This Week in the Mercury

Blood, Honey, and a Trojan Horse

Film

Blood, Honey, and a Trojan Horse

Angelina Jolie Brings a Dog into the Bosnian War


One Day at a Time

Columns

One Day at a Time

The Week in Review



  |  

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Politics Teabagging: A Patriotic Tradition

Posted by Sarah Mirk on Thu, Apr 2, 2009 at 11:52 AM

Portland's conservative clusters are coordinating a big rally on tax day — the plan is to stage a tea party (like the Boston tea party! Sons of Liberty will never die!) outside the downtown post office. The Portland protest is just one of over 1,000 Tax Day Tea Parties planned nationwide. Look, they even have a graphic:

3afd/1238696018-teaparty.jpg

And lovable Newt:

Anti-government conservatives on this campaign seem to have taken a step away from their typical bunker mentality, because the Tax Party website lists the full name, phone numbers and hometown of all of the several hundred party organizers, apparently for the convenience of the IRS.

I called up one of the Portland organizers, Karen Sweetland, to get the details on Portland's protest. They plan to meet at the downtown post office from 3-5PM on tax day and then head to Pioneer Square.
"Are you going to actually throw teabags at the post office?" I asked.
"I hope so!" replied Sweetland.
The protest isn't just for people who refuse to pay taxes but anyone who's mad at the current administration's fiscal ideas. "You can bitch and complain and display your angst over any of it," Sweetland assured.

That's the way the protest seems to be shaping up nationwide, too. Though Newt's group signed on to support the teabagging, the people planning to attend are everyone from run of the mill Twittering Republicans upset about the economy to crazy bloggers who see teabagging their city halls as a way to hinder Obama's drive to "turn over all our sovereignty to a socialist world-government headed by the UN that will pick the remains of the US to redistribute to the rest of the world."

Personally, I'm crossing my fingers for the slight chance that the tea party protest will turn into Offensive Homemade Native American Costume Disguise Parade 2009.

Hat tip to editorial intern Molly Georgetta, who suggested the protest for the paper's "Busy Week" section.

 

Comments (9) RSS

Oldest First Unregistered On Registered On Add a comment
1
Funny how after the Reagen years and the 8 years of Bush-Cheney, they finally want to cut spending. After 8 years of an illegal war, tax cuts for the rich, cutting vital spending on services and Social Security, and helping jobs get sent out of the country, they finally find their voice. I say Mute 'em and tell 'em to shut the hell up.
Posted by Dale Hardway on April 2, 2009 at 12:25 PM · Report
2
I'm not sure I can take another round of right-wing teabagging.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/theonetruebix…
Posted by The One True b!X on April 2, 2009 at 1:07 PM · Report
3
Did anyone ever bother to arrest Jeff Kropf for dumping trash into the Willamette River at the *last* teabagging event?
Posted by The One True b!X on April 2, 2009 at 1:12 PM · Report
4
Newt can eat bowl of private parts smothered in the fecal matter of senile geriatrics! I love how these fiscal conservatives are coming out of the woodwork to decry an administration that has been in command for 4 months. Like there was no previous history to our current dilemma to account for.
Posted by Abusive on April 2, 2009 at 1:14 PM · Report
5
Boy, those teabagging jokes sure never get old! Nothing like a puerile sex joke to make us feel superior to those uptight Rethuglicans!

Meanwhile, the government thinks the best response to the problem of too much debt is... more debt. Makes perfect sense. Personally, I'm perfectly comfortable with making my kids (and their kids) pay for our wasteful spending.
Posted by mr. voluptuous on April 2, 2009 at 2:01 PM · Report
6
The debt was already incurred by the Republicants. Suggest you look and see how much they raided from Social Security to finagle the budget, not to mention the cost to date from the Iraq war and tax breaks to companies that robbed the American People blind. and gave them tax breaks to send jobs overseas. I don't know about you, but I don't want someone in India to have access to my medical or financial data.
Posted by Dale Hardway on April 2, 2009 at 3:33 PM · Report
7
Woot woot, thanks for the shout out! Wish I could be there with you to witness the mayhem, but while conservative Portlanders are tossing tea I'll be drinking it in jolly old England. I'll bring back some PG Tips!
Posted by Dino might? on April 3, 2009 at 10:51 AM · Report
8
I think I will dress up like a hippy with Pro-Socialism signs and attend the event. It Should be fun, uneducated folks who don't understand that we are actually paying less tax now thanks to Mr. Obama.. I love that Fox News and corporations are sponsoring this event, thus making it not grass roots event.. Hmmmmm.. I use to be a republican and I am ashamed that I was at this point in my life. Funny thing, our ulta conservative friends are screaming that Obama saving us from the banks is socialism.. We don't have pure capitalism in the United states and have a mix of several ism's including socialism. Social Security, Medicare, Welfare, all socialistic programs.
Posted by pdxhippie jew on April 14, 2009 at 8:06 PM · Report
9
I agree with PDXHippie. We need to push back against these morons by attending their rally's with our own signs and voices. I will be there and the one in Vancouver to protest their protest. I hope many progressive minded will join me.
Posted by superhawk on April 14, 2010 at 2:45 PM · Report

Add a comment

Our Friends

Our Enemies

/images/adoftheweek.gif

ad of the day

The Handyman Pro - Your Honey-Do Specialist
Don’t let our name fool you. The Handyman Pro, LLC is a repair and remodel service provider with over 25-years experience. We cover all aspects of construction and repairs for residential and commercial clients.go


post an ad

All contents © Index Newspapers, LLC

115 SW Ash St. Suite 600
Portland, OR 97204

Contact Info | Privacy Policy | Production Guidelines | Terms of Use