So the woman with the Obama/Hitler poster at Barney Frank's town hall meeting yesterday turns out to be a supporter of wacky political activist Lyndon LaRouche. Republicans, notes David Wiegel of the Washington Independent, have been quick to condemn the LaRouchites, fearing association with their disruptive tactics and outlandish allegations, but are they really that different? An op-ed by Ryan Sager in today's Times is fairly instructive.
Here's a rule: Organizing isn't cheating. Doing everything in your power to get your people to show up is basic politics. If they believe what they're saying, no matter who helped organize them, they're citizens and activists.Just like the tea partiers! It's always a good thing when citizens and activists like this can find common cause.
Citizens, activists, and the very rich who need meat puppets on the ground.
Good to see LaRouchers have moved on from their usual form of activism, yelling at people from a table set up at the grocery store.
I was going to say outside the subway stop, next to the Dianetics crazies.
LADOUCHE.
LADOUCHE.
LADOUCHE.
LADOUCHE.
Now all the fringe crazies want their Youtube 15 minutes.
What a lot of people miss about LaRouche is that it's not a political organization, but a multi-level-marketing scheme that sells political outrage as it's product. Larouche people will constantly reconfigure their movement according to whatever seems incendiary at that time. During the Clinton administration it was all about the World Bank and third world poverty, during the bush years "Impeach Cheney" was all I ever heard. They do this for three reasons:
1. they always need to stay on the contrarian side of things to consistently push the narrative of themselves as topical, radical political activists.
2. They need mainstream exposure to get new crops of vulnerable people on board, grabbing on to a televised event (and showing up with attention-grabbing props) is good publicity.
3. New issues to bark about mean new books and whatnot to sell. The pyramid scheme depends on an entangled customer base that is either fanatically compelled to snatch up any new product, or is hopelessly dependent on the success of the exciting new line to finally lift their doomed operation out of the red.
LaRouche is not part of the health care debate. Period. They have no position. They are here to sell books and that's it. Six months from now, they will have a new issue to scream about. They will have no real care or position on that new issue either, but they will have ten copies of a book for you to sell to your friends and family about it.
so. well. observed.
Six months! But I want it now! What is Mr. LaRouche's position on instant gratification?
That makes perfect sense. She totally had that glazed over, spaced out look of a LaRouche follower.
The Weekly Dig had a good article a while back on how they're more of a cult than political group: http://www.rickross.com/reference/larouche/larouche49.html
If the LaRouche movement really is a cult, it's pretty sad that their only "get" is Raoul from "Eating Raoul":
http://www.schillerinstitute.org/educ/shakespeare/Julius_Caesar_panel.html
I have to laugh...
The lady in question and Mr. Frank are arguing like kids.
Taken from on-line:
One: ["Why are you supporting this Nazi policy?"]
Two: ["On what planet do you spend most of your time?" ... "Trying to have a conversation with you would be like arguing with a dining room table."].
"Which is 7 years old and which is 10?" (Source http://wordpress.pocosin.com/?p=285)
Mr. Frank did not "give it to" the person questioning his position. Rather, they both are eating crow in my opinion.
I recall when Bush was painted as a NAZI. Has everyone, including Pelosi, forgotten? If so, see http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/08/08/nancys_nazi_shock_did_she_forget_the_bush_years_97812.html
There are no winners when you support an action and later oppose the same/similar action by "the other side." Rather, we have people creating more problems and no solutions.
LaRouchites? I believe the preferred term is "LaRouchBags".
I wish they were this understanding of protesters at WTO conventions and school sit-ins, because when they get organized, it's called terrorism.