Teabags vs. Douchebags
Why this may not be the second coming of the New Deal after all.
By David Sirota
When Time editors fused Barack Obama’s head on the famous parade photo of Franklin Delano Roosevelt for a November 2008 cover, comparisons between 1932 and the present day were already a shopworn cliche. If you were a working journalist in Washington worth your weight in banality, you had made at least 10 giddy references to “nothing to fear but fear itself”… return to article
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Reader Comments (10)Page 1 of 1 pagesSirota finds it inconvenient, that the party of the KKK and Jim Crow for that matter, were the same party that was the party of slavery, the democrat party, and that the klan, Jim Crow and slavery were leftist constructs. Just as fascism, nazi-ism and communism/socialism are slave based, left wing constructs. Sirota has had people banned at openleft, for stating the truth, that Obama is a third term of the Bush administration, because Sirota is complicit in fascism. Sirota is playing both sides against the middle, he’s allied with the neo-cons and the far leftist extreme.
Is he now inferring that communist and socialist “activism” was truly in aid of lifting the burden of the poor? I guess that trip he took to Beijing was a job offer, after all? Sirota, the voice of the Red Army and forced enslavement. All one has to examine, is the results of communism and socialism, there’s plenty of facts known about that. No freedom, no rights, no free speech, no individual liberties. Forced labor, as the late Dr. Martin Luther King stated, he’d studied both Marx and Engels and recognized in both communism and socialism human beings were reduced to slaves, because without the right to self determination, a man was a slave.
I’m no republican, I was a liberal democrat all my life until recently. I am now an independent, just as now, the vast majority of Americans are now idependents (70%). We reject Sirota’s lies now, as we did in the past. Sirota couldn’t get hired by neo-con MSNBC, and now he’s on the payroll of one of the most despotic nations on the face of the earth, communist China. Obama, too is in service of the same forces, corrupt corporate neo-con controlled interests, that ally with communist China to reduce the American citizenry, and in deed what free people remain in the west, into forced servitude, slavery. They are planning on buying up control of our resources, and Obama, Reid, Pelosi, Kerry, Kennedy, and the rest of the democrat controlled congress are planning on selling them, and us as well.
We see their neo-McCarthyism at play. Censor free speech, the reemergence of the blacklist, an enemies list, the far leftist demand that the citizenry that rejected communism/socialism being deprived of their jobs, so as to break the backs of the free American citizenry, and force them into what they refused to embrace, slavery and totalitarianism.
David Sirota is like the writers who helped bring Hitler to power, and for the same reason. He hates what he can’t force to conform.
Posted by m m on May 27, 2009 at 5:17 PM I am not sure what Mr. Sirota’s point is.
He is disappointed that all he wants - President Obama can’t deliver.
President F.D. Roosevelt couldn’t deliver everything he wanted either. And when elected, was about at same point on Liberal-Conservative range as President Obama is now.
I am more interested in what people are for. What are you for Mr. Sirota and what is it you would like the new administration to do?
Posted by Ned Hamson on May 27, 2009 at 7:03 PM “Just as fascism, nazi-ism and communism/socialism are slave based, left wing constructs”
—wrote m m
What??!! Fascism is a “lefwing construct” (your spelling)? No, no, no, no. Bush was a fascist. Fascism opposes class conflict, blames capitalist liberal democracies for its creation and communists for exploiting the concept.
And what is this bullshit about 70% of Americans are now independent? Where did you pull that fake number from??
Go back to your Glen Beck show, troll.
Posted by neilyou on May 28, 2009 at 1:42 PM I must agree with the following remarks posted. This article finds me going from one side to the other. It doesn’t matter what side of the Tea Parties you are on, everyone has a right to yea or nay on it. I do have a problem with both dem’s and rep’s when it comes to were they stand any more. I grew up in the south throught the 70’s and 80’s. George Wallace was “The Man” you could say with the south. He was a Democrate. Every person that is labeled now as racist in politics were Democrates. The people that were for equal rights and everyone loving each other were Republicans. Now after reading this article and listening to Democrates and Civil Rights leaders it’s the other way around. The party that freed and fought to free slaves were the Republicans. Now our President A Democrate took the oath on Abe’s bible, Democrates compare him to Abe, and Bush is Being compared to George Wallace. I think both parties are confused, and they are confusing us. It has got to the point to were when a person states I’m a Democrate or Republican, you have to ask them for how long and what year was it. For the Tea Parties, they are no differnt than the gay rights people, the protesters against the war, the civil rights groups. They are all Americans that have a right to speak and be heard. And the President has the responsibility to listen to everyone, Because he now is not a Democrate, He is the President of the United States, President for everyone. As soon as everyone in Washington grasp this, including President Obama he will have acomplished a real change. He will be the first President that has done this in several on top of several years.
Posted by JEFFERY LEE WELLS on May 29, 2009 at 9:20 AM Dear David, sometimes a metaphor, that initially struck one as clever, becomes confusing. Although, the author may have the connection well fixed in his mind ,it becomes cumbesome for the reader and blurs the message. For myself, trying to distinguish between bags and their parts destroyed any meaning in this essay.
Posted by bstr on May 29, 2009 at 1:27 PM I will have more to say on this subject later ; but one point needs to be made , and that is that progressives are not organized enough to really accomplish anything…Until that happens , we will just have to sit back and wonder ; what ever happened to basic ” common-sense “.
Posted by blackhorse on Jul 10, 2009 at 12:29 PM Well , I guess the main point that jumps out at blackhorse is this criticism of Obama ; this belief that he is not as progressive as the left wanted or expected that he should be.
The point is well taken; but me thinks a tad misplaced . Take into consideration the mess, no calamity ,no catastrophe ,no chaos that Obama inherited from that neo-confused administration of the Bush/ Cheney era.
Secondly , lets consider the fact that Obama is the first president to admit that he is of afrikan heredity , point in fact ; there have been others , Dwight Eisenhower comes to mind right off the bat , but the point has to be made that Obama is the first to openly admit that he is a black man , all of the others passed , meaning that they were light complexioned enough to past as white. This has brought an enormous amount of nefariously unnecessary , even neurotic attention to the man and his activities ; this behavior by the press and common citizens would have been incomprehensible in the past.
Thirdly , the fact remains , that to turn this situation around , ” will take time “, think about the fact that from Reagan to so-called Bush lite , this nation has been indoctrinated with the ideology of what this article referrs to as ” douchebagism “, or what Blackhorse would plainly referr to as neo-fascism, white amerika has been playing footsies ; if you will ,with this racist form of corporate controlled gov’t…....etc.
Posted by blackhorse on Jul 10, 2009 at 8:28 PM Know we expect this one man to somehow assume the office of the presidency ; and assimilate this choatic nonsense into a disciplined ,orderly , transparent and affective gov’t . Again this will take time , if it can be done !!!
Finally , his life has been threatened more times then the secret service would care to acknowledge. So in the end , all that I am tryintg to point out is that , Obama has stood up to all of the excessively negative rhetoric , even to the point of being blamed for things done before he was in office ; and he has done this with relative cool and confidence.
Patience is in order , critical progressive analysis ; yes…disaffected rhetoric…Blackhorse thinks not. Peace…...........................True
Posted by blackhorse on Jul 10, 2009 at 8:54 PM What power do these Tea Baggers have as compared to Barack Obama and the Democrats?
The Tea Baggers are opposed to single-payer universal health care and project “fee for service” as the solution to this health care mess. When it comes to health care reform and most other issues the Tea Baggers will never have the required power or clout to actually legislate their ideas.
On the other hand, Barack Obama and the Democrats have real and complete power right now… Obama and the Democrats have used that power to kill single-payer universal health care as well as keeping wars going in three countries and handing our nation over to the Wall Street coupon clippers of the military-financial-industrial complex—- lock, stock and barrel.
I think there is a misunderstanding here as to who is the real enemy. Liberals, progressives and the left should be fighting Barack Obama’s thoroughly reactionary agenda and it makes no difference that Barack Obama couches his dirty deeds in left-wing rhetoric while the Tea Baggers are openly right-wing… the fact is, Barack Obama and the Democrats are implementing a thoroughly reactionary and right-wing agenda—- isn’t the Wall Street agenda always reactionary and right-wing no matter who is pushing it forward?
In fact, even when it comes to race and racism, the Tea Baggers for the most part are thoroughly racist; while, on the other hand, Barack Obama heads up a Wall Street dominated government that couldn’t exist without institutionalized racism making Barack Obama a purveyor and instigator of institutionalized racism.
I find it very interesting that Obama’s supporters like Richard Trumka claim to be anti-racist yet they are refusing to call for strict enforcement of affirmative action in hiring policies in all of the projects now being financed with the stimulus funds.
I also find it interesting that the Tea Baggers condemn health care reforms—- even Barack Obama’s reactionary, pro-profit health care initiatives—- as “socialism.” Why have Obama’s supporters been so slow to clarify what socialism really is… after all, one only has to read the writings of Barack Obama’s mentor, Communist Frank Marshall Davis, for an explanation of socialism… and to find out where Obama picked up the left-wing rhetoric to cover up his dirty deeds.
From the Tea Baggers we get right-wing rhetoric; from Barack Obama and the Democrats we are getting right-wing legislation shoved down our throats… that we get this right-wing agenda along with left-wing rhetoric doesn’t make these attacks on our standard of living any more palatable than what the Tea Baggers say.
Posted by alanmaki on Aug 16, 2009 at 6:50 PM Page 1 of 1 pages -
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