The teabaggers
Happy Tax Day!This year's April 15th has brought with it hundreds of "tax party" protest rallies across the country, including one here in Des Moines that concluded about a half-hour ago. I can get behind some of the anger directed at the federal bailouts, but if the Des Moines rally is indicative, these protests seem to be more of a "catch-all" by the Right for all of their causes than simply taxes, perhaps a way for them to come together and prove to themselves that they're not all out in the political wilderness after a series of electoral poundings.
They're speaking out in support of any and all of their issues today, including abortion restrictions and the ban on gay marriage, even though the latter, ironically, extends tax relief to more Americans.
Republican activists have been taking a lot of public jibes from the Left for having organized these "teabag" tax protests. Some showed up at the state capitol this morning with teabags hanging from their caps, others have been mailing teabags to their representatives in Washington at the urging of the interest groups. The party planners (Fox News, basically) evidently were not aware of the urban dictionary definition of teabagging, and they're being mocked for it in every media corner from basic cable television to expanded basic. MSNBC's David Shuster may have had the line of the week in reference to Fox New's Neil Cavuto. "In Cavuto's defense," he said Tuesday, "If you are planning simultaneous teabagging all around the country, you're going to need a Dick Armey."
I'm going to fight the temptation to join in on the hilarity, however, out of respect for the activists' well-meaning fervor. It's obvious they have a bad taste in their mouths.
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Reason #292 why the internet is the best source of news and information: The Des Moines Register published a story in today's Metro/Iowa section about a manure bill that's being debated in the Iowa House. An Elkader farmer named Larry Stone is quoted in the piece opposing the spread of manure on fields that have frozen over because of the increased runoff into the waterways.
Though it has no way of appearing in the paper's print edition, an anonymous reader comment in the online thread charges that Stone is a former reporter for the Register. I don't know if this is true, but a quick internet search reveals that a Larry Stone of Elkader worked as an outdoors writer and photographer for the Register for 25 years. If that is indeed the same Larry Stone, that relationship absolutely has to be disclosed in the story.
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Emotionally-unburdening quote of the day: Huffington Post reader 'Loki" in the comment thread of a story about why men and women are scientifically attracted to strangers, "But its not always. My now X was dating her fetish, a younger black guy who had no money. Thats why she tried to take all my money before I tossed her out on her arse. She now her fetish boy, and keeps asking me for money like Im supposed to feel sorry for her being broke."
posted by CM @ 1:20 PM
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