The Lonely Goatherd Blog And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats - Matthew 25:32
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March 17, 2010
Coffee Party BS
"Mr President, I smell a big fat commie rat." -General Buck Turgidson
I don't necessarily so much mind an avowed socialist or communist. If they pretty much say what they're really for, then you've got some basis of discussion of your differences or of an honest public debate.
Then there is lying, dishonest crap like this Coffee Party coming up out of the Facebook swamps. See, they're not left or right or center:
Coffee Party USA's blogRead more FAQ: Is the Coffee Party USA liberal, centrist, progressive or conservative? Tue, 2010-03-16 10:15 — Coffee Party USA Coffee Party USA is not liberal, centrist, progressive, or conservative. In fact, we question the validity of these labels because they create the illusion of division among the American people, and obscure the real problem in our politics today: the disproportionate and corrupting influence of corporate and other special interest in our government.
That's just meaningless boilerplate. The meat will be the list of who is an evil special interest and who is "we the people."
The group nominally has basically no ideological tenants, but in fact is pretty obviously a cheesy little leftist progressive move to try to backhandedly discredit the broad and more or less by default right wing backlash to the Obama Democrats huge socialist power grabs. This has been most manifest in the "tea party" groups, which have a diverse range of attendees, but are united in opposition to the recent expanses in government power and spending.
The whole point of the coffee parties is that they are civil and friendly, unlike those crazy unhinged angry white males at the tea parties. But this is ultimately obviously just a trick to intimidate any real opposition or to charm them into thinking that it is inappropriate to raise hell. "Shh now - co-operate" as Yen Lo said to Raymond Shaw's victim as he strangled him.
It's just rude and un-American to raise hell. Just sit still and be quiet as the progressives rape the constitutional processes to get their way in taking over a huge portion of the American economy against the wishes of the American people and clearly without sufficient votes to legitimately pass it. Better to let the fascist eggheads ruin the country than to have some idiots decide that you're mean and uncivil.
But let me stop momentarily in the midst of my uncivil (but very satisfying) ranting to give fairness to Obama and the Democrats. I have called the Obama plans "commie" and "pinko." That's really not quite right. Basically communists want the people ie the government ie them to own the means of production. Mostly, the Obama plan is for heavily regulated and subsidized private firms to act as the middlemen in implementing their schemes. Properly, that should be called "fascism" rather than "communism." It's just hyperbole when I call Obama a communist. "Fascist" would be rather more precise.
Then there are the usual collaborators. All the big time pinko journalistic outlets like the New York times and such like to go along with the pretense that these coffee parties really are non-partisan groups devoted really just to good government.
Then there are seemingly endless useful idiots who talk themselves into thinking that these Coffee Party groups really are just devoted to civility. Worse perhaps than the obviously consciously dishonest people who came up with this dumb "movement" are these ignorant dupes.
I'm particularly amused to see the official front page of the Coffee Party website touting the participation of a former Ron Paul volunteer. Speaking of idiots. But also the Paul-bots were some of the most hostile, accusatory and outright uncivil participants in the 2008 campaigns. The only ones worse were maybe some of the Obama brownshirts, especially in Chicago. The Paul-bots were not just absolutely physically beating people up. Or sending a naked Rahm Emanuel after you.
Anyhow, here's the basic point: If you can't stand the sight of elbows being thrown and a few jaws being punched, stay the hell out of politics. Basically, we go for a lot of fussin' and cussin' instead of a bunch of shooting and killing to sort out our big issues. That's pretty genteel when you think about it.
And also if you're going to be a pinko/fascist front group, be honest about it. It will increase your credibility.
