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Sunday, February 07, 2010

I wonder....
Posted by Jill | 5:57 AM
If Abbie Hoffman hadn't been such a clown, and if the Yippies had been into actually threatening the United States government instead of street theatre, would they have been more effective?

Probably not. The Yippie mistake was in choosing the symbols of the counterculture rather than appropriating those of patriotism in their flags and in their rhetoric of overthrowing the government. It's hard to have an effective revolution when you have a sense of humor and you're stoned much of the time.

No such mistakes for the Tea Partiers, however. They dress up in the costumes of the 1700s, and have as their spiritual leader not a clown like Abbie Hoffman, but a lunatic who's been associated with a secessionist party in her own state, and who at their weekend convention, called for "another revolution." Because after all, if you use the flag and you dress in tricorn hats, you can advocate implementing a police state that is at constant war with everyone else in the world, and the media will buy your bullshit that you are a patriot.

And has anything actually changed? CAN it even change? The netroots has had four conventions every summer, where OUR leaders have given speeches and appeared at breakout groups -- far more of them than appeared at this conference, and Yearly Kos/Netroots Nation has been treated in as some kind of little fringe meeting with almost no media coverage, not as a massive social movement the way the Teabaggers have, for all that only about 600 people appeared at their profit-making extravaganza. And while I understand that a two-foot snowfall is unusual for Washington DC (though apparently not as unusual as it used to be since they have had two of them this season), and I also realize that the only thing to do with this much snow is have fun in it, this kind of imagery -- a netroots snowball fight organized on Facebook -- just makes me feel even more hopeless. Because I'm sure this will get more media coverage than Netroots Nation ever will.




(UPDATE: Hortense over at Jezebel liveblogged the Moose Queen for the benefit of the weak of stomach.)

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Anonymous Charlie O said...
The fact that people in this country adore and give credence to this empty headed Alaskan quitter (I'm being real nice here, I have other adjectives I'd rather use, but I'm trying to be civil) solidifies my belief that Americans, in general, are basically stupid. That's right folks, Americans are the biggest idiots on planet Earth. I saw this POS on Fox this morning and when asked (as a Fox analyst) who the GOP frontrunners for 2012 are, she couldn't answer the question. I didn't think it was possible that there could be someone in national politics dumber than GWB, but this woman (and Rick Perry) are on the charts with a bullet.

I remember meeting a group of new high school graduates in Oss, Netherlands back in 2003. It was there equivalent of prom night. They had come into the bar I was in and ordered Jack Daniels. Being the only American in attendance, I insisted on buying the round. I spent the next three hours talking to an 18 year old Dutch girl who had more knowledge of the world in general, and incredibly US history and politics than most Gen Xers AND baby boomers that I know. She made Sarah Palin look like, (here's that word) a RETARD. I'm very sad for this country. I honestly do not expect the US (as it is today) to exist 50 years from now. It's going to get ugly and violent over the next 20 years.

Jill, thanks for the Abbie reference. I met Abbie at a debate at University of Maryland back before he left us. He signed my copy of "Steal this Urine Test." You wrote not long ago about another one of my heroes, Frank Zappa as well. I meant to thank you for that one. I wish Frank and Abbie (and Hunter) were around today. I'd like their take on the sad state of affairs we are in today.
2/7/10, 10:34 AM  
Blogger DBK said...
Palin, for all her shortcomings, was the governor of a state and a vice presidential candidate. Lament her prominence all you want, but Hoffman was never as prominent as she is and never had her credibility. No, she's not credible with me, but she very clearly has enormous credibility with a lot more people than Hoffman ever influenced. No discussion of her will ever be useful unless you take her as seriously as those who believe in her and stop being dismissive.
2/7/10, 11:17 PM  
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