"Get the Government Out of My Social Security!" Inside the 9.12 Teabagger Rally

While Fox News cameras covering the so-called 9.12 Project on the National Mall lurched away from signs morphing President Barack Obama's face into Adolph Hitler's, I zoomed in. Histrionics and manufactured paranoia were hard to avoid at the massive September 12 anti-Obama rally orchestrated by Fox News host Glenn Beck and former Republican House Majority Leader Dick Armey's corporate lobbying front group, Freedom Works.

When I dove into the angry mob with a camera, I captured scenes of self-proclaimed "real Americans" declaring that the community organizing group Acorn was Obama's version of Hitler's SS; that the President planned to establish concentration camps for right-wing dissidents; and that Obama was raising a private army in the guise of a civilian volunteer force. The death panel rumor is just one of a rapidly growing array of conspiracy theories reverberating through the Republican base. Each one is more hysterical than the last.

Conspiracism has proven a useful tool for distracting many of the 9.12 Project participants I met from their own economic interests. Having been convinced through endless hours of right-wing media that government involvement in their healthcare would lead to totalitarian slavery, some demonstrators told me they were content to not have healthcare at all. Others said they would stop collecting their Social Security as soon as "the government gets out of my life."

My video tour of the 9.12 Project is yet another exhibit of how the Republican Party's big tent became a one-ring circus that operates according to the rules of P.T. Barnum: "There's a sucker born every minute."

(For the inside story of how the radical right took over the GOP and drove it to the margins, check out my new book, "Republican Gomorrah: Inside The Movement That Shattered The Party.")

 

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Comments

[Clara Listensprechen]

The Beckbot Tea Party in Enid OK was interesting--on the prior Thursday, the Enid paper said there was to be a Tea Party after the Cherokee Strip parade. Ended at noon--trotted on down to the library to see....

Nobody.

Went inside to inquire; head librarian said she didn't know a thing about it and she attended the LAST Tea Party. We went to the west window and saw 2 guys setting up a cardtable. OK-- I went outside and asked when the Tea Party was to start. He said 1 pm. Then one other guy showed up, wondering where the Tea Party was. I asked him if he got his info from the Eagle and he said yes.

1 pm arrives, and there's about 90 people that showed up (my estimate). I suspect that the people who attended never read the local paper. I suspect that none were locals, except me and that one guy. What I do know with certainty is that they're not Republicans, although Republicans attend. One organizer told me that he thought Republicans were too liberal.

Republican State Rep. Michael Jackson attended AND signed their rights petition...an act which spoke volumes about how desperate Repuiblicans are to get their mitts on any kind of base that opportunity presents. I've got pictures and I tried to file an Eyes & Ears report on this but ran into a major snag we really need to discuss, HuffPo.

[Aurical]

The biggest threat to our democracy and way of life is not the threat of foreign terror but the endless pool of proudly stupid, easily manipulated, anxious fighters of modernity and progress. The times change but the people do not. These are the people that would have marched to keep schools segregated in the 60's. They fear a world that is not completely dominated by their narrow worldview and harken back so longingly to a time that only existed in their imaginations. Mayberry may be their dream but it is not the American Dream. James Carville said it best this weekend that you cannot argue logically with people who believe the earth is only 5000 years old. It breaks my heart that people would rather be ruled by fear and hate than logic.

[ignrnthllblly]

Can we agree that there is not, and never was, a Republican Big Tent? Yeah, I'll stipulate the circus--and the elephants--but no one could survive drawing a breath in a tent full of eternally-pi$$y pachyderms. Besides, they don't want a Big Tent. A Big Fence is what they want: a compound of True Believers. How that contrasts to the concentration camp they believe Obama is building for them is unclear, but it rather seems that would cause them to rejoice. Comforted by the presence of their own kind and the absence of those different; protected by the Big Fence, they would be free to return to an idyllic America an evangelism of anger has convinced them they remember: Pleasantville. Ah, finally an economy sized for the return of the gold standard and an end to all problems.

Someone once observed, apropos of Barnum's rule, that Henry Ford clearly was a failure because he could only produce an automobile every two minutes, thereby allowing half his market to slip away. The Republican Party of today certainly cannot be considered a failure, as its fool-utilization ratio is surely at an historical high.

[CynAnne]

Right on the money and snark-tastically to the point, ignrnthllblly. Fanned n' faved (twice over)..! ;) ...

[Oldsop]

The exact same comment could be made about the dems.

[sting7]

http://ushealthcrisis.com/2009/09/real-canadians-talking-real-health-care/

[rmichael777]

Old Sop needs to learn to count. A million people? I don't think so. Sir, you are not telling the truth and you know it.

[Oldsop]

Estimates I have read are as high at 2 million. Others will only say thousands; still others say tens of thousands. Take your pick. You fill in the blank if it makes you feel better. It doesn’t matter because it is what it is.

[a6intruder]

If it had been only "tens of thousands", don't you think that the slobbering media would have made it front page news pointing out how the whole thing was a flop? Their silence is more than adequate proof that the event was a SMASHING success!

[Oldsop]

What’s really disturbing is that over a million people gather in DC to protest and liberals are only looking for fringe area activities. It is as though finding something weird will negate the fact that over a million normal folks were motivated enough to come together to demonstrate that they object to government expansion in multiple areas.

If you continue to miss the larger point of all these “tea bag” activities you will be losing the next election by record amounts; and rightfully so.

Missing the point is mostly caused by what I call “blind incumbence.” This means that you think that because your party holds the office that everything it does is correct; and therefore anything that opposes your party is not correct or worse, perhaps even defective, or stupid, etc.

Adopting this mindset further isolates your attitude where you become paralyzed when confronted, resorting to name calling or de-humanizing the opposition. This will be your path to defeat in the next election. As Billy Joel says,“…and so it goes.”

[wolfmason]

Actually, most estimates are putting the number between 60k and 100k (based on police estimates, crowd size, and the fact that there were no major traffic or transportation disruptions). Still, a very big number of protesters, but about 90% off.

[CynAnne]

We didn't have to look very far for your "..fringe area activities..", sop. There were wingnutters of all waist sizes proudly holding their semi-literately lettered placards high above their ball-capped noggins for any camera willing to focus on them, and inciting the crowd from the podium were 'men' who, instead of speaking out against those hate-mongering 'fringers', beamed beatifically down at them, wide grins shared by those of a similar mindset. The unspoken silence is deafening, but not being missed by the rest of the civilized world, who shake their collective heads at such deliberate denseness by a section of the citizenry, fighting to keep uncaring, profiteering companies.­.profiteer­ing. End of story.

[Oldsop]

Thanks Cyanide; you are proving my point with your name-calling, i.e.
- wingnutters
- semi-literately
- hate-mongering fringers

This is where you go when you ignore the message and belittle the messenger.

[CynAnne]

Your glass house must be rather drafty, sop - you referred to me once already as "Cyanide" (in your post @ 10:59, which is well BEFORE my post you're so piously reproaching)..and now you've called me by that a second time. I suggest you re-read your own sentence, especially the part about "..resorting to name calling or de-humanizing the opposition.." - it seems irony isn't a concept you've mastered yet... ;)

[ignrnthllblly]

A million? Pfff. Your sources betray you.

What is the larger point of the tea bag activities? If you know, please be so kind as to explicate. All I see is a panoply of time-honored conspiracy favorites, complemented by the birthers, the racists, the Nazis, and every other ilk of right-wing pants-wetters. If there is a larger point to all this beyond "I'm afraid; I'm angry, and if you love America you should be angry and afraid too," then they are doing a lousy job of making it and thereby are rightly possessed of all the scorn they engender.

Anger is not a intellectual point to be made. It's not virtue. It's just anger.

Oh, and that thing you do where you make liberals the same thing as the Democratic Party and (by inadvertent implication, I'm sure) that motley assortment the same thing as Republicans--that's called dissimulation. Rather undermines the pseudo-objective demeanor.

[greymom]

I am only hopeful that Obama is true to his word that he will "call out" those who are lying about his policies. When people know the truth, they will not be so easily led.

I have watched a couple of Youtube interviews of the participants. I am sure they were edited but what struck me was the gross ignorance of the people who attended these events. They were mad, but they didn't know why they were mad. They were appalled at the term "Czar" and were flabbergasted when told that the first "Czars" were appointed by their beloved Ronald Reagan.

Some claimed that Liviticus actually gave Obama's name as the future antichrist. Of course, they couldn't read Hebrew but somebody sent them an email about it and of course, it had to be true because it was an email, after all.

Of course, they talked about their "freedoms" being violated, but when asked about what particular freedom, they couldn't really come up with anything. They were equating Socialism, Fascism, and Communism as being the same thing and couldn't really say what any or all terms actually meant.

What does is come down to? All of this is just because we have a President of the United states who is a little darker skin toned than they are.

[kensp]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NDzA7nChB4

This has probably been posted already, but have a look at Rachel Maddow's piece about some creative counter-protesters calling themselves the Billionaires for Wealthcare. Amazingly, the real protesters who interact with them don't seem to understand that they are being satirized. Clueless followers being manipulated by corporate interests that they don't comprehend. That is the most damning comment about the teabaggers I have seen yet, and it is done without being uncivil or mean spirited. Rachel is marvelous.

[CynAnne]

I saw that on Rachel's show last night as well, kensp. Those poor folks didn't even realize they were being laughed at, not just by the "Billionaires", but by thousands of us at home, all wryly shaking our heads at their cluenessness..! ;) ...

[Anne Johnson]

So when they say they want their country back, what exactly is it that they have lost? We know what they're against but what are they for? What exactly do they want?

[A Meat Beetle]

Six minutes and forty seconds and not a single coherent thought is expressed by anyone. These people don't even know what they're "protesting".

[wolfmason]

This is the end result of a 2 decade long political strategy based around encouraging Americans to hate/fear their representative government--the very thing that makes America, "America"--i.e., a solvent, functioning, democratic political body. It should come as no surprise that people are angry, distrustful, and confused, and drastically opposed to any/all significant political action to try and repair problems in our country.

[wolfmason]

3 decades, sorry, time flies (Reagan rode in on a wave of gov't distrust after high disapproval of Carter/Ford/Nixon)

[Anne Johnson]

What I found the most disturbing about the whole thing is that there were elected representatives up at the podium speaking at this thing! The people who are supposed to be in charge openly endorse and cheer on the parade of ignorance and hate mongering. These people are supposed to be working for the whole country! The protesters don't want to pay taxes for social security and medicaid fine. I don't want my taxes to have to pay for the senators and congresspeople up on that stage! Good luck, Mr. President with that whole bi-partisanship thing.

[kisskins]

Ann, I'm missing your point. Where do the protesters say they don't ant to pay for SS and medicaid. I've paid for them my whole carreer. I don't want my representatives taking the money already paid by taxes taken out of these programs---I want the waste and fraud taken out. I'm sorry I'm "ignorant" and a "hate mongerer." I guess that not wanting my tax dollars going to ACORN and SEIU puts me in that same class. I also don't like the Federal takeover of the auto industry and banks. Free speach and ideas seem to labeled by the very people who champion the First Amendment. I guess that is hate mongering at its best.

[RedneckDem]

After a day fighting in the trenches, these freedom fighters went home to their subdivisions where they are told:
What kind of car can park in their own driveway (i.e. now work vans).

What color siding you can have.

What type of bushes/tress you can plant.

What size deck you can build.

What type of mailbox.

That you can't have a pool.

What heigth fence you can build.

And never, never, ever get the irony or hypocrisy....

[Anne Johnson]

Very nicely said and fanned. Too bad it would go over the heads of the people who really need to hear it.

[Oldsop]

You have deliberately avoided the point. The communities you speak of do have rules; but the residents chose them. The rules were not forced on them after they bought. They chose to live there so they are not "told" anything they didn't already want. The only hypocrisy is that you deliberately skewed an analogy.

[CynAnne]

Actually, he's on target, Sop..in those communities, disobeying those strictly-imposed rules (which can be added after homeowners have already taken up residence) gets you fined and/or cited by the "Neighborhood Council", and those fines can quickly add up to hefty amounts, and if you can't pay, well..then they'll see you in court. Sounds similar to what one might refer to as a 'Residential Death Panel', with them holding power over the peace of mind of your own abode, now doesn't it..? ;) ...

[RedneckDem]

You know whats really great? Watching my more level headed repub friends cringe and then try to defend these geniuses. I believe in all of their right to protest, but what exactly are they protesting? It looks to me like they are spewing out as many untruths as possible just hoping that something sticks.

Whats really amazing is that out of all of the things to be protesting about (Wall Street, bailouts, lost jobs, etc...) they decide to select the one issue that can have a direct positive impact on their lives, their pocket book and their stress levels (as in "one less thing to worry about"). That is health care.

[conservative 1979]

It's funny that all of the same people that were up in arms about Bush's spending and government expansion are perfectly OK with Obama's spending which dwarfs that of his predecessor.

Explanation, anyone?

...oh, and go ahead; keep underestimating the opposition. It will be your downfall. The MAJORITY of Americans are fed up with this guy after 9 months.

[Zenith1959]

Aside from the stimulus package which unfortunately was probably needed, we are still working under W's last budget until 9/30/09.

[apduncan1]

Reality check: YOU LOST.

[RedneckDem]

Do we really need to explain reckless spending with reactionary spending to save an entire worlds economy??? you'll never get it so debate is useless...

[wolfmason]

I think the problem is that Bush was squandering money overseas, and whereas Obama is squandering it at home. I guess when it comes down to it, a lot of Americans feel better when our government burns money in an effort to keep Americans warm, rather than burn it to heat the homes of those overseas that live in a desert, no less.

[bassface49]

You and the Palins 'under-estimated' the oppostition and the 'ugly' that has become the 'fat-white-face' of the GOP.
Obama's poll number 'flutters' has NOTHING to do with GOP numbers going up. His #'s have gone down when he spends too much time listening' to the 'idiocracy' known as the GOP

[bigmaddy]

a good showing of the republican party I now understand why they voted for Bush and then McCain

[zanzig]

I am surprised. I thought Sarah Palin was a unique American with her word salad, but it seems from Max' clip that there are lot more like her out there in the hinterland. I did like the man who explained what Salaam Aleikum meant, though. Clearly someone with a high school education at least.

[ywcachieve]

""get the government out of my social security"????

LOL..those wingnuts are dumb, social security is a government social program.