Glenn says last night: [1]
RICK MORAN THINKS THE “TEA PARTY” PROTESTS are amateurish and disorganized. [2] At Playboy, on the other hand, they think they’re suspiciously well-coordinated. [3] Both are right!
Of course they’re amateurish. Most of these people have never organized a protest before (hence the tendency to do things like forget bullhorns [4]). That’s what you get at the beginning of a movement. But it’s much bigger news when 200 people with jobs who’ve never protested turn out, than when 20,000 of the usual suspects organized by ACORN or ANSWER march with preprinted signs. If this keeps up (and I think it just might) the amateurishness will fade away soon enough. Then Moran will probably complain about the loss of authenticity.
I saw Rick’s piece last night and intended to bounce directly off of it but got sidetracked with a trip to the movie theater with Donna. The movie was… well… OK. I’ll tell you about that later.
Anyway, Rick is quite correct that from what I’m seeing the protests are amateurish and unorganized. However as Glenn indicates that’s a good thing. Too much organization, and it looks more like a union meeting.
That said, whether not it loses that amateurish feel comes down to whether or not it continues growing at the rate it has been. Let’s face that the Tea party movement has been growing like weeds of late. It is ironic that Barack Obama has done more since the inauguration to rouse the right and make the left question their judgments than anyone on the right has done in the last several decades.
The single reason why liberals get into protests so often, is because it’s so effective for them. One of the reasons it so effective for them point blank is that they do it said damnably often.
It seems to me that therein is a major point Rick is missing. Look at the difference. Call it what you will , but conservatives organizing protests is something unheard of in recent times. That it happens at all with conservatives, is a huge story. we expect the left to be generating these kind of things. Not the right.
It’s also true that that lack of protest over the years, probably accounts for a large part of the amateurish nature of the whole thing.
This is out of character for conservatives. That they do reach so far out of their character to do things like this, indicates the degree of anger going on. As I’ve suggested before in these spaces, anger is something which is not to be underestimated, as motivation.
I suspect this is going to be a turning point in our history . I have very little in the way of doubt that these organizations will continue to grow and learn and gain influence.
Mountain people will tell you that avalanches start with something as small as a raindrop , or a pebble.
Update: (Bit) Instalanche! [5]
I must live right.