting on. It probably was paid for through Medicare – no doubt about it. Paying for one of those things out of pocket is tremendously expensive. Bet he didn’t refuse Medicare paying for it either. He should be made to get up and run. LOL!!!
I hate to inform all of you left wing marxist ding bats but for every person at the rally there are thousands of us that wanted to be there but could not be. I can’t believe there are really Americans out there that hate the elderly (which we will all be someday), white people (isn’t that racist?), and the fact that people get angry when they are lied to by a president who is trying to take their freedom away. You know by ‘redistributing the wealth’ the obama administration means take money away from you and give it to themselves. obama will probably be impeached since he continues to degrade America and ignore the American people. He is a joke for a president, let him go back to his communist buddies and leave American government to grown ups; oh, that’s right I forgot, his communist buddies are thick as theives there in the white house with him. The govenment is not our mother who is supposed to do what they think is best for us, they are representatives that are supposed to be representing us.
By the way, it was bill clinton and jesse jackson that started this economic crisis with sally mae and freddy mac. Notice how someone like Bush who is truly presidential material doesn’t blame all of the problems he inherited on someone else even though it was their fault but dealt with them like a mature adult instead? obama is just a crybaby.
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
susan
😆 BWAHAHAHA!
Gee, I’m just guessing but I think that might be because the only “problem” Georgie inherited from Bill Clinton was a massive budget SURPLUS. And you wankers whined about him for 8 years anyway! “The CLEEEENNNNIIIIISSSS!!!!”
NEXT!
susan – Learn how to use the return key, please, if you want that first deranged little screed to get read.
I live in one of the most conservative, backwards , underdeveloped and uneducated states in the union. Unfortunately I have to be around these kinds of people day in, day out.
Gets really old, let me tell you.
I consider myself a rather moderate democrat, but I don’t dare voice my opinions, or I’m afraid they would burn my house down. Seriously. They have no tolerance for differing opinions on politics or religion and they are prone to violence.
you liberal fucks are fucking up this country dont tread on me means what it says you fucking dumbasses.