moransWe’ve all seen the tea bag party’s stupid, misspelled protest signs.

The signs are painfully hypocritical as they demand in poor English to make English America’s “offical” language. We might even take delight that the anti-anti-war protester who called us all “morans” has become motivational poster. The illiteracy of the tea baggers party is depressing; it underscores how these folks are victims exploited by astroturfing corporate interests.

Now, to be fair (and balanced), the left has its own share of misspelled posters. My fave: “Will sombody please give Bush a blowjob so we can impeach him.” Misspelling aside, the sentiment is funny. Anyway, these tea party folks work against their own interests, which makes the motivational poster’s point all the more salient. They really are “kind of impotent.”

Ok, so today, a Facebook friend of a Facebook friend posted a series of pictures with misspelled signs, prompting me to hunt for some more. I found some funnies and some disturbing things.  A funny: “No pubic option.”

obamassThe disturbing ones? The Obama SS image on a survivalist forum is not a protest poster, admittedly. My response to this image was visceral, though, which is the point. The common discursive tactic to equate Obama with Hitler, a overwhelmingly offensive tactic, is hugely problematic. Yeah, some leftists did the Bush=Hitler thing too. It wasn’t ok for us either, and many progressive leaders were very vocal critics of us. Deployed by the left or right, either way, equating political leaders with Hitler denigrates who we are as a country and erodes civil discourse.

I also have a big haet on for Michelle Malkin (and who could blame me???). In her typically obnoxious style, she writes a post entitled “How to Dress Like an Authentic Grass-roots Activist.” In the post she implicitly criticizes the left’s accusations that tea baggers are astroturfers. Her method deconstructs the “authenticity” of left wing protesters’ fashion sense. She provides a series of images with pithy, style-conscious one-liners that make fun of the outfits worn by supposedly “genuine grassroots” activists (or models on runways….seriously). The opening volley is a picture of two black men with the caption: “Dreadlocks, black power fists, and militant berets are de rigeur.” The closing picture is Michelle Obama wearing a pair of expensive (and admittedly ugly) designer sneakers that give her the “street cred” she’s been missing. Basically, we either have to agree that Michelle Obama no longer has any claim to authentic protest because she wears expensive sneakers, or we have to agree that people in Brooks Brothers suits are authentic grassroots activists. Now, I haven’t been to any town hall meetings, but none of the pictures of tea party protesters I’ve seen splashed around the web have folk wearing designer clothes. They are, for the most part, working class people who are getting exploited by corporate lobbyist.

So, because I’m angry, I am going to mail Michelle Malkin this ecard from the lovely site, someecards.com, and then I will end on this humorous and positive note:

priceless

3 Comments

  1. *PS….Correcting anyone’s spelling or any other typing errors is hardly ON TOPIC and is just petty & arrogant to protect your ego. Opps…more judgemental adjectives of your views or actions. Your view of denigate conveniently stops all discussion on important topics. Not very tollerant, american, or supporting diversity of opinions.

    1. Author

      I can see why you would think that way given the atrocious errors in your post. A sign is not a typo. A typo occurs when one’s fingers move so fast or clumsily on the keyboard that an error occurs. A typo occurs when one is TYPING. These are not mechanical errors on these signs. They are errors of ignorance and stupidity.

      It is not arrogance to point out the hypocrisy in demanding an English-only country from “Americans” who do not have literacy in English. (Literacy, for your edification, means the ability to read and write.)

      I am judgmental, yes. There is nothing wrong with making judgments about the rightness and wrongness of something.

      I never claimed to be tolerant. I am intolerant of oppression, fascism, injustice, and disparity. I do support a diversity of opinions, but supporting that doesn’t mean approving everyone’s ideas. If someone came up to me and told me there was an alien spaceship in my yard, I could support them by listening to them, evaluating the validity of what they say, and then challenging its accuracy. That is the nature of democracy. Democracy is not about blind adherence to anything goes and to each his or her own truth. Democracy is about reasonable deliberation based on critical thinking, something which you clearly can’t do.

      I recognize that this is my forum and I can say anything I want with impunity. But I’m still publishing your post. That’s democracy in action.

      1. OK. It’s not a typo. It’s just STUPIDITY. Happy now?

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