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December 19, 2024

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Friday, January 28, 2022

Open Thread – Are You Ready to Par-TEA?!

Are you ready to par-tea? Not only “Yeah,” but “HELL yeah” sayeth the dozens of mildly enthusiastic Tea Partiers in New Hampshire this weekend. This video from Dave Wiegel was filmed between speakers Sarah Palin and Sharron Angle.

Even though my politics may differ radically from those at the event, I really hope nobody got hurt in that crushing rush to the stage. This is the kind of situation where people are likely to get trampled if they’re not careful.  The electricity of the crowd, and the raw adrenaline that can only come from communing with masses of like-minded people was palpable. I think we’re in big trouble, folks…

Comments

comments

Comments
110 Responses to “Open Thread – Are You Ready to Par-TEA?!”
  1. Judi says:

    great video….wonderful way to start my day…with some good laughs…anyone know how much they got paid to be there??

  2. jimzmum says:

    And now, for something totally different. Miss Suzie, my mom-mother-heart, and I today dealt with things regarding her move to Assisted Living. I want to go on record as saying this day ranks up there in the top 10 of Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Days. Today, we met with the funeral people in Illinois and made an appointment for a conference all in KY tomorrow. In Illinois, we went to the Funeral Home, explained what she wanted, got their okay in writing, and wrote a check.

    Then, we went to lunch. Sweet Lord and butter. I hate this. I despise this whole dementia road we are traveling. And, to balance that, Miss Suzie is so happy. She wanted the same service as my daddy, and that is what we paid for – and have the receipt.

    Tomorrow. Whoof. Have to do the burial of the cremains. Miss Suzie and I will conference call with the Funeral people in my hometown in KY. The thing is, we’ll be talking to one of her students from 35 years ago. She adores him, and it is reciprocated.

    Ah well, that is the nice thing about the dementia that is sucking the world from my mother: every danged day opens a world of new and wonderful things.

  3. leenie17 says:

    I was perusing the newspaper tonight when I came across a letter to the editor that seemed a little wonky. When I read the words “sociopolitical agendas emanating from bloated bureaucracies” I began to be suspicious. When the writer started to disparage the concern that schools have for the emotions and feelings of children and mentioned a “radical multiculturalist doctrine that urges students and teachers to despise America’s heritage and historic accomplishments”, the needle on my Skept-O-Meter swung quickly to the right. The letter ended with the comment that this is why so many parents are turning to home schooling, private schools and public charter schools.

    Hmmm…

    My suspicions were further aroused when I noticed that the writer was from Chicago and a senior fellow for education policy at something called ‘The Heartland Institute’. That name sounded oddly familiar. I live in Rochester, NY – some 600 miles from Chicago – and we don’t often get letters about our school system from the Windy City so I decided to do a bit of digging.

    I googled The Heartland Institute and my initial suspicions were quickly confirmed. According to sourcewatch.org, it is a ” nonprofit “think tank” that questions the reality and import of climate change, second-hand smoke health hazards, and a host of other issues that might seem to require government regulation. ” Ahhhh…it’s becoming clearer now!

    Their largest donors have included Exxon Mobil, American Petroleum Institute, Philip Morris, the Charles Koch Charitable Foundation (now where have I heard THAT name before?), and the Walton family of WalMart fame as well as a host of other conservative organizations and foundations. They stopped publishing the names of their donors in February of 2005.

    According to their mission statement:

    “The Institute campaigns in support of:
    * “Common-sense environmentalism”, such as opposition to the the Kyoto Protocol aimed at countering global warming
    * Genetically engineered crops and products;
    * The privatization of public services; [ding, ding, ding – we have a winner!]
    * The introduction of school vouchers; [a-yup…just as I suspected!]
    * The deregulation of health care insurance;
    and against:
    * What it refers to as “junk science” (science that that could indicate a need for regulation);
    * Tobacco control measures such as tobacco tax increases (the Institute denies the health effects of second-hand smoke).”

    http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Heartland_Institute

    I wonder how many people reading that letter in today’s paper had no idea of the source of that garbage and didn’t know enough to make a point to find out.

    Maybe I’ll write a letter of my own to the paper, ‘splainin’ a little about what The Heartland Institute really is…

    • Alaska Pi says:

      sounds like you should!

    • bubbles says:

      go for it Leenie. that write that letter or even better copy this post and send it. maybe it will make people realize that computer sitting in the corner covered with dust can actually be used for something other than adult films. LOL.

  4. OMG says:

    The ultra-conservative RedState has been added to the list of those who are tired of Sarah’s antics:

    http://www.redstate.com/leon_h_wolf/2011/09/07/the-unbearable-lightness-of-being-sarah-palin/

    and this:

    http://www.redstate.com/erick/2011/09/07/enough/

    • Baker's Dozen says:

      The eruption that was to shake up the GOP has turned into an ugly pimple. That kind of eruption needs to be squeezed and the contents flushed down the toilet.

  5. Baker's Dozen says:

    And here’s a great picture of our representatives returning to work!

    http://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/Cartoons

    • thatcrowwoman says:

      hahahahaha caw Caw CAW!

      but Leenie and I both know
      kindergarteners have way more class
      than some congress critters.

      • leenie17 says:

        And they’re SOOO much cuter!

        • Baker's Dozen says:

          Whenever I had to have a conference with one of my high schooler’s parents because the kid was on the more outlandish side of teen behavior and the parents were having fits about it, I’d always get out the cum folder and put it so the cute little kindergarten pics were facing the parents when they sat down. They’d look at those pics and you could just see the steam recede and their temperatures fall. It was so much easier to have a profitable conversation when they were calm, though they had plenty of reason to feel otherwise. Had many profitable and effective strategies of dealing with those teens and got almost all back on the right track.

          Kindergarten pics are priceless.

  6. lacy lady says:

    I am having all kinds of problems. My outlook express just got cleaned out!

  7. Baker's Dozen says:

    Is anyone else havin’ this problem also, too? All my print is in italics on this thread. It’s leanin’ to th’ rite! Muh spellin’s sufferin’ an’ I’m biginnin’ tuh think Palin maeks cents! Ah don’t like this. Ah dun’t laehk ett atall. Ubetcha allso 2.

    • Elsie says:

      Hey, Baker’s Dozen….

      I’m a-thinkin’ the whole durn thang is TAINTED, due to the subject matter today. I don’t ‘member never seein’ it look lahk this BEFORE, so it mus’ be the topic, also, too, and as well.

      • Baker's Dozen says:

        Run Sereh, runnnnn! I’m a-votin’ fer yeh! Give it awl ewe got gerl! An’ progressin’ this-hear naeshon fer th’ rill ‘Merikunz in th’ midwest an’ ignorin’ thangs liek chile’ laburr laus an wimin’s rite ter vote, progressin on whilte geezer male libeebo an’ sweeters an’ jakkits strainin’at there moorin’s an that’ “pay bie th’ our” hair-due thet looks like it jess woked up.

        Hep! I’m drownin’ over hear! Lean the print to the left!

    • thatcrowwoman says:

      It all started with bubbles up dere @25 or so ^
      that’s my story, and I’m sticking to it!

      {{{{{bubbles}}}}}

      no matter which way we lean,
      we can always lean on one another
      as the mudflats choir sings along
      with Bill “Y’all wanna sing, it’s all right with me” Withers

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zU97n-HuAJA

      • thatcrowwoman says:

        Oh, looky, we’ve all straightened up again…

        but I refuse to fly right!

        Supper, hot toddy, and off to bed with me.

        sweet dreams, all

      • bubbles says:

        oh dear.i was just praticin’ mah italics an’ everthin’ went all tilted an stuff.
        i haz a sad. pleez fo’give this poor lil pup.
        gone back onna vacashun be bak round about teh thanksgiven.

  8. auni says:

    OH geez!!! I almost turned it off–glad I watched it to the end!

  9. lacy lady says:

    Since this is an “open-thread” thought you would like a little Alfred Hitchcock.
    You have to watch it to the end!

    http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=4meeZifCVro

  10. Elsie says:

    Since this is an open thread, I’m going to take full advantage of it today.

    I’m still pee-ohed about what I’ve learned since reading Jeanne’s earlier post, “Truthout exposes the trials of Joe McGinnis”, from September 1. Since then, I have read several links that show, in some detail, how McGinniss operates.

    The Truthtout article was interesting unto itself, but a comment left there by “Keith O.” linked to something even more fascinating at http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/notorious_murders/family/jmacdonald/24.html

    I encourage you to read the report at the Tru T.V. site. It’s given as 29 short pages, but you could start about page 20 to read how McGinniss ingratiated himself into the accused’s life, sat in on the accused’s meetings with his own defense counsel, misled him with continuing expressions of sympathy about the man’s innocence, and intimated that McGinniss would represent the accused as a wronged man in the book he was writing.

    To protect HIMSELF at the beginning of what became a three-year relationship, McGinniss had the man sign off against any sort of libel lawsuit following future publication of the expected book. The care taken by McGinniss to gain complete and total access to the accused, and then write whatever book would sell the most copies, is eye-opening. Later, when MacDonald sued McGinniss for fraud and breach of contract, McGinniss paid the doctor something in excess of $325,000 to settle the case out of court.

    I’ve looked at references made first to an essay, then later a book, by “New Yorker” reporter, Janet Malcolm, citing the “ethical concerns highlighted by the case (that) became the heart of (her) now classic dissection of the journalist-subject relationship, “The Journalist and the Murderer.” Her book addresses the psychopathology between, and ethical betrayals of, writers and their subjects. A “Publishers Weekly” review states “Malcolm suggests that journalist Joe McGinniss may have betrayed convicted murderer Jeffrey MacDonald in McGinniss’s bestselling book Fatal Vision.” (Amazon.com)

    “Keith O.” concludes his comments at the Truthout site with this:

    “My opinion:
    There is more to the MacDonald story than a simple analysis of MacDonald’s guilt. The heart of the issue goes to McGinniss’ journalistic integrity and the trust he violated. Whether you believe MacDonald innocent or not, the fact that McGinniss’ access to the doctor was predicated on his accurate telling of MacDonald’s side of the story and the legitimate holes in the defense raises serious concerns about the type of person Joe McGinniss is. That he would counsel MacDonald to tell his own family not to pursue interviews or other media outlets that might have told MacDonald’s story of innocence in order to preserve his own book’s vitality is despicable.

    “Whether MacDonald ever gets another shot in court to prove his innocence is largely irrelevant at this point because in the court of public opinion, McGinniss’ book has already painted the man as a monster. I realize that technically speaking a settlement offer is not an admission, but a $325,000 payout is telling. This is certainly the type of man that would not hesitate to illegally leak a manuscript that competes with his book. The almighty dollar is a powerful motivator. I wish some of the McGinniss sycophants and apologists on this board would take a hard look at the facts and McGinniss’ sordid history before they give blind allegiance (pun intended) to the man.”

    I urge you to look at the extensive information provided in the link to the Tru T.V. writeup. It’s interesting and well worth your time to delve into commentary on McGinniss’s background and ethics as a “professional” author. As Keith says, perhaps the noisy sycophants and McGinniss apologists seen in the ‘Flats and elsewhere WILL finally begin to see clearly some of the questions about his business dealings and rethink their misplaced, and yes, “blind allegiance” to him.

    I certainly have.

    • FAWNSKIN MUDPUPPY says:

      wow…talk about doing your research there, mz elsie.
      now i’m gonna have to go back and read all the pertinent info.

      mr joe justn’t isn’t my cup of tea…er, perhaps, that should be coffee.

      • thatcrowwoman says:

        You maybe had it right the first time, there, fawnskin, with your cuppa.
        Doesn’t Joe count Roger Ailes as a close friend there?

        It’s a crying shame that the Tea Party has us second guessing our beverage of choice.
        I love the smell of coffee, but not the taste.
        I’d prefer a nice darjeeling any day.
        When it comes to tea, I’m Pro-Choice.
        🙂

    • Martha Unalaska Yard Sign says:

      Joe McGinniss has just added more flame to the fire which he seems to like to do. I started out thinking that he understood Alaska and Alaskans just a bit more because of his extensive time spent writing “Going to Extremes” which I read as soon as soon as it came out. Alaskans back then (not all, I speak for the group I knew and hung out w/ in Juneau which included a wide array of professionals and fisherman) thought we had a bit of a kindred spirit. It is a little odd up here and having an Outsider kindred spirit was kinda cool and interesting.

      Unfortunately Sarah the Twit has enraged and disgusted so many people around the planet that the oddness of being Alaskan has taken an ugly twist. But that’s beside the point, I suppose. I’ve been here a very long time, and my mother’s family was born and raised here. Palin has tainted Alaskans in a way that even I can’t quite describe.

      So, Joe shows up on the scene again and even the old timers figured that was appropriate for a follow up on how our oddness may have actually produced the freak who is Palin. And yes, she’s a freak. Don’t judge us by her outright, blatant bizarre freakhood. Joe knew from previous experience that Alaskans in general are an non suspicious, friendly, talkative group who mostly welcome guests with open arms, lots of conversation and food on the table to share. He figured on a warm welcome, and rightly so. He was considered sort of an honorary Alaskan, which used to be a compliment because we are a little odd and it was great to have someone take a step back and give us a different view of our state.

      He found instant malice next door. He reacted. I believe he tried to maintain his cool throughout the summer because it served him to do so. He took advantage of the Alaskan open arms (excluded Sarah the Malice flinger) to get material. He knew what to expect from everyone except Sarah the freak – and I think that set him down a path of defensiveness and cunning – possibly even deceit set in earlier than we found out about through his actions with the Bailiey / Devon / Morris book.

      Boom, the Bailey book comes out. This does not fit with Joe’s image of Alaskans who tend to share what they have to a fault. He reacted without introspection or courtesy (his comments about Jeanne’s mother will never be forgotten by me). Joe goes Rogue, and the rest is sordid history.

      Jeanne knows better than anyone (or at least as well as anyone) that Sarah Palin can turn people into frothing, unrecognizable souls. Somehow, we all thought Joe was immune. He was a long time investigative journalist, he had a lot of history with Alaska, he was mature in years, and he had experience with mental pathology. Joe was not immune. Sarah got under his skin and he never recovered as far as I’m concerned. He went straight down the rabbit hole just like everyone else who can’t control their emotions and perspective over Sarah Palin.

      I think he covered all of this resentment, surprise, his feeling-malice-in-return for being treated so badly while we all thought he was hanging in there. I don’t think he was hanging in there very well. I know a little bit more here than I’m saying and can’t say. I don’t think he was proud of his reaction, and maybe he thought he was immune, too. Joe ended up doing what was possibly part of his nature anyway – flip flopping, tossing ethics, putting courtesy in a box with duct tape to seal it up. He reverted to his fighting days as an investigative journalist when things in the media were very cutthroat. I think he kinda likes that persona and still feels that it serves him well.

      I don’t think he expected the reaction he got from his blog readers, either. I think the whole thing caught him off guard because he was confident he knew what to expect. Have you ever been astoundingly surprised by something and had an emotional reaction that you didn’t even know existed in you? I have, several times. It can open our darkest side to all who witness. We can’t take it back, so we apologize or pretend it was what we intended. My feeling is that Joe pretended that this was all what he expected, and painted himself straightaway into a corner.

      There are lessons to be learned in here – ones we haven’t yet learned although Sarah has been trying hard to teach us. We make too many assumptions. We take sides too quickly. We don’t examine our actions and thoughts in order to make improvements or adjustments. We are too caught up in the emotion Palin causes to surge up and threatens to choke the caring out of us. We have whack nuts at certain blogs who act just like her and they only get worse. Many have decided that to get down and dirty and fight like the freak Palin is OK. We trash our cohorts, we write and say bad things, we call out names to anyone who doesn’t agree with us.

      Joe added flame to the fire – unintentionally at first, and now it seems he’s doing so more out of self preservation, ego, and fear. His story could be anyone’s story. He lost integrity if he ever had it.

      So, do we also become just like him because of Palin the freak? Or do we wash our mouths out with soap, hug our families, sign up for volunteer campaign or organization work, and move on? Do we fight to maintain our perspective to fight another day, or do we let Joe be our rabbit shepherd straight into the hole that Palin has dug for us? Not me, Joe. You can have that hole to share with the other folks Palin has de-civilized. I don’t care about you, but I do care about my state so you don’t get one more moment of my brain power or time.

      Babygaters just got weirder when you were around anyway, and I’m tired of them, too. Glad to see you out of the local picture! Go Jeanne and Ken!

      • Martha Unalaska Yard Sign says:

        My disclaimer:

        This is all subjective – my opinion and observations – I am not making truisms, assumptions or claims that I actually know what goes on in Joe’s head. So there.

      • Fawnskin Mudpuppy says:

        Dear, sissy-person,
        May I pretty please repost your comments on another friendly site?

        • Martha Unalaska Yard Sign says:

          Only if you fix my bad grammar and missing words!

          Yes, Fawnskin – you don’t need my permission. In my opinion, once we put a comment on a blog then it becomes public domain. Who knows where it might end up. I had a recent event where I experienced this first hand, and it doesn’t change my opinion one bit.

          I’m curious as to what others think. There has been a lot of whining recently on other blogs about comment copying. A lot of whining over whether a blog author posts all comments or not. A lot of whining about a blog author bossing the commenters around.

          I know what I think, so what do others think about blog author and commenter behavior? Who makes these rules? Do we make them as we go along? Do we use common sense? Do we expect all blogs to use the same rules – if there are any, which there doesn’t seem to be? I think it’s time to start thinking about that.

        • Martha Unalaska Yard Sign says:

          I should have said “Thank you for asking!” because I do appreciate the courtesy. I have asked in the past when wanting to do the same thing – courtesy is not overrated!

      • jimzmum says:

        MUYS, this comment is going right beneath yours, and I don’t know the answers to your questions. I think I liked it better when I depended on Huntley, Brinkley, and Cronkite.

        MUYS, a few years ago, a woman in our little town (7K or so), ran for an open Council position. Odd thing about it was that she was added to a Commission Board position just a couple months before. I happened to be on that Commission Board when she was added. Then, my mother got sick, and was in the hospital for three weeks. The night of the Commission meeting, I was following an ambulance. This woman was elected President. Say what? Fine. We will deal. As outgoing President, I welcomed a new voice. Although untried, I was always open to ideas, strategies, and views. However, this wasn’t to be. She needed the creds so she could run for Commissioner. Which she won on a pre-shewhomustnotbenamedplatform. Basically, the woman had not jack sense about anything.

        Long, long, time of dealing with her intelligence deficiency. At last, elections. She lost her seat last year by a quite smug majority. Even the ploy of having one of her children with her as she campaigned didn’t work.

        Listen. Watch. Learn. Act.

  11. scout says:

    Segue from sad science-denying teaRepublicans that want to take the USofA backwards to forward-thinking, visionary solutions ~ the audacity of hope coming from our high school students: “High School Inventors 2011”
    “Ten students who are improving MRIs, cancer treatments and human-robot interaction–between classes, of course.” snip

    http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2011-08/high-school-inventors-2011

    • thatcrowwoman says:

      Hooray for high school inventors!
      and many thanks for sharing, scout.
      I can always use a heaping helping of Yes We Can.

  12. carol says:

    Just had a scary situation. A woman I’ve known slightly for years was talking. I know she’s a big Palinbot and after listening to her disjointed ramblings (there must have been some connection in her mind) I realized. She understands the word salad that the Quitter uses! OMG! or at least she thinks she understands the word salad because she talks like that herself. I didn’t want to listen anymore, hurt my brain.

  13. Ivan says:

    its kind of sad and pathetic that the justified populist anger was highjacked by a bunch of morons who then turned it over to the corporate players that are responsible for the need for a populist anger in the first place. i would really feel bad for them if it was not such a threat to what is left of our once free country.

  14. Marilyn says:

    She’ll keep in the ‘public eye’ as long as fools keep sending money to $arahPac…if you think she’s ‘in this’ for anything other than money, tell me what that might be, please. She’s a joke that’s gotten completely out of hand. She’s EGO walking around in a half-starved body, begging for attention. As much as I want her to GTF off the stage, I think her children are better off without her. Sorry, but the way she treats her kids is just about as bad as it gets. Emotional abuse is as bad if not worse than physical abuse and I feel so sorry for her kids.

  15. Cassie Jeep says:

    Did she get her usual fee for this? If so, it looks like she got paid about a thousand bucks per person!

  16. CanadianGuy25 says:

    Holy hilarious Doonesbury as of late, Batman!
    http://www.doonesbury.com/strip/archive/2011/09/04

    And may I just say that it appears Gary Trudeau reads the Mudflats(!):
    http://www.doonesbury.com/strip/archive/2011/09/06
    http://www.doonesbury.com/strip/archive/2011/09/07

  17. zyggy says:

    Looks like the invites got lost in the mail.

  18. auni says:

    I watched Palin’s speech and, thanks to some observations made here by others, I noticed that her hair looked terrible and she was wearing a jacket that covered her pretruding collar bones, even though it was a hot day. Her voice has gotten higher. She ran a half marathon later in the day wearing layers, unlike the other runners who were dressed for the heat. I think an eating disorder is getting more obvious. It would explain a lot. Can you imagine how hard it is for her to give up the excitement of being in public. Just being at home, taking care of her kids, cleaning house–what a drag that would be–but geez, I wish that’s what she would do—-

    • fishingmamma says:

      She is headed for a future spent wandering around Wasilla muttering to herself about having to get back to the White House.

      • Irishgirl says:

        lol

      • leenie17 says:

        I can see it now…bumpit hanging askew, hair flying in all directions, one running shoe, one red naughty monkey pump, collection of oversized religious symbols clanging on her bony chest, one inflated ‘girl’, the other flat as a pancake, red power jacket hanging off one shoulder, short skirt with running tights underneath, unintelligible words written all over her hands and arms in sharpie, squinting through her fake glasses looking for the camera. Not a pretty image of the future!

        • BeeJay says:

          With a shopping cart full of Red Bull and Twinkies! Also, too, a complete stock of past due date canned goods to throw at Tawd, who’s just in front of her picking up aluminum cans.

          • bubbles says:

            ahahahahahhhhaaaaaaaaaaaah. oh my. i. can’t stop laughing. chortle. snort. heeeheee.

  19. Kimosabe says:

    Those folks most definately need some of that jazzercise!

  20. Evelyn says:

    Anyone check out Doonesbury this week? An author was accidentally given the galley of Joe Macginnis’ book on Sarah Palin – and the reporter has talked him into sharing it with him. Just to tweet to a couple of friends. Hmmmmm.
    I find Doonesbury on Slate, but it could also be in your newspaper.

  21. karen marie says:

    There’s another video of the same event (the previous two-parter was just audio) that’s gotten 148 views.

    Someone explain to me why Teabaggers have so much influence?

  22. beaglemom says:

    Well, I certainly do think that Sarah Palin is an idiot. However, I think we should be troubled by the teabagger phenomenon. It is the creation of a group of far-far right Republicans, the sort of people who could care less about the American populace, who could care less about the Constitution and civil rights, who want to make this country into a pawn of big corporations.

    The people we see at Sarah Palin’s outings in Iowa and New Hampshire and elsewhere are, indeed, pathetic but they are being manipulated by masterminds who want to end our country as we have known and been proud of it. The corporate minds behind the teabagger movement knew exactly which buttons to push to get the ignorant racists out of their cellars. There we see a bunch of them cavorting on a lawn in New Hampshire. Frankly I am afraid of their corporate masters and I will not relax until the teabaggers are back in their cellars and their masters have been investigated and hung out to dry by the media. Given the state of the media in this country today, that happy outcome is unlikely.

    • leenie17 says:

      I, too, have been worried about the power the TP has exerted over our political process and our local, state and national governments. They have pulled our country so far to the right, and given so much power to the corporations, that the great majority of Americans are seeing their lives, their homes, their jobs and their communities destroyed.

      However, I have been heartened by the response, or lack thereof, of TPers at the last few events. One of the greatest threats to President Obama’s reelection is that the enthusiasm of the far right could cause a great turnout of voters for the Republicans while disappointment and frustration with the POTUS could cause many Democrats and independents to stay home, thus giving the right wing the elections. But it seems clear, if you compare the turnout and energy level of the rallies of just a couple of years ago to what we’ve seen in the past few months, that the TP is rapidly losing its steam. Maybe because it’s NOT a true grassroots movement, the people involved soon move on to other things and lose interest.

      I think there is also a LOT of buyer’s remorse among voters who put a lot of these RWNJs into office, only to find that they’re taking much better care of their corporate supporters than the average TPers in flag-bedazzled hats.

      Hopefully, we are seeing the beginnings of a swift downward spiral for the Tea Party.

  23. lacy lady says:

    Wish I could see the video. Just a blank screen. Damm computers!

    • carol says:

      I was able to watch the video, but after about 20 seconds, that was enough. You didn’t miss much altho, I agree, Damn Computers! The promise is much but the delivery is short sometimes. I especially hate it when it takes 90 seconds to load to play for 2 seconds and then has to reload. I’m missing something but don’t know what or how to find a fix. Ah, well. I read better than I watch.

  24. karen marie says:

    Extra funny? There’s video up on Youtube of Palin addressing the crowd. Part one has gotten 146 views, part two has gotten 82 views. Weigel’s clip has over 7,500 views.

    Why does everyone hate poor Sarah?

    • MissSunshine says:

      Thanks for checking that out, Karen Marie. I don’t want to add my click to the total.

      I watched “the crowd” clip two or three times just to revel in the general apathy of the audience, while the woman on stage is trying so hard to gin up a little enthusiasm. “WHOO! We’re here to stay!!” She is bouncing around as though she is working with toddlers and draws a few cheers of agreement. I felt a stab of sympathy for the man standing by himself with his “Herman Cain” sign. I bet the other people just pretended he was invisible.

      I imagine Michelle Bachmann is following SP’s Iowa “big announcement” speech very closely, and laughing to see the pitifully small turnout. Ditto Christine O’Donnell.

  25. lacy lady says:

    Wish I could see the video. Just a

  26. just-a-friend says:

    Moe signs that Sarah is slipping:
    The turnout for “The Undefeated” was underwhelming.
    The threat of Christine O’Donnell showing up in Iowa drove her crazy.
    I don’t know if it’s my ears, but Sarah seems to have gone up an octave. She has little voice control.
    There’s no reason for a serious candidate to wait until the end of September to make an announcement. By now, Karl Rove, Dick Cheney and even Ann Coulter can see through the stunt.

    • laurie says:

      I have wondered if there is some revelation in the book due out this month that she is going to use somehow as an excuse not to run. In other words is there something bad for her coming down the pike that she can blame on someone else?

  27. jaybee48 says:

    No teapot required – a small cup would have sufficed.

  28. CO almost native says:

    Best political rally the Koch Brothers’ money can buy… not.

  29. Bebban says:

    Arlo Guthrie’s voice is whispering in the back of my brain……. “And three people do it, three, can you imagine, three people walking in singin a bar of Alice’s Restaurant and walking out. They may think it’s an organization.” (From Alice’s Restaurant – 1966)

  30. CanadianGuy25 says:

    Going to see if that song is available for download from iTunes.

    In all fairness, that was absolutely terrible.

  31. Dagian says:

    Wow. Talk about a sea of Wonder Bread white…

    No, it’s tea with lots of milk and too much lemon.

  32. Lynn in Va says:

    Oh….. my O_o words fail me

  33. OMG says:

    After Palin’s Tea Party weekend, Laura Ingraham and Ann Coulter lay into her: “You know, we used to all love Sarah Palin, conservatives like me, for her enemies. I’m starting to dislike her because of her fans. And she does get things wrong.”

    Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/oreilly/2011/09/07/ann-coulter-sarah-palin-and-whether-shell-jump-2012-race#ixzz1XGFp6cdM

    http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/oreilly/2011/09/07/ann-coulter-sarah-palin-and-whether-shell-jump-2012-race

    • ks sunflower says:

      I feel caught between feeling amused and appalled to think that people such as Ann Coulter and Laura Ingraham consider themselves “conservatives” rather than extremists. Do they never listen or read what they say or write? Goodness, they’ve made conservative a dirty name.

  34. OMG says:

    Now I understand why ‘real’ Americans are in short supply.

  35. GoI3ig says:

    The sign down at the end of lawn said “free pretzels.” That’s how they got all 40 of them down there.

  36. beth says:

    When my sons turned 2-years old, they each asked me, ever-so-sweetly, if I would please stop singing to them. They each asked this of me with utmost respect, compassion, kindness, and love — my singing voice is truly and undeniably, gawd-awful. Shockingly so. It’s nearly identical to that of the woman’s in the video. beth.

    • lazrgrl says:

      Funny, my husband doesn’t pay much attention to politics and certainly doesn’t read blogs. But when our power came back after 6 days he eagerly surfed through channels and alighted on Sarah’s speech. When I came home he told me “that woman’s voice could be bottled and used as a military weapon”.

    • Forty Watt says:

      I empathize beth. My daughter did the same, but before she could talk, by simply putting her little hand over my mouth. 😀

    • thatcrowwoman says:

      I do remember, fondly, my sweet mama singing lullabies to me
      though she herself claims she can’t carry a tune in a bucket.

      Now she only sings at worship, bless her heart,
      because, as she says, “The Good Book doesn’t say sing pretty,
      it says Make a Joyful Noise…
      …and I can do that!”

      Wonderful woman, my mum;
      lucky for me I got those good humor genes,
      and the singing genes from my daddy, also, too.
      🙂

      thatcrowwoman

      • Clemtown says:

        I can’t carry a tune in a bucket but I will make a joyful noise.
        Or, at least, will try!
        HOOOOOONK!

    • Bretta says:

      LOL you are not alone, Mz Beth. My babies loved my singing until they gained some age and discernment (at preschool, I think) and that was the end of that.

  37. slipstream says:

    Wow! I saw about seventy five people at that tea party rally! Maybe even eighty!

    That’s a landslide which will sweep the nation!

    Or make about as much impact as a stinky fart.

    • leenie17 says:

      Obviously you never spent the day with a couple of my students…one who’s now in high school and the other who is currently in 4th grade. Both of them could clear a room with their…ummm….gaseous discharges.

      I worked one-on-one with the younger for two years right after breakfast in the library, and the toxic cloud this child created every morning was enough to make your eyes tear and your throat burn. It was extremely difficult to maintain my ‘teacher face’ when I was gasping for air. It was so bad that I actually asked his mother if there was a medical issue. Nope…just flatulence that could be used as a military weapon!

      Ohhh, the joys of working with young children!

      • Bretta says:

        I had a stepdaughter like that – I don’t know what that child ate at home but it must have been awful.

  38. AKjah says:

    Yowza cant remember the last time i saw such a dynamic crowd.

    A smaller town and more beer they could have had a good time.

  39. cortez says:

    Wow, what a turnout!