Well this is one hell of a way to return to the blog. I’ve been traveling for a few weeks, so pardon my absence. Ahead of tomorrow’s vote on healthcare reform, several people representing the so-called Tea Party movement staged protests on Capitol Hill and aggressively harassed Democratic members of Congress. By “aggressively harassed” I mean “spit on and called nigger and faggot.”

Let’s lay this out.

From McClatchy
Demonstrators outside the Capitol, angry over the proposed health care bill, shouted “nigger” Saturday at Rep. John Lewis, a civil rights icon who was nearly beaten to death during an Alabama in the 1960s, and shouted obscenities at other members of the Congressional Black Caucus, lawmakers said.
…
Protestors inside the Capitol also used a slur to refer to Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., an openly gay member of Congress. According to Huffington Post, one of its writers heard the demonstrators shout “faggot” at Frank.

From Huffington Post

Preceding the president’s speech to a gathering of House Democrats, thousands of protesters descended around the Capitol to protest the passage of health care reform. The gathering quickly turned into abusive heckling, as members of Congress passing through Longworth House office building were subjected to epithets and even mild physical abuse.

A staffer for Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) told reporters that Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-M.D.) had been spit on by a protestor. Rep. John Lewis (D-G.A.), 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.

From Fox News

After the rally, Tea Partiers plan to confront undecided Democratic lawmakers in their congressional offices and convince them to vote against the bill.

Ana Puig of Pennsylvania said she came with eight busloads of Tea Partiers.

“The people are excited,” she said. “They feel this is our last chance to really let these people here at the House know that we don’t want them to pass this bill. It’s unconstitutional.”

The emphasis on the Fox News clip is mine because the best way to convince an undecided lawmaker is to hurl epithets at a very decided set of lawmakers.

Let’s talk about why this is important. First of all, Ana Puig of Pennsylvania is an idiot. Her lot was best addressed by this recent article from The Onion: Area Man Passionate Defender Of What He Imagines Constitution To Be

Regular readers of this blog won’t find the above reports shocking. We’ve chronicled the ugly, racist, hate-filled subtext of much of the ignorantly-named “Tea Party” movement before, but it’s still somewhat amazing to see the full ugly on full display in full public.

Today’s protesters, as with other extreme political elements have been emboldened by the tacit and explicit support of mainstream media and elected political figures. Today, addressing the “Tea Party” protesters were Rep Jack Kingston (R- Ga.), Rep Mike Pence (R-Ind.),  Rep Steve King (R-Iowa), Rep. Michelle Bachmann (R-Minn.),  actor Jon Voigt and others.

This is not about healthcare reform. This is not about “socialism,” which I’m sure 95 percent of Tea Party members wouldn’t recognize if it showed up to repossess their borrowed philosophy. As I described them in a recent speech, the Tea Party is “a group of occasionally racist, generally misinformed, often manipulated but sometimes understandably angry people who misinterpret the Constitution, the American Revolution, the Cold War and the causes of our current and long term economic challenges while fearing their own viability in a nation that is technologically, economically and demographically changing beneath their feet.”
The mob that Dick Armey ignited has come a long way, baby.

Beyond the inflammatory acts of yelling racial epithets, spitting on members of Congress and carrying the most ass-backwards signage, there are real consequences to the mainstreaming of the ignorant rhetoric of hate. The Southern Poverty Law Center has documented a dramatic and frightening increase in the number of anti-government hate groups and militias that Jill has already written about, but this video is worth a peak. In it a spokesperson says, “We haven’t seen anything like this in years.”

Man, it feels good to be in post-racial America.

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