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April 16, 2010
An angry mob
I've viewed the "Tea Party" phenomenon with a bit of confusion. Do I agree with their main argument, which seems to be that government has too much involvement and our taxes are too high? I don't. On a different level, I do tend to agree with their anger about the way things are done in Washington, be it partisanship, demagoguery or obstructionism. The people who show up with signs calling Obama a socialist are idiots, undoubtedly, but do add a sort of amusement factor.
Mostly I'm upset I can't take out my "Don't Tread On Me" flag anymore without looking like a Tea Partier.
Anyway, my ears perked up when I saw there was going to be a Tea Party at the Daley Center, not more than three blocks from my office. I went to check it out, and was quite underwhelmed. There were lots of signs, including your typical anti-Obama, anti-Pelosi polemic, and one guy who was muttering about Obama being a socialist, while simultaneously telling the African-American guy next to him there was only one race, the human race. I bought a cool "I went to the Tea Party and all I got was this lousy deficit" t-shirt, and listened for a bit.
The speaker I heard, I am aghast to say, I agreed with. His rant was about the goings-on in Springfield, specifically how House Speaker Michael Madigan treats it like a fiefdom, does whatever he wants, and wastes millions of taxpayer money. Like most Chicago-area politicians, he is firmly entrenched in his position, and will probably be House Speaker as long as he wants, unless the US Attorney finds a reason to get him. Then, when he is ready to retire, he'll pass the position on to a crony or family member, and the whole thing will continue another generation. I know a lot of people agree with me on this, but sadly not enough to convince people to vote for a Republican. (Even *I* would vote for a Republican, and I have never voted for a Republican.)
Anyway, apart from my brain falling apart because I agreed with a Tea Party speaker, I heard one conservative commentator describe the crowd as an angry mob. Actually, it was Dan Proft, the former Illinois GOP Governor primary candidate (and classmate of mine a few times in law school) who called it an angry mob.
I have to say, the mob really wasn't that angry. There was some chanting, a lot of flag waving, and the like, but I never felt any seething rage. It was more like a "moderately annoyed mob." I don't even know if it deserves to be called a mob. It was a demonstration.
Last night I watched "Rules of Engagement" on FX. That, my friends, was an angry mob. I think the Tea Party needed a true firebrand to whip up some anger, or it could be most of the crowd was the curious who wanted to see what all the fuss was about.
entry no. 1428
Posted at April 16, 2010 04:03 PM