Meet the Flea Party
Peter Robinson ·
Oct 14, 2011 at 9:41am
From Ann Coulter's latest:
[T]he Wall Street protesters have no specific objections and no serious policy proposals in a country that is governed, as Abraham Lincoln put it, "by the people." They protest because they enjoy creating mayhem, not because the law is being ignored or their rights violated without penalty by government officials.
They are not in the tradition of the tea partiers, much less our founding fathers. They are not in the tradition of the civil rights movement or Operation Rescue. They are in the tradition of Shays' Rebellion, the Weathermen and Charles Manson.
The "Flea Party?" Perfect.
The woman is a genius.
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Aug '11
Re: Meet the Flea Party
I've always liked Ann Coulter. But her inexplicable infatuation with Chris Christie has been a puzzlement.
Oct '10
Re: Meet the Flea Party
Ugh! As silly as the protestors are (and even some on the left seem to agree) it's really, really bad optics for us to make fun of them so publicly.
She's following Buckley's rule of "pick the most conservative person electable."
Aug '11
Re: Meet the Flea Party
Joseph Eagar:
She's following Buckley's rule of "pick the most conservative person electable." · Oct 14 at 10:13am
If the most conservative person electable is a gun-grabbing, Islamist-appeasing, global-warming-believing, Romney-endorsing, half-term Governor who uses a state police helicopter to deliver him to his son's baseball game, then God help us all.
Feb '11
Re: Meet the Flea Party
The Flea Partiers deserve our scorn, publicly heaped in large piles. Failure to do so legitimizes them. And they are illegitimate, because what they want comes out of somebody else's hide.
So keep calling them what they are: greedy, envious, dirty, loser, know-nothings, Communists/Marxists/Socialists, backward and inward looking, ignorant fools. Keep doing it until they slink back to the fetid holes from whence they came.
They have the right to voice their opinions, but not to commandeer public and private property.
And, by the way, Bloomberg is a Napoleon, only without the competence.
Edited on Oct 14, 2011 at 10:38amMar '11
Re: Meet the Flea Party
I hope the name sticks.
Yeah, I agree about Ms Coulter's infatuation with Mr Christie - strange!
Oct '10
Re: Meet the Flea Party
No Caesar: The Flea Partiers deserve our scorn, publicly heaped in large piles. Failure to do so legitimizes them. And they are illegitimate, because what they want comes out of somebody else's hide.
So keep calling them what they are: greedy, envious, dirty, loser, know-nothings, Communists/Marxists/Socialists, backward and inward looking, ignorant fools. Keep doing it until they slink back to the fetid holes from whence they came.
They have the right to voice their opinions, but not to commandeer public and private property.
And, by the way, Bloomberg is a Napoleon, only without the competence. · Oct 14 at 10:36am
Edited on Oct 14 at 10:38 am
That's all true, certainly, but it doesn't change the optics. We can legitimize them by over-reacting, which is what worries me.
Edited on Oct 14, 2011 at 10:47amJun '10
Re: Meet the Flea Party
It's worth reading the whole article. Thanks for the link.
Re: Meet the Flea Party
Manson??? Seriously?? C'mon....
These folks are simply the latest generation to indulge in nostalgie des '60s -- just like the few dozen doofuses who used to show up at every "Divest Now!" and "Nuclear Freeze!" rally during our undergrad days. They are unappealing in all sorts of ways, but basically harmless. The less attention paid to them, the better.
Oct '10
Re: Meet the Flea Party
I think the reaction the term 'Flea Party' is eliciting is laughter. It's Coulter's gift and certainly won't legitimize those boneheads.
Edited on Oct 14, 2011 at 11:52amMar '11
Re: Meet the Flea Party
If the left, including the president, can call Tea Party members "teabaggers" I think there is room for the accurately descriptive fleabaggers.
Edited on Oct 14, 2011 at 12:23pmSep '10
Re: Meet the Flea Party
Ann Coulter is a superb provocateur and I love listening to her, but here's a case where I think ridicule is not the right path, even if the targets seem to be begging for it.
Misguided and incoherent as the protests are, they are partly expressions of an anxiety and anger that is very real and broadly felt. Fed up with bailouts and corporate welfare? That applies to not quite the advertised 99% of us, but surely to a lot. The protesters you see in the parks contain all the usual suspects, but among them, and certainly looking in from their homes, are a lot of ordinary Americans who are seeing their futures go up in smoke, and they are thinking about how they want to deal with that reality. Name calling is only going to push people away. Some of them would be receptive to another point of view. We could use those folks on our side; or if not entirely on our side, at least it would be beneficial for them to be listening to our arguments.
Nov '10
Re: Meet the Flea Party
Being compared to Shay's rebellion is probably pretty honorable - after all it was well founded on the notion of property rights, and the abuse of those rights by people in positions of power. The rebellion was an important driver in the Philadelphia Convention that created the Constitution.
As for the other two (the Weathermen, and Charles Manson), all I can say is, how bizarre.
And Flea Party? Cute, but "dirty hippies" didn't work in the 60's, and I doubt the equivalent will work now.
I think the right - even if it disagrees with OWS on many things - should be far more sympathetic; the OWS participants may not be hugely politically sophisticated, but their underlying point that neither corporations nor government should be able to gain the power they hold now over the lives of citizens is pretty valid.
Mar '11
Re: Meet the Flea Party
The actual number of people occupying Wall Street is very small and for the most part a lost cause. The purpose of accurately identifying them as fleabaggers is to get more serious people to think twice about joining them. The people they support Obama et al are up to their eyeballs in crony capitalism; it is the Tea Party that should be attracting people who oppose this kind of corruption but the lefties, have through labeling, fairly effectively cut off support from people who now are sympathetic to OWS. The aggressor sets the rules, the left has made this a street fight, and if you don't have the stomach for street fights then you will lose.
May '10
Re: Meet the Flea Party
Peter Robinson:
The woman is a genius. ·
Yep, and she supports Romney.
(Sorry, Peter -- couldn't help it. It would be great to hear you two discuss the matter on a podcast.)
Oct '10
Re: Meet the Flea Party
There's the tea party, the flea party, and the fleebaggers (Wisconsin Democrats)
Sep '10
Re: Meet the Flea Party
I sympathize with the inclination to coopt the OWS onlookers; use their frustration with the economy to recruit them to the conservative cause. The flea partiers have a few good points (about crony capitalism), but a whole lot of silly points. Unfortunately, I think that the soak-the-rich, redistribute-the-wealth instinct is too deeply ingrained, and can't be uprooted.
Here's the real danger: if the OWS types get smart, they'll start making fun of themselves, while cranking up the protest actions. Self deprecating humor can take all the steam out of the mocking humor.
Nov '10
Re: Meet the Flea Party
Steven Drexler:
Here's the real danger: if the OWS types get smart, they'll start making fun of themselves, while cranking up the protest actions. Self deprecating humor can take all the steam out of the mocking humor.
That's an excellent point.
Something else to consider - and something that political junkies almost invariably get wrong - is that the goal shouldn't be to beat down the other side but to influence non-aligned or independent voters. They pay attention to demeanor and tone as much as to what's actually said, especially in an environment in which politicians of all stripes are generally distrusted. Remember the last two years and all the obnoxious verbiage spouted to degrade Conservatives - raaaaacist, facist, teabagger, etc. - that came from the Left? It didn't work out for them, judging by the 2010 results. Do it from the Right, and one can only expect similar results.
Apr '11
Re: Meet the Flea Party
Extremely parenthetical observation: I think James Lileks expressed disdain for the term "optics" in a recent podcast. I don't much care for it myself, but I'm really getting to loathe "notion," used more or less equally by conservatives and liberals.
I don't listen very often to Rush Limbaugh, but I find his use of "folks" far less grating than when I hear Pres. O. use it. Possibly an "authenticity" thing.
Substantively: Yes, Anniecakes (affectionately, not diminutively) is a genius (I assume literally, as well as appellative or descriptively). Sometimes I question her "take no prisoners" approach to argument, but then I remember the Left's treatment of prisoners. And I reflect on Gimlet's remark that if we have to die in battle, it's better to die with our codpieces buttoned.
(Okay, that last line wasn't so substantive.)
Dec '10
Re: Meet the Flea Party
Peter:
You left out the best part. They're the "Flea Party" because they are "Wingless, bloodsucking and parasitic".
I so love me the Ann Coulter.
Nov '10
Re: Meet the Flea Party
Bruce, your point is worth making. The way the OWS folks talk (social justice, fair share, 99%, yada yada), and their physical appearance (smelly hippies) make conservatives recoil instinctively. But actually, these people are wound up about some of the same things that has the tea parties so ticked off.
The OWS solution - hand more power to America's ruling class - is moronic, but their carping about bailouts and corporate welfare really resonates with the tea party.