To Comfort The Afflicted
And Afflict The Comfortable

To Comfort The Afflicted And Afflict The Comfortable

Wednesday, December 11, 2024

Observercast

The Teabaggers And Me

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BY RICHARD L. FRICKER

I seldom write in the first person. But there is always the exception.

The reports of violence against members of Congress and by people upset over the Health Care Reform [HCR] act come as no surprise. Last Sunday [March 21], as I stood at the steps of the nation’s Capitol while the House of Representatives prepared to vote on HCR, I learned firsthand the true nature of the Teabag movement.

In what can only be described as a surreal moment reminiscent of “Night of the Living Dead” a group of Teabaggers accosted me. One of their number had overheard my phone conversation with another reporter, or at least he thought he did. I soon learned fact and truth have no place in the Teabag world, and like zombies of the Living Dead they are willing to devour anything they don’t understand, perceive as a threat, or is not of their making.

There is, I observed, no philosophy to their politics nor theology to their religion. The Teabag world is filled with Communists, Socialists and Nazis and they don’t have the intelligence to know which is which, but they imagine President Obama is most certainly one of these, or perhaps any combination of the three. The Teabagger is never quite sure, but they will carry placards declaring all three just to cover the bases.

Sunday was the warmest day of the year thus far in the city which had just a couple of weeks previous been covered with the deepest snow fall in modern history. My wife and I were enjoying spring break visiting a Washingtonian couple, both journalists for European publications, sightseeing, overeating and just getting out of town.

The wife is a science writer and the husband is a political essayists and reporter. He was covering the HCR vote in the House.

I was to accompany the ladies sightseeing. “Accompany” may be too strong a word. It was obvious the ladies were engaged in their own conversation. I could have been abducted by space aliens and not been missed.

It was agreed that I would call in a report on the Teabag protest when we reached the Capitol. The protest was in its second day.

Arriving at the steps I encountered several hundred Teabaggers, not the thousands reported to have amassed the previous day. I walked around and through the crowd for a few minutes observing and listening.

The previous day this same group had called African-American congressmen N—–, yelled “Faggot” to Congressman Barney Frank, and shouted down the elderly and infirm at Town Hall meetings across the country, all in the name of patriotism. These “patriots” were now making a last ditch stand against HCR.

Mostly they talked among themselves. The anti-health care leadership knew the measure would pass, they had abandoned the Teabaggers. There were no name brand speakers and the media wasn’t interested; the action had moved to the house floor.

Some of the more notable comments from within the crowd came from people who said they had talked to their local preacher. One man recited how “proud” his preacher was that he was protesting health care. Another man spoke of how “preacher” had helped organize his group. Religion danced through the crowd like David before the Temple; thankfully these people were clothed.

Bright yellow “Don’t tread on me” flags sold by street vendors were in abundance. Placards relating to God and the Constitution were no less viable. I found the co-reference rather confusing.

My wife and I had viewed the document the day before. There was nothing in the National Archives suggesting it being written by the Christian God or any other deity.

The only references I am aware of that God or New Testament Jesus ever wrote anything is the latter wrote in stone and the former in the sand. The Constitution, written by plantation owners and Yankee businessmen, is inscribed on paper.

There was enough God talk to warm the heart of any televangelist. And there were hymns.

Specifically, Amazing Grace, written by a former slave trader, and We Shall Overcome, written in 1901 by an African Methodist Episcopal minister, popularized during the 1945 strike by black workers against the American Tobacco Company. If there were any people of color among the Baggers I failed to see them.

Many placards had reproductions of the racist white-face portrayal of the president. As an onlooker remarked, “They’re really mad because a black man is in the White House.”

I called and reported what I observed. I’ve covered any number of protests: civil rights, anti-war – name one over the last four decades and I’ve seen it.

My assessment was something to the effect that there were several hundred people, lots of God and Constitution placards, white-faced Obama posters, hymns and that it all looked rather disorganized and sophomoric. Little did I know the game was on.

Apparently, a couple overheard my report. They began following me through the crowd yelling for my attention. The man finally stepped in front of me yelling that he was not a redneck. I had said nothing about rednecks.

It was obvious he was a patriot. He was wearing a tri-corner vest and three day growth of beard.

I replied, “I don’t know you, stop bothering me. Just leave me alone,” I said, assuming reason might prevail.

The yelling continued as we walked.

He changed themes long enough to say he had an MBA from somewhere. “I guess that just proves the sorry state of American education,” I said.

Then from nowhere came what can only be assumed to be his greatest insult. Pointing at me, he said, “I think you’re a professor!”

This took me aback. I have been called many things in my career, but never “Professor.” In fact I had never heard “Professor” used as a derogatory term.

My son’s Godfather is a professor. I know and socialize with many professors. Hell! Even my bartender has a PhD.

No sooner had I been declared a “Professor” than his wife began motioning to the crowd to join in the altercation, saying, “He’s on the Horowitz list.” She repeated this several times as the crowd moved toward us.

It didn’t occur to me she was talking about David Horowitz who had written a book in 2006 about the 101 most dangerous professors in America. Apparently the only criteria to making the list was to disagree with Horowitz. He encouraged cadres of students to tape classes in order to ferret out professors who were un-American. The Republicans embraced Horowitz and this was the result.

He repeated, “I think you’re a professor.”

Replying I said, “I don’t care what you think, I know you’re an asshole.”

He grabbed my arm. As he was looking me in the eye, I said, “Let go! You touch me again and I’m calling the cops, and you better hope they get here in a hurry.”

My wife had arrived by that time. We were now standing in the open.

Several people, more onlookers than baggers, walked up behind me asking what was going on. The situation defused itself. I had learned.

These people had no idea who I was or why I said what I did. The crowd needed only to be told I was on the Horowitz list to attempt to surround and intimidate me.

Even scarier, this guy felt no hesitation to grab a total stranger on the steps of the Capitol for no other reason than that he disagreed with him. This was not a serious assault as assaults go, but it did show that getting physical was an option for the Teabag revolution.

They have been embraced by the GOP and allowed to hurl insults to members of Congress, berate the infirm, and shout down those engaged in honest debate. They now feel justified in making physical attacks on those who disagree.

The GOP let this dark genie out of the lamp. Now, it will not go quietly back to where it belongs.

It is my fear the Teabag movement will continue this campaign of intimidation, much like the Brown Shirts of pre-war Germany, until there is serious destruction, injury or even death. The GOP leadership has disavowed the violence of these people, but they share part and parcel in what is happening.

What this group is doing is tantamount to urban terrorism. Attacking duly elected officials because of legitimate legislative positions. It is an effort to intimidate the democratic process. It is an attempt to replace the ballot box with threats of violence. The GOP MUST disavow these people or the republic is in deep peril, a peril of the GOP’s making.

The Health Care Reform bill passed the House as my wife and I were flying home, Spring Break over and a new work week on the horizon. And lessons learned.

I have never been a college professor. But, if it is education, information and truth these people fear – I relish that brief moment when I was placed in the ranks of my many friends.

The last site I visited before heading home was the Navy Memorial. There it is inscribed:

“Any man who may be asked in this century what he did to make his life worth while … can respond with a good deal of pride and satisfaction. I served in the U.S. Navy.” – John Kennedy 1963.

I meet that standard. I don’t need a silly hat and racists placards to prove I’m a patriot. And, I don’t have to bully people to accept my opinion; they have theirs, I have mine.

Watching President Barak Obama sign the Health Care Reform bill Tuesday I was struck with a rare feeling of investiture. I had seen the heart of darkness and with the signing knew the republic was safe for a while longer.

Richard L. Fricker lives in Tulsa, OK and is a regular contributor to The Oklahoma Observer

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12 COMMENTS

  1. Thank you for showing the true colors of this fringe movement.
    I’ve been involved in a number of demonstrations by Progressives, and, NEVER once have I witnessed any physical altercations perpetrated by these groups of people.
    As we follow in the footsteps of people like Jesus Christ, Gandhi, and Martin Luther King Jr. we peacefully present our opinions.
    This FRINGE group that regularly enjoys more press and extreme inflation of numbers by the press thankfully does not represent the majority of Americans. They are our own homegrown group of terrorist. Incited by a hatred for anyone who is more intelligent than they, and certainly bigots and racist.
    Thank you again for your first-person account.

  2. Well, so much for Gilligan’s Island being a Tea Party favorite. Their stomachs must turn every time they hear the theme song and The Professor is mentioned, or every time The Professor is part of a scene.

    BTW, I’ve read that the U.S. is ranked 37th in the world relative to health care for our citizens, falling short of all other western democracies, with Germany ranked number one, so I just was wondering what our ranking will be once provisions of the HCR bill that just passed start kicking in…33rd, 28th, higher? Has anyone ever asked the WHO or U.N. what their estimate of our ranking might turn out to be?

  3. Thanks for the report, but it should have been apparent that the mob you encountered was of the in-bred, low IQ variety and therefore the response you detailed should have been expected. These people have been programmed by the right-wing echo chamber to do whatsoever they’re told, and the ring leader, Rush Limbaugh, has aimed his fury at Barack “the magic Negro” Obama, and his imbecile followers have responded to their masters appeal. The so-called Main Stream Media is corporate owned and closely allied to the wealth and power in this society, therefore it is not in their best interest to promote fairness and accuracy in reporting. We are at the mercy of these forces and vigilance must be maintained, of their behavior, in order to defend ourselves from their influence.

  4. @Emilio – it is a convenient insult to say people have low IQ but what is more likely is that they were brought up on television to begin with and lived around earlier fear-mongering and racism and became followers of it. It has more to do with association than intelligence.

    In this day of free(er) information, the population is growing up more open in many ways. The youth vote comes and goes, but when it comes, subtle attacks aren’t enough to garner followers. You can’t just call someone a liberal or even a socialist anymore, because the younger generation has no problem with those. So just remember that desperation is scary but remember, its a sign of weakness – weakness of position, not intelligence.

  5. Why do you have to exaggerate then generalize the behaviors of a few to describe the millions who are unhappy with your unethical congressmen and unpresidential president?

    Why do you have to use a term denoting a sexual perversion to describe people who don’t agree with your world view?

    Okay…let the barrage begin.

  6. It is sad to say , but the Democrat’s silence over the past 9 years in the face of stolen elections, war crimes, 9/11 LIES, poisoned public airwaves, and Obama’s back room deals with big pharma,insurance companies, and Wall Street have created a void which is now being filled with the dangers of right wing extremism.

    I was in DC last week with my 19 year old son. Saturday afternoon we wondered over to the fringes of the Teabaggers at on the Capitol steps and tolerated the scene about 2 minutes before be headed to the peace rally by the White House.

    Go online to the Washington DC Holocaust Museum and take a look at the propaganda exhibit. We visited the museum the day before the rally and the parallels to the right wing movement in this country today are frightening.

  7. Hi Professor – Hey I was at a protest and a nice patriot type called a whole bunch of us fornicating lesbian whores. After a brief identity crisis someone made an attempt to explain that lesbians, as a rule, don’t fornicate, but the good patriot would not listen. He just took offense to the clinical instructions displayed with some fingers. Anyway, the only way to keep the world view of the terminally paranoid from ruining a society is to confront them head on. Thank you for your article.

  8. Richard,
    Have you shared these thoughts with a mainstream newspaper, say, the Tulsa World here, of some other paper in a more politically balanced city? It bears sharing with more people that those who subscribe to this page.
    thanks! Lorna

  9. when I was a young lad living on a farm in northern Grady county, we had an egg-
    sucking dog. Every time we left the place we had to tie the dog up or otherwise he
    would get in the chicken house, tear everything down and suck all the eggs that
    had been laid that day. He was not worth a dime for anything, so one day I asked my Dad why we kept him around. He said that we had no choice. He said that he could not give him away. People knew of the dog’s reputation. They would not take him. He
    could not just haul him off. He would find his way back and he did not have the heart
    to shoot him. So, we were stuck with him. The old dog was not dependable, didn’t take to training, smelled bad and in general was a complete and total nuisance. As the dog
    grew older, he became even more lethargic. Oh yes, we fed him just like all the others, yet he still appeared to be unhappy. About all he did was lay around the house, lick his
    private parts and pass gas. I guess , what I am trying to say is, when I remember the old
    dog , I think of a teabagger!

Arnold Hamilton
Arnold Hamilton
Arnold Hamilton became editor of The Observer in September 2006. Previously, he served nearly two decades as the Dallas Morning News’ Oklahoma Bureau chief. He also covered government and politics for the San Jose Mercury News, the Dallas Times Herald, the Tulsa Tribune and the Oklahoma Journal.