Comments on Mature Landscaping: Fear, Itself

The tea party movement scares me, not because of t...

2010-02-19T20:46:34.779-05:00

The tea party movement scares me, not because of their ideology but because of their willingness to act based on that ideiology. They encourage their members to stockpile weapons and squirrel away provisions in preparation for some future battle. They appear to seriously contemplate the need for a civil war. They argue that they are simply exercising their freedom of speech, but I think that their words are bordering on treason and the First Amendment does not protect treasonous speech. I read Hofstader half a lifetime ago but Barry reminds me that it is well worth re-reading. It seems to fit these troubled times.

Thanks for posting this link Nance. My local NPR ...

2010-02-19T13:31:35.635-05:00

Thanks for posting this link Nance.
My local NPR station was discussing the Tea Party movement this morning, and the panelists had the same conclusion I did, that they do nothing but stamp their feet and wave the Constitution!

I have yet to hear a coherent policy or thought offered up by anyone in this group. It's mostly rage that seems to come seething out. Scary.

Nance, Thanks for the nod. This is my first visit ...

2010-02-17T23:03:32.397-05:00

Nance,
Thanks for the nod. This is my first visit to your site, or my own for that matter, in ten or more days. The day job is really eating into my blog time....I've only just now called it a day.

But to the matter at hand, Barry indeed nails it and I will also be scurrying to find a copy. Your comparison to the Chinese cultural revolution does makes one's hair stand up.

Sleep well.

OK so now I'm really scared. Took the time to...

2010-02-17T20:09:08.852-05:00

OK so now I'm really scared. Took the time to read the article - tho with trepidation that it would have the NYT's usual slant but found, as you said, a sane exposition of a frightening space in our political sphere.

Somewhere between too much praise and too much fear there has to be a way to raise our children to do better.

These groups rise to the surface during frightful times (McCarthy and the Cold War, Father Coughlin and the Depression) and, for me, the saddest thing about it all is the national unhappiness which has spawned it.

Barry, Not only is your comment relevant, but it&#...

2010-02-17T16:17:02.485-05:00

Barry, Not only is your comment relevant, but it's sent me scurrying to half.com to find a copy of Hofstadter. And you helped me remember what I couldn't put my finger on when I was writing this post: there was a first-person account of the Chinese Cultural Revolution that I read as a teen. I can't find the title, but it had a huge impact on me. I realized that the kinds of people I most admired in the world were the very ones Chairman Mao was persecuting. The twist, of course, is that Mao believed the intellectuals would threaten socialism with their capitalist yearnings. Wish I could remember the title or the author of that book.

An excellent post--thank you. Almost fifty years a...

2010-02-17T15:45:06.868-05:00

An excellent post--thank you.
Almost fifty years ago, Richard Hofstadter published a very important book. The title is Anti-intellectualism in American Life, and I recommend it to anyone interested in understandng the teabagger phenomenon in historical terms. As Hofstadter led me to see, teabaggers are just the latest expression of a simple-minded anti-intellectual hostility present throughout most of our history.
To quote him: "There has always been in our national experience a type of mind which elevates hatred to a kind of creed; for this mind, group hatreds take a place in politics similar to the class struggles in some other modern societies."
Sound relevant?

According to their web site (http://www.sandpointp...

2010-02-17T13:07:35.026-05:00

According to their web site (http://www.sandpointpatriots.com/), Ms Stout is the lead organizer/president the group and was elected to that position at her first meeting. I applaud her efforts to become involved in the political process, but am concerned with the far right’s ability to convert otherwise rational folks into anarchist. That is what we would have if we became the Ununited States of America, which is where they are headed.

Thanks for bringing the latest insight to this top...

2010-02-17T11:16:11.002-05:00

Thanks for bringing the latest insight to this topic. As I watched these "parties" form via the media, my impression was that they allowed average Americans to voice their concerns and question their respective politians, local and federal, and possibly an alternative to the "Town Halls". It appears they have become something more ominous.