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If you remember, I posted two other snapshots of this Rasmussen Index previously. In each one, his index was lower than before. Now there is only a 2 point difference between the number of respondents who “Strongly Approve” and those who “Strongly Disapprove.” Based on the trend, he’ll have equal numbers before the end of the year.
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About the Tea Parties
In an interview on Fox TV in San Francisco, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) chalked up the GOP grass-roots effort as “AstroTurf.”
“This initiative is funded by the high end; we call it AstroTurf, it's not really a grass-roots movement. It's AstroTurf by some of the wealthiest people in America to keep the focus on tax cuts for the rich instead of for the great middle class,” Pelosi said.
OK, I admit it, we were paid by ACORN (Association of Conservative Organizations for Reform Now). The really, really, rich people paid close to 500,000 “volunteers” $1,000 each (cash, no taxes) to show up and protest. After all, shouldn’t we learn from (the other) ACORN?
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Other House Democratic leaders took a different tack: One senior aide has been circulating a document to the media that debunks the effort as one driven by corporate lobbyists and attended by neo-Nazis.
In addition, the tea parties are “not really all about average citizens,” the document continues, saying neo-Nazis, militias, secessionists and racists are attending them. The tea parties are also not peaceful, since reporters in Cincinnati had to seek “police protection” during one of the events, it states.
So, I guess this means that I (and somewhere around 500,000 others) are all racist neo-Nazis now, huh?
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Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-IL said “The ‘tea parties’ being held today by groups of right-wing activists, and fueled by FOX News Channel, are an effort to mislead the public about the Obama economic plan that cuts taxes for 95 percent of Americans and creates 3.5 million jobs. It’s despicable that right-wing Republicans would attempt to cheapen a significant, honorable moment of American history with a shameful political stunt.
Not a single American household or business will be taxed at a higher rate this year. Made to look like a grassroots uprising, this is an Obama bashing party promoted by corporate interests, as well as Republican lobbyists and politicians.”
She certainly has the Obama talking points down pat, doesn’t she?
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CNN anchorAnderson Cooper interspersed "teabagging" references with analyst David Gergen's more staid commentary on how Republicans are still "searching for their voice." "It's hard to talk when you're teabagging," Cooper explained. Gergen laughed, but Cooper kept a straight face.
MSNBC'sDavid Shuster weaved a tapestry of "Animal House" humor Monday as he filled in for Countdown host Keith Olbermann. The protests, he explained, amount to "Teabagging day for the right wing and they are going nuts for it."
He described the parties as simultaneously "full-throated" and "toothless," and continued: "They want to give President Obama a strong tongue-lashing and lick government spending." Shuster also noted how the protesters "whipped out" the demonstrations this past weekend.
And these guys are supposed to be objective, professional “journalists?” They sound more like Beavis and Butthead.
And on the lighter side …
George! You dog! Arrrooooooo …
At least his hand’s not in our pockets!