It's taken three trips to Kentucky, but I'm finally getting my Tea Party epiphany exactly where you'd expect: at a Sarah Palin rally. The red-hot mama of American exceptionalism has flown in to speak at something called the National Quartet Convention in Louisville, a gospel-music hoedown in a giant convention center filled with thousands of elderly white Southerners. Palin — who earlier this morning held a closed-door fundraiser for Rand Paul, the Tea Party champion running for the U.S.
Senate — is railing against a GOP establishment that has just seen Tea Partiers oust entrenched Republican hacks in Delaware and New York. The dingbat revolution, it seems, is nigh.
"We're shaking up the good ol' boys," Palin chortles, to the best applause her aging crowd can muster. She then issues an oft-repeated warning (her speeches are usually a tired succession of half-coherent one-liners dumped on ravenous audiences like chum to sharks) to Republican insiders who underestimated the power of the Tea Party Death Star. "Buck up," she says, "or stay in the truck."
Stay in what truck? I wonder. What the hell does that even mean?
Scanning the thousands of hopped-up faces in the crowd, I am immediately struck by two things. One is that there isn't a single black person here. The other is the truly awesome quantity of medical hardware: Seemingly every third person in the place is sucking oxygen from a tank or propping their giant atrophied glutes on motorized wheelchair-scooters. As Palin launches into her Ronald Reagan impression — "Government's not the solution! Government's the problem!" — the person sitting next to me leans over and explains.
"The scooters are because of Medicare," he whispers helpfully. "They have these commercials down here: 'You won't even have to pay for your scooter! Medicare will pay!' Practically everyone in Kentucky has one."
A hall full of elderly white people in Medicare-paid scooters, railing against government spending and imagining themselves revolutionaries as they cheer on the vice-presidential puppet hand-picked by the GOP establishment. If there exists a better snapshot of everything the Tea Party represents, I can't imagine it.
Seriously you HAVE to click the link provided at teh top and read this entire article, it is awesome. Perhaps my favorite line is this one: But after lengthy study of the phenomenon, I've concluded that the whole miserable narrative boils down to one stark fact: They're full of shit. All of them.
If that does not sum up my impression of the Teabaggers than words simply won't do it.
Three cheers for hypocrisy! Yeah! Say one thing and do the opposite! Who let the dogs out, woof, woof!? Pay for a ticket to be with others to hear this is the rill 'merican way to be!! Hooray, rill 'merican exceptionalism at it's finest!
ReplyDeleteThey are against "socialism" except when getting the benefits.
The fact that America's best journalist works for Rolling Stone is also quite telling. Thank you sincerely, Matt, for your honest, 'tell it like it is' reporting!
ReplyDeleteMy parents, both sweet people, are teabaggers. Mom has a bad hip, and Dad has to take heart pills, and watch his insulin levels. Who knows how much longer they will be around? I try to not talk about politics, but treasure the remaining time I have with them.
ReplyDeleteTheir youth was during the 30's, 40's and 50's. They are frightened of a world in which America is not far and away the most rich and powerful nation.
They believe that rigid gender roles and repressed ideas about sex should be carefully enforced, because otherwise GOD WILL BE VERY MAD and withdraw his "favor" from our country.
They are frightened and angry.
They want desperately to go back to the way things were (preferably before the whole "civil rights" chapter of American history, although they won't say it out loud).
Their political talking points are all from the Reagan era (and have been proven to be complete failures) and what they suppose the founding fathers "really meant". Another words, gibberish and stupidity.
I am torn between pity and anger. Pity for their distress, and anger because they refuse to look in the mirror and take ANY responsibility for our current situation.
They are very sure it is all the fault of the gays/illegal immigrants/liberals/muslims/black welfare mothers/hippies/jewish bankers/ etc., etc., etc.
I secretly hope someone of their own generation will gently talk them out of their most ignorant prejudices; as their adult child, I am just not willing to fight with them in their sunset years.
When Joe McGinniss said that Palin "unleashes the Hounds of Hell" he described her perfectly. She appeals to the racist, hateful instincts in the crowds she speaks to. They cannot process anything more complicated than a soundbite or a slogan. Although they represent a fringe element of our society, they are so rabid that they do get out and vote. Sarah was good at provoking them during the 2008 campaign, and she continues to bring out the worst in the worst people.
ReplyDeleteHe wasn't kidding about those scooters. I had assumed it was like that all over the country. That's interesting to know its a local phenomenon.
ReplyDeleteThe best part is that those commercials show elderly people riding those scooters in places like the Grand Canyon, with no other vehicles in sight. Invariably when I drive around town, I see at least one or two people driving those scooters down the road, causing traffic problems.
Good article on RS but really, but nothing I didn't already know.
ReplyDeleteGreat article, thanks for the heads-up. I always enjoy Taibbi's take.
ReplyDeleteDoes Sarah Palin know that her foe, Karl Rove, is pulling Rand Paul's puppet strings? Ha ha, that was a purely rhetorical question.
Sarah Palin at a hoedown.
ReplyDeleteLove the title, "Tea and Crackers." Sadly, it summarizes a lot of what's wrong with the movement.
ReplyDeleteLast year, a guy who was a Navy buddy of my husband's and whose wife was like my sister got in touch with us through Facebook. He was from and now lives back in Kentucky.
Years of being out of touch and living half a continent away had naturally wrought changes, but none so profound as realizing that he was now a bona fide Tea Party cracker.
His wife had left him for a younger, more progressive man. I suspect it was because her husband has devolved into a loud-mouth bully. When he discovered that we held progressive views and did not agree with him on his love for sainted Sarah Palin, he began assailing us with hate-filled emails ranting on about the evils of President Obama and socialist supporters like us.
He tried to call us, he said, to help us see the light, but thank goodness we have an unlisted number. He was going to visit and convert us, but we explained we had to room to put him up. I blocked his emails, always checked Caller ID before answering the phone, and looked out the peephole before answering the door - so overwhelming was his passion for all things Palin.
Love the title "Tea and Crackers."
Why are these people so pumped up on hate? Do they really think saying nasty things will win them friends or convince anyone they are correct? As in the article, they are so self-absorbed and self-limiting, that they cannot see or tolerate anything other than the lies that comfort them.
Goodness, I am beginning to wonder if, like our long-ago friend, they just get bitter about life and transfer that bitterness to their political views. That could surely explain Sarah. They, like her, are quite simply nuts.
Teabaggers will just die off naturally. The hard part is waiting.
ReplyDeleteExcellent Piece Gryph (and Matt) With Excellent comments!!
ReplyDeleteWe need our government & representatives to listen to "the people" - not some multi-billion dollar corp. who is only seeking to increase their bottom line (and bonus) on the backs of the employees.
Once again, go back to the Reagan admin., taking down the Unions - where collectively, employees had negotiating power with grievances against their employers. He (Reagan) took us to the "me me me first", and wiped out working WITH each other to accomplish good for all.
The reason they are filled with hate is easy to diagnose. One always hates what one fears. I know football players who hate spiders because they FEAR them. Irrational (275 pound male vs less than an ounce spider) yes but there it is.
ReplyDeleteMy parents were a lot like Anon at 6:57. Luckily for me a terse warning about ever seeing their grandchild again worked for me. At least they died with out infecting another generation with their hate and fear.
Thank goodness that the majority of the tea party supporters are in the over 50 age group. They're numbers are fading and they aren't recruiting very many new members outside of the some of the psuedo-militia group types.
ReplyDeleteThe new generation of Millienallist children are large, vocal, progressive and vote. I don't think November is going to turn out to be as much of a political sweep that the right wing thinks it will be.
I have been saying it for 2 years now...Matt Taibbi is the one to break babygate.
ReplyDeleteAnon.6:57 Thank you for a very loving and accurate picture of many of the teabaggers. Many of the ones I know are very nice people willing to do anything for a neighbor. They are just out of their comfort area when it comes to national politics. I agree that fear is the greatest motivator. I think the term sheeple is a good descriptor. They are following leaders who prey on that fear and lead them to their destruction.
ReplyDeleteEvery time I see those commercials for the scooters, in fact all the commercials targeted at the elderly that always have some "real" person saying "and it didn't cost me a thing!" I tell myself that of course, they're all Republicans, and probably teabags.
ReplyDeleteAgain, those most harmed by the policies of the Republican Party are the ones taken in by them.
I do take comfort in the fact that Sarah Palin's social security and Medicare dependent base is literally dying. Maybe if the government wouldn't be so awesome and pay for those motorized scooters, they wouldn't be able to get to the polls and vote
ReplyDeleteIs it me or does the article conjure up an image of Palin either as an old, plastic surgery obsessed woman from a past generation or a trophy wife of a really old, horney white man?
ReplyDeleteBuck up or stay in the truck?
ReplyDeleteIs that like f*ck or walk?
How funny! Great article, I have loved Matt since reading his book, "The Great Derangement" and when I saw the link, i immediately went to RS and read the entire article, then sent the link to several of my friends, with my attachment at the beginning the very same quote that Gryphen uses at the end of his blog entry. Then I go back and read all of Gryphen and get to the end! My friend, we do think alike.
ReplyDeleteThe author pretty much nails it: the tea party people are full of shit.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoy reading Matt Tiabbi though I'm sure his language doesn't thrill some people.
ReplyDeleteThese Baggers are a scary lot though I don't believe they have staying power. When your demographics is old white people you just know that pretty soon they'll be going to that big death panel in the sky.
"They want desperately to go back to the way things were (preferably before the whole "civil rights" chapter of American history, although they won't say it out loud)."
ReplyDelete_______________
Anon, I don't mean to offend you but I don't consider anyone "sweet" who only reserves kindness or kind thoughts for people of the same color/religion/political party. My mother-in-law I love very much but b/c of her political views I do not consider her "sweet," even though she is a fellow Christian and my kiddos' grandma. Some people are simply infected with fear of the "Other." I cannot stand how so many of their generation pretend to have changed their racist views yet speak out of both sides of their mouths. :( The kids are going to eat me alive ("Mom, why is that taking so long?!" if I don't serve dinner up ASAP, gotta run! ;)
I know we want to give our cute elderly white parents a pass, but isn't it amazing that people who purport to love freedom and liberty would prefer to deny them to African Americans and other minorities. The Tea Party is rabidly committed to that point, with their take-our-country-back approach. And, believe me, I think they're not just talking about ending welfare or whatever other entitlements they thing support the black community.
ReplyDeleteTo be honest, white folks have spent a lot of time fleeing black encroachment since 1964. So we shouldn't pretend that racism is the bastion of the 70-year-old white grandma. Check out the public schools in any city or suburb. White parents, many of them calling themselves progressives, will do back flips to find schools in which the tipping point has not been reached. No one wants to live near black folk. Some tolerate it. And contact with "others" is practically unavoidable in the workplace, but even workplaces are being cleared of black people through layoffs and firings. The Tea Party just may get their wish. And now they're being helped along by the mainstream media.