Althouse: Something I said just before the Wisconsin protests started.

March 24, 2011

Something I said just before the Wisconsin protests started.

It's funny now:

That's from January 31, 2011.

28 comments:

coketown said...: I think it's funny. But I'm curious why you think it's funny. Are we on the same page?; 3/24/11, 12:53 PM
Anonymous said...: The Tea Party started with Santelli in March 2009, and was nationwide by August, with gatherings everywhere. Peaceful, civil petitioning.

Madison, OTOH, is a local phenom, the Parisian cake makers rioting because the Louis XVI court has to retrench. "This is what democracy looks like." Indeed.; 3/24/11, 12:54 PM
Anonymous said...: The answer to your question:

As your blog has detailed, the left, when it starts out its protest movement, is focused on one or two issues. Quickly, the loons move in and the protest quickly metastasizes into every Utopian demand to transform every aspect of society.

The Tea Party, by contrast, is pretty limited in its platform.; 3/24/11, 12:57 PM
kent said...: I still find Robert Wright's "Great Moments in Painfully Impacted Bowel Movements" fun parade of facial expressions pretty chucklesome, personally... but: I daresay that's not what the Professor has in mind, herself. ;); 3/24/11, 1:00 PM
FloridaSteve said...: I'd be interested in knowing how AA feels that the Tea Party and Wisconsin movements are so similar.

The two at a glance..

Tea party:
Nationwide movement
Has a broad platform of concerns.
Created spontaneously
Widely distributed
Organized locally
Self regulating
Intolerant of excessive radicalism and hate speech from within the movement.
Civil and law abiding

Wisconsin Protesters:
Focused on single location for a single cause.
A significant amount of astroturfing.
Somewhat well behaved but with moments of significant incivility, property destruction etc.
A great deal of tolerance of radicalism and hate filled speech. (certainly no self policing for the sake of image)
No clear or defined platform of ideas/ideals.
etc etc..; 3/24/11, 1:08 PM
Unknown said...: As I said a moment ago:

To paraphrase the Viscount of Alamein, "Congratulate the lady on her perspicacity".; 3/24/11, 2:01 PM
PaulV said...: The threats of those associated with the Madison protests are well as anger expressed against anyone on the other side is not peaceful.
The tea party was fathered by Pork Buster Movement that arose in 2008 when Bush was POTUS. More against wasteful spending than pro Republican.; 3/24/11, 2:27 PM
Phil 314 said...: Word of the day:

prescience

And I have to agree with Kent, Robert Wright has facial expressions best suited for radio. (Has anyone clued him into that fact?); 3/24/11, 2:30 PM
The Crack Emcee said...: I think being brave and honest has something to do with it, and you're just not going to get those qualities on the Left, where image is more important than integrity and selling out your (or someone else's) ideals are a given.

It's also why we get their women, too.; 3/24/11, 2:45 PM
shiloh said...: AA, you're funny by default 24/7.

solo estoy diciendo ...; 3/24/11, 4:34 PM
Jeremy said...: Shouting Dolt - "Quickly, the loons move in..."

Speaking of what is or is not "funny," your comment, especially based on that supreme leaders of the teabagger movement, Michelle Bachmann, calling anyone a "loon" is really hilarious.; 3/24/11, 5:00 PM
Jeremy said...: Florida Steve - You say the Tea Party movement is "organized locally??"

That's a crock.

The Koch brothers have poured millions into what you call a "grassroots" organization.

And of course, you can add Dick Armey and his Freedom Works into the mix, too.; 3/24/11, 5:04 PM
Anonymous said...: The Koch brothers have poured millions into what you call a "grassroots" organization.

And they killed off the dinosaurs, too. Is there anything they can't do?

I know you don't like to believe it, Jeremy, but a focus group/strategy meeting did not create the Tea Party. Participants weren't bused in and given preprinted signs. People weren't paid to show up. It was spontaneous in its invention (unlike the Coffee Party and every other dreamed-up-at-the-top wannabe group courtesy of some Democratic strategist). People were disgusted and they marched to show it. In the early days, there was equal contempt for spendthrift Democrats and Republicans. I drove 10 hours to Washington, DC on my own dime to make sure I was there and my voice was heard. I have yet to get my check or my mileage reimbursement or even a lousy pre-printed sign. All you have to do is look at the scores of grass roots leaders, find out what they were doing the year before, and realize the grassroots nature of what happened. They weren't union hacks, or Koch hacks (or Kossacks), or politicos. They were simply people fed up with the direction things were going.; 3/24/11, 6:22 PM
The Crack Emcee said...: Jeremy's such an idiot.

The Left's very own trained seal.; 3/24/11, 6:53 PM
bagoh20 said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 3/24/11, 7:25 PM
bagoh20 said...: Althouse, I think you were right about one of the main reasons for the left's dislike for the Tea Party, but as with most things, the left confuses the appearance of a protest with the substance. What are the things being protested, and what are the values of the protesters? This is what is different and what matters. And in that way there is no comparison.

They are, in fact, on opposite sides of a giant purse snatching. The lesson for the owners of the purse is that it is much easier to keep hold of your purse than to chase down the snatchers after they get it.; 3/24/11, 7:28 PM
The Crack Emcee said...: Jeremy,

The Koch brothers have poured millions into what you call a "grassroots" organization.

Awww, you just mad they don't poor more money into the Left, aren't you?

Maybe if you jackasses acted more like thinking people they would.; 3/24/11, 8:19 PM
Shawn Levasseur said...: Well, this is about as close to a Tea Party emulation as we've seen from the left so far.

At least protesters showed up, unlike other overhyped astroturf efforts which were ill attended.; 3/24/11, 9:08 PM
traditionalguy said...: You should quit giving the dull minded union supporters ideas. They are reading Althouse now to get an intelligent way to see things. Next time suggest to the protestors that they need to show their commitment to the union by walking out into Lake Mendota until the drown as martyrs for the cause. Meade can then get a video the next day showing their best and brightest clinging to signs as they go down for the third time.; 3/24/11, 10:55 PM
sarge said...: "Participants weren't bused in and given preprinted signs."

"and definetly not bused in from virginia..."

hahaha sarge here now the quickist way to shut up a teaparty countr protestr 4 weaks ago in madison was to say doood look at your teef at which point toofless virginy bussed in teabaggers would instinktivly shut thar crank rotted gappers in shame bahahahaha; 3/24/11, 11:19 PM
AlphaLiberal said...: Ann's towering wisdom on the protests of her lesser neighbor are highly regarded.; 3/25/11, 12:11 AM
kent said...: Ann's towering wisdom on the protests of her lesser neighbor are highly regarded.

Ah... SadlyNo.com: the site for internet trolls who aren't quite skilled or clever enough to get around safely on 4Chan. A revealing choice, that.; 3/25/11, 2:15 AM
shiloh said...: highly regarded indeed ...

Please visit our shores, Meade! And to sweeten the deal, we’ve cooked up some cool new merchandising ideas for Ann’s blog that we offer free of charge (seeing as how there’s some kind of charity thing going on over there right now).

Did I mention AA's blog has achieved self-parody status. ;)

And the comment section at "Sadly, No" is ever so more entertaining than here as I may have to relocate. Regrettable, but true lol.

Less talk of man jacking, there sir! Queen Ann will not visit if we get all squidgey on it

Ann’s gonna get all bent out of shape when she sees those stick figures.

Oh awesome – now there’s video up of the Hector of Madison and his hypersensitive Helen picking a fight with some randoms who were watching Meade tend to the Hans Christian Heg statue for the eleventy-billionth time (Sisyphean task if you ask me) … the hilarious part being that these two protesters ACTUALLY FUCKING AGREE with Manservant Hecubus and Milady on the HCH statue graffiti being bad, but MH and AA just have to keep prodding them until one says ‘teabagger’ so that Meade can get all aggro and go deep temple-vein thrombosis on the poor schmuck for AA’s blogging pleasure.

The Lamest

Ann and Meade make a Post-Modernist what?

Well, this is a bummer. Wake up to an Althouse thread, and everyone’s talking fighter planes.

Or more accurately everything but Ann.

Who is this “Meade” of whom you speak, and why does he keep sexting me?

I’m really fairly disappointed that Meade isn’t over here already defending his Fair Drunken Lady. Is he a coward?

Sigh. Unfortunately the LGM banning necessarily deletes all of Meade’s old comments (it’s a software thing, I guess). But if it hadn’t I could post a link demonstrating why your characterization of AltMeade sex is unfair. According to Meade they are quite active and adventerous and assfuck.
~~~~~

ok, let's end on a high note ...

AA remember there's no such thing as bad publicity.

>

One for the road:

Ann is a tedious dupe. A shill who doesn’t even get paid. She sells the alleged dignity of her position as a law professor to promote the ideas that make the world worse not just for others but for herself too. Has she ever met a bad idea she didn’t wholeheartedly endorse?

What’s the payoff? The people on whose behalf she shills sure don’t respect her. Her audience of slack jawed mouth breathers and toadying lickspittles do her no credit. It is just that she gets a soapbox to vent her vindictive fantasies into an echo chamber?; 3/25/11, 2:34 AM
kent said...: ME: "SadlyNo.com: the site for internet trolls who aren't quite skilled or clever enough to get around safely on 4Chan. A revealing choice, that."

TROLL: "And the comment section at "Sadly, No" is ever so more entertaining than here [...]"

Ta-dah.; 3/25/11, 2:46 AM
shiloh said...: Again kent, as long as you are payin' attention to every word I post.

btw, speaking of sarcasm and AA becoming too easy to make fun of ~ another comment:

Althouse is a goldmine of snark. I am truly grateful for her existence.

Indeed, maybe snl will do a parody skit re: AA and her tagalong hence, ergo, therefore reaching celebrity status like mama grizzly.

Or not.; 3/25/11, 2:58 AM
kent said...: [...] as long as you are payin' attention to every word I post.

If that's your particular masturbatory fantasy of choice, kiddo: whack away, and merrily.

I'll just stand way over here, and not watch.; 3/25/11, 4:09 AM
shiloh said...: AA, many of your conservative lemmings have a self-love fetish, obsession/fixation as you truly are their Pied Piper ...; 3/25/11, 4:22 AM
shiloh said...: hmm, posting:

According to Meade they are quite active and adventurous and assfuck.

was a real buzzkill in this thread.

Go figure!

AA's tagalong bragging about anal sex! :o

TMI lol; 3/25/11, 11:55 PM