As a general rule, I am not supposed to laugh at things students say unless he or she is trying to be funny. Even when a student says something ridiculous – "How often did kings come up for re-election in the British system?" – it is unacceptable for the nominal authority figure in the classroom to bring him or her shame and humiliation by openly laughing in their face.
That said, I laughed at a student last week. I couldn't help it. Stuff was funny.
The student in question self-identified as a Republican and voiced concern about the apparent popularity of Sarah Palin in his party. He spoke quite negatively about her and expressed dismay about her lofty status among the party faithful. This touched on one of the course themes, perception and reality in politics, so I responded by asking what caused him to conclude that she was wildly popular among Republicans. He said, "Well, whenever I'm watching Fox News they just go on and on about her, and everything they say is positive."
The class laughed. I laughed. Not a lot, but more than I should have (i.
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e., more than zero). The student did not realize she was on the Fox payroll to the tune of several million dollars – Didn't that get a lot of publicity? Am I incorrect to think this might be common knowledge? – but we turned it into a fairly useful discussion about one of the maxims of public opinion in the age of electronic media: the loudest voices don't necessarily represent the greatest numbers of people. And I hate to bring them up two days in a row, but there is no better example of this right now than the Teabaggers. The early returns on Election 2010 underscore its status as a fringe movement. Prior to 1968, McGovern-Fraser, and the advent of primaries, the major parties nominated presidential candidates at the conventions. Amidst the back room dealings and corrupt bargains made among the delegates, powerful state and local party bosses would promise to "deliver" areas under their control if they got their way, i.e. "If you nominate ______ I can deliver California in November.
" Right now it's quite apparent that for all their demands of the establishment GOP, Tea Party USA can't deliver shit.
The success of Teabaggers in electing the candidates they anoint is meager at best, "totally non-existent" at worst (hat tip TS). From the Doug Hoffman fiasco in the NY-23 special election to the 2010 primaries, Tea Partiers have become the Washington Generals of contemporary elections. In my home state of Illinois, evil "RINO" Senate candidate Matt Kirk destroyed Teabagger Patrick Hughes for the Republican Senate nomination while Adam Andrzejewski parlayed endorsements from Rush Limbaugh, Erick Erickson of RedState.com, and every Teabagger alive into a fabulous 5th-place finish in the gubernatorial primary. Out of six candidates. If you ever question Rush Limbaugh's exaggerated sense of self-importance, just remember that his weighty name virtually guarantees you a top-5 finish in a field of six candidates in a Republican primary. The results were no better in Texas – Texas, for crap's sake – where Teabaggers failed spectacularly in their primary challenges of Governor Rick Perry and nearly a dozen House members. Not one came within 30 points of winning.
The media have latched onto the Tea Parties for their own self-serving reasons. The conservative media love them because the crowds of yokels satisfy the American right's desperate need for a veneer of working-class authenticity. The liberal and centrist media love the rallies because they are a petting zoo of deformed, barely literate freaks at which viewers will enjoy laughing. Regardless of how or why the media cynically exploit Teabaggers, the fact remains that there simply aren't that many of them. The fractured, incoherent movement is only "sweeping across America" or "a grassroots uprising" in the minds of people who think that wishing will make it so.
Barbed Wire says:
First, to provide a few kittens for whoever asked for them a couple of weeks ago, your posts have been steadily knocking 'em out of the park Ed; I don't often have much to add to the conversation but they've been perfectly on target and I've enjoyed them all.
As for this one, while I wasn't suffering delusions to the extent your student was, I was anxious to see the results of the recent TX primaries and, well, you nailed it again. Laughed my ass off all night watching the returns.
Oddly enough, while that tea bag sentiment is quite popular out here in my neighborhood if not publicly vocal, the established powers that be voted overwhelmingly for Gov. Goodhair Perry. My observation is that the sentiment merely applies to all things Democratic as in, "Stand back son, we're fixing to set this rabid doberman loose on them damned long-haired libruls…"
johnnyboy says:
In the grassroots, there's always a little crabgrass and people seem to fear it when it shows up. However, it's easy to get rid of with an early spring application of something wholly noxious from Ortho or TruGreen. Oddly enough, I've noticed that many southern states actually enjoy entire lawns of crabgrass because it's the only kind that will thrive in zones 7 through 10.
I love allegory.
Aslan Maskhadov says:
The guy is obviously pretty ignorant but it would be good to nourish his disillusionment with the GOP. As for Palin's paid commentary status, GOP politicians get to use Fox as a soapbox so often that the line between guest and paid commentator might become blurred if he doesn't watch often enough to have heard that she went on their payroll.
ladiesbane says:
Is there any chance that the floundering GOP will adopt some Teabaggy ways, if only to recharge their batteries? I don't know if they are gaining numbers simply by playing blanket defense against Obama, but, for all I know, that's their best bet. If Obama doesn't get into gear, the GOP will get support only because no one wants to vote for a loser (and no, we don't seem to understand how "voting" works, either.)
SierraTangoWhiskey says:
Quick note: Mark Kirk, not Matt.
Kulkuri says:
The guy strikes me as being typical of their base. Tell the guy that if he ever has an epiphany about his party to pass it along to everyone he knows.
Jason Harx says:
On Texas that's not exactly fair. Governer Perry embraced the teabaggers early on and even implied seccession at one rally. Many around here saw him as the teabagger candidate.
Granted he was the incumbent and had a lot of advance notice that Hutchison was running (well before she had her campaign in motion and had a chance to defend herself).
On the positive side, with the crazy guy winning the nomination we have a (slim) possibility of putting a Dem in the (well-charred) Governor's mansion.
You can call me, 'Sir' says:
…a petting zoo of deformed, barely literate freaks…
I've been trying to articulate what they represent for quite awhile now, so color me both relieved and grateful for your providing such a succinct and accurate description.
BillCinSD says:
Didn't Kirk tack to the right also?