Posted on 02/18/2010 4:48:44 PM PST by Pan_Yan
On the heels of the lightly attended over-hyped "Tea Party Convention" in Nashville, progressives are preparing to respond with a movement of their own. The "Brownbaggers" will be showing up in front of Congressional offices to demand "healthcare not warfare."
According to a press release from AfterDowningStreet.org: "On February 17th, Progressive Democrats of America (PDA) will be joined by CODEPINK, AfterDowningStreet, Democrats.com, the California Nurses Assn./National Nurses United, and United for Peace and Justice in holding brownbag vigils outside (or inside) at least 36 Congress members' offices.
Brownbaggers are demanding commitments to vote against more money for war. Slogans on their posters include: "Healthcare NOT Warfare," "Corporations out of Politics," "Bailout Main Street not Wall Street" and "Brownbaggers not Teabaggers."
PDA Executive Director Tim Carpenter said, "We have to choose between jobs and wars. The American people are on one side, but our so-called representatives in Congress are on the other. The Supreme Court is busy increasing corporate control of our elected officials. We need to be busy enforcing the people's control before it is too late."
Carpenter was, of course, referring to the recent Supreme Court decision that allows corporations to pour unlimited resources into elections. The decision has caused a firestorm in political circles. For the first time corporations are getting constitutional protections previously reserved for individuals. The result further solidifies corporate control of the political process.
While many on the right, including Teabaggers, are alarmed by the decision, the Supreme Court's right-wing justices made the move following pressure from conservatives who have always represented corporate interests. While many on the left are calling for action to reverse the decision, the Brownbaggers may be the first step towards building a movement that counters the right-wing's successful campaign to change the political dialogue in the country.
Following the election of Barack Obama, many progressives were driven into a false sense of security. They felt that the country had moved left of center, and they could sit back and watch the Obama administration deliver on their agenda.
The problem was they miscalculated how strong the backlash against Obama would be. Last August the Teabaggers surfaced and changed the debate around health care. The Teabaggers, emboldened by their success in garnering national attention, expanded their efforts and increased their focus. Many would say they have not had the impact that the media has given them credit for, but the fact remains that they have impacted the political dialogue.
With every movement there is always a counter-movement. It remains to be seen whether the Brownbaggers can push the pendulum back in the other direction, but clearly the time for a response is long overdue.
I will admit that those brown bags look good with their brownshirts.
Some of their other spittle flecked screeds were much more entertaining than this one, but FR won’t allow posting from those web sites.
A new name for all the same lefties that have been screeching for years now.
When your message (product) fails to catch on, rebrand, with catchy new slogans!!!
PDA’s co-founder and National Director is Tim Carpenter, who in 2004 was Deputy National Campaign Manager for Kucinich’s presidential run.
http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/groupProfile.asp?grpid=7123
Okay, who has that gif of the little yellow face falling over laughing?
They’re using paper lunch bags? Shocking! They should be using reusable cloth bags. /channeling libtard, environazi
Barf Baggers
I can hear the trees crying ... I can feel their pain.
I would suggest no one get downwind of these idiots.
Instead of “brownbaggers” shouldn’t they be called salad-tossers or terror-enablers?
brown baggers? LOL.
More like brown nosers.
I’ve got a message for any trolls looking at this thread: You’re not going to succeed because your passion isn’t genuine. It is hyped. People in the Tea Party gathered because they ALL BELIEVED PASSIONATELY in the Constitution.
You guys are doing this as a “reaction” to a genuine movement...so by definition it is structured—not a heartfelt outcry.
I thought the Progressives were known as Douchebaggers?
I think the Tea Party people need to get a unified purpose. I thought today that it would be good to get a list of people (Democrats and Republicans both) that voted for TARP, Stimulus, Health Care and Cap and Trade and make them the target for removal from office. It could be called “The 2010 Mission & Beyond” or something that reflects the mission. Any thoughts on this?
More like the dirtbaggers. Well at least they got the color right!
Wanna bet this is totally astroturfed and not the natural uprising that the Tea Party is?
I was thinking the brown bags had some Old English in ‘em.
Conservatives aren't wired that way. We don't have dozens of overlapping cooperative organizations with legions of lemmings (unions, etc) that can push in the same direction. We don't have an entrenched bureaucracy of government supported ‘aid’ groups and academia behind us. Progressives have gamed the system to use billions of our tax dollars against us. And Republicans will not/ can not shut off the spigot.
I have no idea how conservatives can duplicate that.
I’d never heard of teabagging, but I do know about brownbagging. At Halloween it’s a bag you light on fire outside somebody’s door, then ring the bell. The guy rushes out, stamps the fire out and gets the dog poop all over his shoes.
They are trying to imitate the teabaggers! Wannabes! LOL!
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