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If perception is reality…

…as some of our frequent commenters are fond of asserting, then how do we go about changing perception in order to bring it in line with our “reality”?

Some advocate we do so by, you know, blending. That is, becoming less like what those in charge of framing perception think us to be, and becoming more like those framing perception. In short, capitulating.

Me, I advocate changing the perception by constantly, forcefully, and consistently challenging its authority to govern.

And pieces like this are a decent starting point. From Michael Moynihan, Reason:

Yesterday, The Washington Post reported that the Tea Party movement is “struggling to overcome accusations of racism,” some of which has been perpetuated on The Washington Post’s own opinion pages. Yesterday’s New York Times, home to the most obsessively anti-Tea Party editorial page in America, was stunned to discover that “at least 32 African-Americans are running for Congress this year as Republicans, the biggest surge since Reconstruction, according to party officials.”

Previously, The Times reported that Tea Partiers are, on average, people with a high levels of education and higher than average incomes. So it would seem that they aren’t, as some editorialists and pundits contend, simply a gang of subliterate militia men or, as actress Janeane Garofalo recently told MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann, a subsection of the white power movement.

[…]

So did we discover a Tea Party movement motivated by race, by the fact that we now have a black president? Did it seem as if their stated concerns about a government take over of health care and a ballooning national debt were simply a smokescreen, designed to concealing a racist agenda?

Not exactly. Here is what we found:

Pass it on.

0 Replies to “If perception is reality…”

  1. bh says:

    Great video.

    Couldn’t watch the MSNBC clips though. The sheer paleness, it’s blinding. Like a million bald men on a sunny day.

  2. Pablo says:

    “That’s a fucking lie, you’re a fucking liar and here’s the video proof.”

    I like it.*

    “…and an alpaca shall lead them.”

  3. scooter (still not libby) says:

    Belzer’s an idiot, Garafalo’s an idiot, Ed Schultz (sp?) is an idiot, and the people who put cameras in their faces and treat them seriously are even bigger idiots.

  4. scooter (still not libby) says:

    And in other News of the Obvious, I said something obvious.

    At least I would HOPE it were obvious. Dozens of MSNBC viewers couldn’t be reached for comment.

  5. Bacon Ninja says:

    I’m amazed by all the shit that’s racist now that wasn’t racist a couple years ago. You know, stuff like facts, economics, and Massachusetts.

  6. JD says:

    That whole “teabaggers struggle to overcome perception of racism” because we keep screaming that they are racists with no justification is breath-taking to watch play out.

  7. BuddyPC says:

    “Obama takes away the excuses.”

    -50 Cent, racist and closet anti-statist revolutionary.

    http://www.esquire.com/features/what-ive-learned/new-50-cent-interview-0110

  8. JeffS says:

    In other news, happyfeet and nishi are bumping uglies in a Motel 6 room rather than read this post, but only after consuming a case of Texas Lone Star Beer to prove that they are big tent as can be.

    Oh, and because the Texas Lone Star Beer site includes an armadillo in the header. That’s a hat tip to our host.

  9. Slartibartfast says:

    Ed Schultz makes Glenn Beck look positively even-keeled.

  10. Jeff G. says:

    Uh, lookit. GUM!

  11. JD says:

    Ed Schultz makes Rush look skinny. Plus, Ed is an imbecile.

    Nishit disappeared after she tried to push the meme that a teabagger tried to bomb Times Square.

  12. JHo says:

    If perception is reality…then how do we go about changing perception in order to bring it in line with our “reality”?

    Wow. Put that way I have to ask simply if in this progressive feedback loop the reverse holds true: The left’s sociopolitical intent aims at modifying external reality in order to bring it in line with the progressive perception of what it should be.

    That is, is progressivism merely the irresponsible, unsupportable, and erroneous collective practice of instituting what were they personal vices, would be frowned upon for their evident, physical failures?

    From intellectual honesty in the national debate on a rudely failing governance to environmentalism to money and markets to hope and change, progressivism is daily being outed as the fraud it is. It is factually, evidently, and convincingly wrong and it is wrong because it must, in order to survive, push around the narrative on outcomes just as surely as it pushed around each system’s levers so as to produce those outcomes.

    If we hold that progressivism abhors a natural system, cause, or effect about like nature abhors a vacuum, then we see that the only eventual outcome of a desire-based reality is a reality not encumbered by much of anything but whim. For as long as it stands; ask say, Greece, US monetary policy, or American Marxism.

    And Jonnie is Frankie. Because of all the frilly skirts.

  13. scooter (still not libby) says:

    “The left’s sociopolitical intent aims at modifying external reality in order to bring it in line with the progressive perception of what it should be.”

    See Jason Levin for example A. Actually he’s probably not example A but he’s a good example.

  14. BuddyPC says:

    11. Comment by JD on 5/7 @ 1:15 pm #
    Ed Schultz makes Rush look skinny. Plus, Ed is an imbecile.

    You obviously haven’t noticed the past 7-9 months, but Rush is skinny.

    Ed Schulz makes Chris Matthews look skinny.
    Yes, Schulz is an imbecile.

  15. Stephanie says:

    Left a comment a few threads back…

    Evidently there are several outlaws! in the Snellville/Lawrenceville/Alpharetta area. Just wanted to touch base and say add me to that list. I’m somebody! And I’m still pissed I missed Mother’s Finest.

    If’n any of y’all around the area play golf, give me a holler. Maybe a PW foursome at SC in Snellville? First round’s on me.

  16. mastour says:

    I have new found respect for 50 cent.

  17. Darleen says:

    The Washington Post reported that the Tea Party movement is “struggling to overcome accusations of racism,” some of which has been perpetuated on The Washington Post’s own opinion pages.

    The MSM has been pounding the “teabaggers are racist! teabaggers are DANGEROUS!” since last year, with heaving bossoms of disappointment each time a march/rally happens and no violence breaks out, no arrests are made. Fortunately, the CBC was so taken by the meme it decided to march back and forth through the racist crowds with an entourage of cameras, reporters and camcorders and VOILA, nothing happened, so they had to make up “racist slurs” which the MSM keeps repeating inspite of a $100,000 challenge languishing unclaimed. NOW the same MSM is trying to make a story that the tea baggers are “struggling” to rid themselves of the racist taint – as if they DID anything to deserve it.

    The evidence is overwhelming and this is just another chapter in the sorry book that “Progressives” are little more than a vicious clique of 7th grade girls.

    You know, the “in-group” who take a hating to one particular “out” girl and make her the focus of a campaign of gossip, innuendo and poison pen notes. And once her “bad reputation” is fairly established in the junior high culture, if she attempts to defend herself the same “in girls” will snicker and cluck their tongues about her “struggle to redeem” herself.

  18. SDN says:

    “happyfeet and nishi are bumping uglies in a Motel 6 room”

    Not enough brain bleach in creation for that image……

  19. happyfeet says:

    There should be a dirty socialist propaganda whore wikipedia for cumsluts like Amy Gardner and Krissah Thompson for so people can remember how they slathered racisms on a democratic movement just for cause.

  20. steph says:

    From the Gardner/Thompson WaPost article: “But nearly three in 10 see racial prejudice as underlying the tea party.”

    Nearly three in ten. What the fuck does that even mean.

    Darleen – I’m, not exactly sure what a heaving bossom is, but if you’ve got some video, pass it along. Please.

  21. Nishi the Kingslayer says:

    pfft….you didnt mention the old white male and christian parts, Jeff.

    The conservative “tea party” movement appeals almost exclusively to supporters of the Republican Party, bolstering the view that the tea party divides the GOP even as it has energized its base.
    That conclusion, backed by numbers from a new Washington Post-ABC News poll, also suggests that the tea party may have little room for growth. Most Americans — including large majorities of those who don’t already count themselves as supporters — say they’re not interested in learning more about the movement. A sizable share of those not already sympathetic to the tea party also say that the more they hear, the less they like the movement.
    Overall, the tea party remains divisive, with 27 percent of those polled saying they’re supportive but about as many, 24 percent, opposed. Supporters overwhelmingly identify themselves as Republicans or GOP-leaning independents; opponents are even more heavily Democratic. The new movement is also relatively small, with 8 percent of supporters claiming to be “active participants” — about 2 percent of the total population.

  22. bh says:

    But what do the ladies of the View think?

  23. happyfeet says:

    if that’s “divisive” though then the little president man is tearing our little country apart

  24. Nishi the Kingslayer says:

    Do the math.

    With a record number of black candidates seeking Republican nominations in upcoming congressional races, the GOP may finally make progress in facing the most serious menace to its survival: the lack of support from any significant segment of the nonwhite population.
    Not all of the 33 African-American contenders will win their primary contests, let alone the general election, but at least a half-dozen of them face promising prospects and could provide new energy for a party that desperately needs to shatter its lily-white image.
    There are no Republicans among the present 41 members of the Congressional Black Caucus, or among the 24 members of the Hispanic Caucus — an absence that reflects the party’s woeful performance among minority voters in recent elections and may threaten its very existence.

    First, there is no chance that white voters will ever again comprise 74 percent of the electorate. Most projections for 2012 suggest that self-identified whites will comprise 70 percent or, at most, 72 percent of those who cast presidential ballots.
    Second, it would be hard for any Republican to improve significantly on McCain’s hefty 12-point margin among whites, which means that without an improved showing among Hispanics, blacks and Asians, GOP contenders will lose every time.

  25. Slartibartfast says:

    WTF is nishbot on about this time?

    Point-making would be nice, if completely unexpected.

  26. happyfeet says:

    it’s about how Team R is becoming a homogeneous white christian party as our little country becomes increasingly tribal and dysfunctional I think Mr. Slarticus

  27. sdferr says:

    “WTF is nishbot on about this time?”

    On a guess, that it’s not about ideas but about skins. Skin skin skin, the key to every nishi thought.

  28. Nishi the Kingslayer says:

    The math here is brutal and eye-opening. If Obama in 2012 wins the same percentage of the combined black, Asian and Hispanic vote that he won in 2008 (82 percent), then in order to beat him the GOP candidate would need to win an unimaginable 65 percent of all white voters — whose numbers include such stalwart Democratic constituencies as gays, atheists, Jews and union members.
    The 65 percent threshold represents a far higher percentage than Ronald Reagan won in his landslide against Jimmy Carter in 1980, or even his history-making 49-state re-election-sweep against Walter Mondale in ’84.
    Since white voters won’t comprise larger portions of the electorate in future races, and since no Republican could compile a big enough white majority to win the election on those voters alone, that leaves only one possible path for GOP victory: more competitive performance among Hispanic, African-American and Asian citizens.

  29. Slartibartfast says:

    it’s about how Team R is becoming a homogeneous white christian party as our little country becomes increasingly tribal and dysfunctional I think Mr. Slarticus

    Not sure how

    With a record number of black candidates seeking Republican nominations in upcoming congressional races, the GOP may finally make progress in facing the most serious menace to its survival: the lack of support from any significant segment of the nonwhite population.

    is making that point, hf.

  30. Slartibartfast says:

    If Obama in 2012 wins the same percentage

    Linkified

    I think that conditional falls in the if-your-grandma-had-balls category.

  31. JeffS says:

    Maybe nishi & hf guzzled down more than one case of Lone Star, hmmmmmm?

  32. Nishi the Kingslayer says:

    White CONSERVATIVE christian ‘feets.
    liberal christians need not apply.

  33. Slartibartfast says:

    Looks like it, Jeff.

  34. Nishi the Kingslayer says:

    Slart, all those quotes are from the same Medved article i linked as “do the math.”
    umm…isn’t he one of “yours”?
    funnie…..he doesn’t even mention the youth vote…..and the youth demographic continues to be strong Obama supporters.

  35. Slartibartfast says:

    I’m not sure that I’m all that likely to seriously entertain arguments that suppose a) Medved is one of “mine” (whatever the fuck that is supposed to mean) and b) “funnie” is somehow clever.

    Or even b) isn’t aware of problems with “funnie”.

    Because you’re just not very smart, nishi, for having said those things.

    Now, off with you. I have those brain cells to eradicate, in case the stupid spreads.

  36. sdferr says:

    OT: Gen. Dave Petraeus delivered the Irving Kristol Lecture at AEI last night. Gen. Petraeus thinks — a lot — and thus, talks about ideas in his lecture.

  37. bh says:

    Thanks for that link, sdferr. I’ll give it a look.

  38. Bob Reed says:

    Me, I advocate changing the perception by constantly, forcefully, and consistently challenging its authority to govern.

    I agree wholeheartedly, and have taken the same approach in my own life for some time. Granted, the NYC area may be a more target rich environment than some others, as I have the opportunity to confront leftist assumptions at nearly every garden party and barbeque here on Long Island.

    Funny though, the usual suspects seem to wince lately when the customary late night, post-kiddie-bedtime, cigars and liquor discussions turn to politics…

    I generally wait politely until they’re really squirming and spinning like rhetorical dervishes to comment pithily about how it soooooo much easier to rend garments and wail about Booooooooosh! being the root of all evil than to, you know, defend or justify the actions of the won.

    And what is especially delicious is casually steering the discussion towards Obama’s treatment of the Israelis, and watch the ideological lockstep part just like the sea ded in Exodus.

  39. happyfeet says:

    I didn’t guzzle nuffin and you know it.

    Lone Star is very tasty though especially when it’s hot which is a lot when you’re in Texas.

  40. JD says:

    If perception is reality, then nishit is a lying cunt. Did it ever acknowledge that one of hers tried to bomb Times Square, after she accused WEC teabaggers of doing so?

  41. B Moe says:

    I wonder if all those black people who thought Obama was going to pay for their gas/mortgage/car/electric/rent/groceries/jury are still going to vote for him in ’12 when they realize not only did he not do any of that but they are worse off than they were under Bush?

  42. JHo says:

    The people of this little country are no longer wise or dedicated enough to see after it.

  43. Lazarus Long says:

    “in order to beat him the GOP candidate would need to win an unimaginable 65 percent of all white voters”

    Why is it “unimaginable”?

    And why should the demographics stay the same, you fascist twat?

  44. SBP says:

    If Obama in 2012 wins the same percentage of the combined black, Asian and Hispanic vote that he won in 2008

    And if you weren’t ugly, stupid, ill-mannered, and crazy, you’d be able to find a boyfriend. As it is… not enough tequila in all of Mexico.

    LAWL!

  45. Lazarus Long says:

    “…..and the youth demographic continues to be strong Obama supporters.”

    Yeah, until the “health care” madnates start kicking in.

    And the taxes.

    So, yeah, fuck you, you idiotic fascist twat.

  46. Lazarus Long says:

    And the mandates, too!

    And your little dog!

  47. Mike LaRoche says:

    And if you weren’t ugly, stupid, ill-mannered, and crazy, you’d be able to find a boyfriend.

    Now that’s what I call science fiction!

  48. Slartibartfast says:

    “And your little dog!”

    *smirkle*

  49. Spiny Norman says:

    Nishi is as wrong about the Tea Party movement as she was about the Times Square bomber. She refuses to see it, but it is plainly obvious to everyone else.

  50. geoffb says:

    Skin skin skin, the key to every nishi thought.

    “Skin in the game”, must have a very different meaning in there.

  51. dicentra says:

    Thirty-eight (38) black Republican candidates are running for office this year.

    Thirty.

    Eight.

    So yeah, we’re all about the white.

  52. Ernst Schreiber says:

    If Nishi knew anything about turnout, which as we all know, she doesn’t, she’d realize that the dirty little secret no one in the media wants to talk about is that the voter gap is still the Democrats white male voter gap, that Clinton won because the white male vote split between Bush Sr. and Perot, that Obama won because McCain seriously underperfomed Bush Jr., and that had he not done so he would be President of the United States. The only reason the white vote isn’t as lopsided as is the black vote is that unmarried (never-married or divorced) white women, & especially unmarried white women with children, vote Democrat. The only time that the lamestream fucking media notices that fact is when it bites their party in the ass. That’s why 1994 was all about angry white men. Gee. Now, why’n the hell do I keep hearing about angry white men again? Could it have something to do with the way the polls are trending this year?

    Facts and figures tomorrow, should I feel like it. Tonight I’m not in the mood to argue with a fuckwit.

    Apologies to the regulars for my distemper.

  53. LTC John says:

    Ernst, no worries – the TTP doesn’t even rise to the level of distemper causing for me…for some odd reason cynn seems capable of it now and again. So, if you forgive me my trespasses, I’ll forgive you yours.

  54. Danger says:

    “…how do we go about changing perception in order to bring it in line with our “reality”?”

    How about this for starters?:
    http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2010/05/07/nbc_reporter_to_black_republican_are_you_aligning_yourself_with_the_racism_in_the_tea_party.html

  55. Rusty says:

    #52
    They’re not really black.

    Just preparing you for the inevitable.

  56. Mr. W says:

    Nishi, I don’t want to be the one to tell you this because I understand how much you have psychically invested in international socialism, but after 2010 there will not be a Democratic Party. The leftists will simply not be able to manufacture enough fraudulent votes to overcome the visceral loathing that has been engendered by the incompetence that has defined this administration.

    Sorry.

  57. Danger says:

    “…how do we go about changing perception in order to bring it in line with our “reality”?”

    Here’s a better one:

    That’s what the awesome train approaching awesomeville sounds like ;^).

  58. Nishi the Kingslayer says:

    but dicentra…..how many of those candidates will be elected by your racist base?
    they can run all they want, but if they don’t elected they are useless for rebranding.
    they will just be called Uncle Toms, house negroes, and oreos by the other black folk.
    jus’ keepin’it real.

    and this is waaaaaay more important than your 70-30.

    Here’s an interesting fact: 29% of Hispanics approve of the Arizona law. Just over half (51%) strongly disapprove of it.

    haha, the opposite 30-70 in the fastest growing demographic in america.
    lawl.

  59. bill says:

    I think Jeannine Garafalo has progressed to tertiary syphilis which causes mental disorders:

    The final stage of syphilis, which occurs in about one third of those who are not treated, is known as the tertiary stage. Many organs may be affected. Common symptoms include fever; painful, non-healing skin ulcers; bone pain; liver disease; and anemia. Tertiary syphilis can also affect the nervous system (resulting in the loss of mental functioning) and the aorta (resulting in heart disease).

    As for Ed Schultz, he has anger problems because he’s fat and stupid. He spelled “psychotic” “psycho” on his show logo. Who was that insect looking guy on the Fox news clip? Maybe he was one of Olberdouche’s hemorrhoids.

  60. Slartibartfast says:

    they are useless for rebranding

    RAAAACIST!

    The idiot links Andrew Sullivan. I guess failed conservatives of a feather do flock together.