A Bit Of Advice

Back in 2010, when the Tea Party was at high tide, there was a wave of sightings of some disturbingly racist and violent signs at Tea Party rallies. These signs got all kinds of media attention.

Thing is, when people were able to crowd-source the people carrying the signs, a huge portion of them turned out to be ringers – people from leftist groups who just happened to wind up in front of the news media with their objectionable signs. Not just a few, eitheri – there was a very high correlation.

Of course, some of the less curious members of the media just ran with it – killing the Tea Party and other obstreporous bitter clinging deplorables was just fine by them.

But before I MCed the 2010 Tax Day Tea Party rally, I made sure the organizers got the word out as publicly as possible – anyone with an off-color sign would be photographed, and publicized, and “outed” either way – but especially if they were lefty ringers bent on slandering the Tea Party.

Sounds like certain conservative groups need to re-learn this lesson.

How likely is the woman’s sign a hoax?

Is there a number over 100%?

59 thoughts on “A Bit Of Advice

  1. Whenever there is a spontaneous, grass-roots protest in some third world country, everyone in the crowd has professionally printed signs, in English; they all know the words to chant in unison; and there are plenty of American flags to burn.

    Whenever there is a spontaneous, grass-roots protest for some Liberal cause in America, everyone in the crowd has a sign professionally printed by a union shop; they all know the words to chant in unison; and they arrive on the same chartered bus.

    When American conservatives decide to protest, they have hand-lettered signs; a dozen different pet peeve messages; and there’s always some kook who thinks a Confederate Flag on his 4×4 is a useful persuasive device.

    How come our grass-roots never have their act together?

  2. Any journalist who covers these “stay at home” protests as organic rather than coordinated right-wing astroturfing needs to seriously consider another line of work.

  3. It’s kind of remarkable, actually. I point out the indicia by which an intelligent observer can determine that protests in third world countries and Liberal causes are actual astro-turf (fake turf, not genuine grass-roots movements). I point out how the indicia help distinguish genuine Conservative grass-roots protests from fake ones. Emery chimes in, completely ignoring the substance and depth of analysis to leave a squat-and-run comment.

    Am I being stalked? Are you stalking me, Emery? Oh, and just so you know, I can cut-and-paste, too. I know where you stole it from:

    https://twitter.com/sorry_what_now/status/1251530333473792000

    I hope the Chinese aren’t paying you very much for your trolling. You’re really not very good at it.

  4. All journalists should consider another line of work.
    Who do you think is coordinating the anti-lockdown sentiment expressed on SITD? Who is my “handler,” Emery?
    Polling suggests 22% of Americans want to lift the lockdowns now.
    That’s around sixty million Americans. Do you think that 60 million Americans are “astroturf”?

  5. Of course, you have proof of your lies, don’t ya’, Kruger? I’m betting that at least 40% of those people were Democrats. Conservatives aren’t as perpetually outraged as you losers are.

  6. I’m old enough to remember when protesting was all the rage. Now the media and Democrats (but I’m repeating myself) don’t find #RESIST so
    appealing any more. I wonder why.

  7. I’ve heard politicians, the mayor of Kauai, for example, say that they will reopen when it is safe to do so.
    That’s moving the goal posts about a mile, isn’t it? Just a few weeks ago the goal was to flatten the curve. Well, it is flat.
    Everyone is going to be exposed to the virus, sooner or later. Some of the people who are exposed to the virus will contract the disease and show no symptoms. Some will have flu-like symptoms. Some will be hospitalized. Some, a very small percentage of those who are exposed to the virus, will die.
    That will happen if we open up now, or a month from now, or three months from now, or a year from now.

  8. Robert Mercer, of Cambridge Analytica fame, Trump and Murdoch associate, major player and donor in the far right movement has helped to fund the anti-quarantine protests.

    What a surprise.

    Funny that we don’t see Mr. Koch or Mr. Mercer out there on the steps of their state capitols without a mask on. Or for that matter Mr. $250,000-a-year “grassroots” organizer.

    A textbook example of astroturf. When school resumes and we’re back in actual classes, this effort will be taught as a prime example of how the media unwittingly transforms an astroturf movement into an actual movement.

  9. Look who’s smoking “something”.

    Listen to the Juju man in the Oval office

    “I see the disinfectant that knocks it out in a minute, one minute,” Trump said during Thursday’s coronavirus press briefing. “And is there a way we can do something like that by injection inside, or almost a cleaning? Because you see it gets inside the lungs and it does a tremendous number on the lungs, so it would be interesting to check that.” ~ Donald Trump

    Trump’s eyebrow-raising query came immediately after William N. Bryan, the acting undersecretary for science and technology at the Department of Homeland Security. Bryan said bleach killed the virus in about five minutes and isopropyl alcohol killed it in 30 seconds.”

    Even with my ultra-low expectations of Trump, this is truly amazing.

    How can the president of the United States be so unbelievably stupid and irresponsible?!

  10. Do you think everyone is as obsessed with what Trump says as you are Emery?
    Please try not to change the subject this time.
    I am asking again: do you think everyone is as obsessed with what Trump says as you are?

  11. Woolly the Oracle wrote: “Polling suggests 22% of Americans want to lift the lockdowns now. That’s around sixty million Americans. Do you think that 60 million Americans are “astroturf”?”

    Somewhere from my youth I recollect an adage about if you have nothing to say, say nothing.

    There’s nobody going to these. It’s a couple hundred at people *at most* at these rallies in states with populations of millions.

    1. Maybe people aren’t willing to risk it.

    2. If they’re not willing to risk it, that says something—confirmed by the polls—a vast majority support social distancing.

    Now imagine asymptomatic carriers infect 25% of those people. They each go home to families. Maybe some of those families are essential workers going to work every day.

    See the issue?

  12. So, you think the people at these rallies will never get infected if they stay home?
    Every time I leave my house I have a chance of contracting the virus. Am I allowed to risk getting the virus today if I need to go to Target, but not if I am exercising my constitutional rights?
    Grow, up, little kid. I am going to be exposed to the virus, you are going to be exposed to the virus.

  13. The CBO said today unemployment’s going to decline to *decline to 9.5% by the end of next year.
    See, this is where you are crazy, Emery.
    How good is the CBO at predicting future economic conditions?
    Don’t know, and never did your own research to find out, I bet.

  14. Maybe being left handed makes you less likely to contract coronavirus.

    Maybe it doesn’t.

    If you’re considering Trump’s advice on a medical treatment, maybe get a second opinion.

  15. Do you actually know a human being who will take medical advice from Trump, Emery?
    You are a crazy person.

  16. If your son or daughter came home from practice and said that coach told players that injecting disinfectant might keep them from getting sick during the season, would you let your kid keep playing under the same coach?

    If grandpa comes and say you should inject disinfectant to fight diseases you call a family meeting, a lawyer and draft a power of attorney.

  17. I disinfect my insides daily. It’s called Wild Turkey 101. No Wuflu yet!

  18. Beaten by having his words used against him, Emery yet again changes the subject.

  19. It’s for bacteria only, and specific ones at that, but it strikes me that the historic name for “internal disinfectant” is “antibiotics”. It would be pretty neat if someone came up with some such thing for virii, and anything that was good against even a small class of virii might well get a call from Oslo when the Nobels are announced.

    But back to the topic, yes, it strikes me as “veddy interesting” that so many “scandals” today are “false flags”. I guess we always had those, hence the term, but it seems that either they’re being caught more often, or they’re more prevalent.

  20. Yeah, BB, covid-19 has blocked all the news that is easy to hide. Christopher Steele destroying the documentation for his notes BEFORE his dossier was made public. The FBI’s documented doubts about the items in Steele’s dossier, and the FBI’s suspicion that Steele was played by Russian intel.

  21. This is a bit off topic of the comments, but on topic of the original post. Anyone think it was strange the lady holding the dumb sign was the only one wearing a scarf and sunglasses? Everyone else in this specific article’s photos, as well as the majority of other anti- lockdown protesters haven’t been wearing masks. Especially the ones who toted signs, and even more especially the ones who toted signs likely to grab media attention. Seems like gaslighting to my sniffer.

    You can go back to entertaining Emery now. If you hadn’t noticed, that’s why he is always here.

  22. Thoughts and prayers to the Trump supporters who have to wear neck braces 24/7 — Once again, the same people who said they voted for Trump because: “he says what he means,” are explaining that he didn’t mean what he said.

    Some people are at peace with the President of the United States regularly saying batshit crazy/stupid things. That’s nice for them.

    But I find it not unreasonable to comment when the President of the United States says
    batshit crazy things, as I feel it is notable, still.

  23. Once again, the same people who said they voted for Trump because: “he says what he means,”
    Who has said this?
    You keep putting words in the mouths of Trump supporters, getting called on it, and running away.

  24. It’s the media’s fault. Typical lamestream media keeps printing what the President actually says instead of what he obviously meant.

    There’s a schism developing in MAGA land between true believers who want the government to provide bleach injections to every American because Trump thinks it’s a good idea and the less government MAGA types who think people should pay for their own bleach.

    Which side do you fall on?

  25. I’m just gonna chime in here once more on not bothering with emetic’s comments. Judging by the responses to xer comments, I made the right decision

  26. And Emery can’t find a person who said that they voted for Trump because “he says what he means,” so he changes the subject.
    It’s all gibberish at this point.

  27. The issue isn’t who is ultimately right or wrong about injecting bleach. The point is we’re so shut down to new ideas, so hostile to innovation and the cultural out-group, so ready to start a social media mob.

    Like we’ve engaged in reflexive, unthinking, and yes *bigoted* rejection of innovation in sociological, biological, and phrenological fields because they threaten in-group thinking. Those with intellectual courage to engage are left in the dark, on the web and elsewhere…

  28. More gibberish, probably plagiarized.

    When the forensics are done on the US response to the pandemic, one of the findings will be that there was an over reliance by public health officials & politicians on obscure and unproven models (probably unprovable).
    Another problem with our response is the belief in “unobtanium.” Whatever tool we do not have to fight the pandemic is the one tool that will allow us to defeat it — ventilators, PPE, a vaccine, “contact-tracing,” a perfect testing regime, “herd immunity,” symptom treatments, etc.
    And last, the unwillingness of politicians to adapt to changing conditions.

  29. There will be no introspection or acknowledgement of mistakes made. As usual, an “external” enemy will be blamed. Callous and irresponsible hyper-individualism at its finest

    The U.S. and South Korea got the same info. What explains the different outcomes?
    Trump.

  30. So everything about the US and south Korea is identical — except Trump.
    You are exquisitely idiotic, Emery.

  31. Robert Mercer gave money to a foundation that donated money to a non-profit organization working to amend the United States constitution. In 2015. He is personally, directly, completely, responsible for anti-house arrest protests today.

    President Trump recommended people eat fish tank cleaner, and also to inject bleach directly into the veins, to fight the Covid virus.

    The United States and South Korea are identical in every way except one: Negros. We have more, which is why we are suffering massive deaths from Covid and they aren’t. Wait – did I say Negros? I meant Jews. It’s all the Jews. No! No! Not Jews. It’s Trump, yeah, that’s it, that’s the ticket. We have Trump.

    This is why the nation is in peril. Not the Chinese, not the virus, but because people who say stuff like that get to vote, early and often. frightening.

  32. Sounds like certain conservative groups need to re-learn this lesson.

    Right. Next time, have Susan Kimberly conducting the Twin Cities Gay Mens chorus in a rousing rendition of YMCA to open the proceedings, followed by a group of transitioning students doing a choreographed dance to “We are the world”.

    Have Candace Owens exchange a deep, soul kiss with Charlie Kirk, while the crowd holds up photos of their favorite Negro acquaintance.

    That’ll show those degenerate leftists who the haters are. They’ll be speechless.

  33. Part of the reason Trump is doing so badly is that people see him and listen to what he says. The more the public sees him, the more they realize he can’t do this job.

    “The loneliest feeling in the world is when you think you are leading the parade and turn to find that no one is following you. No president who badly mis-guesses public opinion will last very long.” ~ FDR

  34. ^^
    Ya know, Mitch? Since he’s running your fucking show anyway, I think you should take this pale, legless little insect on as a co-blogger…you know, show em all how fair minded you are.

    Who knows? Maybe you could get Mike Brodkorb onboard too, and parlay the whole deal into a continuing appearance at the annual Minnpost fund raiser…maybe do a little softshoe with Amy Koch.

    Totally Pw3n the lefties…totally.

  35. As long as the president refuses to make widespread testing a priority, or take responsibility for it, or use the Defense Production Act to vastly increase our testing capacity, public confidence is unlikely to return. We all know that many infected people are both asymptomatic and contagious. Until there is widespread testing, contact tracing, and quarantine of those found to be infected, many kinds of public activity are tantamount to Russian roulette.

    If Trump wants businesses to reopen on a broad scale, then he should start doing his job.

  36. Powerline guys have a post where an economist compares the cost of the covid-19 dead to the economy to the cost of the shutdown. The death costs are linear, but the cost of the shutdown is growing EXPONENTIALLY!

  37. MP, I’m not sure I think that’s necessarily a bad thing at this point.

  38. I disagree with the “burn it all down” people, Swiftee.
    First of all because I am about to retire. I am too old to deal with an apocalypse. I don’t want to die from complications to diabetes because there are no meds available. I also like modern dental care.
    Second of all because the idea of a “purifying purge” is wishful thinking. In reality economic collapse brings out the worst in people, and the nastiest people rise to the top.

  39. Since he’s running your fucking show…

    Enh. He’s renting space in some peoples’ heads. Never quite figured out why.

    People seem to meet Emery speech with more better speech.

  40. Woolly: Beware of chicken and egg: People can’t spend money until they have jobs. Businesses cannot create jobs until they make money from consumer spending (73% of economy). So, a V shape recovery is nothing but a chimera.

    Clearly there’s a big disconnect between the stock market and the economy. The question is, which is going to catch up to the other?

  41. People seem to meet Emery speech with more better speech.

    Lol.

    “Emery speech”

    He’s turned your comments into the Drudge Dunning_Kruger Report for autistic bugmen.

    But Hey, you’re right Mitch. Not everyone enjoys original thought and content. Tis nice to know there’s a place for low IQ, cut and paste intellectuals to be appreciated out here on the net.

  42. A bugman chirped: “Clearly there’s a big disconnect between the stock market and the economy. The question is, which is going to catch up to the other?”

    LMFAO!!! Hey look everyone, its Moar Emery Speech ™

    “Tsptalk [dot] com / commments [dot] php”

    “Clearly there’s a big disconnect between the stock market and the economy. The question is, which is going to catch up to the other?”

  43. Swiftee,

    My policy for 18 years is, I never ban people who don’t break the rules – and there are very few rules.

    1. Don’t stalk or get creepy with me or my family. That’s the big one. It seems pretty simple – and it’s behind three of the four absolute lifetime bans this blog has ever had.
    2. Don’t threaten the proprietor (or the other commenters).
    3. Don’t threadjack to the point where you’re turning my comment section into your blog.
    4. Finally, don’t be Doug.

    Say what you will about Emery, but he’s colored inside the lines for all these years.

    My policy, when I don’t control the venue, has always been “discuss with those who can, ignore those who can’t”.

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