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You are here: Home / Takin’ to the streets

Takin’ to the streets

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Be afraid:

NYC: You don’t see it in the media, but there is a groundswell of public anger over the Democrats’ attempt to spend their way out of a spending crisis. There have been numerous small protests — and conservatives haven’t taken to the streets in decades. Do you think this will all go away, or does Obama have a problem?

You can laugh at me, but you really do find some good stuff in the WaPo chats.

I think we all know that when numerous small protests occur, governments fall.

Reader Interactions

124Comments

  2. 2.

    Zifnab

    If these protests continue, it’ll only be a matter of time before the President is forced to withdraw troops from Iraq.

    Wait… scratch that… wrong crisis.

    Still, I’m eager to meet the right wing’s Cindy Sheehan.

  3. 3.

    Dave

    I have no doubt that a protest movement filled with chants of "Save The Bankers!" and "I’ve Got Mine; Screw You!" will sweep the nation like wildfire.

  5. 5.

    flounder

    I wrote in that public polling of Congressional Republicans currently at 18% indicated that there was indeed a "groundswell of public anger"…as in it is barely getting off the ground.
    Of course Mike Fletcher left that unmentioned.
    Yesterday I got Lois Romano to introduce the fact that Jon Kyl and Lindsey Graham lied to the Supreme Court into the public record re: Burris, as in if Burris is so bad for lying to the Illinois State Government, why is it okay for the Republicans to lie to the highest court in the land? Baby steps.

  7. 7.

    Dennis-SGMM

    This is so cool because what we do with protesters is infiltrate their groups, put them under surveillance, beat them, bombard them with tear gas and pepper spray them in the face.
    More popcorn!

  9. 9.

    flounder

    I wish they really did start protesting so I could infiltrate. Dress up as a wallstreet broker and carry a sign about killing the poor or something.

  10. 10.

    Shawn in ShowMe

    Wow, these protests are almost as large as a Palin-less McCain rally. Viva la revolution!

  14. 14.

    John Cole

    An enterprising blogger might go through Malkin’s archives and check how she characterized the size of anti-war protests and compare that to how she is characterizing the size of 100 malcontents shouting “porkulus” while forcing their kid to wear red, white and blue and carry signage with a reference to Ayn Rand or Hayek.

    I would bet there is quite a difference in how she views the two. I would do it myself, but I am trying to lay off the fauxtrage.

  16. 16.

    TheHatOnMyCat

    go through Malkin’s archives and check how she characterized the size of anti-war protests and compare that to how she is characterizing the size of 100 malcontents shouting “porkulus”

    You misspelled malkintents.

  17. 17.

    Dennis-SGMM

    @John Cole:
    There would also be some interesting contrasts in how the wingnuttery characterized anti-war protesters versus how they characterize the "conservative" protesters.

  19. 19.

    Rick Taylor

    You don’t see it in the media, but there is a groundswell of public anger over the Democrats’ attempt to spend their way out of a spending crisis.

    We’re in a spending crises now? I thought the problem was there were multiple bank failures, huge job losses, the markets tanking, etc. I had no idea it was a spending crises.

  24. 24.

    jibeaux

    Thanks, cleek, that was great.

    I’m a total lefty and I could never actually attend a protest. For one thing, slogans just aren’t really me, also I dislike chanting, and you just know that no matter what the topic, someone’s going to be there with a legalize poster and a giant pot leaf.

  26. 26.

    jibeaux

    @Montysano:

    someone’s going to be there with a legalize poster and a giant pot leaf.

    ….or a giant bloody death puppet with illegible sign…thanks…I think.

  28. 28.

    cleek

    go through Malkin’s archives and check how she characterized the size of anti-war protests and compare that to how she is characterizing the size of 100 malcontents shouting “porkulus”

    she ‘characterized’ them by posting their names and phone numbers on her web site.

    when they returned the favor, she cried foul.

  29. 29.

    jibeaux

    @Montysano:

    Also, he could play the bad guy in any movie about corporate greed EVAH. Do you need someone who looks like he would put glass shards into Cabbage Patch kids because it’s ten cents cheaper a gross than using stuffing? Have we got the guy for you!

  31. 31.

    Adrienne

    Can you even call yourself a conservative if you "take it to the streets"? Aren’t they like mutually exclusive or oxymorons or something.

    How can you be conservative if you are marching in the streets in the hopes of…wait for it… a revolution?

    You don’t see it in the media, but there is a groundswell of public anger over the Democrats’ attempt to spend their way out of a spending crisis.

    If they were real conservatives, they would have been marching to avoid getting us into the crisis, not marching against the man who is trying to conserve our way of life. Just a thought.

    BTW and totally OT: It’s my BIRTHDAY today!!!

  32. 32.

    Comrade Darkness

    YAWN. Wake me when the republicans say something responsible and productive. That would be news.

  35. 35.

    Evinfuilt

    Numerous protests of nearly 50 people being ignored… proof of the liberal media

    Dozens of simultaneous protests, in the hundreds of thousands, world-wide being ignored…. this too will be ignored.

    This is a sad decade.

  37. 37.

    Napoleon

    The only example that comes to mind is the hard-hat march in NYC back in 1970. They had about 60-150K people for that.

    Out of which came that photograph of a hardhat stabbing a DFH with a flagstaff with an American flag on it.

  38. 38.

    smiley

    @flounder:

    I wish they really did start protesting so I could infiltrate. Dress up as a wallstreet broker and carry a sign about killing the poor or something.

    Where are these guys now that we need them?

  39. 39.

    dmsilev

    Sounds like a job mission for the Red State Strike Force. If there’s any group which can strike fear laughter into the heart of The Man, it’s this group of heroes fools.

    -dms

  41. 41.

    linda

    here’s another good one:

    New Orleans, La.: It’s hard to keep track of the scandals that have rocked Obama’s administration so far — Burris, the various tax-thieves, "nation of cowards," etc. What’s shocking is the whiplash in the media. Scandals that would have been roundly condemned in Bush’s administration are largely ignored. How do you explain? Is it just pure partisan bias? The desire to give Obama a honeymoon? Something else?

    and the response wasn’t bad:

    Michael A. Fletcher: Scandals? Burris? Is that an Obama issue? I’ll grant the tax issues, and Obama has taken the hit on them. "Nation of cowards?" You can argue with the choice of words, but does anyone dispute Attorney General Eric Holder’s view that, even given our immense racial progress,the nation does not confront racial issues with candor? I think President will be treated no differently than other presidents. Believe me, the media culture, if nothing else, will permit nothing less.

  42. 42.

    Mary

    Okay DougJ, I need to see your Terms of Use because I went to look into Malkin’s blogs for anti-liberal protester propaganda, but after reading her terms of use, I dont think I’ll be copying anything from her site-ok with me, I feel dirty just clicking on it.

    I want to see your’s for comparison.

    Thanks!!

  43. 43.

    Levi

    I watched a video over at PJTV the other day where Michelle Malkin was getting all excited about a 100-person protest, which she said was a fairly large turnout for a liberal city like Seattle. In reality, 100 people is shitty turnout in any major American city. Klan meetings probably get that many people in Seattle.

  44. 44.

    Mary

    flounder,
    I’d help you infiltrate, but I threw away my Palin glasses after Halloween. They were too scary for the kids; they kept thinking I was going to force them into marriage or shoot a moose or something.

  45. 45.

    The Populist

    Explain this to me. If a dem protests, he/she is a traitor and they hate America. If a doofus fucktard like Malkin does it, it’s an expression of freedom and a legitimate gripe?

    So what? The right have a few hundred loons protesting about the stimulus. Last I checked these maroons are the minority as most of America is more pragmatic than these tards.

    Let’s weigh this another way…protests against the war routinely draw thousands. This stupid nonsense is snagging maybe a couple hundred or less per rally. Whoop-de-doo.

  46. 46.

    Mary

    @Rick Taylor:
    I thought they called it a lack of spending crisis, apparently all will be well when we run up our personal debt for personal gain, but spending taxpayer money to serve the taxpayers crosses some line.

  47. 47.

    Rex

    I remember the conservatives in the streets in 2003 with their signs "Except for ending slavery, nazism and fascism, war has never solved anything". Clearly they were on the right side of history with that campaign as well.

  48. 48.

    The Populist

    If I went to a protest that Malkin was leading and I can talk her into a photo, maybe I should whisper a nasty line to her and see if the expression changes for posterity!

  49. 49.

    gbear

    Takin’ it to the streets

    You don’t know me but I’m your broker….

    This is so cool because what we do with protesters is infiltrate their groups, put them under surveillance…

    Sounds like a job for the ‘Billionaires for Bush’ and ‘Millionaires for McCain’ crews. This could be fun.

  51. 51.

    Mazacote Yorquest

    It’s not being reported in the media, but there are several women out there who can testify to my large, large penis. Also, there is an alien named Kazoo who floats above my right shoulder, totally ignored by an Obama-adoring press.

  52. 52.

    Comrade Darkness

    OT, but for the record this leading republican clearly states that it’s perfectly acceptable for senators to tell american businesses how to operate:

    “If they lay people off, are they going to think of America first or are they going to think of the world first?” Chuck Grassley, a Republican Senator from Iowa, said in an interview. He sent a letter to Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer the day after Microsoft announced the job cuts last month, demanding Ballmer fire visa holders first.

    bloomberg

  53. 53.

    SpotWeld

    Now that "something" akin to a popular movement has been caught on tape all the media talking heads have something to run in the background.

    That’s all they need.

    They’ll run the video over and over and over again.
    They don’t need facts, they don’t need reality, they just need a video clip.

    Remember how they thought shouting "Drill baby drill" would lower oil prices.

    The remains of the GOP have become the party of magical thinking.

  56. 56.

    Steve V

    The right’s nonsense promoting these miniscule protests is laughable, but it’s undeniable that with their talk about secession or revolution or whatever, the talk radio and online righties are basically (and I think consciously) trying to foment another round of violent militia craziness a la the 1990s. Since they all lived through Oklahoma City and should know better, I’m really taken aback by this.

  57. 57.

    JL

    @linda: That question really made me laugh. When did the media condemn Bush?
    Did they condemn him for raping and waterboarding prisoners? Did they condemn him for politicizing the justice department? Now granted, the media did condemn him for Katrina but he was letting folks drown.

  59. 59.

    Dennis-SGMM

    @SpotWeld:
    And the numbers of protesters will be described as "substantial" and "significant" – just as substantial and significant as the blow-dried baboons reading the news.

  62. 62.

    cleek

    "Our nominee [McCain] is a man who will make decisions based upon sound principles, not based on the latest focus group or political poll."

    “Size of protest—it’s like deciding, well, I’m going to decide policy based upon a focus group,”
    — George Bush the Forsaken

    1/20/09 changed everything, of course.

  63. 63.

    Dennis-SGMM

    So what’s the next installment going to be? Paupers for Palin?

    I predict an outbreak of Christian Anti-Socialist Rifle Squads.

  65. 65.

    Comrade Stuck

    @Dave S.:

    I think the last time was when they dressed up as Mohawk Indians and had a Tea Party, or something. The authorities did Act quickly to Stamp it out.

  66. 66.

    Calouste

    @Comrade Darkness:

    And shortly afterwards Ballmer spoke at a Democratic Congressional convention, which Grassley might have known about. It perfectly fine for the goverment to tell businesses with unions and Democratic leaning leaders to behave, because, you know, they are not real Americans anyway.

    Oh, and if the Republicans actually made good on Bush I’s promise of being the education president, then maybe companies wouldn’t have to hire abroad. But if you prefer to teach hocus-pocus over science in school, and keep cutting education budgets at every possibility, it’s no wonder the labor market for people with logical and critical thinking ability is a bit small.

  67. 67.

    Dennis-SGMM

    John, could you, when you’ve a moment, see if there’s a way to allow that "ism" which begins with the word "social" to get through the spam filter? The well-known ED med is spelled out in the middle of that "ism" so it trips the filter.

  69. 69.

    Calouste

    I predict an outbreak of Christian Anti-Socialist Rifle Squads.

    Soviet Anti-Fascist Rifle Squad sounds like something that might have been around on the Eastern Front during WWII.

    But then again, people have before pointed out similarities between Stalinism and Republicanism, not as much in philosophy as in methods.

  71. 71.

    The Populist

    The right’s nonsense promoting these miniscule protests is laughable, but it’s undeniable that with their talk about secession or revolution or whatever, the talk radio and online righties are basically (and I think consciously) trying to foment another round of violent militia craziness a la the 1990s. Since they all lived through Oklahoma City and should know better, I’m really taken aback by this.

    I predict we will see a state try to secede in the coming years if things don’t improve and fast.

  72. 72.

    The Populist

    I also predict the next terrorist act in this country will be perpetrated by an American ala McVeigh and crew.

    These people believe every crappy comment that comes out of the mouths of these so-called America first conservatives.

  73. 73.

    Joshua Norton

    I predict we will see a state try to secede in the coming years if things don’t improve and fast.

    I predict that this time we’ll let them.

  74. 74.

    MikeJ

    If the cops didn’t spend so much time arresting GOPerverts they would be able to evict more poor people.

  76. 76.

    Ash Can

    @Steve V:

    …with their talk about secession or revolution or whatever, the talk radio and online righties are basically (and I think consciously) trying to foment another round of violent militia craziness a la the 1990s.

    And they’re doing this in a post-9/11 world, too. I continue to wonder what might be going on behind the scenes on the Fed/Secret Service side. Granted, there are still plenty of Bushies burrowed into the system. Moreover, I’d like to think that the current administration wouldn’t be as eager to go after political enemies as the previous one was. But with freedoms come responsibilities, and the screamers aren’t exactly steeped in responsibility. There’s a point at which bitching crosses the line, and I would imagine the silent scowlers in the dark suits know exactly where that line is.

  77. 77.

    Ash Can

    @ DougJ:

    "You can laugh at me, but you really do find some good stuff in the WaPo chats."

    I for one wouldn’t dream of laughing at you for hanging around the WaPo chats, for this exact reason. You’re doing the rest of us a huge service. Many thanks.

  79. 79.

    Xecklothxayyquou Gilchrist

    An enterprising blogger might go through Malkin’s archives and check how she characterized the size of anti-war protests…

    Malkin’s one thing, but weren’t much more reputable news outlets downplaying or ignoring anti-war protests – if they weren’t actively claiming the participants were traitors?

    2003 was a scary year.

  81. 81.

    TenguPhule

    I think we all know that when numerous small protests occur, governments fall.

    We can follow that fine old Southern tradition of calling out the national guard and gunning these "conservative" protestors down in the street.

  82. 82.

    smiley

    @Michael D.: I brought up the exorcism (politely saying I knew he wouldn’t ask about it). I haven’t checked to see if it was accepted yet.

    Edit: Apparently denied because it’s no longer there. Thin skinned?

  83. 83.

    otto_

    This stuff is really hilarious. I love that Republicans are the presidents responsible for the largest increases in deficits, but for some reason the marchers didn’t care then. I wonder why?

  85. 85.

    Ned R.

    Actually my real problem with this post is thanks to DougJ’s title I can’t get the frickin’ Doobie Brothers out of my head. ARGH.

  87. 87.

    Comrade Dread

    I have this vision of a bunch of doughy ‘conservative’ pundits wearing kilts trying to lead a small army of investment bankers on the plains shortly before they have the shit beaten out of them by a much larger angrier mob of now-homeless people.

  89. 89.

    lilybart

    I feel a groundswell of Revolution in the air. Bill Mahr said it best:

    "Don’t pay your mortgage, you are a deadbeat. Don’t pay a million mortgages and you are Bear Sterns and we bail you out.

  90. 90.

    jw

    conservatives haven’t taken to the streets in decades

    Well it’s about freakin’ time. And we can all make fun of them and call them loonies and Anti-American, and the press can ignore them. What fun!

  91. 91.

    lilybart

    Republicans don’t protest do they? Isn’t that for leftists and anarchists?

    Republicans are what one protests against.

  92. 92.

    The Moar You Know

    @gbear:

    You don’t know me but I’m your broker
    I was raised here in this living hell
    Tryin to get by on half a mil a year
    Making trades on this broke down Dell

    You
    telling me the taxes I gotta pay
    Try to live on a half mil there’s just no way

    Takin it to the streets
    Takin it to the streets
    Takin it to the streets
    Takin it to the streets

    Take this message to my broker
    You will find him everywhere
    Wherever rich people live together
    Tied in affluence’s despair

    You
    telling me the taxes I gotta pay
    Try to live on a half mil there’s just no way

    Takin it to the streets
    Takin it to the streets
    Takin it to the streets
    Takin it to the streets

  93. 93.

    RSA

    and conservatives haven’t taken to the streets in decades

    Right… Brown v. Board of Education, wasn’t it?

  95. 95.

    Evinfuilt

    I also predict the next terrorist act in this country will be perpetrated by an American ala McVeigh and crew.

    These people believe every crappy comment that comes out of the mouths of these so-called America first conservatives.

    Troll on my guild board is trying to hype up the damage they’ll do (as in him and his friends.) Revolution is what he’s calling for, and he hopes not too many of us (his supposed friends) will be hurt.

    Oh yeah, America First!

    And Michael, thank you for that awesome video. Pretty pictures help me understand big problems.

  97. 97.

    bago

    The Seattle "Capitalist" thing sounds like Michael Holden. It’s funny because his brother Dom gets quoted by Andrew Sullivan all the time.

  98. 98.

    billmon

    I think we all know that when numerous small protests occur, governments fall.

    I am Brooks Brothers! Hear me roar!

  99. 99.

    Blue Raven

    @Mary:

    Happy Birthday Adrienne!

    Happy birthday to you both! Mine is on Monday. Amusing little cluster we have here.

  100. 100.

    Tonal Crow

    Oh-oh, the fifth columnists are taking it to the streets. Can large-scale public disorder, communism, and the decline of the family be far behind? Shouldn’t we be considering, you know, preventive detention?

  101. 101.

    Comrade Stuck

    @Ned R.:

    e I can’t get the frickin’ Doobie Brothers out of my head. ARGH.

    If your gonna have The Doobie Bro’s in your head I recommend this.

  102. 102.

    geg6

    @Michael D.:

    I asked Stretch to see if he could get Jindal to give us some detail of that awesome exocism he did and if he still thought Protestants were doomed to hell.

    Sadly, Stretch said no.

  103. 103.

    gwangung

    Seattle Storm practices get more turnout than these protest events.

    Pretty sad when you’re getting out-organized by WNBA fans…

  105. 105.

    jibeaux

    While we’re O/T, who is going to give Dollhouse another go? I thought it was o.k., but I freely admit that I have pretty low standards for tv & movies. It’s pretty easy to talk me into settling onto the couch with a nice drink. (I also read pretty much every comic strip, too, even Mallard Fillmore, since it comes with a cup of coffee and piece of toast.)

  106. 106.

    Comrade Dread

    Revolution is what he’s calling for

    Because he could stand presidential lawbreaking.

    He could stand warantless wiretaps.

    He could stand torture.

    He could stand adding 6 trillion to the national debt coupled with massive corruption with the money given to the Iraqis.

    He could stand giving 800 billion to Wall St.

    But hell, another 750 billion that’ll go to cash strapped State governments and public works projects? Fuck, that’s just too damn far.

    While we’re O/T, who is going to give Dollhouse another go?

    I probably will. The premise is interesting enough that I’ll stick around for a few more weeks.

  107. 107.

    Indylib

    If you haven’t seen it check out Gibbs taking down Santelli’s idiocy.
    It’s so refreshing to have a White House Press Secretary who can speak in complete sentences, toss in a little subtle sarcasm, and ANSWERS the damned questions on occasion.
    The decaf line is great as is Gibb’s delivery.

  110. 110.

    Blue Raven

    @Levi:

    I watched a video over at PJTV the other day where Michelle Malkin was getting all excited about a 100-person protest, which she said was a fairly large turnout for a liberal city like Seattle. In reality, 100 people is shitty turnout in any major American city. Klan meetings probably get that many people in Seattle.

    All things considered, I would not be surprised if that protest was a convenient way to get everyone together between Klan meetings to swap casserole dishes and butane torches.

  111. 111.

    Blue Raven

    @jibeaux:

    While we’re O/T, who is going to give Dollhouse another go?

    Gladly, if for no other reason than Eliza Dushku. That voice and that face… such a pleasant way to spend an hour. I think they showed some of the potential of the concept, cleared up some of my questions about it, and so long as the network stopped jiggering the scripts, I trust Joss to go somewhere better with it.

  112. 112.

    zzyzx

    Yeah I was quite amused by the protest because it happened in my city… on a holiday (albeit a quasi-one)… on a rather nice day, and drew less than 100 people.

  113. 113.

    jibeaux

    Hopefully she won’t be in Sarah Palin-sexy librarian mode this week. I don’t really go all feministy on that kind of thing, but I do hate cliches.

  114. 114.

    itsbenj

    hehe, and this person seems to think they’re from NYC too, eh? where there are tons and tons of "small protests" about the stimulus bill.

    yeah. that is totallllllly what is happening here. its just one small protest after another. true story.

  115. 115.

    Mongo

    Darn Librul media – Nothing about a handful of wingnuts protesting in downtown Seattle. Not in the papers not on the local news.

    Yet, a couple of babes getting naked for PETA make the front page of the Seattle papers

    I guess the answer is naked women sell papers; old coots and kids with signs; not so much

  116. 116.

    gbear

    If someone is looking for a bonafide good reason for taking it to the streets, here’s a good one: a chart showing how much money bailed-out banks spent on lobbying for more money.

  117. 117.

    Xecklothxayyquou Gilchrist

    @Comrade Dread: While we’re O/T, who is going to give Dollhouse another go?

    I will – I too think it’s promising and I trust Joss Whedon to deliver the goods.

  119. 119.

    Jay in Oregon

    @Xecklothxayyquou Gilchrist:

    What I heard through the internet grapevine is that the first 2 or 3 episodes are really about establishing the premise. An extended pilot, if you will.

    I liked the first episode, except that I couldn’t figure out who I was supposed to be rooting for or if the Dollhouse people are good guys or not — my biggest problem with Echo so far is that she’s not a character, she’s a blank slate for writer to use however they want.

  120. 120.

    Robert Sneddon

    Re: Dollhouse — if you find the concept of the show of interest but want to watch something similar with the squick factor turned up a notch or two, try the Japanese anime series "Gunslinger Girl" (should be available on Netflix).

  121. 121.

    AnneLaurie

    I have this vision of a bunch of doughy ‘conservative’ pundits wearing kilts…

    Dude, *nobody* wants to see Jonah Goldberg, William Kristol, or Rich Lowery in a skirt. There are some knees that should just be kept away from public scrutiny.

  122. 122.

    JWW

    I have asked you before DougJ,

    How old are you 22?

    It was only a small protest on December 16, 1773, 236 years ago that a small protest started the creation of this nation. We are slipping and if the crowds grow by numbers as fast as the fatherless children in this counrty multiply, you will see the people.

    The will of the people is also the cause of our greatest loss in war, (1861-1865).

    Do you still live at home with your mom and dad?

    You speak the words of an ass, you ape only what you read and really do not know. Why don’t you start with a basic education, not public education but one that will make you a more effective blogger.

  123. 123.

    gbear

    I have asked you before DougJ,

    Hmmm, I wonder how DougJ responded the previous times? You comment is pretty special, JWW. Not only was it authentic frontier gibberish, but it expresses a courage little seen in this day and age.

  124. 124.

    tavella

    @Michael D.: The Crisis of Credit Visualized from Jonathan Jarvis on Vimeo.

    It’s not bad, but it does miss on at least two points. First, it leaves out how that huge expansion in money being pushed into mortgages inflated the price of homes, pumped up the bubble. In the short term, making them even more attractive to investors, in the long term making the collapse inevitable. That’s a really critical point — wise observers had known for *years* that this was going to happen. I did, and I’m not a financial expert.

    Second, it is blaming a lot of the defaults on people who have healthy mortgages walking way from them. There’s no evidence of a huge epidemic of underwater homeowners defaulting; most people are pretty attached to their houses. What *is* happening is that a lot of people have very bad mortgages; they have ARMs and other non-stable mortgages, and were counting on being able to refinance to get a non-exploding interest rate. If you are underwater, no refinance for you!

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