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Greg Selkoe

Greg Selkoe

Posted: June 28, 2010 12:33 PM

My Day at the Tea Party

What's Your Reaction:

Here is the video I made of my day at the Tea Party in Boston.

Our good friend Sarah showed up in Boston this spring and I made this video of my pleasant and informative interactions with the many Tea Baggers that I interviewed that day for Karmalooptv.com, including the white power contingent of the Tea Party. Enjoy!


 

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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Daoine
Ever hopeful...
03:19 PM on 06/30/2010
Granted it's tough for just about anyone to come up with a well thought out and cohesive answer when approached on the spot like that. Lots of people will stumble while thinking of their answer. I doubt people go to rallies like this with prepared statements just in case someone approaches them w/ a camera and microphone. On the other hand, if these folks are going to be attempting to spout "facts" as the basis for their protest then said "facts" need to be straight and available for review if they want their issues to be taken seriously. Opinions, while important, just aren't facts.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
deosil
07:34 PM on 07/11/2010
Well, $arah Palin is a shining example...why should her followers know ANY facts, when she is allergic to them.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Daoine
Ever hopeful...
08:18 PM on 07/11/2010
Indeed, such would appear to be the case, deosil.
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jmpurser
See My micro-bio
08:47 AM on 06/30/2010
Mass outbreak of Reality Deficit Disorder.
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StillMadMatt
Offending the right people is its own virtue.
05:05 AM on 06/30/2010
These people dont even realize how stupid/ignorant they seem to appear. "Hypocrisy is the greatest luyury . Raise the double standard." The Disposable Heroes of HipHoprisy
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
MsLiz
burned out attorney, flaming liberal
10:12 PM on 06/29/2010
These people seem pretty mild compared to the Beck followers in DC last September. Bostonians just aren't very wild.
08:22 PM on 06/29/2010
Charming folks huh?
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
jsgaetano
Semper Fidelis Tyrannosaurus!
02:18 PM on 06/29/2010
Bu... bu... bu... but Teabaggers being racist is a myth! They're all civil rights activists who work at soup kitchens and promote racial harmony! Really!
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
keraz
Is it 2012 yet?
03:05 PM on 06/29/2010
I'm sure there are Tea Party people who are racist as I'm sure there are some who are hnot. Unfortunately, many on they left see the racist ones and assume that ALL of them are racist.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
jsgaetano
Semper Fidelis Tyrannosaurus!
03:21 PM on 06/29/2010
Teabaggers are like their corporate parent, the GOP- they tolerate (and even encourage) White Supremecist groups to participate in their events and organization.

People are judged by who they associate with. But of course, Teabagges and all forms of Gooper would rather simple realities like that not apply to them.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Shaddup
04:09 PM on 06/29/2010
Considering the groups white supremacist ties it's no surprise.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
busynurse
there is a light that never goes out
11:46 PM on 07/02/2010
From the front page of the USA Today:

"They [referring to the Tea Party] deny that bigotry or rejections of Obama because of his race are part of the movement's appeal, a perception fueled by YouTube videos showing racist signs at some Tea Party rallies. Even so, they do have a distinctive perspective on race.

Nearly half say blacks lag in jobs, income and housing "because most African Americans just don't have the motivation or willpower to pull themselves up out of poverty."
11:18 AM on 06/29/2010
Sometimes, the Tea Baggers need to be shown for the hypocrites they are. Plain and simple.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
PaintingAnemone
10:27 AM on 06/29/2010
The main problem with posts like these is that the people who would benefit the most from seeing them (such as teabaggers) would never watch them because their viewpoints aren't being supported. If they did watch, they'd discount the video as fake. They'd swear up and down that those White Power guys were "plants," and that the interviews were staged to make teabaggers looks stupid - as if they needed any help with that.
Personally, I'm starting to wonder if there's something in the water, or if the hormones in our food are making us all just a little stupider every day. If you've already got a high IQ, it'll be a while before the effects are obvious. But for those who are already hanging from the last rung of the ladder... Well, you get the idea.
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06:31 PM on 06/29/2010
I fully agree with you about "something in our food". However, as a bagger myself, one with a PhD in Physics - I KNOW - that your journalist selected the interview with the intent of getting people like you to react. I know many baggers and have been to too many events for this video to have its intended effect.

That something is in our food, well, I've thought the food was planted in grocery stores in democratic strongholds. You think the inverse. That's fine.

The video does not suprise me. You know and I know we could find equivalently provoking videos in many "progressive" events.

The tea baggers are a kind lot as are most progressives. We may disagree, but let's not let the journalists with agendas incite violence. I ask you to consider what I am saying carefully because the tension in our nation is truely concerning.

It is time that people like you and me to take lead. I do not think traditional leadership is built for the task.
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TrueBud
11:48 PM on 06/29/2010
Your false equivalence between Tea Baggers and Progressives belies the fact that your learnin' has gone to waste. I've watched the reverse versions of these videos, videos made by conservatives and libertarians in an attempt to make the left look bad. I watched one recently where one right-winger went to an anti-BP rally and tried to get the protesters to say some wacky "enviro-terrorist" things, only to have the protesters calmly discuss how nuclear energy might be a viable option in the future if proper safety regulations were maintained. Hardly the outlandish nonsense spewed by morons in videos like the one above. The fact that reasonable discussions even made it into the right-winger's video shows the utter lack of equivalent attitudes, beliefs, views and statements from progressives as you so adamantly swear are just as egregious on their "side". The footage doesn't exist. When it does, it's so fabricated and edited out of context, the purveyors become a laughingstocks within their own movement (see James O'Keefe and his fraud of an ACORN video that was exposed as nonsense).

The difference is when a couple of old ladies from Code Pink interrupt congressional hearings with banners, they aren't claiming to be a part of a huge movement of millions of progressives. They're old ladies yelling about war. Conversely, the Tea Baggers claim to number in the millions and a part of a broader political movement that has muscle and a philosophy with the will to change America.
08:27 AM on 06/29/2010
Greg Selkoe, I loved this bit. Needs to be longer. The audience cannot see what you deleted or edited afterwards but the parts you left in were telling. I believe viewers will distrust this venue because of the editing. I'd strive to leave in the ugly parts and just do a continual feed to raise the impact.

Its frightening and disheartening the level of ignorance in this country but never short on entertaining.
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keraz
Is it 2012 yet?
12:10 PM on 06/29/2010
Exactly. The audience can't see the parts that were deleted or edited out, such as those Tea Party members who are NOT associated with this racist 'white power' group. Selective editing and selective story telling can make anyone on both sides look bad.
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BuckJ
I read a book once.
01:16 PM on 06/29/2010
"The audience can't see the parts that were deleted or edited out, such as those Tea Party members who are NOT associated with this racist 'white power' group."

He did show them. It was every person he interviewed EXCEPT that group. He may have nudged and probed to see what lay beneath the surface of some of the people's opinions, but I don't see where he called any of them or associated any of them with white power except that a white power group was allowed to attend seemingly without protest.

And why do you have white power in quotes?
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12:34 PM on 06/30/2010
You are being too tactful and respectful: "Selective editing and selective story telling can make anyone on both sides look bad." Should read: "You have lost all credibility with anyone who has actually been to a TP event with your 'yellow journalism'".

I have come to the conclusion that progressives like to live in a fantasy world. Like spoiled children, they believe only what their emotion dictates. You must be direct with them, they do not comprehend abstractions as well as their counterparts.
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Puller58
Man of Mystery
07:21 AM on 06/29/2010
Reminds me of rubes at a traveling carnival shows.
09:55 PM on 06/28/2010
Why do people spend hundreds to hear Palin speak, and at a freebie in the park, 50% of the crowd doesn't even like her.
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Mortifyd
05:49 AM on 06/29/2010
Because it's a free country - you don't have to like her or waste your money to point and laugh.
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12:35 PM on 06/30/2010
You sound like a mature soul.
01:02 PM on 06/29/2010
I find it fascinating to go listen to people speak who I may disagree with. Listening to a variety of perspectives can be a real education. It is a dying practice these days, though. Sign of the times when we only listen to those who reaffirm our own ideas. Now why people would pay to listen to Palin, I am at a loss for that one.
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keraz
Is it 2012 yet?
02:51 PM on 06/29/2010
I agree, Lisbeth. I am a conservative but wanted to come here to see what the other side is saying. Unfortunately, a portion of people posting comments post nothing of value. Their posts contain nothing but name calling and things like that. Nothing of substance.
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12:37 PM on 06/30/2010
Glad to see you implementing the principles of conservative thinking. It's always good to experience reality.