Anger management, community service for anti-health care reform Miamian who assaulted pro-HCR man

I understand disagreeing with people. I do it all the time. But why is it that the unfettered anger, the hatred and disdain that causes one to react physically and violently, seems to be a nearly exclusive characteristic of the Right?

We've seen it in the "Teabaggers' Balls" (wait, that came out wrong....) and we've seen it at the health care town halls. One of these in particular resulted in criminal charges in Miami, but as Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) reported today on Twitter, the wingnut offender is getting off with a slap on the wrist.

A Miami-Dade man who punched a demonstrator at a healthcare reform rally has reached a plea deal with prosecutors and will take anger management courses and serve 50 hours of community service as part of his punishment.

Raul Anasagasti, 56, is scheduled to appear in Miami-Dade Circuit Court Thursday. He agreed to the conditions of a pretrial intervention program.

Back in September, Anasagasti punched a 65-year-old man in the face after a heated exchange.

Police said Luis Perrero was attending the rally outside the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce, headlined by [Sen. Nelson], when Anasagasti, driving by in his green pickup, stopped and began arguing with the crowd.

When Perrero uttered an offensive Spanish expletive, Anasagasti punched him in the face, knocking him to the ground.

Okay, maybe Mr. Perrero shouldn't have called Mr. Anasagasti a name. But words never justify physical violence, and there's no exception here. Maybe the anger management classes will help Mr. Anasagasti learn to control his temper and even see how the right-wing messages in which he no doubt immerses himself from Fox News and the like are driving him to such displays of anger and hate.

But I'm not getting my hopes up.

Teabagger hate splinters GOP

As has been well-chronicled here and elsewhere, last April in Pensacola I witnessed the Tea Party (or "teabagger") movement firsthand, up close and personal. Although it was clear that the teabaggers' denials of opposition to President Obama and their insistence that they were "nonpartisan" were utter bullshit, I never really experienced "hatred," at least beyond a few boos once the mouth-breathers figured out what I was up to.

That's beginning to change, though, and more and more, teabaggers are revealing their true colors: hate, anger, racism, and lies. Nowhere has this been more evident than in Chicago last month, where Midge and Dan Hough sought to tell Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-Ill.) the tragic story of their daughter-in-law, Jenny.

Jenny was a healthy 24-year-old pregnant mother this summer. Now she was dead, along with her unborn child, both symbols of the failure of our country's healthcare system.

But when Midge told the story to the people gathered at the town hall meeting, she was jeered, mocked and laughed at. They didn't believe her, or didn't care. Midge still told Jenny's story, and her bravery shines in a YouTube video of the event, which now clocks in at well over 100,000 views and functions as a symbol of what the tea party movement has become.

[...]

The organizer of a splinter group called the Chicago Tea Party Patriots, Catherina Wojtowicz, insisted that the story was a fake, calling the couple "Obama operatives" in an e-mail. Even after a local paper verified Jenny's story, she hounded the Houghs with hateful e-mails and insisted that their story was an "isolated incident" that shouldn't have any bearing on the healthcare debate.

Midge said she "tried to appeal to her in those ugly, ugly e-mails."

"Could she understand that we were grieving?" Midge recalled asking in one e-mail exchange with Wojtowicz. "She laughed in the e-mail. She said she didn't think they were hard enough on me" at the Lipinski town hall meeting.

After Keith Olbermann featured Catherina Wojtowicz as his "Worst Person" in a regular segment of his show Countdown, the segment showed up on the Tea Party Patriots' Web site under the headline "Catherina Wojtowicz Earns Title."

"That actually sickens my stomach," Midge said when she heard about the promotion of the video. In her next breath, however, she said she wasn't exactly surprised.

"I've never seen so much hate in one room in my whole life," she said. Wistfully, she added, "I wish that they had Jenny's memorial video up there."

Though these fringe tea party activists are using Jenny's story to promote themselves, it doesn't make the Houghs second-guess their decision to bring attention to them. They say they're glad that they can show "people on the fence" about healthcare just how "radical" and "unhinged" the tea party groups can be.

"If my hurting accomplishes that, I'm OK with it," Midge said.

Though the Internet has brought threatening e-mails, angry comments and viewers flagging their videos about Jenny as "fake" on YouTube, it has also rallied support for the Houghs. Along with the education and advocacy efforts of the Illinois Campaign for Better Health Care and publicity for Jenny's story provided by Women's International News, Midge spoke of the "angels on Twitter" who have helped connect them to others active in the healthcare reform effort.

Furthermore, the same anonymity that allows hateful comments to spew forth more easily also provided the Houghs with their own silent partner. Someone anonymously created a Web site at CatherinaWojtowicz.com that highlights how the Tea Party Patriots' spokesperson has attacked the Houghs and others who don't share her view of reality. The site has no proprietary information, except that the owner is offering the URL up for auction, with the proceeds of the URL sale destined for the National Association of Free Clinics.

Not only do the teabaggers apparently feel no compassion or remorse (making them, I'm forced to point out, something less than human), they even think the Republican Party has abandoned them -- even though the GOP has flung itself farther to the right than any sensible observer could have imagined. More often than not, teabaggers are putting up their own candidates from the fringe right to challenge mainstream GOP nominees -- where, in a clear indication that the electorate sees right through the charade, the teabaggers are suffering ignominious defeats. But they go on defiantly: indeed, right here in Florida, the teabaggers actually have registered their own political party, bastardizing the Declaration of Independence in the process. (At least the forked tongue on its logo, above right, is appropriate.)

No one is (or should be) denying that these people have a right to air their opinions. But when their positions rival those of neo-Nazis and avowed racists in their vile hatred, one has to question the societal value, or even relevance, of those positions. But the silver lining, if there is one, must be that they're going to immolate themselves in their extremist values, and likely take the Republican Party as we know it (or knew it) with them.

Blast Off! Radio today at 4:00 pm EST: It's not dead yet!

I know it's been a while since Blast Off! Radio graced the airwaves -- hardly a fitting status for the winner of the 2009 Florida Netroots Award for Best Online Radio Show. But sometimes life gets in the way, and November included a household move, two lengthy journeys, and a family holiday for me. Therefore, I just decided to ice the whole month and start afresh in December. Which brings us to today....

The show returns today with a bang as we review some of the key political developments of the month of November in Florida and nationally, including the ongoing, never-ending, perpetual health care debate in Washington, the continued fall of the Republican Party, and the related refusal of the wingnutty tea party movement to hang its head as it justifiably should and fade meekly away. We'll also talk about what it's like to endure a wingnut family over the holidays, as I had to do once again this year. I'm looking for lots of input from that one, as I'm sure many of you are in the same boat....

Since it's been a few weeks, perhaps you need a friendly reminder of just how easy it is to join me on Blast Off! Radio -- really, you're just a click away:

TIME: 4:00 pm Eastern TODAY

Click here to listen

Call in number: (646) 716-7543

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So I hope you'll help me celebrate the triumphant momentous long-awaited barely tolerable return of Blast Off! Radio this afternoon. Just don't bop the show in the head, okay?

UPDATE (3:45 pm 12/7/09): Crap. Just realized I had put up the wrong "listen" link above. Should be fixed now. Sorry.

More stupid from The Land That Time Forgot

Yeah, I'll be talking about the rise of The Stupid in America on Blast Off! Radio tonight, but just to whet your appetite, I found some choice examples in (unsurprisingly) the Northwest Florida Daily News, and specifically the letters to the editor there. The NFDN, which touts itself as "A Freedom Newspaper," proudly proclaims its batshit-crazy wingnuttery ... but, to give credit where credit is due, at least they know their audience.

Two members of that audience had letters published in today's paper. In the first, titled "Race isn't an issue," Patti Thornhill of Crestview argues that if we claim that the ubiquitous (but poorly attended) tea parties are racist because the protesters aren't taking Drunky McStagger to task, well, then we're all wet.

I resent the insinuation of the letter writer (“Late to the party,” Sept. 19) who wondered where the tea party patriots were during the Bush administration. He wrote: “What kind of people are you? I think I know.” If he is implying we’re racists, he is deeply wrong and should apologize.

The fact is, many signs at the D.C. protest denounced George W. Bush as well, including a couple of him with the infamous Joker makeup. I know. I was there.

I assume Ms. Thornhill is referring to the 9/12 fisting party Beckgasm protests in Washington, which she presumably attended. Well, I wasn't there myself (although I had to laugh this weekend when a friend of a friend, who also wasn't there, swore that 1.7 million people attended, rather than the 70,000 reported by D.C. authorities ... if there were that many, why weren't roads and the Metro jammed beyond capacity ... like, say, at the Obama inauguration?), but I did search the Internets for pictures from tea parties criticizing Drunky and -- guess what? -- I couldn't find any. Sure, there may have been one or two ... even "many" (which I guess would be, what, five?) ... but (a) I doubt there were any at all and (b) even if they were, that doesn't negate the inference that most teabaggers are just mad that there's a Scary Black Man in the White House. I mean, how dumb do you have to be to think that a few isolated signs that you can't even prove exist would support the argument that most teabaggers are NOT racists? Ah, wingnut logic ...

Unfortunately, the second letter I want to share with you, titled "A lazy majority" and written (I use that term loosely) by one William J. Roberts of Fort Walton Beach, isn't available online. But I'll transcribe for your entertainment just the opening paragraph, so you get a taste of the kind of stupid on display here:

The writer of "It's not an option" (letter, Sept. 13) wrote that because the Declaration of Independence delineates the right to enjoy life/health, there exists a right to health care. Why, then, aren't food, clothing, shelter and transportation rights? Surely there are more immediate requisites as one pursues liberty and happiness.

Well, Mr. Roberts, let me answer your question as simply as I can: health care is critical to life and must be provided to people by others, unlike food, clothing, shelter, and transportation. Food? You can grow your own, hunt, whatever ... clothing -- not necessary to life ... shelter -- again, create your own ... transportation -- also not necessary to life. Jeebus, is it that difficult to figure out? You selfish bastards are so bent on refusing to help your fellow man (didn't I read something about that in the Bible?) that you have to do these logical contortions just to preserve your twisted, insurance-company-enriching status quo. This kind of stupid makes my head hurt.

Besides, we don't look to the Declaration of Independence for any of our rights. Those come from the U.S. Constitution, which provides that the federal government should "promote the general welfare" ... and that undoubtedly includes health care, particularly for those who cannot secure it themselves.

But, you know, I should learn not to argue facts and logic with radical rightists. They'll never learn.

(More to come on tonight's Blast Off! Radio at 7pm Eastern.)

Billionaires for Wealthcare

More superb satire from the folks who brought us "Billionaire$ for Bu$h."

By the way, I seem to remember someone else reminding the teabaggers that they consistently were voting against their own interest ...

I never made the connection

I'm being facetious with that title, of course. The connection is obvious to anyone with half a brain ... because everyone involved clearly has less than half a brain.

I'm talking about the organized shout-downs at national town hall meetings led by members of Congress and others regarding the health care debate. Indeed, the primary objective of these people is to prevent debate, not to make their own positions known -- and they're the same people who have organized that ridiculous, hypocritical "tea party" movement (in which I've played a bit part for the opposition).

It's critical to uncover this movement and reveal it for what it is -- a sham intended only to disrupt -- because, naturally, the right-wing corporate media is reporting it as a legitimate form of protest.

“Teabaggers” refers to the fact that many of the groups behind the manipulated chaos are the same outfits that staged the phony grassroots “Tea Party” tax protests earlier this year. Then, as now, Fox News and other right-wing media outfits are trying to portray the actions as genuine revolts. Many of staged tax “protest” events drew just a handful of people, but closeup camera angles and breathless, fawning coverage seriously exaggerated the scope of the protests.

But now, they are armed with a battle guide from the anti-government group Right Principles that tells them to disrupt meetings “early and often….Watch for opportunities to stand up and shout…rock the boat…stand up and shout.” They are being encouraged by a growing number of health care reform opponents, including Republican leaders trying to kill President Obama’s reform initiatives.

The main goal of these disrupters is to kill health care reform, not debate it, not refine it, not find a middle ground, just kill it. (For a more detailed look, check “Swiftboating Town Halls” at The Progress Report.)

I've been saying it here and elsewhere for years: the Right can't win on the issues, so they use disruption and misstatements to try to derail sensible discourse. Moreover, the protests from the Right have an increasingly frightening tendency to become violent, far more than the Left ever does:

As Think Progress reported last week, these disruptive tactics have been used at a growing number of meetings and forums.

This growing phenomenon is often marked by violence and absurdity. Recently, right-wing demonstrators hung Rep. Frank Kratovil (D-Md.) in effigy outside of his office. Missing from the reporting of these stories is the fact that much of these protests are coordinated by public relations firms and lobbyists who have a stake in opposing President Obama’s reforms.

The lobbyist-run groups Americans for Prosperity and FreedomWorks, which orchestrated the anti-Obama tea parties earlier this year, are now pursuing an aggressive strategy to create an image of mass public opposition to health care and clean energy reform.

The union movement has always supported free speech rights and the right to demonstrate and picket. But that’s not what these disruptions are about—they are crude and anti-democratic efforts to silence speakers, elected officials, in fact, in meetings with constituents—and intimidate people’s exercise of associational rights.

I've heard voices from the Right say they have a First Amendment right to protest at these town halls. That may be -- but it is possible to go too far.

The First Amendment does give Americans the right to express themselves as they see fit, but there are limits to free speech. Speech constitutionally can be restricted to appropriate times, places, and manners, but more to the point, speech or expressive behavior that is intended not to communicate a position but rather to prevent another opinion or position from being communicated constitutionally can be restricted. You see that all the time when, for example, Code Pink protestors are hustled out of congressional hearings where they are protesting. Their ejection is not premised, constitutionally, on the theory that they don't have a right to protest; rather, it's that, from a legal standpoint, they are doing so in an impermissible time, place, or manner. Same thing with these anti-health care mobs.

You see, there really is a difference between protestors from the Right and protestors from the Left. Before you wingnuts go on about Code Pink and other protestors from the Left, stop and think how the media is complicit in protesting. If we actually had a "liberal media," presumably they would report on Code Pink (for example) protests as though they represented the prevailing viewpoint, just as they've done with those feeble "tea parties" and now the health care protest crazies, wouldn't they? I mean, the tea parties, which drew literally hundreds around the country, got exponentially more press coverage than did an anti-war protest in Washington in which I personally participated in 2007 along with tens of thousands of my closest friends ... some "liberal" media we've got.

Anyway, I digress ... I'm not saying we shouldn't have a healthy, fact-based discourse about health care in this country. But I am saying that the Right's organized efforts to disrupt town hall meetings, like the tea parties, merely demonstrate their collective inability to support their position with anything other than hate, violence, and fear.

Your "liberal" media in action

I have one simple question: what the high holy fuck is wrong with the Pensacola News Journal?

Take a look at this front-page article in today's PNJ. (I've highlighted the problematic parts to help any wingnuts slower folks who may read this.)


Never mind the ludicrously disproportionate coverage, giving valuable front page column inches to a handful of know-nothing douchebags who can't even spell properly. How can they say "hundreds" in the headline, then immediately contradict that with "About 60" in the lede of the story? Well, I'll answer my own question: they can do that because, like all Gannett papers and most other mainstream corporate news outlets in the United States, they're nothing but shills for the GOP and, more generally, the right-wing. I read the article in vain to see if "hundreds" referred to people around the country, or in Florida, or somewhere other than Pensacola ... but there was no such language. This was either a massive fuck-up or an egregious show of right-wing bias. Either way, it's further proof that the mainstream media's credibility is approaching zero.

Then again, maybe it's a simple editing error ... but if so, that raises the question: do you think they prepared the headline in advance, expecting "hundreds" of teabaggers to appear? It would be irresponsible not to speculate ...

Oh, and one other thing, Travis Griggs -- I was there when you were there; I saw you taking pictures and presumably gathering information for your story. I counted about 30 teabaggers present, and I'd even be willing to say 40 if pressed, based on photographic evidence. Where did you come up with 60? Maybe that was just wishful thinking?

It's tough to be a liberal these days when you're fighting not only the whackjob conservatives who have such unwarranted power in government (given their dwindling numbers), but also the media responsible for reporting on them.

Tea Party II: Predictably, racism and hate carry the day

One word to describe the latest Teabaggers' Ball here in Pensacola: FAIL.

This wasn't an event so much as a sign-waving exercise in political masturbation. Scheduled for noon until 2:00 pm at a major intersection in the north part of town, it wasn't anything like the first "tea party," back on April 15. For one thing, they didn't have an open mic like last time ...

Instead, what it amounted to was about 30 people or so with nothing better to do on the Memorial Day holiday than stand on a street corner and wave signs. Oh, not just any signs: racist, hateful signs. I guess these friendless loners just need to be with their own kind ... mostly older, all white, and uniformly ignorant.

Anyway, remember how they said these tea parties were nonpartisan events intended to protest government spending? And I asked the logical question, well, if they were protesting government spending, why did they start protesting only when Barack Obama became president, rather than when Drunky McStagger was raising spending to unprecedented levels? My conclusion was that they actually were protesting the fact that a black man -- indeed, this black man -- is president. Indeed, today's event was no different.

(click on images for larger versions)

Here's a look at the massive pathetic crowd gathering of protestors loser teabaggers who showed up in Pensacola today. Other than a handful sitting or standing near their vehicles, parked off to the right in this picture, this was it.

This guy made a point of concealing his face with his handheld sign as I went to photograph the "Axis of Evil" sign. Originally, I just wanted to photograph that one, but since he was so obvious about hiding his identity, I went for the whole vignette.

Somewhere in Pensacola, an illiterate dumbshit woman can't spell "ITS." And, no, that's not the least bit racist, is it? This sign is totally appropriate for a nonpartisan protest against government spending. Totally.

Another sampling of signs. Again, it's totally appropriate and justifiable at a nonpartisan protest against government spending to have a sign demanding to see a "birth certificate" (at left). Nope, they're not racist, obsessive Obama-haters. Not at all.

I cordially invite all the teabaggers to just come right out and admit that these protests are directed against President Obama and, in particular, the fact that he is not white. These admissions can start with John W. Baker, who gave me his business card calling himself "Tea Party Organizer" for an organization called "Pensacola Patriots" and invited me to join them at the next tea party on July 4. (No, he didn't know who I was, although he suggested I "save [my] film" and check out the pictures on their website. Guess he's never heard of digital cameras ...)

Which reminds me: what's truly sad is that these losers chose Memorial Day, of all days, to conduct a ridiculous, illogical, meaningless protest against the government that some of them fought -- and some of their loved ones, I expect, died -- to preserve. Way to shit all over their memories, teabaggers. And they call themselves "patriots" ... which is laughable.

We get e-mail

Stopped by the latest Pensacola Tea Party -- I'll have pictures and commentary up soon, although I don't know whether I'll have time to do so before today's Blast Off! Radio [see update below] pictures and commentary here -- and I sent one little tweet about it:

Back from local #teaparty. Took some pics, which I'll post soon. Only ~30 ppl w/signs. No open mic like last time: http://tinyurl.com/cfterk

Using the hashtag "#teaparty" must have aroused some ire among the idiots, because here's the email I received in response:

you are dumb. sincerily. rebecca

I've omitted Rebecca's last name out of sympathy for her stupidity. Incidentally, Rebecca's email address shows two other names, Steve and Cori, neither of whose last name matches Rebecca's, suggesting that her cowardice is equivalent to her ignorance. Clearly, teabaggers can't spell, which isn't so surprising, given that they can't think, either.

This, folks, is what we're battling. And people ask me why Republicans oppose education ...

UPDATE (2:16 pm 5/25/09): Nah, I won't get to that tea party post before the show. Check back early evening ... thanks!

UPDATE (5:33 pm 5/25/09): Pictures and commentary from today's Teabaggers' Ball are here, posted above (including further proof that teabaggers can't spell).

Blast Off! Radio today at 4:00 pm EDT: In remembrance

It is, I think, difficult to strike the appropriate tone for a webradio show on Memorial Day that is at once unabashedly snarky, generally pacifist, nearly always irreverent, and proudly hyper-liberal. But I firmly believe, contrary to the opinions of some who criticized me after the Pensacola Tea Party last month (and others), that it is possible to oppose current military actions while still honoring the service, courage, and sacrifice of our men and women in the military, past and present. In short, it is not the fault of the servicemembers that our armed forces were sent into wars that were misguided, unnecessary, and illegal, nor is it their fault that those undeclared wars continue today even after the schemers and criminals who sent them into battle have left office.

And so, on an at-least-partially-military-themed edition of Blast Off! Radio today, we will take time to recognize and express gratitude for those who serve in the American military, but also will express sorrow and, quite likely, indignation as well that they still are being put into harm's way for reasons that are unjustifiable under U.S. and international law. In addition, we will talk about the "don't ask, don't tell" policy, later codified into federal law, that enshrines open discrimination against the GLBT community into American jurisprudence, and we'll talk about how on this very day, some northwest Florida wingnuts, by inaccurately and irresponsibly protesting the federal government, are trashing the memories of those who gave their lives to protect that government.

There are some non-military topics to discuss as well, of course, including the Florida political scene as it comes into focus for the 2010 elections and how Greater Wingnuttia is getting even more unhinged (if that's even possible) over topics like prayer in public schools, federal stimulus money, and the so-called "debate" over torture.

As always, though, the show relies on you, the listener, to really make it work. Your calls, chats, and emails are the lifeblood of Blast Off! Radio ... and it's so easy to be a part of it, why wouldn't you join in? Here's how to do it:

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I sincerely hope we'll avoid the technical difficulties that marred the end of last week's show ... so please make a point of spending one meager hour of this patriotic holiday exercising your right to free speech through Blast Off! Radio!

Tea Party II: Emetic Boogaloo

Sure, they have no substance, no traction, and this time, no publicity to speak of. Besides, I thought they were waiting till July 4, or maybe September 12, to crawl back out from under their rocks. But it turns out the Teabaggers' Balls are still swinging along.

I am so ignorant. So very, very ignorant. When I launched this blog about a week before the April 15 nationwide teabagging extravaganza, I thought it wouldn’t last the month. I thought when the (tea) party was over, the Paultards, secessionists, TCOTites, Santellianos, etc would all go scurrying back into their burrows and find some other shiny object to amuse themselves with.

I was so, so wrong.

Stephanie at Teablogging goes on to list a number of additional "tea parties" planned for across the country ... and right there on that list is my very own temporary hometown, Pensacola, Fla.! Yes, apparently there's another one of these futile demonstrations right here in America's Taint™ on May 25, which is ... next Monday. (Hmmm ... live broadcast of Blast Off! Radio? Heh heh ...)

I wonder if they remember their last tea party? Evidently they didn't learn their lesson last time. Or maybe they did: what are the odds they'll do "open mic nite" this time? Stay tuned for next Monday ...

UPDATE (9:22 am 5/19/09): In case it's not clear, I'm not saying I'm actually going to attend this new Pensacola tea party. I mean, what's the point? On Memorial Day, I'd rather be hanging out at the beach with Miss July or enjoying the holiday elsewhere (or preparing my bar exam application -- ugh!) than watch a bunch of ignoramuses protesting something that (1) they don't understand, and (2) doesn't even affect the vast majority of them.

Besides, if they draw as many as 20 attendees, I'll be surprised.

Grading the mainstream corporate media

Well, the test results are in. Friday, marches were held across the country to urge President Obama administration to adhere to his campaign promise to reform immigration policy in America, and the marches were forecast to draw attendees comparable on a nationwide level to those ludicrous, hate-filled "tea parties" on April 15. As I suggested, the mainstream corporate media had a chance this weekend to demonstrate just how "fair and balanced" they (allegedly) are by covering these "liberal" marches to an extent equivalent to how they drooled all over themselves promoting and reporting from the "conservative" tea parties.

So, how'd they do? Well, about as well as one would expect from a "Fourth Estate" that is securely suckling at the teat of the Republican Party.

That's not to say there was no coverage at all. Here in America's Wang™, for example, one of the state's leading newspapers, the Orlando Sentinel, took the bold step of publishing an Associated Press pool piece about the marches ... although to their credit there also was an article about the Orlando march that drew about 125, well below the estimated 20,000 who attended in 2006.

Meanwhile, the Naples Daily News provided local coverage of a march in Immokalee that, like the aforementioned AP article, focused less on the message of the marches than on the supposed cause for their "disappointing" attendance: the swine flu scare.

And although organizers didn’t expect to see numbers quite like those of the 2006 marches, they were disappointed when just over 100 people attended the Immokalee event.

The event’s timing was not the best, organizers admitted, as health officials tried to clamp down on a swine flu epidemic.

For most rally organizers, swine flu was secondary to promoting immigration reform, including pathways to citizenship for an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants who have renewed hope buoyed by Barack Obama in the White House and a Democratic-controlled Congress.

But the swine flu scare took a toll, Hernandez said, especially when a second case was confirmed in Lee County.

“I think that the people got scared,” Hernandez said after the event adding that she would have cancelled the event had she known of the second case earlier in the day.

Attendance of over 100 in Immokalee, 2,000 in Washington, D.C., and similar crowds elsewhere (2,000 in Chicago, a "large" but undefined gathering in Milwaukee, about 1,000 in San Jose, even 400 in Greeley, Colo.) might suggest -- even in light of the lower numbers allegedly due to the swine flu scare -- that this was a major undertaking whose total attendance rivaled estimates of the national "tea party" turnout. But, naturally, other than a handful of patronizing articles about how fewer people marched this year than in the past (due in part, it was supposed, not so much to swine flu as to fears of arrest and deportation or "lost hope" in the immigration-reform movement), the media chose to ignore it.

Heckuva job, mainstream corporate media. Thanks for reminding us once again how much you're in the pocket of the right wing in this country.

Test day for the mainstream corporate media

Well, class, I hope you've been studying hard, because today you have a chance to show some evidence that you folks in the mainstream corporate media are not just shills for the Republican Party in America. Yes, today you can show the country that you'll cover newsworthy events with comparable attendance and impact in the same way regardless of whether they're organized by the Right or the Left.

Remember last week I notified you that you'd have a chance to redeem yourselves somewhat by covering today's immigration marches with the same fervor and allocation of resources with which you slobbered all over those essentially meaningless (but wingnut-approved) "tea parties" on April 15? Well, today's the big day -- are you ready?

Judging by the preliminary test results, I'd have to say no fucking way. While admittedly I haven't checked every news outlet, I've only seen one report regarding today's immigration marches, specifically pertaining to the march in Immokalee, Fla. (and that one focuses largely on the impact of the swine flu scare on these events). Of course, one certainly didn't need to monitor every news source in order to be inundated with reminders, coverage, and analysis of the Teabaggers' Balls a couple of weeks ago ... but maybe it's just early in the day and those marches, which drew upwards of 1 million in 2006, will get the kind of coverage their national attendance -- possibly dwarfing that of the tea parties -- deserves. Right?

Then again, maybe we'll just get more confirmation that the American press is in the tank for the Right. Call me skeptical, but I'm not holding my breath for comparable coverage ...

Blast Off! Radio today at 4:00 pm EDT: A week of firsts

First same-sex marriage in Iowa. First protest arrests of members of Congress in years. And Yours Truly receives the very first Asshat of the Month award.

Yes, indeed, it's been a week of firsts. Today, Blast Off! Radio returns to its regular time slot to commemorate those firsts and more. We'll talk about the so-called "liberal media" and what an unbelievable misnomer that is, with further proof undoubtedly coming later this week with protests from the Left that promise to rival the Teabaggers' Balls, but with (I predict) virtually no MSM coverage. Plus, more discussion on the continued takeover of Florida by fundamentalist Christian whackjobs, an examination of the real motives of the Republican Party, and a wrap-up of the teabag madness with a look ahead to their next salvo: fisting?!

All that plus your phone calls, emails, and chatting ... and it couldn't be easier to listen and participate:

TIME: 4:00 pm Eastern TODAY

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It promises to be yet another wild ride on Blast Off! Radio. Hope you'll join me later this afternoon ...

(cross-posted at FPC Blog)

From teabagging to fisting

Just when you think the Right can't get any more ignorant, they prove you oh so wrong.

Tengrain at Mock, Paper, Scissors brings the latest wingnut mass psychosexual fantasy into stark reality for us. Particularly in light of the recent Teabaggers' Balls, well, the imagery is startling. As Tengrain says, "Yes, this [at right] is the actual and official logo for the next anti-tax event the mouth-breathers are planning."

Now, sure, the wingnuts might not have considered the sexual connotation of "fisting" when they came up with this logo. But, then, they obviously didn't think about the meaning of "teabagging," either, even going so far as to identify their activities with that word; that is, "teabagging" wasn't just a pejorative, snarky description laid on them by us DFHs. Nope, I think they're just that ignorant.

But the ignorance doesn't stop there. Indeed, amidst all the rhetoric from the Right about how President Obama is turning the country to socialism and comparing him to Lenin and Stalin and all that, you'd think these folks might be a little sensitive to the feelings evoked by a red raised fist. Not understanding what I mean, Mr./Ms. Wingnut? Here, let me make it as simple -- and visual -- as possible:




I'd like to think these delusional "9/12" wingnuts were just being ironic ... but I don't think they deserve that much credit.

One more, last, final radio gig

... well, other than my own show on Mondays, I mean.

But I'll be a guest on the Mark Weaver Show this morning around 10:00 am Eastern. Mark's show, part of the Florida Progressive Radio Network (along with my show, Blast Off! Radio), can be heard here from 9:00 to 11:00 am Eastern on Saturdays.

Yeah, we'll be talking teabagging, but knowing Mark, we're pretty certain to cover a wide range of issues. Hope you'll check it out -- the Mark Weaver Show on Florida Progressive Radio, later this morning.

UPDATE (10:06 am 4/25/09): The podcast is available at your convenience for listening. The whole show is interesting; my guest spot begins about 1:15 into it.

Catch me on the radio today at 4:30 pm Central

Just a quick note for anyone interested that I'll be a guest on the "No Bull Bert Show" on 1330AM WEBY this afternoon at 4:30 pm Central (5:30 Eastern; the rest of you can figure it out yourselves ;) ).

If you're not in the greater Pensacola-Mobile area, you can listen live to the online stream of the show. Don't know whether or not it'll be available later as a podcast ...

I'll be joining Bert to discuss the recent Teabaggers' Balls and the hubbub I seem to have caused in Pensacola. Hope you'll listen, and I believe Bert will be giving folks an opportunity to call in as well.

It's a Major Award!

Ohmygosh ohmygosh ohmyGOSH! I just don't know what to say! I mean, I didn't prepare an acceptance speech for being the very first Asshat of the Month over at MilitaryPundits.com -- I mean, with so many asshats out there, I never thought I had a chance! -- but here goes anyway:

Oh! I'm so out of breath ... just tell the orchestra to wait a minute, okay? I have a lot of people to thank ...

First of all, thank you Mom and Dad and my whole family. Your hyper-conservative views caused me to open my mind up in college and see the truth and learn the facts and ... well, you know, just thank you. You really made all this possible. Oh, um ... thank you, Miss July -- as always, you are the wind beneath my wings! Thank you to my beautiful children, Jr. and Jrette., just for being you.

Let's see ... I'm so flustered! *giggle* Thank you, Wes Flinn, my blogfather, for getting me started on this silly blog thing that ultimately led to me being named -- wow! -- Asshat of the Month! Of course, thank you, Al Gore, for inventing the Internet and blogs and computers and electricity ... thanks to Keith Olbermann for putting my video on your show -- you're the greatest, Keith! EEEEEEEEEK! Thanks to Troy and Jeremy the microphone guy and all you teabaggers in Pensacola and everywhere for helping this dream become a reality!

Who am I forgetting? OH! Thank you, MilitaryPundits.com for bestowing this AMAZING honor on me! I'll always be the very first Asshat of the Month! I'm so proud and excited ... wow! And thank you especially to Andy "Brick" Wahl of MP. You, sir, are the visionary behind this, the producer, the director, the writer ... you took what started out a simple disagreement about political and economic issues and made it personal in your own special way ... YOU made this award happen, Andy! YOU came over to MY blog and insisted I'd planned the whole video thing even when I hadn't, and you just couldn't let go -- and I'm the lucky beneficiary of your thought and hard work! Thank you SO MUCH!!

Thanks to all the teabaggers -- oh, wait, I already said that! *giggle* Well, thanks to everyone in the wingnut blogosphere for continuing to support and prop up the crazed nutjobs who are making you obsolete! Teabags today, tossed salads tomorrow!

Oh, no, there's the orchestra -- you ninnies! Anyway, I just know I'm forgetting someone ... oh, thank you God, Buddha, Vishnu, the Flying Spaghetti Monster, and all you other AWESOME deities ... and thanks, President Obama, just because!

Thank you! Thank you all! I'll treasure this always!

Another test for the so-called "liberal" media

Earlier today I showed you yet another example of how the media's right-wing bias shows clearly, even in an article that ostensibly sets out to report something favorable about President Obama.

Well, they're going to have another chance May 1. And I'll bet I already know how it's going to turn out.

People in hundreds of cities across the United States will march next week to urge President Barack Obama to move ahead with promises of immigration and labor rights reform.

"The unified message [of the marches] is support for the Obama Administration in moving humane immigrant reform this year, an affirmation of the importance of immigrants to the U.S. economy, and challenging the failure of enforcement only policies under Bush that have created so much suffering and violations of civil, labor, and human rights," writes Voces de la Frontera, an immigrant rights group. The May 1 Nationwide Immigration and Labor Rights March is spearheaded by the U.S.-based Fair Immigration Reform Movement, a network of over 300 organizations.

A press release accompanying the article explains that in Milwaukee, where Voces de la Frontera is based, 70,000 people marched in similar demonstrations in 2006 and 2007, although the press release is unclear whether that's 70,000 each or in toto. Nevertheless, it is reasonable to predict, I think, that if a march in Milwaukee draws even 35,000, then there likely will be well over 200,000 -- estimating very conservatively -- in all the marches throughout the country. And that kind of attendance in turn will put it into the ballpark of -- you guessed it -- the Tea Parties' national turnout.

So if the immigration marches have numbers approaching those of the Teabaggers' Balls (the events, not the body parts), then surely they'll have nearly the same press coverage, right?

*crickets*

An open message to the teabaggers

Some people just can't let go, and so I'm not going to even read further personal attacks in Comments from stubborn folks who won't listen and who make amazingly illogical and unfounded assumptions. Those comments don't deserve my time or attention, frankly.

However, others are reading and telling me what's being said, so I'm going to say all of this One. Last. Time.

First, I went to the Pensacola Tea Party last Wednesday with the sole intention of observing, taking some pictures and videos (with my crappy camera), and posting those things on my blog. That's it. I certainly had no idea before the event that there was going to be an "open mic" there; only once I saw the "open mic" did I even entertain the notion of saying something. Nothing was planned in advance other than going and watching. I did not bring along a cameraman.

Even when I'd more or less decided that I wanted to say something, I wasn't going to have any record of it until a friend of mine, who'd arrived on his own with another friend, volunteered to film it. And I said, "Sure, why not?," thinking it would be fun to post to my blog. Period. I don't know how it spread beyond this blog, and I don't think it particularly matters. I reported on what I did, what I saw, and what I heard, and that's all there is to it.

As for my opinion, I did and do think the Tea Parties are ridiculous (in light of the tax cut that nearly everyone attending will be receiving); hypocritical (why weren't these happening during the Bush years?); highly partisan (sponsored and promoted by Fox News, locally organized by the Republican Club); and motivated largely, if not completely, by hatred of President Obama. I didn't originally say that the attendees there looked like asses, but if the shoe fits ...

And I've been quite vehemently called a "troll" by someone who wasn't there, who seems to believe that freedom of speech applies only when it's your speech, and who doesn't really seem to get the meaning of the term. While reasonable minds may differ on the definition, I rather like this one from the Urban Dictionary:

One who purposely and deliberately (that purpose usually being self-amusement) starts an argument in a manner which attacks others on a forum without in any way listening to the arguments proposed by his or her peers. He will spark of such an argument via the use of ad hominem attacks (i.e. 'you're nothing but a fanboy' is a popular phrase) with no substance or relevance to back them up as well as straw man arguments, which he uses to simply avoid addressing the essence of the issue.

Well, let's make a little checklist:

• Started an argument without listening to other arguments -- nope
• Engaged in ad hominem attacks -- no, unless you count the ones against me
• No substance or relevance -- no way; I had plenty of both, in the form of facts
• Straw man arguments to avoid the essence of the issue -- uh uh; I have done quite the opposite

Look: I don't have anything personally against any commenters or anyone who attended the Tea Parties. But at least have the decency to admit that, yeah, maybe you should have been doing these rallies for the last several years instead of just after President Obama took office; and figure out how to argue on the facts (as you see them) rather than resort to personal attacks. Attacking me personally only makes you look like you can't argue on the facts.

Besides, the tea parties are so last week ...

UPDATE (11:25 pm 4/22/09): Oh, almost forgot -- here are some of those facts to which I referred (click each image for larger version):


No, wingnuts, in this case, up is not down and down is not up:


Here's one from last year's presidential campaign that should help put things into perspective for even the simplest of minds:


That unfamiliar pain you're feeling right now, teabaggers? It's called "the truth." Yes, I know it hurts.

(Special thanks to (O)CT(O)PUS of The Swash Zone and the Deranged Leftwing Baker for supplying these terrific images.)