Some Jacksonville Tea Party protesters are being criticized for signs comparing President Barack Obama to Hitler. One local blogger said the Duval County GOP “is backing away from their promotion” of the event.
And that spurred a clarification from GOP Duval chair Lenny Curry. In a news release issued Sunday, Curry said, “"The DCREC had no role in the planning, organization, agenda, invitees, or speakers at the Tea Party. The DCREC merely used its extensive e-mail list to help promote awareness and participation in the event as a service to its members. The DCREC's e-mail included a ‘paid for’ disclaimer which is required by state law regarding political communications. That disclaimer accompanies all of our communications and did not concern sponsorship of the event in question mentioned in the e-mail.”
The tea party was not a function of the local GOP although some leaders attended. The event was publicized through a number of activist organizations; I received half a dozen emails from various organizations about it.
It’s comical the GOP is called to task for this considering the Democrats are rarely chastised for their supporters, even when those supporters condemn the white race and damn America. Jeremiah Wright rings a bell.Those who carried signs likening Obama to the world’s most maligned man in current history simply took a page from protesters during the Bush ’43 administration.
Neoliberals frequently compared Bush to Hitler; the practice was so commonplace The Boston Globe did a story with a header, “Is Bush Hitler? I don’t think so.” Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was often singled out for ridicule and sometimes racially insensitive terms were used. One Wisconsin radio host called Rice an “Aunt Jemima” and her predecessor Colin Powell an “Uncle Tom.” No neolib outrage on those aspersions.
I think the US is divided right now into two camps: the producers and the recipients. The producers expect their taxes to rise as their salaries decrease and expenses increase. If the US Senate passes the Cap and Trade bill, your household energy bill will likely be more than your car payment. Most in the US House and the president’s new Energy Czar did not read the bill.
The federal government has taken over auto manufacturers and banks, resorting to bailing out select firms (even GE got money) at the expense of the taxpayer. Now the feds want control over healthcare, having completely bungled it already via Medicare and Medicaid. It’s easy to be for a tax increase if you don’t pay taxes. But if you’re in the class the government aims at for revenue, a tea party is just the thing to get you going.
Should the organizers have asked those holding controversial signs to leave the Jacksonville Tea Party? Curry said, “I believe Tea Party officials made the right choice in not bringing further attention to those few people in attendance holding inappropriate signs by forcing them to leave or to put their signs away. Refusing them entry into this event or calling them out for their ridiculous signs would have given them a larger platform than they deserve.”
Curry added, “As the philosopher Voltaire once said, 'I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to my death your right to say it.' I believe in this principle and I support the actions of the Tea Party organizers for allowing Free Speech to prevail.”
It’s no surprise some go overboard when they protest a politician and it’s no surprise some are going overboard as our country is under absolute rule by a neoliberal Congress and Executive Branch spending money in record amounts.
Why a few errant protesters are worthy of a story can only be explained within the confines of a slow news cycle on a day when most of us were cooking out and enjoying a swim and some fireworks. Hobby bloggers will write about anything it seems. The overblown fracas stems from typical politics and typical Dem outrage. You can see a number of photos of the event at the Duval County Republican Party Facebook page. The photo appearing with this column is a screen shot from that page.
All but a handful of protest signs focused on the issues. The few that didn’t only made the news because we’ve been in a slow post-Michael Jackson cycle. And those few are certainly entitled to their opinions.
Curry summed it up in a nutshell. He said, “As with most of my fellow Americans at the Tea Party, we wish to see a brighter day for America that includes fiscal restraint, and a smaller but more responsive government.” That’s a wish many of us hope will come true no matter who’s in the Oval Office or Congress.
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