====================================================================== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. ======================================================================
S. Artesian writes: "These people are not the terrified impoverished frightened petit-bourgeoisie, caught between the rock and the hard place in the economy. These goons are an organized group of country-club thugs." Nonsense. They definitely are serving the interests of the country-club set, and the "powers behind the throne" who are organizing the events like cross-country bus tours may be part of that set, but the "shock troops" of the Tea Party are nothing of the sort. The New York Times article this morning claims that a poll says they are "wealthier than the general public," but please note that that is based on a telephone poll of people in general, not on a survey of the people actually showing up at Tea Party events. And even with that claim (undocumented by any data; are they 1% wealthier or 100% wealthier? No clue), we still read in that same article: "55 percent are concerned that someone in their household will be out of a job in the next year. And more than two-thirds say the recession has been difficult or caused hardship and major life changes." That doesn't sound much like the "country-club set" to me. For sure the Tea Party movement doesn't include very many blacks or Latinos, which probably ensures that they are "wealthier than the general public" from that fact alone, but make no mistake, the majority of the shock troops are working class people being misled into acting against their own interests. Is Code Pink on the right track? I seriously doubt it. But largely that's because countering the decades-long brainwashing of these folks by FOX News and, not to give FOX too much credit, the rest of the corporate media as well, is going to take a lot more than just Code Pink trying to "make nice." Eli Stephens Left I on the News http://lefti.blogspot.com _________________________________________________________________ Hotmail is redefining busy with tools for the New Busy. Get more from your inbox. http://www.windowslive.com/campaign/thenewbusy?ocid=PID28326::T:WLMTAGL:ON:WL:en-US:WM_HMP:042010_2 ________________________________________________ Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
