Michelle Malkin » The Tea Party bashers: Clueless, bitter, and wrapped in tinfoil

The Tea Party bashers: Clueless, bitter, and wrapped in tinfoil

By Michelle Malkin • March 2, 2009 11:44 AM

You know you’re on to something when the tinfoil hat conspiracists start lobbing grenades at you.

In response to the nationwide outbreak of taxpayer protests against the culture of entitlement, a loon at Playboy.com claimed that the Tea Party events this weekend were part of a grand cabal funded by something called the Koch Foundation in cahoots with CNBC’s Rick Santelli:

What we discovered is that Santelli’s “rant” was not at all spontaneous as his alleged fans claim, but rather it was a carefully-planned trigger for the anti-Obama campaign. In PR terms, his February 19th call for a “Chicago Tea Party” was the launch event of a carefully organized and sophisticated PR campaign, one in which Santelli served as a frontman, using the CNBC airwaves for publicity, for the some of the craziest and sleaziest rightwing oligarch clans this country has ever produced. Namely, the Koch family, the multibilllionaire owners of the largest private corporation in America, and funders of scores of rightwing thinktanks and advocacy groups, from the Cato Institute and Reason Magazine to FreedomWorks. The scion of the Koch family, Fred Koch, was a co-founder of the notorious extremist-rightwing John Birch Society.

Just a few problems with this hysterical plot, of course:

1) The rebellion was already underway before Santelli took a stand on the Chicago trading floor. The Seattle anti-pork protest, spearheaded by independent mom-blogger Keli Carender who comments on this site, took place on Feb. 16. Santelli’s Tea Party call came three days later.

This was Keli’s first foray into grass-roots activism. It was a solo, seat-of-the-pants Herculean effort fueled by her passion about the porkulus bill — and made possible through blogs and social networking sites. The only outside, evil “funding” she received was from the pulled pork I donated at the last minute after she gave me a heads-up about the protest and spread the word on Twitter. Keli writes:

So it seems that we have an attempt to discredit conservative grassroots movements, and thereby their power and sincerity, by leveling a charge of “well orchestrated” or “corporate.” It is a denial put forth in order to cool the rising passions and energy by trying to suck the life out. Let me just say this: I planned the first Porkulus Protest c-o-m-p-l-e-t-e-l-y on my own. I paid the $50 for the permit and I started emailing people. Not one GOP official, county or state, showed up or offered to help. I planned the Tea Party with the help of one other woman, again I paid the $50 for the permit, and we started emailing people. And again, not one GOP official helped. It is so insulting to insinuate that we are not an authentic, and admittedly ragtag, group of citizens that have finally had enough, and are finally willing to do something about it.

If anyone is well orchestrated it is the Moveon.org crowd that is funded by billionaire George Soros.

Nail on the head. I spy projection on the part of the paranoiacs.

After Seattle, came anti-pork protests in Denver, Mesa AZ, and Overland Park Kansas — all planned on the fly before Santelli opened his mouth and all spontaneously organized by a wide variety of taxpayer groups and Internet activists — some of whom disagree vehemently with each other on public policy issues, but who united against reckless government spending and found common ground against both the substance and process by which the trillion-dollar stimulus became law.

The wheels of the “Tea Party” movement had already been set in motion by folks who probably had never heard of Santelli — let alone the Koch Foundation — when they decided to take to the streets.

2) The Daily Kos claims that the Tea Party phenomenon is one big promotional campaign for CNBC. Um, except for the fact that much of the blogospheric publicity for the events has come from yours truly
– a contributor for the rival Fox News Channel.

Oops.

3) As Glenn Reynolds points out, the Tea Party-bashers can’t get their stories straight: The movement is both a savvily orchestrated astro-turfed conspiracy AND an amateurish, underfunded failure:

RICK MORAN THINKS THE “TEA PARTY” PROTESTS are amateurish and disorganized. At Playboy, on the other hand, they think they’re suspiciously well-coordinated. Both are right!

Of course they’re amateurish. Most of these people have never organized a protest before (hence the tendency to do things like forget bullhorns). That’s what you get at the beginning of a movement. But it’s much bigger news when 200 people with jobs who’ve never protested turn out, than when 20,000 of the usual suspects organized by ACORN or ANSWER march with preprinted signs. If this keeps up (and I think it just might) the amateurishness will fade away soon enough. Then Moran will probably complain about the loss of authenticity.

Exactly.

I’ve heard quite a bit of smug and snobbish condescension towards the Tea Party rebels from naysayers in the Beltway and blogosphere. The crowds weren’t big enough, some Hollywood types and elite conservatives sneered. The protesters need “talking points” and slicker signs.

Are you kidding me?

Some of the most trenchant commentary on the stimulus/bailout/entitlement craze has come from the non-professionals at the Tea Party.

The critics would be lucky to have half their creativity, passion, and initiative. I’ll be posting another mega-Tea Party round-up later this afternoon. More events are in the works. Stay tuned.

And Party On!

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Get involved: April 15…Tax Day Tea Party.

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#101

On March 2nd, 2009 at 10:46 pm, Kevin K. said:

On March 2nd, 2009 at 12:19 pm, sonofdy said: (#23)

Wow! Forget the coffee, I think I need a beer! After enough of them, maybe I will begin to understand that.

I think the correct meal required to understand this is:

–menu deleted because I prefer to promote legality–

Chain of command?

Commander: Malkin
Sub-commander: Rush
Operations planner: Satan
Deep cover agent: Biden

Michelle Malkin and Rush should never be in the same grouping as the second two, whose names I prefer not to use.
#102

On March 2nd, 2009 at 10:56 pm, TomB said:

…using the CNBC airwaves for publicity…

I think they’re on cable; they have bandwidth, not airwaves.

I suggest that we start holding the Tea Party protests in front of the corporate offices of local newspapers.

The ones that are still in business, of course.

I’ve been unimpressed with the “tea party” protests mainly because they’re too little, too late.

Good point. We should build a time machine, go back to October, and do them before we started them, only bigger. That would be impressive.

Question for tea partyers: are you against deficits or taxes? If you’re against deficits, do you promise to oppose the next tax cut?

I’m against fiscal irresponsibility. If the next tax cut is irresponsible, I’ll be against it.

Anyway, we had a great time at the San Diego chapter of the tea party, and am sure the next one will be even better.
#103

On March 2nd, 2009 at 11:55 pm, RetFireman said:

On March 2nd, 2009 at 1:32 pm, lgm said:

I didn’t think anyone actually reads Playboy. Who knew they were part of the vast liberal conspiracy?

THis guy just never stops long enough to think just how much more stupid the next thing he types will make him appear, does he?

Yeah LGM…because Playboy has a long and dignified history of writing about and fighting for Conservative causes. Who would have thought they would turn on us like that.

What a frakking moron. I mean I have met some dumb SOB bast*$#@ in my life, but this guy takes the cake…he really does.

You just KNOW what his students do every time he turns his back or leaves the room…I can see it now.
#104

On March 3rd, 2009 at 12:01 am, RetFireman said:

Any and all protests started small. How does one think that getting the masses ready for revolt has ever occurred? To dismiss these tea parties as small and too late is foolish, even ignorant.

It’s OK…all anyone who laughs or mocks the size of the protests and other things that show the anger with what the Socialists are imposing are merely demonstrating, yet again, their vast ignorance towards history, especially the founding of this nation and what occurred prior to finally declaring war against England.

I bet they think that we won all the battles of the Revolution and that everyone in the Continental Congress was all for the Declaration of Independence as well.

You could fill a vast library with what they don’t know about history…and they have. Just go to your local one and head to the history section…there are all the books that are written about what they don’t know, which is why we are where we are as a nation.
#105

On March 3rd, 2009 at 12:17 am, ArizonaNeanderthal said:

The Tea Party bashers: Clueless, bitter, and wrapped in tinfoil

But it is good that our opposition comes forward so we can know who they are; push come to shove you want to know who has your back and who will stab you in the back.

Never leave and enemy behind you.
Any of you catch the “Covenant With Black America” on C-Span after CPAC? An awful lot of black entertainers who have made a lot of money in this country sure don’t like you white folks.

“All the Damned Will Be White”

I guess I am safe. The rest of you best hold hands and sing Kumbayaa-maybe they will let you in. Kumbayaa my a$$-for me and mine it’s I’ll keep my guns, you keep the change.

The Clueless, bitter, and wrapped in tinfoil types can still be dangerous–just take a look at Rahm Emmanuel. Look in his eyes-look and be ready.

–
I’ll keep my guns, you keep the change.
#106

On March 3rd, 2009 at 8:38 am, Storm Chaser said:

This is only the beginning. Its true the numbers are too small to attract much attention. However, the anti- Vietnam war movement also began small with small groups and little teach ins. So did the civil rights movement.

If our government creates the right conditions including economic pain for a large percentage of us and protest leaders give people a coherent message, thousands will jam the streets. It takes a long time to turn an ocean liner, but it will turn.
#107

On March 3rd, 2009 at 2:16 pm, lgm said:

RetFireman said (#103):

LGM … What a frakking moron.

President Obama likes to say that “we have more in common that unites us than differences that divide us.” And I found it! Ret & I are united by our love of Battlestar Galactica.
#108

On March 3rd, 2009 at 11:56 pm, RetFireman said:

If it makes you feel better to have something in common…but I stopped watching after the first twenty minutes of the first episode soooo…

But hey, if it fills your need to be connected to those more talented and intelligent…whatever.
#109

On March 4th, 2009 at 1:00 pm, Bogtrotter said:

I read the Mooney piece on the Seattle event. He keeps mentioning the homeless guy in the blue blanket “muttering to himself”. The thing is, I lived in Seattle in the early 90′s. Westlake Plaza (I believe that it the place) has people like that hanging around all day. I am willing to bet the SAME guy was there in 92….muttering to himself. Funny, for all of the concern Mr. Mooney expressed for the guy, the guy was there yesterday, he is there today, and he and the rest of the homeless will be sitting there tomorrow as well. Goes to show how little actually gets done to solve a problem when you have a city run by liberals, like Seattle.