Politics.be Registreren kan je hier.
Problemen met registreren of reageren op de berichten?
Een verloren wachtwoord?
Gelieve een mail te zenden naar [email protected] met vermelding van je gebruikersnaam.

Ga terug   Politics.be > Debatclub > Links
Registreer FAQForumreglement Ledenlijst Markeer forums als gelezen

Links Dit forum is voorbestemd voor een beperkte groep die wil discussieren rond linkse thema's.
Om deel te nemen aan de discussies moet u zich hier aanmelden.

Antwoord
 
Discussietools
Oud 25 maart 2010, 22:18   #1
Praetorian
Perm. Vertegenwoordiger VN
 
Praetorian's schermafbeelding
 
Geregistreerd: 24 mei 2004
Locatie: Anti-liberalenstaat Ideologie: marxisme,Bolshevik-Leninism, Gramsci, Althusser, Badiou, Zizek, Sorel
Berichten: 12.529
Stuur een bericht via MSN naar Praetorian
Standaard Libertarische tea party toont haar totalitair en racistisch gelaat

Citaat:
Tea party bigotry on parade

Tea party bigotry on parade
Nicole Colson looks at the disturbing politics of the tea party fanatics--and how leading Republicans are doing everything they can to encourage them.

March 25, 2010

THE VICIOUS underbelly of the "tea party" movement was on full display in the run-up to last weekend's vote on health care.

The days before the vote were filled with protests in Washington by supposed "grassroots" tea party groups. From the start, they displayed the same naked racism (and naked stupidity) as similar protests in the past--references to Obama as a Nazi, dressed in Hitler garb; questions about where he was born; references to the health care bill as a communist plot that would mean "death panels" for senior citizens [1].

But tea party protesters sunk to a new low when they verbally abused Georgia Rep. John Lewis, calling him "nigger."

Lewis, a civil rights movement veteran who was brutally beaten by a white mob--and not for the only time--in 1961 when he participated in the Freedom Rides, was outside the U.S. Capitol building on March 20 when protesters began chanting "Kill the bill, kill the bill" at him. When Lewis responded by saying "I'm for the bill," people in the crowd reportedly chanted, "Kill the bill, nigger."

"It was a chorus," Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.), who was behind Lewis and heard the chants, told McClatchy Newspapers. "In a way, I feel sorry for those people who are doing this nasty stuff--they're being whipped up." Cleaver, who is also Black, was spat on by a protester.

"They were shouting, sort of harassing," Lewis told McClatchy. "But, it's okay--I've faced this before. It reminded me of the '60s. It was a lot of hate and anger and people being downright mean."

Also targeted by the tea partiers was openly gay Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), who was called "faggot." Some reportedly mocked Frank with "lisping" chants.

The openly racist and anti-gay slurs seem to have finally dented the consciousness of the mainstream media--newspaper and cable TV reports gave greater prominence to the tea partiers' hate than in the past.

But the bigotry didn't stop, even after the vote. Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.), another veteran of the civil rights movement, told MSNBC's Keith Olbermann that his office received racist faxes, including an image of a noose, following the House vote for health care legislation.

Meanwhile, the offices of Democrats were vandalized [2] before and after the vote in several areas. The Tucson, Ariz., office of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords appeared to have been shot out with a pellet gun, and bricks were tossed through windows of the New York offices of Rep. Louise Slaughter and the Monroe County Democratic Committee headquarters, as well as through the window of the Democratic headquarters in Sedgwick, Kan.

According to CNN, a note was reportedly attached to one of the bricks, which read "extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice"--a quote from 1964 Republican presidential candidate--and civil rights opponent and "states' rights" supporter--Barry Goldwater.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

IN SOME cases, Republican lawmakers were directly responsible for inciting the ugly crowds. According to a report from Dana Milbank in the Washington Post, before the vote:

Republican members of Congress stood on the balcony of the people's House and stirred an unruly crowd. As lawmakers debated their way to a vote on the legislation, dozens of GOP members walked from the chamber, across the Speaker's Lobby and out onto the balcony to whip up thousands of "tea party" protesters massed on the south side of the Capitol, within about 50 feet of the building.

Some lawmakers waved handwritten signs and led the crowd in chants of "Kill the Bill." A few waved the yellow "Don't Tread on Me" flag of the tea party movement. Still others fired up the demonstrators with campaign-style signs mocking House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and offering messages such as "Let's Meet 'em at the State Line."

And then, of course, there was Republican Rep. Randy Neugebauer of Texas, who--not content with an Obama executive order denying women any federal funds for abortion--shouted "baby killer" at Democratic Rep. Bart Stupak for changing his vote in favor of the bill.

While most Republican officials were smart enough to distance themselves from the racist and homophobic slurs directed at Lewis and Frank, at least one--California Rep. Devin Nunes--claimed that the Democrats' "totalitarian" tactics were to blame for the tea partiers spewing their hate. On CSPAN, Nunes stated:

The left loves to play up a couple of incidents here or there, anything to draw attention away from what they are doing...When you use totalitarian tactics, people begin to act crazy. And I think, y'know, there's people that have every right to say what they want. If they want to smear someone, they can do it.

This sentiment was echoed by right-wing bloggers like Glenn Reynolds, who had the nerve to ask "Does Clyburn owe tea party protesters an apology?" He added, "The bogus racism card has been played so often that I no longer find such charges very credible."

Meanwhile, as Gawker.com noted [3], while Republican National Committee Chair Michael Steele and House Minority Leader John Boehner condemned the protesters, these are "the same protesters who they encourage and inspire with dog-whistle phrases and sly hints."

Sarah Palin, meanwhile, twittered to her followers [4]: "Commonsense Conservatives & lovers of America: 'Don't Retreat, Instead RELOAD!'" and linked to a map of Democratic districts with rifle targets on them.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

SUCH RHETORIC is a barely disguised attempt to whip up the worst elements of the right wing. These kinds of tactics are hardly surprising, however. For all the claims that the "tea partiers" are an independent "grassroots" movement, the truth is that they represent, for the most part, the same old reactionary core of the Republican Party.

Not only is the tea party movement propped up--sometimes behind the scenes, sometimes openly--by various political action committees tied to well-connected Republicans like Dick Armey and Steve Forbes, but the "stars" of the tea party movement include prominent Republicans like Sarah Palin. Likewise, the tea partiers themselves are likely to support Republicans when it comes to voting.

In February, a CNN/Opinion Research poll [5] found that some 11 percent of Americans described themselves as having given money, attended a rally or engaged in some other "active support" for the tea party movement.

The demographic is striking. Of those "active" supporters, 60 percent were male, 80 percent were white, and 66 percent made more than $50,000 a year. In fact, the largest income group of tea party activists (34 percent) was those making $75,000 or more per year. More tellingly, 87 percent said they vote for Republican candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives (as opposed to 46 percent of all respondents), and 77 percent described themselves as "conservative."

In other words, tea party activists are not working-class populist independents, but one of the core demographics of the Republican Party--the same reactionary base that the Republicans have appealed to in nakedly racist fashion for decades.

As Keeanga Yamahtta-Taylor wrote during the run-up to Obama's election [6]:

[The race card] has been a staple of American politics since African Americans could vote, most successfully since the invocation of the so-called "Southern strategy" employed by the likes of Richard Nixon and then Ronald Reagan.

The Black political movements of the 1960s and 1970s made it impossible for politicians to be brazenly racist, and so different racial monikers and codes were developed to implicate African Americans without mentioning them by name. Richard Nixon implored the rights of the "silent majority"--as opposed to the vocal minorities demanding civil rights. Ronald Reagan created myths and lies about "welfare queens," law and order, and demanded a war on drugs. All of these inferences and many others were meant to tap into the insecurities and racism of whites, without being accused of racism.

Today, the tea party protests are part of a "movement"--and it should be emphasized that it is by no means the mass movement that the media portrays it as--that recycles these same myths and lies for a new generation.

Hence, the emphasis on Obama's "Muslim-sounding" middle name or the repeated assertions that he wasn't born in the U.S. While most Republicans may be smart enough to disavow nakedly racist rhetoric and distance themselves--for example, from the tea partiers who yelled "nigger" at John Lewis--many are more than willing to hitch their wagons to the tea party movement.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

RATHER THAN call out these racist and bigoted attacks for what they are, the leadership of the Democratic Party, has been all-but-silent.

Last September, former President Jimmy Carter asserted that racism was a major factor in the tea party opposition to Obama. As he told students at Emory University:

When a radical fringe element of demonstrators and others begin to attack the president of the United States as an animal or as a reincarnation of Adolf Hitler, or when they wave signs in the air that said we should have buried Obama with Kennedy, those kinds of things are beyond the bounds. I think people who are guilty of that kind of personal attack against Obama have been influenced to a major degree by a belief that he should not be president because he happens to be African American.

But rather than take up the issue, the Obama White House immediately distanced itself from Carter. Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters that Obama did not believe the criticism directed at him and his policies was "based on the color of his skin," but a reasonable frustration with government.

Worse still has been the response of the Democrats to the furor over the health care bill. Rather than focus on the Republicans' incitement of bigotry, the Obama administration took one opportunity after another to talk about how much Republicans should appreciate the bill--because it delivers major items on their wish list.

As author Matt Taibbi noted [7]:

Only in America could we have a situation in which the GOP punts away a political opportunity by having a some Texas congressman shout "Baby Killer!" during a debate--and then the Democrats fumble that punt by celebrating the Republican-ness of the historic bill they just passed.

As she inched toward the triumphant win, Nancy Pelosi issued a fact sheet about the bill that cheerfully quoted an E.J. Dionne editorial. The passage: "An op-ed by E.J. Dionne on Friday reveals that the current health reform legislation pending before Congress was 'built on a series of principles that Republicans espoused for years.'" [8]

The Democrats not only won't fight the bigotry and right-wing attacks used against them, but they celebrate what they have in common with the bigots--and make concession after concession to accommodate them, as the health care debate showed all too plainly.

The result is that racism and hate only fester. According to a recent Harris poll [9], 67 percent of Republicans (and 40 percent of Americans overall) believe that Obama is a socialist; 57 percent of Republicans (32 percent overall) believe that Obama is a Muslim; 45 percent of Republicans (25 percent overall) agree with the "birthers" that Obama was "not born in the United States, and so is not eligible to be president"; 38 percent of Republicans (20 percent overall) say that Obama is "doing many of the things that Hitler did"; and 24 percent of Republicans (14 percent overall) say that Obama "may be the Antichrist."

While there are questions about the Harris survey's sampling and methodology [10], this poll isn't unique in showing the large number of Republicans who have reactionary ideas, particularly about Barack Obama. But the Democrats refuse to actively take on such ideas, preferring to talk up "common ground."

Right-wing extremism, whether racism, anti-gay bigotry or Islamophobia, has to be challenged--period. There can be no common cause with bigotry.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Material on this Web site is licensed by SocialistWorker.org, under a Creative Commons (by-nc-nd 3.0) [11] license, except for articles that are republished with permission. Readers are welcome to share and use material belonging to this site for non-commercial purposes, as long as they are attributed to the author and SocialistWorker.org.

[1] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/0..._n_507116.html
[2] http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/03/...zed/index.html
[3] http://gawker.com/5498448/right+wing...y-tea-partyers
[4] http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/arc...cas-right-wing
[5] http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/im...2/17/rel4b.pdf
[6] http://socialistworker.org/2008/08/07/mccains-race-card
[7] http://trueslant.com/matttaibbi/2010.../baby-killers/
[8] http://voices.washingtonpost.com/pos...hting_for.html
[9] http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-a...-new-gop-poll/
[10] http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenumbers/...oratives-.html
[11] http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0
SW 25/03

De logica van het kapitaal kent ook zijn politieke fenomenen: ongeremde haat en een totalitaire newspeak. De aristocratische hoogmoed van de gefrustreerde middenklasse kent verdacht veel gelijkenissen met het fascisme. Meer dan ooit is de strijd tegen het fascisme een strijd tegen het liberalisme.

Nineteenth-century Liberalism had believed in free competition whereby the winner, the stronger, got the spoils and the loser, the weaker, was eliminated. With free competition went individualism, and the Liberal had worshiped the strong individual capitalist who could win in free competition. He could easily change this worship to one for a strong political hero of the type of Hitler or Mussolini. The Liberal had never objected to the dictatorship of the capitalist within the factory. This made it easier for him to agree to the dictatorship of the capitalist agent in the State, particularly when shop and State were more and more fusing into one.
A. Weisbord
__________________

Laatst gewijzigd door Praetorian : 25 maart 2010 om 22:18.
Praetorian is offline   Met citaat antwoorden
Oud 26 maart 2010, 18:47   #2
Heftruck
Perm. Vertegenwoordiger VN
 
Geregistreerd: 15 februari 2006
Berichten: 11.670
Standaard

Anti-libertarisme, uw nieuwe kruistoch, Praetorian?

Toch tof, dat ongeoorloofd veralgemenen altijd.
Heftruck is offline   Met citaat antwoorden
Oud 27 maart 2010, 11:12   #3
AdrianHealey
Secretaris-Generaal VN
 
AdrianHealey's schermafbeelding
 
Geregistreerd: 28 november 2006
Locatie: Antwerpen Stadstaat
Berichten: 28.290
Standaard

Was de Tea Party maar liberaal, in plaats van dit zootje ongeregeld (met o.a. libertalen). Helaas; maar een klein deel ervan kan echt zo genoemd worden.
__________________
Citaat:
Oorspronkelijk geplaatst door Avicenna
"Anyone who denies the law of non-contradiction should be beaten and burned until he admits that to be beaten is not the same as not to be beaten, and to be burned is not the same as not to be burned."
AdrianHealey is offline   Met citaat antwoorden
Oud 27 maart 2010, 11:15   #4
AdrianHealey
Secretaris-Generaal VN
 
AdrianHealey's schermafbeelding
 
Geregistreerd: 28 november 2006
Locatie: Antwerpen Stadstaat
Berichten: 28.290
Standaard

Overigens; ik zie de racistische elementen, maar waar exact zijn de totalitaire elementen? ('t kan zijn dat ik er over heb gelezen.)
__________________
Citaat:
Oorspronkelijk geplaatst door Avicenna
"Anyone who denies the law of non-contradiction should be beaten and burned until he admits that to be beaten is not the same as not to be beaten, and to be burned is not the same as not to be burned."

Laatst gewijzigd door AdrianHealey : 27 maart 2010 om 11:15.
AdrianHealey is offline   Met citaat antwoorden
Oud 28 maart 2010, 12:53   #5
Pølle
Minister-President
 
Pølle's schermafbeelding
 
Geregistreerd: 21 maart 2007
Berichten: 2.829
Standaard

Citaat:
Oorspronkelijk geplaatst door Heftruck Bekijk bericht
Anti-libertarisme, uw nieuwe kruistoch, Praetorian?

Toch tof, dat ongeoorloofd veralgemenen altijd.
Lol.
__________________
Tout va bien.
Pølle is offline   Met citaat antwoorden
Oud 28 maart 2010, 13:09   #6
Heftruck
Perm. Vertegenwoordiger VN
 
Geregistreerd: 15 februari 2006
Berichten: 11.670
Standaard

Citaat:
Oorspronkelijk geplaatst door Pølle Bekijk bericht
Lol.
Kom, kom, voorheen waren het liberalen. Libertairen waren een irrelevante bende Amerikaanse studenten en liberdinges.

Nu zijn ze plots relevant genoeg voor een avatar en eigen kruistochten!
Heftruck is offline   Met citaat antwoorden
Oud 29 maart 2010, 11:54   #7
Samsa
Gouverneur
 
Samsa's schermafbeelding
 
Geregistreerd: 6 juli 2006
Locatie: Oostende
Berichten: 1.055
Standaard

Citaat:
Oorspronkelijk geplaatst door AdrianHealey Bekijk bericht
Overigens; ik zie de racistische elementen, maar waar exact zijn de totalitaire elementen? ('t kan zijn dat ik er over heb gelezen.)
ik neem aan dat het vooral gaat over het "grassroots" element van die tea party "movement". Mensen doen geloven dat ze uit zichzelf aan politieke actie doen terwijl overduidelijk staat (republikeinen, mr ook een aantal democraten), kapitaal (tjah, moet dit nog uitleg?) en ideologen (de demagogische tv show hosts �* la Glenn Beck) de touwtjes in handen hebben lijkt me politiek wel heel pervers. Misschien moeten we oppassen met het woord totalitair te vlug te gebruiken, maar het is wel een bijzonder smerige manipulatie van (niet eens zò onbegrijpelijke) buikgevoelens en angsten
__________________
"Kapitalisme is allerminst een onderdrukkingssysteem, maar veeleer een selectie van de waardevolsten, het bijeenbrengen van de besten en een sterk ontwikkeld gevoel voor individuele verantwoordelijkheid" - Het VBO had het niet beter kunnen zeggen, maar neen: het is Benito Mussolini
Samsa is offline   Met citaat antwoorden
Oud 30 maart 2010, 15:29   #8
Metternich
Perm. Vertegenwoordiger VN
 
Metternich's schermafbeelding
 
Geregistreerd: 2 mei 2006
Locatie: Dietsland-Europa Ideologie: Solidarisme en corporatisme
Berichten: 10.620
Standaard

Glenn Beck zou ik wel geen ideoloog noemen. Eerder een debiele agitator.
__________________


Metternich is offline   Met citaat antwoorden
Oud 3 april 2010, 16:03   #9
La Chunga
Minister
 
La Chunga's schermafbeelding
 
Geregistreerd: 27 juni 2006
Locatie: Waar ik me thuisvoel...Overal dus
Berichten: 3.534
Standaard

Citaat:
Oorspronkelijk geplaatst door Praetorian Bekijk bericht
SW 25/03

De logica van het kapitaal kent ook zijn politieke fenomenen: ongeremde haat en een totalitaire newspeak. De aristocratische hoogmoed van de gefrustreerde middenklasse kent verdacht veel gelijkenissen met het fascisme. Meer dan ooit is de strijd tegen het fascisme een strijd tegen het liberalisme.

Nineteenth-century Liberalism had believed in free competition whereby the winner, the stronger, got the spoils and the loser, the weaker, was eliminated. With free competition went individualism, and the Liberal had worshiped the strong individual capitalist who could win in free competition. He could easily change this worship to one for a strong political hero of the type of Hitler or Mussolini. The Liberal had never objected to the dictatorship of the capitalist within the factory. This made it easier for him to agree to the dictatorship of the capitalist agent in the State, particularly when shop and State were more and more fusing into one.
A. Weisbord
En alle Vlamingen zijn racisten.
En alle moslims zijn terroristen.
En alle ...

Heerlijk toch dat pseudo-intellectueel gewauwel, niet?
Pas op, Praetorian, ik verschiet niet van deze dwaasheid tot veralgemenen van jou, je behoort nu eenmaal tot een engdenkende rechtse meute die denkt dat een rood lapje de eigenheid kan camoufleren. Think twice, boy.
__________________
Let your sympathies and your compassion be always with the under dog in the fight--this is magnanimity; but bet on the other one--this is business. - Mark Twain
La Chunga is offline   Met citaat antwoorden
Oud 4 april 2010, 17:20   #10
Praetorian
Perm. Vertegenwoordiger VN
 
Praetorian's schermafbeelding
 
Geregistreerd: 24 mei 2004
Locatie: Anti-liberalenstaat Ideologie: marxisme,Bolshevik-Leninism, Gramsci, Althusser, Badiou, Zizek, Sorel
Berichten: 12.529
Stuur een bericht via MSN naar Praetorian
Standaard

Citaat:
Oorspronkelijk geplaatst door Metternich Bekijk bericht
Glenn Beck zou ik wel geen ideoloog noemen. Eerder een debiele agitator.
In de VS heb je dan ook nog weinig ideologen. Het verschil qua niveau tyssen Beck en bv. Cato Institute is dan ook nul.
En ze worden beiden gesponsord door Koch Industries.
__________________
Praetorian is offline   Met citaat antwoorden
Oud 4 april 2010, 21:57   #11
AdrianHealey
Secretaris-Generaal VN
 
AdrianHealey's schermafbeelding
 
Geregistreerd: 28 november 2006
Locatie: Antwerpen Stadstaat
Berichten: 28.290
Standaard

Citaat:
Oorspronkelijk geplaatst door Praetorian Bekijk bericht
In de VS heb je dan ook nog weinig ideologen. Het verschil qua niveau tyssen Beck en bv. Cato Institute is dan ook nul.
En ze worden beiden gesponsord door Koch Industries.
Lol @ 'verschil tussen Beck en Cato Institute quasi nul' - op meerdere niveaus, eigenlijk. Cato, ondanks hun problemen, is nog steeds redelijk consequent pro vrijheid: lagere belasting, minder regulering, legalisering drugs, competitie tussen staten, tegen de oorlog in Afghanisten en Irak, onmiddellijke terugkeer van alle militairen verspreid over de wereld, etc. Beck daarentegen is een iets groter met de wind mee draaiertje, zoals bijvoorbeeld de bailout verdedigen. Alhoewel dan weer bepaalde mensen geaffilieerd met Cato - Tyler Cowen vb. - dat ook deden. En zijn daar terecht uitgebreid voor bekritiseert.

En de Kochtopus is inderdaad lastig, maar goed. De financiële mogelijkheden pro vrijheid zijn minder dan die voor het status quo. (Maar misschien/wrslk groter dan die pro communisme.) Maar gelukkig is er ook zware kritiek op de invloed en de macht van Koch Industries; het loopt inderdaad wat de spuigaten uit.
__________________
Citaat:
Oorspronkelijk geplaatst door Avicenna
"Anyone who denies the law of non-contradiction should be beaten and burned until he admits that to be beaten is not the same as not to be beaten, and to be burned is not the same as not to be burned."
AdrianHealey is offline   Met citaat antwoorden
Oud 5 april 2010, 12:34   #12
the_dude
Eur. Commissievoorzitter
 
the_dude's schermafbeelding
 
Geregistreerd: 19 augustus 2005
Locatie: Ekeren
Berichten: 8.149
Standaard

'k denk dat die tea party zwaar geïnfiltreerd is door extreem conservatieve republikeinen om zo die beweging ten gronde te brengen.
__________________
"Het is de gelovige die, niet het geloof dat bescherming
nodig heeft. Mensen hebben mensenrechten, religies, geloven en ideeën
hebben die niet.''
the_dude is offline   Met citaat antwoorden
Antwoord


Discussietools

Regels voor berichten
Je mag niet nieuwe discussies starten
Je mag niet reageren op berichten
Je mag niet bijlagen versturen
Je mag niet jouw berichten bewerken

vB-code is Aan
Smileys zijn Aan
[IMG]-code is Aan
HTML-code is Uit
Forumnavigatie


Alle tijden zijn GMT +1. Het is nu 18:47.


Forumsoftware: vBulletin®
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Content copyright ©2002 - 2020, Politics.be