Hrag Vartanian

Critic, Curator, Editor-in-chief and co-founder, Hyperallergic

Critic, Curator, Editor-in-chief and co-founder, Hyperallergic

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Desperate Tea Partyers Unleash Hate in Halls of Congress

by

I’m speechless but not shocked:

A staffer for Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) told reporters that Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) had been spat on by a protestor. Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), a hero of the civil rights movement, was called a ‘ni–er.’ And Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) was called a “faggot,” as protestors shouted at him with deliberately lisp-y screams. Frank, approached in the halls after the president’s speech, shrugged off the incident.

But Clyburn was downright incredulous, saying he had not witnessed such treatment since he was leading civil rights protests in South Carolina in the 1960s.

…

Asked if he wanted an apology from the group of Republican lawmakers who had addressed the crowd and, in many ways, played on their worst fears of health care legislation, the Democratic Party, and the president, Clyburn replied:

“A lot of us have been saying for a long time that much of this, much of this is not about health care a all. And I think a lot of those people today demonstrated that this is not about health care… it is about trying to extend a basic fundamental right to people who are less powerful.”

(via HuffPost)

Comments

  1. Hrag, Obviously this is disgusting and unacceptable, which is exactly what all members of Congress irrespective of party affiliation have said.

    It is also meaningless to take isolated instances and blow them up in such a way. What is the point?

    Cherry-picking extremism is an easy enough exercise in our political landscape, it just serves no purpose. The Tea Partiers have been organizing, protesting and getting their voices out for months with impressively few instances of the above hatred and ignorance.

    By continuing to mock them, to drag them down to the lowest common denominator of human behavior,illustrates that you don’t and won’t respect the message they maintain and which does resonate with a large percentage of the American public.

  2. I don’t agree. That hate has been emanating from the whole GOP party and the tea partyers are just one aspect. Also, this battle is ideological and has nothing to do with taxes like Tea Partyers pretend. 55% of our taxes goes to defense spending, but I don’t see the Tea Partyers asking for a cut in military spending.

    As Paul Krugman pointed out in the New York Times today:

    And let’s be clear: the campaign of fear hasn’t been carried out by a radical fringe, unconnected to the Republican establishment. On the contrary, that establishment has been involved and approving all the way. Politicians like Sarah Palin — who was, let us remember, the G.O.P.’s vice-presidential candidate — eagerly spread the death panel lie, and supposedly reasonable, moderate politicians like Senator Chuck Grassley refused to say that it was untrue.