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July 29, 2011

No “I” in Tea Party? Think Again.

By Michael Shaw

Eat Your Peas

This sign captures the perfect futility of dealing with the Tea Party. At his press conference two weeks ago during which Obama vented his frustration with the Republicans for an unwillingness to fairly bargain, he said it was now time to “eat our peas.” (Notice he didn’t say “eat your peas.”)

What the phrase refers to simply is doing that thing that is necessary and good for us, even if we don’t like it.

You think there’s no “i” in Tea Party? Well actually, the sign demonstrates it’s all “I.” Obama, in basically digesting the budget agenda of the right and then bending-over-backward in concessions, almost can’t stop eating his peas. In throwing it back in Obama’s face, on the other hand, these people contradict the entire meaning of the phrase. While the phrase calls for stepping up, taking a hard swallow and acting in the interest of the larger body, these people aren’t just rejecting the process but saying their interests supercede the country’s collective health and popular will.

(photo: Reuters caption: A woman holds a sign with a message for U.S. President Barack Obama as dozens of Tea Party supporters rally near the U.S. Capitol against raising the debt limit in Washington, July 27, 2011.)

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  • Anonymous

    Tea Partiers,? bratty children? bullies? narcissistic? All of that and worse. Their stupid signs bring out the worst in me. I want to smack them alongside the head.

    • http://www.serr8d.blogspot.com/ Serr8d

      Obviously she’s a terrorist. Say, since BHO likes to ‘pal around’ with terrorists, do you think they’d hit it off? Maybe she can now get a Chair at the University of Illinois, Chicago.

      Oh, and boctaoe, any time you feel frisky, look me up.

  • Susan Hales

    Ignorance and stupidity are two different things. These people are not willfully ignorant – they are just uneducated – ill-informed – most likely non-readers. Until we improve the literacy rate in this country the people who own the advertising and the media will be the ones with control over the dialogue. Fortunately, the signs do point to more digital literacy.among the general population. It just seems like it’s taking such a long time because, well, it is.  Kudos to this website though – I’ve always enjoyed the perspective — in fact, today’s Mobile Press-Register front page is what made me think of you guys – we are having the olympic boxiing trials here, so the front page featured two (black) boxers duking it out, a photo of the City Jail with nary a white person in sight, the smaller shot of a white official with his hands outstretched as if to say “What can I do?” and the other big story, which netted one half column on the right – of Obama with a chagrinned look on his face. I’d love to see what other papers did on the front page today…

    • omen

      even educated people can be blinded by hatred.

  • Anonymous

    Ms Peas looks like she’s in treatment for cancer. If so, looks likely that Medicare / Medicaid is involved too. 

    • Asta

      @black_dog_barking:disqus  Well, if Ms Peas is in cancer treatment (and I agree that it does appear so), then why does she protest against her own best self interests?  She may not be old enough for Medicare, but she might qualify for Medicaid.  So why is she so angry?  Why does she rail against a program meant to help her?  
      Susan Hales brought up some good points regarding ignorance and stupidity, but I’ve seen a lot of willful ignorance.  A culture of Ostriches.

    • Cat Man

      Maybe Obamacare instead

  • omen

    “eat your own damn peas” is code for “don’t you dare tell me what to do, you uppity negro. how dare you stand up there and pretend to be smarter than me.”

    • omen

      actually, i agree with this woman if you read her sign as an exhortation to accept responsibility for your own actions/advocacy. pity she and the rest of her cohorts refuse to do so.

      from an earlier krugman column describing bush’s prescription drug benefit:

      “According to the Medicare trustees, Part D created a $9.4 trillion unfunded liability over the next 75 years.”

      we all know the argument: with the addition of unpaid for two wars and the unpaid for bush tax cuts, republicans refuse to acknowledge responsibility for drowning the country in red ink. everything gets blamed on obama and the democrats instead.

      why are people so threatened with the possibility of being wrong (and admitting they’ve acted against of their own self interest) that they double down and blame everybody else? some of this tea party anger strikes me as self defensive.

    • omen

      actually, i agree with this woman if you read her sign as an exhortation to accept responsibility for your own actions/advocacy. pity she and the rest of her cohorts refuse to do so.

      from an earlier krugman column describing bush’s prescription drug benefit:

      “According to the Medicare trustees, Part D created a $9.4 trillion unfunded liability over the next 75 years.”

      we all know the argument: with the addition of unpaid for two wars and the unpaid for bush tax cuts, republicans refuse to acknowledge responsibility for drowning the country in red ink. everything gets blamed on obama and the democrats instead.

      why are people so threatened with the possibility of being wrong (and admitting they’ve acted against of their own self interest) that they double down and blame everybody else? some of this tea party anger strikes me as self defensive.

    • omen

      actually, i agree with this woman if you read her sign as an exhortation to accept responsibility for your own actions/advocacy. pity she and the rest of her cohorts refuse to do so.

      from an earlier krugman column describing bush’s prescription drug benefit:

      “According to the Medicare trustees, Part D created a $9.4 trillion unfunded liability over the next 75 years.”

      we all know the argument: with the addition of unpaid for two wars and the unpaid for bush tax cuts, republicans refuse to acknowledge responsibility for drowning the country in red ink. everything gets blamed on obama and the democrats instead.

      why are people so threatened with the possibility of being wrong (and admitting they’ve acted against of their own self interest) that they double down and blame everybody else? some of this tea party anger strikes me as self defensive.

  • Glenn

    these people aren’t just rejecting the process but saying their
    interests supercede the country’s collective health and popular will.

    Yes, but “their interests” seem to be austerity and spending cuts – isn’t it?

    So wait, the Tea Party preaches austerity for everyone but them? Is she speaking for the corporate jet owners?

    Or does this sign reveal, as I think it does, that the core mission of the Tea Party isn’t fiscal responsiblity, but antipathy towards President Obama in everything?

  • Glenn

    Also, note the caption: “as dozens of Tea Party supporters rally”…..(my emphasis). They are a minority. Why are we allowing them to dominate the conversation.

  • Bamaguy1024

    I am certain if Tea Party aficionados watch any news they watch FOX News. The constant stream of lies and conservative talking points broadcast there and on AM Talk Radio all across the country is misleading those of little intellect into mindlessly following the GOP. It is a very scary situation. If the GOP takes complete power, we will continue to be a militaristic nation, and they will be able to strip away the social safety net completely, gut social services and education and enslave the middle class working people at a low standard of living so the masses are totally subservient to big corporations.

  • Stella

    I wonder how she feels about mandated religion.  Not to mention forced birth.

  • Susan Hales

    The failure of our education system is that we have not taught them critical thinking skills — which is due largely to the fact that they really can’t read with any fluency. An educated person who allows themselves to be blinded by hatred is not thinking, simply reacting to stereotypes – something this website focuses on in the visual realm.  When I see that woman with her sign I don’t think “Wow, how ignorant she is!” but rather “Wow, it’s a shame she is so unaware of the rest of the world. The mainstream media is still doing its job polarizing us, but not as successfully as they did ten years ago. And definitely not as successfully as they did a century ago.

  • Anonymous

    Good questions. Incongruities abound. Contrast what the chemo-esque do-rag implies with the sarcasm implied by the illustrated “O” in her sign. *If* there’s cancer then this woman has a lot of social support lurking behind her anti-social (anti-socialism?) performance.

  • omen

    michael points out again and again how this fanaticism isn’t about logic, this is about emotion. they’re not going to allow facts to get in the way of their opinions. even if we had a world class education system, even if we had media that defended public interest, we would still have parents inculcating their own children with hatred and bigotry.

  • jonst

    Omen, you win the over/under on how long it would take before someone started imply someone else was a racist.  As to pea eatin……it will be pea eatin time when this President ends our involvement in these endless wars.  So, oddly, though I am sure we nothing else in common…I agree with the sign, let him “eat his own peas” and begin to draw down the military industrial complex he so fervently supports.

  • omen

    jonst, i don’t equate any and all criticism against obama to racism. i have policy differences against obama myself and am bitter about his lack of fight in defending the poor. he didn’t even put up an effort to extend unemployment benefits. this isn’t just a handout, this would have helped to stimulate the economy.

    in the above entry, i had an early draft holding obama accountable for failing to hold to his campaign promise to fight to allow medicare to bargain for cheaper drugs. this would have helped reduce the deficit. but i edited it out because i didn’t want to go too long.

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