The Wandering Eye had a nice, steaming dish of crow to eat for breakfast today. We predicted that the “Tax Day Tea Party” in Bend would fizzle, but we have to admit the tea partiers put on a pretty impressive show.
By The Eye’s unscientific eyeball estimate, several hundred people showed up at Troy Field downtown on a bright but chilly afternoon to vent their anger about President Obama, taxes, deficits, gun control, “socialism,” and all the other things right-wingers are chronically angry about. Here are a few more-or-less random observations:
The success of the Bend tea party is proof that this area is still pretty conservative. Deschutes County went for John McCain and Sarah Palin last November, though by a thin margin; the Republican ticket carried Jefferson and Crook Counties handily. Although Portland’s population is more than seven times the size of ours, the crowd at the Bend event was almost as big – maybe even bigger – than the one in Portland, which The Oregonian described as “more than 1,000.”
It was a predominantly middle-aged or older crowd. There appeared to be damn few teens, very few 20-somethings, a few more 30-somethings, and a lot of 40-, 50-, 60-, 70-and-beyond-somethings. If conservatives want to capture the youth demographic they’ve got their work cut out for them.
The tea party movement was billed as a grassroots uprising, and several of the speakers in Bend referred to its supposed grassroots nature. But the grassroots had a lot of fertilizer applied to them by rich right-wingers and the organizations they bankroll.
For instance, the organizer of the Bend tea party, Lucy Brackett, is the Deschutes County chair of Americans for Prosperity. Speaking at yesterday’s rally, she urged people to sign up to join the organization. Americans for Prosperity is a national group based in Washington, DC that since its founding in 2003 has mounted “grassroots” campaigns for various right-wing causes, such as opposing efforts to curb global warming.
AFP describes itself as “a nationwide organization of citizen leaders committed to advancing every individual’s right to economic freedom and opportunity.” Its board of directors includes such well-known right-wing luminaries as Art Pope, a North Carolina retail magnate and former state legislator who heads a foundation that “supports a diverse collection of conservative, free market and libertarian oriented think tanks”; James C. Miller III, budget director under Ronald Reagan, senior fellow of the conservative Hoover Institution think tank and former board member of several other right-wing organizations; and David H. Koch of Texas, billionaire co-owner of Koch Industries, described by SourceWatch as “the largest privately held company in the United States, with annual sales of $90 billion.”
The story of the Koch (pronounced “Coke”) family, as told by SourceWatch, is an intriguing one. The founder of the company, Fred Koch, was one of the charter members of the ultra-right-wing John Birch Society. Fred’s son and David’s brother, Charles, founded the libertarian Cato Institute. David ran for president on the Libertarian Party ticket in 1980. The Koch Family Foundations, which David and Charles run, are “one of the largest single sources of funding for conservative organizations in the United States,” whose beneficiaries, in addition to Cato, include Citizens for a Sound Economy, Reason Magazine, the Manhattan Institute, the Heartland Institute and the Democratic Leadership Council.
The Koch family firm’s relationship with the law has been a troubled one. In March 2000 it agreed to pay $30 million in penalties for more than 300 oil spills in five states caused by its faulty pipelines during the 1990s. “In 1996, a flawed pipeline caused an explosion outside of Dallas in which two teenagers were killed. In a lawsuit related to the deaths, a trial court returned a judgment of $376.69 million against the company.”
In light of this history, it’s not surprising that David and Charles Koch resent the gummint’s attempts to infringe on their “right” to foul the landscape with their leaky pipelines.
Looking around at the signs at the Bend tea party, we were struck by how many times the word “No” appeared. “No One-World Government,” one proclaimed. “No Cap & Trade,” said another, referring to a strategy to cut greenhouse gases. And of course there were endless variations on “No to Socialism.” In short, pretty much the same ol’, same ol’ rhetoric we’ve been hearing from the righties since … well, since forever.
“Okay,” we found ourselves thinking, “we know what these people are against – but what are they FOR?”
Obama’s policies might not be perfect; there are a couple of them we don’t much care for ourselves. But at least he’s trying to do something, and like they always say, you can’t beat somethin’ with nothin’. American conservatives still aren’t offering any practical, positive alternative to the progressive agenda. And until they come up with one, their ideology – for everybody but a small and shrinking core of true believers – will have all the appeal of a used teabag.
This article appears in Apr 16-22, 2009.
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Hey Bruce, let me tell what those people that attended the Freedom Rally yesterday stand for: “Liberty not Tyranny” Free enterprise NOT Government intervention.
Apparently Bruce you’re alright with the Government leading you by the hand and need a Keeper. Good News for you is you’re not alone, but the bad news is you’re outnumbered.
Please keep in mind I’m not affiliated with either party, so don’t discount this message as a Left-wing Loon trying get air time.
By the way your article was inaccurate in your assessment of the ages of the people who attended. The ages ranged from 5 to 80.
When will you bleeding heart liberals learn what the truth is? The actual difference of opinion does not come from the two-party system we currently have in place. The difference comes between the Godly and the Godless. Which one are you Bruce?
Regards,
Mike Roberts
Sorry Brucey, but there are young people interested. I, such one young person, wanted to go but had to work. Just because I’m a conservative doesn’t mean I’m slow, religious, toothless, a hick or any other labels we “right-wingers” traditionally get. I recycle, I care about climate change, the war and taxes and I’m under 30. Oh and I’m a higher-degree educated woman! So please, less sterotyping. And the alternative to the progessive agenda? Morals (scary word huh) and values along with LESS government (I think we should all agree the people who run our DMV and Amtrak should be no where near health care or the private sector). And “small but shrinking”?? Just because we don’t control the media, don’t underestimate the growing resentment towards -GASP- Obama that many people feel. I think the approximately 1200 people (according to KBND) that showed up to the tea party you didn’t expect anyone at is proof of that.
The absence of opposition is socialism – Karl Marx ?
Wow! a couple of hundred of Bend’s lunatic fringers….representing oh…003% of Central Oregonians…Why waste your time?
Stephen Cramer said:
Two of the signs that stuck out and may have defined the mindset of many:
“Kenya wants its Marxist President Back”
and
“Smaller Government–Bigger Guns”
The event was well attended and those there had quite a laundry list of complaints, from the race of the President, Gun Control, Taxes, Gay Marriage, Religion, and Government intrusion. After trying to engage a couple of them in conversation, it was painfully obvious that this was a pretty representative group of the ‘I listen to talk radio and I believe in (Rush, Sean, Glenn)! I stopped trying to talk when the woman I was speaking with about the realities of the tax plan explained to me that it didn’t matter if she was wrong or not, she ‘hated’ Obama. Her words–not mine.
I heard someone likening the Tea Bag ‘movement’ to the peace and civil rights movements of the 1960’s, even though she was just a child back then and really couldn’t remember much about them. Obviously.
Let me state for her, the peace movement of the 60’s had its share of meaningless gestures–loud noise–hubris and anger. A lot of us didn’t know what we were doing or talking about then, too.
Every day it seems that I can make one more connection between “elderly republican conservative” and “ignorant”. Obama is just what this country needs. Get your heads out of your asses and live in reality. It’s not the women-are-just-here-to-cook-and-make-babies-and-marijuana-leads-to-crack-cocaine-let’s-kill-all-the-niggers 1950’s anymore. Open your eyes and see what humanity is all about and maybe you can learn a thing or two from us young-uns.
Hey Brucey, you’ll change your tune soon when you are forced to learn Chinnese bro !!!! Happy Trails !!!!
“the bad news is you’re outnumbered”
Statements like that just underscore how out of touch with reality you right-wingers are.
Gallup Daily Tracking Poll, 4/12-4/15: “”Do you approve or disapprove of the way Barack Obama is handling his job as president?”
Approve: 62% Disapprove: 30%
(Source: pollingreport.com)
And I know exactly who those 30-percenters are. They are the same crowd who supported the impeachment of Bill Clinton and who insisted right up to the bitter end that Chimpy (aka George W. Bush) was doin’ a fine job as president. And they are the same people who turned out for the tea parties this week.
They make up about 30% of the population nationally, maybe 50% in a place like Bend, probably 70% in places like Texas and South Carolina.
YOU, my friend, are the one who is outnumbered. If you occasionally talked to people whose political views differed from your own or got your information from some source other than Limbaugh, Hannity and Glenn Beck you would know that.
I agree HBM your comments are right on the mark
newintown
You are absolutely right–I should trust the private sector that brought me the current economic collapse of the auto industry, mortgage industry, and banking industry to do the right thing. These current robber barons have the morals and ethical values that we should all hope are emulated by everyone. Public health care–let’s see. Do you think that the health care benefits that our Congress enjoys are so poorly run that they are willing to give them up–reject them? Are they so much more deserving than the people who pay for them?
Private health insurance is so expensive it is unaffordable for a large percentage of Americans. Those that do possess it often end up dealing with labyrinthine policies and procedures designed to delay and deny coverage of their needs. You will find this out, if you have not already done so.
I’m no defender of Amtrak, but I recommend you do some reading–even if it’s only the Wikipedia online about the rail system and Amtrak. You obviously don’t know what you are talking about, but you can parrot what you heard.
Mark Twain wrote “When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But, when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much he had learned in seven years.” Perhaps a little more maturity, experience, and historical perspective outside of fifteen years of listening to Limbaugh-like commentary on US history, politics and economics will help you understand that there is more out there than you ‘know!’ Education is no substitute for intelligence. Words cannot replace knowledge.
I’m not saying you should respect, like or agree with ‘Brucey’ because he’s older and therefore wiser. But your lack of perspective doesn’t exactly invite the same, does it?
Remember, “Minds are like parachutes â ” they only function when open.” Thomas Dewar
“Sorry Brucey, but there are young people interested”
Making fun of somebody’s name is pretty childish, don’tcha think?
I didn’t say there were NO young people at the tea party; I said there were FEW of them. Which is the truth. And I didn’t describe any of the tea partiers as “slow, religious, toothless, [or] a hick.”
Why don’t you try responding to the actual content of the post instead of flailing away at straw men of your own imagining?
“Private health insurance is so expensive it is unaffordable for a large percentage of Americans. Those that do possess it often end up dealing with labyrinthine policies and procedures designed to delay and deny coverage of their needs. You will find this out, if you have not already done so.”
Absolutely right on, Steven. Anybody who sincerely believes the American “health care” system is not in need of major reform either (a) is rich and doesn’t give a damn how much medical care costs or (b) has never had to deal with a serious medical problem personally or affecting a family member. America’s “health care” system — I put quotes around “health care” because the system isn’t really about caring for health, it’s about extracting the maximum possible amount of money from consumers — is an international joke.
TV images of “crazies” at tea parties could turn off independents and moderates, says AEI scholar:
“It is not clear-cut that the tea-party phenomena helps the GOP, unless they have a specific measure or policy (like Prop. 13 in 1978, and income tax cuts after that) to coalesce around. Right now it reminds me a bit of the free-floating ‘angry moderates’ of 1992 who fueled the Ross Perot candidacy, and that is the hazard for Republicans I think. I think the crazies at the rallies are a problem, but probably out of proportion (they always get the media attention) to the real breadth of sentiment underneath, which I think is largely authentic.” — Steven Hayward, a scholar at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, quoted on HuffPo.
This is a continuation of the same problem the GOP had during the 2008 campaign: They don’t dare alienate “the base,” but the base has moved far to the right of the mainstream of American opinion, so appealing to the base means alienating everybody else.
The GOP is SOOOOOooooo screwed. No wonder they’re rooting for Obama to fail big-time — it’s their only hope.
In retrospect, what could possibly be said of the The Great Tax Day Tantrum by Those Pissed Off Because Their Party Didnâ ™t Get to Cheat Their Way Into the Executive Office a Third Time?
Uhhmmmâ ¦ nothing.
Letter to “Cascadia”: I have long argued that it’s best not to talk about secession around here. Far better instead to prepare for what happens after everyone else secedes and The Republic of Oregon is, more sudden than we had imagined, once again the Republic it once was. Just let it happen, prepare for afterwards…
O’Owlish Amenheh
(Ten Bears)
Note to National Security Agent reading this email without judicial or legislative oversight, or warning, warrant, or notice: I am in no way advocating the secession of The Republic of Oregon, encompassing as it did in it’s originality the entire Colombia River Drainage – Oregon, Washington, N. Idaho, W. Montana and S. British Colombia – from what was once known as “The United States”. I am suggesting that my friends, family and neighbors in the Pacific Northwest, in order to secure the future of their children and grand-children, prepare themselves for the chaos that will follow the secession of other regions of the country from the “country”. tb
“In retrospect, what could possibly be said of the The Great Tax Day Tantrum by Those Pissed Off Because Their Party Didnâ ™t Get to Cheat Their Way Into the Executive Office a Third Time?”
LMAO! Great stuff, dude!
HBM:I think the biggest bone of contention we have here is you feel these people are clueless and uninformed, and naturally they take exception to a condescending attitude. I’m sure that most of them want the same things you do, health care, clean environment and fair taxes, but may be expressing it in a different way than you.
I think we all can agree to disagree without belittling and talking down to one another. It seems to me that we should be pulling together during these difficult times instead of striving to hold on to the same old BS that got us into this mess to begin with, which is pride, arrogance and a whole lot of stupidity.
The only thing we should be proud of is our freedom to live in a diverse country where people have the right to believe and protest whatever they perceive to be injustice. What one considers a threat and unfair may seem silly and idiotic to others.
We are living in a time of great change, and to some it seems like a change that will not necessarily be one for the good. There are far greater challenges ahead, more than who is right and who is left, maybe fear is the motivation behind these “tea parties”, fear of the unknown not because they are “Pissed Off Because Their Party Didnâ ™t Get to Cheat Their Way Into the Executive Office a Third Time?”
The solutions to our problems will not get solved if Americans continue to dredge up crap from the past, we need to get over ourselves and move on.
Sweet sentiment, csante, and refreshing… as we haven’t seen that sort of thing in what, twelve, fourteen years?
PLEASE!!! If you were at one of the “Tea Parties” and are on Social Security, you obviously don’t like what the present administration is attempting to do. Therefore, Man Up, or Woman Up and be sure to send those checks fir 250.00 back to the government. I know you will feel better for doing it. Join Bo Jingles down in Loouisiana and refuse the money, there are plenty of places that can use it if you want to be true to your beliefs.
Bend’s Tea Party was a smashing success at 1500 participants, that is what Portland had goaled. Imagine our surprise when 7000 people showed-up and filled Pioneer Courthouse Square! The Oregonian didn’t even send a reporter. If you’d like to see what the Oregonian calls 1000 people, see here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/IbzSNbYNB8Q82nEIeulyRw?feat=directlink
Here’s another enjoyable video for you! Party on!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9iGjPwomus&feature=player_embedded
Geoffrey
Watched the video. Inflating the numbers who attended does not make the POV of the participants any more correct than if only two had attended. Particulary liked the signs–Hussein with the SS stylized in the Nazi SS emblem. The interview with the man who said he ‘despised’ the government was representative, was it? The talking head at the end who praise the valor of the participants who ‘elbowed’ past the ‘hippies’ in the ‘Peoples Republic of Oregon.’
Are you nuts? Self-marginalization will only make any merit to your arguments dismissed as fringe points of view by extremists. Perhaps that’s the way you wish to be known.
I would have thought that a party that represents a third of the population would work to attract people to their viewpoint–not push them away with a self portrayal that makes itself look like the party of ‘no,’ the party of crackpots, the party of the paranoids, and the party of the haters. Don’t complain about the coverage when you invite the kind of criticism you get.