Ken Bode has a column in the Indy Star commenting on deeply anti-Semitic propaganda being distributed at Tea Party gatherings.
Now, if you attend some tea party meetings in Indiana, a different kind of challenge is emerging. On the information tables, along with candidate brochures and handouts from right-wing blogs, is a stack of DVDs, one of them titled “Rothschild’s Choice: Barack Obama and the Hidden Cabal Behind the Plot to Murder America.”
As described in breathless narration over ominous, pounding, suspenseful music, the cabal is made up of Jewish financiers and billionaires, run today by Lord Jacob Rothschild, the 4th Baron. Along with Jewish-run secret societies and globalist organizations, their control of Barack Obama has turned him into a water boy to their causes.
Obama is a Zionist puppet, goes the argument, supported by Timothy Geithner, Ben Bernanke, Barney Frank — all Jews, all part of the banking system, all tools of the conspiracy. “David Axelrod,” says the narrator, “That’s right, he had a Jewish campaign manager.”
Sounds like this is a lot of rehashed crap with some more current names plugged in here or there. I recall being 13 or 14 first seeing this sort of stuff on bulletin board systems I was dialing into with my Commodore 64. And I know it was old then.
Is the Tea Party a racist? I think the “movement” is so incoherent, it’s difficult to ascribe any particular attribute to it. What we know is that it consists of people who are mad. They’re mad about a lot of different things. They seem to make a lot of noises about “taking their country back.” (From whom isn’t usually articulated.) However, the “movement” seems pretty uniformly white. And they seem to be more opposed to government spending that might help people of color than spending that might be used to blow up people of color. In fairness, that might not have a racial component at all; simply the notion that military spending = good & domestic spending = bad.
At the end of the day, I think the Tea Party folks have at the very least a perception problem. Standing up to their own who are pushing this anti-Semite garbage, and doing so in a very visible way, might be a good first step. For those who disagree with it, anyway.
Melyssa Donaghy, self-proclaimed Queen of the Indiana Libertarian Tea Partiers, a couple of days ago wrote on Gary Welsh’s moderated blog AdvanceIndiana that “the NAACP was founded and is controlled by the Zionists”. On that same notoriously bigoted blog, MaryCatherine Barton was also kvetching against the Rothschilds. Both people are also “9/11 truthers”. Gary Welsh is famous for having the birther zeal of an Orly Taitz but without the hair and charming accent.
yeah, if the tea party’s reaction to the recent NAACP resolution is any indication, then their reaction to evidence of antisemitism in their midst will be to act totally indignant that anyone would accuse them of antisemitism… and then to say and write things that are even more antisemitic.
The Indpls Star’s online comments are notorious for being utter cesspools of filth and vitriol. The comments today about Ken Bode’s column prove his point about anti-Semitism being alive and kicking…
Seems like a problem of leadership lacking. If there was someone who had to approve what sort of vendors and activists showed up at the rallies, I’m sure the presence of the Turner Diaries fanboys could be diminished, but I guess that’s not what the Tea Party is about. It’s kind of a like a right-wing Woodstock, from what I understand. If you have a gripe against the government, you’re welcome to set up camp, whether you’re just a right-of center conservative “Christian” or a full blown White Separatist whackdoodle.
I find an interesting parallel between what I think are the relatively small number of people latching onto the Tea Party’s popularity to spread their particular brands of hate on one hand, and the handful of extremists who latch on to the Islamic religion to justify their terrorism on the other. No matter how loudly and how many times prominent Muslims here in the US & abroad denounce those terrorists, the same right-wing Republicans who make up the vast majority of the Tea Party refuse to acknowledge that. And now that those Tea Party folks are denouncing Mark Williams and some of the racist and white supremacist elements that are trying to latch on to their movement, many outside the Tea Party aren’t really acknowledging their disavowal.
It’s not a perfect comparison – and I’m certainly not equating the sometimes violent rhetoric (and violent actions of a few lone nuts) of the right wing Tea Party with the organized (or quasi-organized) terrorists who twist their religion to justify mass murder. But it does show how easy it is for a group to have their message hijacked by a fringe element, and how difficult it can be for leaders to effectively distance themselves from that fringe once it’s involved.
Don’t forget, Tim McVeigh held a strong belief that Jews secretly controlled the U.S. government, resulting in the persecution of Christians (resulting in the Ruby Ridge killings and Branch Davidian massacre). Next to 9/11, the second largest terrrorist act in U.S. history was the bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma.
Craig, I agree that the increase in right-wing extremism – including rebuilding of separatist militias, white nationalists & supremacists, and homegrown terrorists – is a real and serious threat that is too often overlooked, but I think it’s very important not to conflate the Tea Party with that element. And even though there are some individuals who have adopted some of the Tea Party’s rhetoric in their terrorism, I’m not aware that any of them were actually involved in any Tea Party groups.
I wouldn’t conflate the two either. That would require the tea partiers to get out of their lawn chairs ;)
Jackie Walorski has a large Tea Party following. She is running against
Donnelly.
I wonder what her Tea Party buddies would think if they knew she attended a large fundraiser for a Jewish cause in South Bend last
month?
To a certain extent, the Tea Party is just a way for the KKK and skinheads to blend in with a group that has some credibility (but not a lot though).
Two Cents –
You are overpriced, I think.
The ‘Tea Party’ label has become something of a political Rorschach ink-blot – what you see in it depends largely on what’s already in your head.
I think we can update Will Rogers’ old joke (originally about being a Democrat):
“I’m not a member of any organized political party – I’m a Tea Party-er.”
I’ll stick up for Melyssa here, Wilson, and refer you to her blog, where several days ago she posted and cheered on the running of a neo-Nazi from a Tea Party event.
http://hoosiersforfairtaxation.blogspot.com/2010/07/proof-that-tea-party-is-not-racist.html
Being not a Tea Partier (my turn-off point was when I heard too much rah-rah theocracy- the correct kind, you understand), I think they are the ultimate set of unherded cats. I totally agree with Doug’s assessment as ‘incoherent’ and generally angry, and Craig’s assessment of ‘any gripe welcomed’. But, talk to any three Tea Partiers at once, throw up a red herring, and you’ll have the three of them at each other’s throats faster than you can say Jack Robinson. The common thread is tenuous at best.
Every political group and party has their kooks. (For disgusting hatred, I can always go to the comments in Daily Kos, for instance.) More established groups are more savvy about hiding them or distancing themselves from the nuts… and as we’ve seen, the Tea Party in general has no political savvy.
melyssa has a history of posting anti-semitic content. posting one little youtube video in half-hearted defense of the tea party isn’t going to change that.
Ok, she posted that. It was written by someone named Karl Schwartz. The post had no comment by Melyssa in the text. The title said that one should read it, and that they wouldn’t like it one bit.
All I can gather from this is that you have it in for her.
get serious. she clearly posted that article approvingly. why else would she post it in its entirety?
Ok, first of all a lot of lilly white old European men are Zionists. And Wilson knows good and well my most recent boyfriend (Maxy) is as Jewish as they get and he knows I’m not a racist. He does this to stir up attention because he apparently has a mental condition or is just plain mean to people for no reason.
Second you all are supposed to be so smart. Why is it that you cannot figure out you are a slave. Our labor is forced from us by the barrel of a gun to be given to the IRS. The IRS uses it to pay interest on the fiat dollars lent to our government by lilly white old men who print this money out of thin air.
It’s a racket and most of you have been duped into thinking you are free when in fact you are not. You are slaves and your labor is forced from you to be handed over to the federal government in the form of income tax.
Race is used to keep the slaves (you and me) divided. And we know the advantage of a divided enemy. Don’t be a patsy. Wake up. This isn’t rocket science.
And by the way, any of you trying to pin a label on me doesn’t make it true. I’m not stuck in your paradigm. I hope and pray one day you get unstuck from it, for it is literally the chains that keep you in bondage.
When I hear about slavery and fiat money, I think the next step is probably going to be a history lesson involving freemasonry and the Rothschilds. (Obviously, I can’t speak for your historical notions, Melyssa). Sometimes, it leads to claims that birth certificates are bills of lading or some such. (See, e.g.)
Doug, don’t pay the tax extorted from you on your labor. You’ll find out real fast you are a slave if you do not know it already. In fact if you don’t pay, even more of your labor (penalties and interest) will be forced from you.
I’m simply framing it for you in straightforward, truthful language. And yes, it is a conspiracy against the American people and it is immoral.
A moral tax is one that is fully transparent and is based on consumption.
FROM THE EXCAVATOR:
Oath Breakers and the Age of Treason
“Patriotism,” said George Orwell, “has nothing to do with conservatism.” Love for one’s country is not right or left; it is not the sole province of the poor, or the rich; and it can be expressed in different ways. Benjamin Franklin gave voice to the spirit of patriotism when he said; “We must all hang together or we shall most assuredly all hang separately.” Today, patriotism is in need of greater allegiance than ever before. Almost all countries in the world, but especially America because it is the largest military power, are under the threat of a global dictatorial “new world order” that is being deceptively established as the coming together of nations in the interests of saving the planet, but in reality serves the interests of a private international banking cartel, and the global corporate elite. It is a war between two classes more than it is a war between two philosophies. Both sides, the nationalist patriots, and the globalist oligarchs, have much to gain, and lose.
How did we get to this point in history? Telling the facts is complicated because they are not gossip material, and they are hidden from public discussion by the mainstream media, but once they are grasped, it is really quite simple to understand. Powerful elites have always dominated nations, from the Greeks to the modern world, and America is not an exception, but never have the top one percent of oligarchs acted so aggressively against the interests of the people.
Since the end of WWII, America has been misdirected by its government controllers in the biggest way, and for the most evil designs. John F. Kennedy tried to change course, but he got shot in the head for it. It wasn’t pretty. Forty-seven years after his death, and there still isn’t any sense of national closure because his true murderers have not faced justice. In fact, they still rule America through the usual tricks of the trade: deception, secrecy, and fear. Largely unknown to them until now, the American people have suffered under a tyrannical and traitorous shadow corporate-state that killed their President, and which operates secretly behind a cowardly, and self-serving political class, in the name of “National Security.” High treason, war crimes, and state terror are the defining features of this “National Security State.” And it was created for purposes that are not much different from those of the Nazi regime; power, greed, and world domination for elite profits.
In short, America was covertly overthrown by a tight-knit group of criminal insiders. The coup happened in stages, and achieved through deception, assassination, and terrorism. The seminal dates are 1913, when the private Federal Reserve Bank was established; 1963, which saw the assassination of a real and independent president; and 2000, the beginning of the Bush Administration and the reign of the neoconservatives, who got into power by stealing the election.
From the fifties onward, with the honorable exception of John F. Kennedy’s brief reign as President, the American people have been treated as slaves, and held hostage by their much despised government, public representatives, and shadow rulers. No more a constitutional republic, America became a totalitarian “top secret” empire that is guilty of the invasion and occupation of two innocent countries in the Middle East, and is waging the largest illegal war in history, a “war on freedom” disguised as a “war on terrorism.”
Outlandish language like the “war on terrorism” is the norm in Orwellian America, where everything is the reverse of what government leaders say. The “Patriot Act” of 2001 is actually the “Traitor Act.” The war on terrorism is the war on freedom; the 9/11 investigation is the 9/11 cover up; Israel’s acts of self-defense are in reality acts of criminal aggression; the financial collapse is the financial heist and con; hope and change is more of the same; national security is national tyranny; a new world order is the last vestiges of an old world’s chaos. But the truth matters little, and instead, lies are cherished. Like sheep, the people are deceived into loving the traitors, and fearing the patriots.
Mass propaganda, secrecy, and deception are the linchpins of the NSS. The American people are denied the full knowledge of the shadow government’s crimes and lies, and since they lack foresight, knowledge of the past, and historical imagination, many of them can’t anticipate future deceptions, and future acts of state terror by their two-faced criminal leaders. But that is changing, as more people in America and around the world are waking up, and starting to see the great political crisis that hangs over America, and indeed, all of mankind.
The times we’re living in are so tense that I can hardly sleep at night. Civilization is threatened by the presence of lunatic criminals in the highest positions of power in America, England, Israel, and Iran. For Iranians, resisting the crazy Mullahs isn’t easy. And for Americans, resisting the Transnational Tyrannical State also won’t be easy. It has many resources, and lots of faithful idiots who don’t mind following orders.
It will require mass civil disobedience in America, and the threat of nation-wide citizen revolt, to get rid of the tyrants and traitors that are in the highest levels of the country’s government, banks, media, and corporations. To organize such a resistance not just in America, but in all Western nations, means dropping the labels of “conservative” and “liberal,” ignoring petty ideological differences, and sacrificing our individual egos for the greater good – a free country, and a free world. So far, very few groups have emerged with this view in mind. Oath Keepers is one of them. It is a bipartisan and patriotic organization that includes active-duty soldiers, veterans, National Guard, police officers, fire fighters, and regular citizens who are determined to take back America from the tyrants and traitors, and reestablish the republic on the ruins of a collapsing empire.
On April 19, 2009, members of the Oath Keepers commemorated the first revolutionary war by reciting their oath to support, and defend the Constitution, and promising to never obey unlawful orders. The video of them raising their hands, and declaring that they will follow their conscience, and protect the Constitution is very inspiring, and moving, which is why I was so angry when Mother Jones magazine sought to discredit, and tarnish the image of the Oath Keepers in an article written by Justine Sharrock called, “Oath Keepers and the Age of Treason.” In response to that article, I wrote “10 Reasons Why Progressives Should Support Oath Keepers.” Due to government brainwashing, some people actually need to be reminded that those who break their oaths are the traitors, and those who keep them are the patriots. You think it would be obvious. But it’s not. A lot of Americans are still in deep denial about the dangerous state of the country, and the criminality of their leaders who have betrayed them, and forsaken the grand experiment that is America.
In his classic book, “The Rape of the Mind” Dutch-American psychoanalyst Joost A.M. Meerloo wrote about the denial of hardcore facts in totalitarian societies:
“Modern psychology has taught us how strongly the mental mechanism of denial of reality works. The eye bypasses external occurrences when the mind does not want them to happen. Secondary justifications and fantasies are formed to support and explain these denials. In Totalitaria we find the same despising of reality facts as we do in schizophrenia. How else are we to explain the fact that Hitler was still moving his armies on paper after they were already defeated?”
The left-leaning individuals that fear, and hate the Oath Keepers because they are “conspiratorial,” and “intellectually backward” are either fools, or cowards. They view the Oath Keepers as “right-wing” who only want Obama out of the White House. But that’s not true. They are interested in fixing larger issues, and ending illegal spying, torture, and other government abuses which reflect the breakdown of the rule of law in Washington D.C. And they understand that both parties are responsible for the mess that America is in. Oath Keepers put the country and the constitution above any party or person. The group’s success is a strong indication that the traditional left-right identities are now meaningless. A significant number of Americans have acquired a new political consciousness that is surfacing in groups like Oath Keepers. They shun both the Democrats, and Republicans, and make room for small political disagreements because they care about reestablishing the rule of law, and saving the country. What matters to them is the truth, freedom, and justice; not petty partisan issues.
George Orwell recognized the lack of bleeding-heart patriotism in many leftist “yuppie” intellectuals not as a virtue, but a fault. In his essay “My Country Right or Left,” he wrote:
“I grew up in an atmosphere tinged with militarism, and afterwards I spent five boring years within the sound of bugles. To this day it gives me a faint feeling of sacrilege not to stand to attention during ‘God save the King.’ That is childish , of course, but I would sooner have had that kind of upbringing than be like the left-wing intellectuals who are so ‘enlightened’ that they cannot understand the most ordinary emotions. It is exactly the people whose hearts have never leapt at the sight of a Union Jack who will flinch from revolution when the moment comes,” (My Country Right or Left, Orwell’s Essays, pg. 137).
The conservatives who religiously supported President Bush even while the rest of the country saw him for the traitor that he is are probably the ones who will sacrifice themselves to save their country if, and when they wake up and realize that the real enemies of America are not in Afghanistan, or Iraq, or Iran, but in Washington, and Tel Aviv. They have a lot of passion in their hearts, and love their country. The problem is that they are politically dumb, and very gullible. But they are not hopeless. And neither are left-leaning progressives who like to demean traditional conservatives rather than understand their views. Both sides are victims of brainwashing, the conservatives are under the hypnosis of Fox News, and the progressives follow the Democrat party wherever it leads them.
I am optimistic that conservatives, progressives, libertarians, and independents will come together to form a wide political tent to help America ride the apocalyptic storm of economic collapse, foreign wars, and internal political turmoil. The American dream is worth saving. The Republic wasn’t perfect, but it beats tyranny, and anarchy. Freedom is worth fighting, and dying for. And after the war is won, once the new world order is defeated, when the songs of patriots are sung, and traitors hung, we can truly enjoy the gifts of this life. But not until then.
‘Though those that are betrayed Do feel the treason sharply, yet the traitor Stands in worse case of woe.’
– William Shakespeare
ah, the old “i have jewish friends” routine. it’s a bit less common than playing the “i have black friends” card, but it’s no more convincing.
stAllio, you are a most hateful person. What happened to you to make you so hateful? As I said before, I choose to live in your paradigm. And your pin of a racist label on me doesn’t make it true, because people know better. What it does instead, is show everyone miserable person you are inside.
What I meant to say to stAllio above is that I do NOT choose to live in his paradigm.
The Tea Bag Party are just “haters not debaters” or as others have dubbed them “screamers not dreamers”, with their failed attempts at stopping Healthcare reform, they say they respect the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and the Declaration of Independence but they do not mind passing laws, through weak Governors (no one voted for this crazy) who only cares about getting elected Governor, on the backs of undocumented workers, and this law will not pass Constitution muster. I love the way our President of the United States, side set the trap, and stilled filed a lawsuit against Arizona, too sweet (what Arizona no “Plan B”?).
Brewer signed into law;
1. S.B. 1070,
2. No permit conceal weapons law,
3. The famous Birthers law,
4. Banning Ethnic studies law,
5. Banning human-animal hybrid (aren’t most GOPers crossed with the Reptilian race?) or are they just giving Laurence Gonzales, some great promotion material for his new book “Lucy”.
6. Could she be behind the Mural in Prescott, Arizona, ordered to be whiten,
7. On deck to pass, no citizenship to babies born to undocumented workers,
8. If she can read she should look up Arizona’s House Bill 2779 from two years ago (which was un-constitution and failed when legally challenged),
9. The boycotted Martin Luther King Day, what idiots don’t want another holiday? Yes, you guessed it Arizona.
Well Arizona, you can boycott new holidays and keep passing crazy laws and the rest of us will continue to challenged them in a court of law and continue to add cities to our Boycott of your state.
I real cannot believe anything that comes out of Brewer’s mouth, in an interview she first said her father had died in Germany fighting the Nazi in World War II (war ended 1945) but of course we find out the truth that father was never in Germany and died in California in 1955. But we are suppose to believe everything else she says, right! No one voted for you for Governor, yet you keep listening to the tiny brains of the crazies and signing into law everything that comes into their feeble minds, it only make you look dumb, stupid or racist, or maybe all three.
As for the Tea Bag Party, their phony patriotism is sickening; they are just racists going by another name. We all know you are just itching to put a sheet on their head? Let’s face it the Republicans had eight years to deal with health care, immigration, energy (remember Cheney’s secret meetings with oil companies where loosening regulation and oversight were sealed), climate change and financial oversight and governance and they failed. It appears that the Republican Party is only good at starting wars (two in eight years, with fat contracts to friends of Cheney/Bush) but not at winning wars as seen by the continuing line of body bags that keep coming home. The Republicans party will continue turned inward to their old fashion obstructionist party (and their Confederacy appreciation roots) because they continue to allow a small portions (but very loud portion) of their party of “birthers, baggers and blowhards” to rule their party. I will admit that this fringe is very good at playing “Follow the Leader” by listening to their dullard leaders, Beck, Hedgecock, Hannity, O’Reilly, Rush, Savage, Sarah Bailin, Orly Taitz, Victoria Jackson, Michele Bachmann and the rest of the Blowhards and acting as ill programmed robots (they have already acted against doctors that perform abortions).
The Birthers and the Tea Bag party crowd think they can scare, intimidate and force others to go along with them by comments like “This time we came unarmed”, let me tell you something not all ex-military join the fringe militia crazies who don’t pay taxes and run around with face paint in the parks playing commando, the majority are mature and understand that the world is more complicated and grey than the black and white that these simpleton make it out to be and that my friend is the point. The world is complicated and people like Hamilton, Lincoln, and Roosevelt believed that we should use government a little to increase social mobility, now it’s about dancing around the claim of government is the problem. The sainted Reagan passed the biggest tax increase in American history and as a result federal employment increased, but facts are lost when mired in mysticism and superstition. For a party that gave us Abraham Lincoln, it is tragic that the ranks are filled with too many empty suits and the crazy Birthers who have not learned that the way our courts work is that you get a competent lawyer, verifiable facts and present them to a judge, if the facts are real and not half baked internet lies, then, and only then, do you proceed to trial. The Birthers seem to be having a problem with their so called “Internet facts”. Let’s face it no one will take the Birthers seriously until they win a case, but until then, you will continue to appear dumb, crazy or racist, or maybe all three. I heard that Orly Taitz now wants to investigate the “Republican 2009 Summer of Love” list: Assemblyman, Michael D. Duvall (CA), Senator John Ensign (NV), Senator Paul Stanley (TN), Governor Mark Stanford (SC), Board of Ed Chair, and Kristin Maguire AKA Bridget Keeney (SC), she wants to re-establish a family values party, that is like saying that the Catholic Church cares about the welling being of children in their care, too late for that. Yee Haw!
Gosh watching Kenneth Gladney get beaten up by SEIU thugs at a health care town hall didn’t look to me like a half-baked internet lie. It looked to me like another violent incident that the left ignored. So far the physical violence we’ve seen in this ideology war as all been from the left. The tea party crowd has behaved itself. And while you and I might not like all of their policy ideas, at least they are civil and don’t beat up or threaten the people with whom they disagree.
So go ahead and turn your head while the New Black Panthers and SEIU thugs do their violent deeds as you call others racist. Unless you call out all the crimes of racism on both sides of the fake aisle, then you are no more than a hypocrite and your opinion carries little weight.
I am glad to read here that free speech is allowed at the tea party caucuses. We have a criminal rogue government, that is training the military and many local police, to go to war on the people. If we are ever to end government and media corruption, we will need to end the fed.
To clarify, end the fed is the movement’s short form for, abolish the Federal Reserve.