2009.06.30
Tuesday's column: Plans brewing for Independence Day 'Tea Party'
April 15th’s Tax Day Tea Party may be a distant memory for some. But Lee Carter is not among them.
The Roanoke businessman, who admits to more than a bit of anti-government fervor, is making plans to do it all over again later this week. So is Christy Bowles, a registered nurse.
Along with Chip Tarbutton, they’re planning what they hope will be a bigger and better Tea Party later this week.
They’re arranged for a sound system, this time, and a bigger space – Elmwood Park - for which they have secured permits. And a band. Carter says he’s hoping that as many as 2,000 people turn out for the afternoon/evening evening Tea Party redux.
The date and time is Saturday, July 4, Independence Day, from 3 to 7 p.m.
Read the rest of the column here:
And read about Reader Contest #3 here. You can win a prize......
There are proper channels to express dissatisfaction with elected officials, it's called "voting." As Jon Stewart recently said, teabaggers seem to be confusing dissent with losing.
Comment by Art Hill — June 30, 2009 @ 9:47 am
Whoa! What say you, Teabaggers? Are you going to take that?
Comment by Dan Casey — June 30, 2009 @ 1:36 pm
Sorry Dan...keep trying like a good little hack...there's a really cool quiz over on Lindsey's column that has people more enthralled than your hack-tics and tired, desperate pleas for hits. Quotes?...please...for lack of anything creative. Keep hacking away.
Hack.
Hack.
Hack.
Comment by Rick — June 30, 2009 @ 2:02 pm
Dissent is the Highest form of Patriotism
Comment by Henry — June 30, 2009 @ 2:11 pm
Just love all of these human robots that spit out quotes from comedians instead of using their own minds to think and reason. That's just what most of us will be doing July 4th when these Tea Parties take place all over the country (AGAIN). I'm sure there will be more to follow if the Looters keep stealing from the Producers in this country to make sure that life is fair and reasonable for all - including those that have no inkling of responsbilty to themselves and for themselves. Not on my dime! If Art and his ilk would pull themselves away from American Idol and Comedy Central for more than 2 minutes, maybe they could understand where a large portion of INFORMED American Citizens are talking about. (this includes Liberals & Conservatives). Maybe Art should attend! He may learn something - God forbid.
Comment by Walker — June 30, 2009 @ 2:28 pm
I'll be spending my holiday at a monastery, getting away from all things technological and modern. The protestors can continue to flap away all they want. Personally, I'd rather be with family having a BBQ, or on the lake, or watching a game...but that's me. If other people want to hold signs and express their anger, I guess to each their own.
Comment by Other John — June 30, 2009 @ 3:38 pm
Teabaggers? Are there going to be bare testicles at this event?
Comment by Ed S. — June 30, 2009 @ 4:13 pm
Forgot to add:
Art - Voting is not the only method of communicating with or expressing disappointment with elected officials.
Comment by Ed S. — June 30, 2009 @ 4:14 pm
I find it mildly amusing that the teabaggers are suddenly so concerned about the size of government. Where were they when George Bush was giving away billions in no-bid contracts to Haliburton and billions to his minions on Wall St. who were busy bilking the country with credit default swaps, speculation and bogus mortgages. Puhleese...save me the righteous indignation. Oh, and Henry, 150 days ago dissent was treason, remember?
Comment by Art Hill — June 30, 2009 @ 4:23 pm
I know some were genuinely voicing their disdain with Bush's spending, but it seems that a lot of people who sat by while Bush started this train wreck are suddenly finding their voice after 8 years of silence. It's an amazing phenomenon. For the people who have been consistently harping on spending regardless of who has been in power, I'll take what you have to say with a higher level of interest and think that you're actually serious. For those of you who didn't have anything to say until January 20th, you can save your breath, it falls on deaf ears for a lot of people.
Comment by Other John — June 30, 2009 @ 5:51 pm
Teabaggers are pretty feisty for a bunch of people on the verge of collecting entitlements.
Teabaggers are a joke!
Comment by brendan — June 30, 2009 @ 11:20 pm
For all the folks who like to bash and slander George Bush for the mess this country is now in, may I remind you that the Democrats have controlled the United States Congress for many years, and since the issue here is casting blame for this mess....look to your local democratic representatives for accountability.
The Republican presidents have never been able to get anything constructive done because of the greedy, arrogant, self-serving democrats.
So you might want to look at the whole picture.
Comment by AMAC — July 1, 2009 @ 7:57 am
a joke. ha ha ha ha. a joke. good one! Its real american to trash fellow americans. real nice touch on that. real nice everyone. how about since there is so much hate we attend the rallies and make fun of them. you know middle school style. maybe give them some swirlies. spit wads. purple nurples. indian burns. whoops is that not allowed. oh wait. teabagging can be spewed everywhere. so certainly some indian burns. and of course top it off with some more high-class name calling.
pathetic.
Comment by Uptheriver — July 1, 2009 @ 8:28 am
AMAC, if you are looking at the whole picture, you could not have written that post. You have exposed the lens through which you see the world, but the big picture obviously remains a mystery to you.
Comment by Sandi Saunders — July 1, 2009 @ 8:36 am
Again with the uninformed commenting? Many of us Bush Supporters DID voice our opposition to his spending as did Rush, Fox News and other outlets. Like I said Art - pull your head out of your...TV.
Also - you may want to read #12. The Democratic Socialists have controlled congress since 2006 my friend.
Comment by Walker — July 1, 2009 @ 10:22 am
Speaking of uninformed, do some of you actually understand how our government works. There is controlling as in the list of party affiliations and there is CONTROLLING as in the rules and often arcane system of how a bill becomes a law and the actuality of how things are "done" in the Congress. It is fascinating stuff and sadly, not nearly as simple or as insulting as you make it sound, where is your head?
Comment by Sandi Saunders — July 1, 2009 @ 10:45 am
sandi saunders....you are just laughable! why dont you do look at the truth for once instead of blaring garbage out that you so blatantly like to spew out to others.
you have to be a democrat and a really liberal one at that.
Comment by AMAC — July 1, 2009 @ 12:07 pm
AMAC, in post #12 you wrote that "Democrats have controlled the United States Congress for many years."
Democrats HAVE controlled Congress for the last 2-1/2 years -- but it's rather odd that you would characterize that as "many," except that it serves your interests in casting "blame for this mess."
Comment by Dan Casey — July 1, 2009 @ 12:34 pm
Dan: the democrats have been the majority in congress since the Clinton presidency, and yes they have fought against anything a republican president has ever tried to do, whether you agree with it or not.
There are no statesmen representatives anymore, only greedy, self-serving politicians who cater to their own as well as their friends best interests.
This is exactly what the conservative news channels are exposing, but alas, the guilty ones do not want to see or hear it.
Haven't you listened to the venomous poison coming out of the mouths of Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi and their ilk?
Comment by AMAC — July 1, 2009 @ 12:45 pm
AMAC, I will agree that one of us is laughable, one of us is refusing to see the truth and one of us is blaring garbage, and you are all three of them. I am an honest person above all else. I come in here using my own name, putting forth my opinions (which have no more, but certainly no less weight than others) and taking the heat for it. I do not blindly follow anything or anyone, unlike many still clinging to the proven falsehoods and failed policies of the Bush/Cheney era, I am willing to admit when I am wrong, apologize when I have inadvertently offended and most important of all, make the effort to know what I am talking about and not just spew talking points or insults. I will, and generally without fail, return an insult or correct an error, but I am by no means the blindly partisan hack that many on here do indeed represent. The truth has become an "eye of the beholder" issue and therefore, I forgive ignorance as quickly as insult.
Comment by Sandi Saunders — July 1, 2009 @ 12:45 pm
Sandi: and I bet you think you are a "good" person too, huh? Your posts are so overwhelmed with your hatred for what others say that disagrees with you that you cannot figure out what you are saying.
Did your mother not teach you any manners? You are rude and insolent to other people.
If you do not agree with what somebody else says, then at least show some manners....oopps...you don't have any.
Comment by AMAC — July 1, 2009 @ 12:51 pm
I knew some people were ignorant of the facts, but yeesh. Democrats lost control of Congress in 1994 with the Newt Gringrich crowd doing the Contract with America. The Republicans then quickly pushed the CWA aside once they were solidly in power and failed to act on most of their campaign promises...big surprise there. Clinton deserves some of the blame, because had it not been for his wandering pants, he and the Congress might have been able to do a whole lot more, but his personal screw-ups drove a wedge between him and Congress and pretty much made those years a waste. Republicans controlled Congress for the first 6 years of Bush's presidency too before losing it in 2006. So, Republicans had Congress for 12 years, much of the time in which policies were enacted and passed that had contributed to or caused the problems we see today. This is certainly not the sole reason, but a substantial part. The Democrats are not innocent either. Several of their policies have also added to the problem, and when they took control of Congress in 2006, the economy started souring within the year (though it's hard to correlate the two). The problems we face are not so simple that they can be easily or tidily laid at the feet of one person, one party, or one particular governmental body. It's a multi-headed Medusa and our government, our large corporations, and we the people were all busy feeding the various heads of that monster when we felt it necessary to do so and we didn't see the ramifications of doing so. now that it's reared up and come after us, rather than trying to slay the darn thing one ugly head at a time, we're sitting around pointing the fingers while more and more of us are snapped up with its relentless attack.
Comment by Other John — July 1, 2009 @ 12:58 pm
AMAC, please look it up ... you're making yourself sound silly.
Clinton was elected president in 1992 and assumed office in 1993.
Republicans became the majority in both the House and the Senate in 1995. This was called "The Republican Revolution."
The Democrats became the majority of the Senate briefly, from June 2001 to January 2003, at which time the Republicans assumed control once again.
Comment by Dan Casey — July 1, 2009 @ 1:05 pm
While we all digress off topic... Let me digress even more.
I think a big question is: How will The Roanoke Times cover this event. Dan care to shed some insight from the meetings this week? Will this just be an editorial "hit" piece or will they lovingly cover it the same way they would any "holiday" party/event happening for Independence day. A la the Strawberry Festival.
Big opportunity to squelch the cries of Roanoke Times liberal bias thats heard daily.
Comment by Uptheriver — July 1, 2009 @ 1:27 pm
Uptheriver: One of the ways The Roanoke Times already has covered this event is to advance it, as I did in my column Tuesday. Perhaps you can find some liberal bias in that column, and if you can, I urge you to post another comment with the evidence. Please.
BTW, the organizers did not contact me asking me to advance it. I heard about it and contacted them. Either Lee Carter or Christy Bowles would confirm this for you.
I haven't been in any news meetings this week so I don't know how or if we intend to cover it on Saturday. I also don't know how or if we'll cover the bicycle races downtown that day. I can tell you though, it'll will be a busy day for whomever is working.
Comment by Dan Casey — July 1, 2009 @ 1:48 pm
Dan, I wasn't suggesting liberal bias in the column at all. Just noting that coverage could add to the arsenal against that argument that appears daily in the forums and comments about the Times being biased.
Comment by Uptheriver — July 1, 2009 @ 2:32 pm
Uptheriver: I have heard the complaints about bias regularly. It is true the newspaper's editorial positions of the newspaper are liberal, although they are not exclusively liberal.
But editorial pages are SUPPOSSED to take positions. Complaining they are biased is like complaining the sun is bright, or that rain is wet. It makes the complainer look silly and dumb. It makes about as much sense as complaining Rush Limbaugh is biased. Of course he is! (He's also wrong; but that is a different charge).
In the news pages, we strive for objectivity. (Except for me -- I'm a columnist and I often express viewpoints). If you have examples of bias in the news pages, we'd like to hear about them.
Comment by Dan Casey — July 1, 2009 @ 2:43 pm
AMAC, I do not claim to be a good person. A good person would ignore your baiting insults and not respond in kind. My posts to you may well be overwhelmed with my hatred for pointless insults and and my penchant for returning them. You may not be able to comprehend my posts, but I assure you I know what I am saying.
You have offered equally rude and insolent remarks to me, what were you taught at home? I will show you some of my manners, when I see evidence of yours.
Comment by Sandi Saunders — July 1, 2009 @ 3:41 pm
uptheriver...Teabaggers are a joke. I don't hate them. I just don't believe they are relevant. I'm not gonna go make fun of them when I could be celebrating this great nation. If your statistics are right...a good cut of teabaggers don't even pay income taxes and another big chunk might see their taxes lowered under the current admin...so whats to complain about?
Comment by brendan — July 1, 2009 @ 4:20 pm
Brendan: the "teabaggers" are not the rich and wealthy; it is the middle class who is struggling to live and provide for their families and save some money.
The middle class is being forced to the lower income limits by paying more in taxes to "provide" for an American lifestyle for the illegal immigrants here.
Check out Nancy Pelosi and see what her new agenda is: "to levy a windfall tax on IRAs, 401s, and retirement incomes so as to "give the illegal immigrants, the poor and uninsured a lifestyle as they "deserve" in America equal to our citizens.
Now tell me again why the middle class should not speak up? and even go so far as to hold demonstrations against massive taxation without equal representation?
...and Sandi...I will humble myself and apologize to you. I enjoy reading peoples comments but I do not enjoy being attacked for what I say...but nevertheless I extend an apology to you and look forward to your participation and comments...agreed?
Comment by AMAC — July 1, 2009 @ 5:03 pm
AMAC,
It is quite ridiculous to have the same people who will frequently defend business or "business friendly" conservatives and the like, complain about the middle class being "forced to the lower income limits" because of taxes. That is absolutely false.
Real incomes have remained stagnant or have fallen since the 80s when conservative ideology took over the country. Conservative policies have decimated the middle class by giving everything to corporations and reduced the power of workers through their anti-union and anti-small business stances. Conservatives favor the wealthy and corporations at every turn at the expense of the poor and middle class. In all of their policies from tort "reform" to product safety to environmental standards, conservatives push for the wealthy investor class at the expense of the poor and middle class.
Your concentration on and blaming of "illegal immigrants" shows that you are not sufficiently informed of the past 40 years of economic policy that has come from conservatives. That is why the majority of "teabaggers" are shown to be ignorant asses. They hold signs protesting taxes and socialism and lack of representation, when there were no "tea parties" protesting republican policies and the massive shift in wealth to the top in the past 4 decades. Truth is, our taxes are very low in relation to other industrialized nations. And tax policy favors the wealthy because of the actions of conservatives. It is wages that have stopped growing so that the investor class can take more and more profit that are to blame for the economic conditions of the middle class, not taxes. And that shift and those policies have come from conservative ideology.
Comment by SteveA — July 1, 2009 @ 6:10 pm
StevaA: WRONG! take a good hard look at what the liberal democrats in Washington are doing with your taxes; and look at the last 50 years of what they have done to your taxes.
Comment by AMAC — July 2, 2009 @ 9:56 am
AMAC: I think your the one who is wrong. "The middle class is being forced to the lower income limits by paying more in taxes..." Obama is working to reduce the burden on this group.
What has 8 years of GOP rule done to lower your taxes or make health care more affordable?
Republicans are the ones giving tax breaks to the rich (who have been doing nothing but getting richer since the 80's) as they stand there and tell the middle class that it will trickle down to them in time.
The Dems are the ones that are trying to cut the taxes to the middle class and place more of the burden on the rich and corporations that profit from your hard work.
The Dems are trying to help regulate the skyrocketing cost of health care. Republicans think the health care system is fine and are guarding the interests of the for-profit insurance companies rather than looking out for the consumer/patient.
Comment by brendan — July 2, 2009 @ 1:25 pm
Brendan: democrats are notorious spenders..like I said..just look at what they are doing now?
Comment by AMAC — July 2, 2009 @ 2:18 pm
AMAC,
Even if you type in capital letters it does not mean you are correct. Conservatives have been waging merciless class warfare on the poor and middle class. Every chance they get, they fight against those who are not wealthy. From keeping as many people away from the voting booth as possible to tax cuts for the already too wealthy to fighting healthcare for everyone to giving small business loans to large corporations, everything they do is skewed to benefit parasitic wealth. You need to reexamine the legislative record and the policies put forth by conservatives in the past 4 decades. The conservative way is to run up a huge deficit in order to bankrupt the government. It is called "starve the beast" and has been done since Reagan. The criminality and crony capitalism of conservatives is unmatched.
Comment by SteveA — July 2, 2009 @ 2:41 pm
AMAC the GOP are notorious spenders too. Look at the last 8 years. So don't fooled by the rhetoric of talk radio and party stereotypes. The difference is who they expect to pay for it. The middle class will should see easier times under Obama as they did under Clinton. Its the rich and corps that will have to pay for their profiteering at the cost of the American middle class.
Conservatives have been able to fool people into these stereotypes but if you take the time to learn for yourself you'll see what party serves you best and who serves the rich.
Comment by brendan — July 2, 2009 @ 7:04 pm
Brendan,
AMAC believes the Democrats have been in control of all the spending for the past 12 years....which is untrue, but convenient for his/her argument.
Comment by Dan Casey — July 2, 2009 @ 7:08 pm
"just look at what they are doing now?" You mean like working to help get the health insurance companies reeled in, working to not increase taxes on the middle class but instead tax windfall profits.
Please explain why the teabaggers are so upset because I just don't get it. It looks to me, and most Americans, like they will better off under the current legislative proposals than there were at the end of 8 years of republican rule.
Comment by brendan — July 2, 2009 @ 7:14 pm
Some would argue that they're upset because Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh and Mark Levin have persuaded them -- with twisted facts and figures -- that they should be upset.
Comment by Dan Casey — July 2, 2009 @ 7:18 pm
Thanks beyond words, Brendan and Steve A. I was starting to feel like a lone ranger here. You fellas rock!
Comment by Sandi Saunders — July 2, 2009 @ 8:07 pm