"Taxpayer March" - Real Outrage or McCain-Palin White Angst II?

Are we seeing the dividends of John McCain's 11th hour attempt to use white fear and anger to launch himself into the Oval Office?

The "Taxpayer March" that is expected to draw between 2,000 and 200,000 people to the streets of Washington, D.C. represents a hodge-podge of interests from Birthers to Bailout Bashers to Health Care Hysterics. See the story at Politico.com.

Like those aerial cam shots of schools of sharks swarming off of some eastern seaboard town, today cameras will get to watch what happens when the GOP scrapes up a smorgasbord of screw-loose-sharks and dumps a bucket of political blood from the Wilson nonsense on to the streets of Washington, D.C. to stir them into a feeding frenzy.

If the events leading up to the "march" are any indication, they will be white, largely middle and lower-middle income and angry.

Politico calls into question whether they represent a movement, or they are just the scrapings of the bottom of the Reactionary Right's Tea Party movement scam.

They are John McCain's people. His contribution to American politics. Yes, the white angst and anger that both the dyed-in-the-wool and the closet racists share was always there. McCain, though, in the final days of his campaign, wheeled in the microphones and the cameras in for a close-up on a small part of society that is seldom heard.

They gave that white angst about a black man running the country shape and form, molding a Joe the Plumber out of that racist, xenophobic clay, and dropped Sarah Palin, Miss White Angst of 2008, into his team to capitalize on it.

These are indeed Joe Wilson's people - Ignorant 99% white Americanists who somehow feel that they are losing "their country." They are easily manipulated, as they will believe just about anything that is dropped in front of their face that affirms their world view.

They have bought into the Birther business. They turned out for tea parties. They are the tiny, louder, more radical fraction of the 57% of white voters who voted for McCain.

Everyone has a right to speak their mind in this country, and they will speak theirs. The GOP machine politicos who are organizing them want us to see a country in outrage against our black liberal socialist president. A television moment for Fox and CNN to display the outrage that "taxpayers" have against every Obama policy and practice.

What I see is pathetic: A rag-tag band of political puppets performing for unseen neo-con masters who pull their angst-strings, manipulated political Punch-and-Judys, dancing for the cameras with their placards and their angry white faces, screaming out childish cries like "Liar liar pants on fire" at yesterday's "rally."

Their puppeteers are using the event to amplify the thorny "liar" crown that they wish to stick upon President Obama.

This is not about a black man in office for the white men behind the scenes. It is about throwing human debris in the path of change. They are the pawns of a corporate America which has profited from complacency and ignorance, which apparently fears the return of regulation and accountability that they have spent, since the days of Ronald Reagan, billions to employ the right people in government to aid in its dismantling.

Today's "march" is a bit of pageantry to back-stop the shameless shouting of Congressmen Joe Wilson, to try and give his alleged personal white angst resonance with an audience hungry for something to legitimize their fears.

Their masters know, as they did when they tried using this during the campaign, that these mock rallies are good for ratings, and, while many more civilized whites will never stand out on the sidewalk with their wacky hats and signs, that broadcasting that shadow of doubt daily keeps that fear alive for the day that they have another crack at the White House in 2012.

Yes, Senator McCain, you should be proud. You have served your corporate constituents well.

You have given fear and ignorance a place on the political stage for as long as a president of a skin color not in favor with this slice of white America sleeps in "their" White House.

You have given us Joe the Plumber, and Sarah Palin, who still haunt the political discourse.

You are the Jerry Springer of politics.

I hope that it is a legacy of which you can be proud.

Follow Brian Ross on Twitter: www.twitter.com/mlnsports

Comments

[Kay72403]

The pictures and posters speak for themselves. These are the bottom of the barrel, WHITE right fringe constituents. Angry, yes. Angry that a the POTUS is not white, affluent, southern, inarticulate, liar.

[Brian Ross - Huffpost Blogger]

Found this in an earlier article on the Campaign here on HuffPo:

"John Weaver, McCain's former chief strategist who said yesterday that McCain's events are encouraging "an angry mob mentality."

Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/william-bradley/waiting-for-whitey_b_133761.html

McCain knew exactly what he was doing at the time, and it is paying back big and very unfortunate dividends in the continued racism we see now.

[me again]

McCain lost many voters when he selected SP as a running mate. She was a fringe candidate and now is followed by the lunatic fringe of her party.

[nancychatter]

There is a great little documentary by Andrea Pelosi, " Right America, Feeling Wrong Voices from the Campaign.
She follows McCain- Palin in the last 3 months until thet concede the election...... The people that she interviews begin to set the tone for the birthers, the tea baggerts and clearly shows the racist element of the people that support mostly Palin these days.
At one point., she asks Sean Hannity aquestion at a rally and he says 'you know who that is the crowd' that's Nancy Pelosi's daughter and she gets booed
you can find out about on the internet

[seagullking]

That was a refreshing read. I hope the news this week isn't jammed packed with accolades, and reverence for the weekends "feeding frenzy". It is clear the common bond of these splintered factions is race. Its getting harder for them to deny it having gone so public.

[Brian Ross - Huffpost Blogger]

The the accelerant to is the news media looking for some ratings numbers.

If you want to stop it, turn off the television news when they start pandering to this nonsense. Shut it right off. Go and read out on the web.Do it for a week. If they see enough drop in ratings they respond. Gasoline stories like this usually get everyone's attention. That's why they run. To stop it, don't play the game.

[dlvme2]

The hate that I see and read is extremely distressing. The world is becoming a place where all of us need to learn to work and live together. When is this going to stop? I know there will always be hate - we do not like anyone or anything that is different. Is the country ever going to accept that the majority of the people voted for Obama? Will all this nonsense continue for the next 4 years? Why is the majority not being heard and only the minority? This is an embarrassment to the country - it shows we have not changed.

[Brian Ross - Huffpost Blogger]

Thankfully, we are a country where the minority can be heard. I don't wish to step on anyone's rights to free speech. Every day, though there are people who rant on about everything from taxes to the Martians scanning their brains. That is their right

When politicians pull these people out of the woodwork to use as props, I have a problem. When the networks amplify that to sell soap, I have a problem.

It is the neocon puppetmasters and Rupert Murdoch who are responsible for this. The former are playing the odds of starting some sort of political or social insurrections. The latter has done pretty much any skanky thing needed to sell news, including debase the content to cater to the fears and lusts of his readers.

[Barbara2423]

Racism has always been these, but to a certain extent under ground. McCain/Palin brought it back up full throttle. And they (McCain/Palin) still lost. As the GOP will too.

[donbrown]

Until recently so many of my progressive white friends refused to believe racism actually exists anymore in America and pointed to the election of Barack Obama as proof.

However, almost all African Americans have a kind of "sixth sense" -- able to determine if someone truly regards you as just another person or as "the other".

It is in the eyes.

AAs can tell you racism never went away in some quarters... it just went underground.

[Brian Ross - Huffpost Blogger]

It's hardly been underground. It keeps bubbling up at redneck hot springs like this weekend's "Taxpayer" made-for-Fox-TV event.

[progressbaby]

Racism still exists, but I firmly believe that this country has much less racist than we were even 10 years ago, and the change will continue to be exponential in it's growth. 'The Other' is an interesting concept. It will always be there, but I think the feeling will continue to lessen over time. Right now, I think feelings of racism that many may have have been replaced by suspician towards those who don't share our political or idealogical beliefs. These people are 'the other' more than people who originate from areas of our world unfamiliar to us.

The 'race' concept is kind of moot anyway. There truly is no difference between human beings no matter where their ancesters may have hailed from. We have all perpetuated articial differences.

[applescruff]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/frank-schaeffer/glenn-beck-and-the-912-ma_b_284387.html

[WhatMatters]

Brian, you are a mind reader. You amplified my thoughts exactly. During the campaign, when McCain had the nerve to feign outrage over Rep. John Lewis calling him out for agitating the hornet's nest, it was clear what McCain was doing. His next offense, besides picking Palin, was the two of them sitting down for an "interview" with Sean Hannity. Hannity's spin is toxic and anything but objective. The fact that McCain still refuses to admit he erred in picking her and his continued side stepping on whether her latest Facebook ERRONEOUS antics are wrong is reason enough to earn him the legacy of shame and hypocrisy. He certainly was not about "Country First."

[Janetshusb]

When people ask “Who are these anti-government, pro-Beck people and where do they come from?”, Frank Schaeffer has an answer. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/frank-schaeffer/glenn-beck-and-the-912-ma_b_284387.html. He contends that we are reaping the fruits of the anti civil rights movement that built thousands of private Christian schools, encouraged parents to home school so to avoid integration and protect their children “from Satan -- in other words mainstream, open patriotic and pluralistic America. ………. At home or in school you used curriculum prepared by the likes of James--bea­t-your-chi­ld-and-dar­e-to-disci­pline-Dobs­on, RJ-slavery­-was-a-goo­d-thing-Ru­shdoony, or many and other right-wing anti-American activists. That curriculum presented secular America as downright evil. Hating the USA became next to godliness.” We now have 40 years of mostly white adults who as children were taught that “that the US government is illegitimate because it is trying to "impose" non-biblical laws on people” These people are for the most part poorly educated, understand history only through a biblical and anti-governmental lens and have been taught not to question. Is it any wonder that they can be used by people shilling for insurance and pharmaceutical corporations. They have been programmed to hate without thinking and fear without reason.

[trink59]

So are some of these anti-civil rights people fans of Sen. Al Gore, Sr.?

[RealityBaseCamp]

Possibly. I'm sure they don't like his son, though.

And why DO you mention Gore Sr.? Do you think we should hate him because maybe he was Conservative? OK, conservatives bad. Got it.

[Brian Ross - Huffpost Blogger]

Ignorance is not stupidity. Schooling people, whether it be in jihadist madrasas or right wing Christian approved schools is not a whole lot different. You check your brain in at the door. That these institutions are growing in size, not shrinking, is troubling.

[RealityBaseCamp]

A mind is a terrible thing to weaponize.

[IsyFleur]

I would argue that many in the madrasas in Pakistan, Afghanistan or the Arab world really never had a chance to learn about the world while every single one of those pasty tea-party goers could easily turn to trustworthy news outlets and learn about the world for free. It is clear that in all cases, though, the puppeteers are fully aware of the ignorance of those they are inculcating and manipulating, whether it be Bin Laden, or Cheney and McCain.

[tantrictim]

great article, but i noticed that when glenn beck starts labelling everyone in the obama admn as a communist, that particular slur has less efficacy each time its repeated, but the shark metaphor is a good one, as they dont care what lies are told as it represents blood in the water to them, very well done

[trink59]

The only person who Beck labeled as a communist was Van Jones, and he was quoting Mr. Jones.

As far as slurs having less efficacy, what would be your evaluation with regard to the term "racist" and the frequency of its use?

[gobarackgo]

I don't blame McCain nearly as much as Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity and the rest of the cable-
TV axis of crazy. Although, I may be giving McCain too much credit. He did unleash Sarah Palin on the world. For that, sane people everywhere can be eternally ungrateful.

[Jeff Cunningham]

I'm still not *entirely* convinced Palin was his idea. I think the RNC wanted to force a base-pleasing extremist on McCain -- who still had a small perception as a moderate. And even though I fault McCain for not adequately squashing the hate and the fear (aside from disagreeing with that one woman at the rally who said Obama was an Arab), I do think it made him truly uncomfortable, because I think he knew what it could lead to.

Frankly, this "conservative movement" scares me. There's honest, genuine disagreement and dissent, then there's over-the-top, veiled racism and fear-mongering. Based on what I know of previous Democrats in the White House, all of this is the latter and not the former. I know one thing: the left has its loons, but no one was anywhere this hateful and un-American the last eight years, even when it was obvious Bush and Cheney were lying to us and stroking our fears.

I fear for this nation's sanity, I really do. And shame on elected Republicans for endorsing the crazies, even if only tacitly.

[Janetshusb]

The vice presidency was payoff for for ramming the TransCanada pipeline through the AK legislature. Follow the money, the timelines and the phone calls.

[TheScarletPimpernel]

These folks are going to be really mad when a large portion of the Republican delegation vote for the bill.

The thing the Insurance industry fears most is a vote. And all sane coffee drinkers know this over looked fact.

[tednarcotic]

I wonder if the ignorant teabagger, birther type person will ever read your article. Or will they even somehow see the truth about themselves that you have so succinctly described? Do they know that they yell childish things such as the "liar pants on fire" comment. Do they know that absolutely superior people all around them are cringing with embarrassment for them. Surely even their leaders and the very few who are rich and benefitting from the Republican party feel the red faced burn and shame of embarrassment by association. Do these people have any idea what people think of them? What if one of them was your parent or your kid. Can you imagine the shame you would feel and the lengths you would go to hide it from normal people.

[Brian Ross - Huffpost Blogger]

The ones that can read do read. See below. The more hateful and illiterate comments have already been sandbagged by the HuffPo moderator.

The purpose of this piece was not to educate the people who are ignorant. By nature they are not educatable, as they choose to ignore the parts of the world that don't suit them.

The purpose was to get you folks, on your laptops, and your phones, and your PCs in the den to remember that Change is not a solo act for President Obama, nor can we rely on the rather corrupt congress which has been co-opted by lobbyists.

You need to raise up a new generation of politicians in your community. Ones that stick with Obama's pledge not to take special interest money. For them to live up to that pledge, they need the support of you and everyone you know.

You have to tell places where you shop that if they put on Fix News, you won't shop there anymore. You can use your computer to find the companies that buy advertising on Rush Limbaugh's program and tell them that you won't be using their products if they fund hate speech and ignorance.

It is up to you. For every time you feel the urge to comment, do something small about it. That is change.

[donbrown]

Thanks for the e-mail. Hoobit.

One thing to keep in mind: For the past twenty years Republicans have used fear to marshall the gullible masses to their side... and this fear often centers on race. I first became aware of the tactic in 1988 with the Willie Horton ad aimed at Dukakis and devised by Lee Atwater.

His apprentice Karl Rove is a master of the tactic, and after 9/11 FEAR became the major modus operandi for keeping the hoi polpoi in line with Republican goals...mainly moving captial their way...in the form of tax cuts and contracts for Republican based companies like Blackwater, Brown & Root, and Haliburton.

They kept the public too afraid to say no....and castigated as unpatriotic anyone that objected (see Dixie Chicks).

The election of Barack Obama was a genuine shock to their system, and their reaction has been to ratchet up the FEAR FACTOR --

First with Ayres and Rev Wright...(Obama dismantled it with his brilliant Philadelphia speech)

Then with the birth certificate sham..(Orly discredited it when she imploded on national TV).

Now with this Fascism/Socialism label. (Being polar opposites, neither actually apply, but SOUND frightening to those without the education to know what they really mean.)

Those of us who are clear, intelligent thinkers must confront these people's fears with rational thought at every turn. The first step is to understand where it's coming from.

These are frightened people.

[QuietObserver2]

Nicely said Don Brown.

[Brian Ross - Huffpost Blogger]

For the prior 20 years Christian Democrats did the same thing. Tammany Hall in New York is also not a proud part of our tradition. At one time or another, there are people with less scruples who realize that they can fake public outrage, or maybe spark it, by getting those with less on the ball scared and angry.

The only way you can stop them is jail them (Tammany Hall) or cut off their access to funding. Rupert Murdoch is a businessman first and foremost. He would sell naked Dem cheerleaders on Fox if he thought it would generate the kind of ratings that he gets from Red State wingnuts.

You want to stop this. Find a company that advertises on Fox. Go to their website and enter a comment: I will not purchase products from companies that advertise on a channel whose hosts grossly distort the news and who promote ignorance and hate speech.

We know these tactics work, because the Reactionary Right has used them. Why are we above expressing OUR displeasure?

[donbrown]

I agree with you wholeheartedly. Beck has turned into Howard Beale incarnate:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90ELleCQvew

When Paddy Chayevsky wrote the prescient satire "Network" in the 1970s, he accurately predicted the shameless commercialism of the news industry that targeted the anger and frustration of the uneducated public to reap profits and ratings.

It is a sad fact that Fox News has used the film as a blueprint to do exactly that -- and the gullible American public has bought into it.

[ObamanextPresident]

Brian Ross, WOW what a great article! Once again you have totally conveyed the dilemma we all face. And without mincing words. I love it.
Fan for life.