Republican readers of the Humboldt Herald (you too, Fred) better get out your calendars. July 30 is “Call in Conservative” day.
That’s right — Republicanistas are shutting down the machine!
They’re even avoiding the mall! Remember when Dubya told you to go shopping after 9-11? Those were the good old days!
Now it’s talk to the hand. Stand up to the man.
At least Republicans are openly taking tips from the queer community. Last December saw the first “call in gay” day to protest Prop. 8.
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July 12, 2009 at 7:35 am
Stay home from work. Okay, got it.
Stay away from the mall. No problem.
Stop the engine of our economy? Stop puffin’? WHAA?
July 12, 2009 at 7:50 am
The poster left out some steps every good “conservative” should follow. After staying home from work and the mall, and once you’ve stopped the engine of our economy, don’t forget to call your previously purchased Congresspersons for your bailout. Remember: you are too big and important to fail. Capitalism’s “creative destruction” applies to others, mostly liberals and poor people.
July 12, 2009 at 7:54 am
This is a wonderful idea. Can’t wait to see the picket line out in front of Security National.
have a peaceful day,
Bill
July 12, 2009 at 8:31 am
It’s great to see the “conservatives” employing the same frustrated tactics the rest of us turned to out of angst and desperation. At long last the “haves” may be seeing a commonality with the “have noughts”.
July 12, 2009 at 8:34 am
What I find interesting about the anti-tax folks is that it boils down to being a religious or faith-based position.
It is a rejection of any rational benefit/cost analysis. What are the tradeoffs associated with, say, funding early childhood healthcare for low-income families? Do we save more than it costs society? Same for subsidizing higher education — are the economic-development benefits on par with the costs of subsidizing low- and middle-income higher education? What is the appropriate level of these public benefits?
To the anti-tax folks, the answer is zero. The benefits of publicly-provided services are of zero value. There is no rational analysis of what we get for our public expenditures.
What we are talking about is a substitution of rigid belief or faith for a reasoned assessment of the tradeoffs of benefits and costs associated with public expenditures.
One can say that this is a taxpayer movement, but I am a substantial tax payer too.
In the absence of any reasoned argument that assesses the opportunity costs of tax policy, how can anybody but other true believers have any respect for anti-tax arguments?
July 12, 2009 at 8:52 am
I don’t get it. Taking a day off shows what? Your willing to not work for what you believe in? Maybe if the day’s pay was donated to food banks, hospices, scholarships, or the time was spent volunteering for habitat for humanity, or whatever cause suites the protester, it would make some sense to me.
Whatever the cause, the whole “I’ll show you, I’ll stay home!” idea just doesn’t seem productive. No offense, I just don’t see the upside.
July 12, 2009 at 8:57 am
Conservatives will not take the day off.
You see, conservatives believe in working for a living and being productive.
July 12, 2009 at 9:02 am
Not according to the poster.
July 12, 2009 at 9:05 am
Saint Ronnie Reagan would “communicate” to you his appreciation of your patriotism and then fire your ass.
have a peaceful day,
Bill
July 12, 2009 at 9:20 am
Republicans apparently don’t feel like they “own” Bush’s economic meltdown, so they want to have their own go at it. Go from deep recession to depression, apparently.
Let it be said again and again: Republicans hate America.
July 12, 2009 at 9:23 am
Galt? Who, or what is Galt?
July 12, 2009 at 9:28 am
I love it! The poster even says Go Galt!.
Such buffoons.
July 12, 2009 at 9:31 am
(BTW, Going Galt is explained about halfway through that video clip. It’s the hallmark cry of the uneducated pseudo-upper class. No wonder that a majority of conservatives surveyed believe Colbert supports their rightwing beliefs or secretly does so.)
July 12, 2009 at 9:32 am
Those who answer to the name “conservative” these days will do whatever Rush and FOX tell them to do. If the protest represented by this Call In Conservative poster is promoted by the right wing media, there will, no doubt, be clusters of teabagging conservative media puppets shirking their work responsibilities to protest whatever it is they protest all over Humboldt County. If Rush and FOX don’t promote it, it won’t happen.
Even if they do promote it, the people that get their hands dirty doing actual work in the county are mostly liberal or else not political. A few pencil pushers taking the day off aren’t going to matter much.
July 12, 2009 at 9:33 am
Zeno 8:34,
1) Every day, people are bombarded with advertising telling them that their inadequate lives can be wonderful if only they buy what’s being sold. A substantial portion of our GDP goes into such advertising, and it’s probably the most sophisticated industry in America. Taxes take away people’s ability to buy the advertised things, therefore taxes are bad.
2) Nobody wants to believe that people are down-and-out “just because.” If someone’s experienced poverty themselves, and escaped, and are intellectually brave, they may understand the importance of safety nets. For most people who haven’t experienced poverty, it’s something that happens only to “bad people.”
3) A lot of tax money really IS wasted. That’s the part that liberals don’t want to acknowledge. There are a lot of shiftless, discouraged, and incompetent people in the government bureaucracies. A lot of them are in positions of power.
4) A lot of the (real) waste is because the people who run the programs are HORRIFIED by the thought that someone might get a dime more than they are officially entitled to. The people who run the programs don’t view aid recipients as people like themselves — they view them as bad people. For example, in In Home Supportive Services, if someone is able to do things more efficiently — say, cook for two recipients at once — that will constitute fraud. The sort of initiative that will get someone promoted in the private sector will get them either investigated or blacklisted in many government programs.
5) More of the real government waste is because of the unpopularity of government aid. Hordes of clerks fill out reams of forms so that their bosses can justify every penny spent. They have to, because otherwise taxpayers will complain their money is being wasted. If the time and money devoted to filling out forms that exist for reasons no one can even remember was instead devoted to providing aid to needy people, government would cost much less.
5) Conservatives (like you, High Finance), do not believe in working for a living and being productive. Conservatives, in my experience, believe in money: making it is good, having it means your good. They don’t question whether what they do is productive or not; they question whether it makes them money. Conservatives think the two are the same. If you read your Bible, you’ll see that Jesus was a stereotypical liberal, who warned that rich people will never get into heaven, and instructed people to turn the other cheek when attacked. America’s dominant religion has nothing whatsoever to do with the teachings of Jesus, or any other religious figure. America’s dominant religion is a form of materialism that borrows (or coopts) Christian symbolism.
6) If the advertising-based media want to keep getting their advertising, they will see to it that those with money have their views well-represented. That ensures that people who actually contribute NOTHING to society are worshipped for their wealth. People who have accumulated wealth are, by definition, the best people. The advertising based media, which gets paid by these people, will tell us over and over how wonderful they are, lest we forget.
7) Unfortunately, what will save America is only a true spiritual transformation. Odds are, any individual who shows signs of incipient success at launching such a transformation will be taken down by those in power.
When I was in school thirty years ago, it was clear that changing technology would bring enough abundance to eliminate all want. Thirty years on, the predictions turn out to be 100% correct. The abundance is there; the wealth has been created. Unfortunately, it was never shared.
There’s a Buddhist proverb about the difference between heaven and hell: hell is a huge feast, but everyone’s fingernails are so long that no one can put food in their mouth. Heaven is the same feast and the same people, but they are using their long fingernails to feed one another.
Where do you think we live?
July 12, 2009 at 9:46 am
Next time use Twitter, Mr. Verbosity.
July 12, 2009 at 9:58 am
BS. Jesus was a Jew, remained a Jew until his death, and he believed in the god of the Old Testament. Oh, sure, fanatics will point to this verse or that to justify that he did somehow nullify the Old Testament (funny how the OT is still in every Bible sold today though). A denier loves to contort Bible verses to support any modern day belief.
Now, if I haven’t offended you enough, now enjoy some inspiring devout Christian photos..
July 12, 2009 at 10:01 am
If the conservatives quit showing up, the economy stops.
If the prog/libs quit showing up, the government stops.
Hmmm. Tough choice.
July 12, 2009 at 10:04 am
Call in to work? They own the damn factories. Working people calling themselves: “Conservative Republicans”, is a bit like a: “Jews for Hitler”, group. And I suspect the payoff would be about the same.
July 12, 2009 at 10:11 am
ooh, throw the Hitler bomb. Yawn. You all need new material.
July 12, 2009 at 10:13 am
9:46,
If it tired your pooh liddel mouse finger to scroll past my message, you need more exercise.
July 12, 2009 at 10:18 am
9:58,
Yeah, I’d heard somewhere that Jesus was a Jew. Thanks.
July 12, 2009 at 10:32 am
Cmon kids, play nice.
July 12, 2009 at 10:33 am
What America needs is more savings and less spending, this economy of non-production and mass consumption should be over. But no, this stimulus has created the illusion that we should continue the growing debt cycle. Lets just hope the Feds are able to collapse the other larger world economies, like in China to help steer the sheepish investors back to the dollar. Otherwise, we are screwed.
July 12, 2009 at 12:08 pm
Sounds like some people are going to have a “hissy-fit” Day where they demonstrate their stupidity…
The saying “Cutting your nose off to spite your face” comes to mind on this proposed Conservative “Day of Whining.”
July 12, 2009 at 12:16 pm
Wonderful!! I look forward to having a much more pleasant work day than usual. You know, that’s a Thursday. Maybe they should take the 31st to stay home and pout too. That’d be a 4-day pout. Get it out of their system. Cut the rest of us a break. And maybe save some employer wage costs in the meantime — that is, if they’re actually honest (that’s SUPPOSED to be a conservative value, isn’t it?), and don’t lie and say they’re sick.
July 12, 2009 at 12:20 pm
Nobody But Me at 9:33, write on! Fresh analysis is so . . . refreshing. Figures.
July 12, 2009 at 12:52 pm
One step closer for Republicans to finally come out of the closet.
July 12, 2009 at 1:18 pm
This is great! The anarchist have always dreamed of the general strike and now we have the oppressed rich ( Ayn Rand’s Capitalist strike) leading the way! Rich of the world unite!
Maybe this role model will inspire the trash collectors, plumbers and road crews of the world to go on strike and create a real stink!
July 12, 2009 at 1:18 pm
Good point Moviedad. Kinda like a union member who votes republican because their trickle down creates jobs.
July 12, 2009 at 2:00 pm
Looked more like a religion bomb to me. Better inspect those photos a little closer.
July 12, 2009 at 2:26 pm
“Moviedad” watches too many movies. If conservatives really all called in sick that day, who would do all the work ? Liberals ?
hahahahahahahahahahahah
July 12, 2009 at 2:52 pm
Why no reference to Atlas Shrugged? I’ll be curious to see the real life impact.
July 12, 2009 at 3:09 pm
“Mr. Verbosity” made a lot of very valid points that are almost never available in the mass media. Don’t mock him, read his words again and heed them.
July 12, 2009 at 3:31 pm
Perhaps the Times-Standard will not publish that day in solidarity? Rush Limbaugh will shut his pie hole that day in solidarity? Pray to whoever that Bill O’Reilly goes on strike!
have a peaceful day,
Bill
July 12, 2009 at 3:34 pm
High Finance, all the conservatives that work at the restaurants and car washes, landscaping crews and road working crews, cashier check out at the store etc… won’t be missed all that much. A day without a Mexican would make a much bigger statement. So some bean counters are going to refuse to count the beans? BFD!
One less corporate merger or takeover is the only downside and that doesn’t sound all that bad to me.
Oh yeah, and Mikes Garlic Fries would be closed. No biggie, they were closed for Relay for Life and no one died.
July 12, 2009 at 3:38 pm
Hifi, you keep trying to push this musty old whopper that somehow the working world is made up of conservatives. For that to be true, all of us working stiffs would have to be kickin’ back and on salary and leaving early for lunch to go teabagging at the courthouse. You do understand that the rest of us know what typical working wages are in this county, right?
July 12, 2009 at 3:45 pm
Nobody But Me Says, too many words but makes some great points.
I have see myself that those that advertise the most tend to get the most business and grow. It takes money to make money when advertising with few exceptions.
July 12, 2009 at 4:25 pm
The Liberal Media are only as liberal as their conservative owners.
July 12, 2009 at 4:28 pm
Likewise, the liberal congress ( as the poster calls them) are only as liberal as their conservative lobbyists.
July 12, 2009 at 4:32 pm
Mike’s “closed for Relay for Life and no one died”?
Is the food that good?
July 12, 2009 at 5:21 pm
Shhhhh! I’m heeding.
July 12, 2009 at 5:55 pm
I think people are confusing “conservative” for “republican.”
July 12, 2009 at 6:48 pm
non 9:58, What a great set of photos. Hitler’s closeness to the Catholic church is not talked about much these days. Thanks for the heads up.
Search C street house in Washington D.C. It is the place where the current fascist minded politicians go for comfort and comradeship. It’s for real and it is right here in River City. Strike up the band. You might wonder where Ensign and Sanford get their ideas about right living come from
July 12, 2009 at 7:59 pm
Maybe we can call in dissatisfied with their awkward syntax. If this is actually going to be a movement, they need to get themselves a writer.
July 12, 2009 at 8:52 pm
You muppets put too much faith in your failed syatem of government, and your slavery to offshore banksters.
Do any of you really think your thoughts are your own? Mostly you just parrot whatever “winning team” you think will make you look cool.
America died in 1913, was looted in 1933, openly looted in 1965- and the people watched as their last president was killed for all the world to see because of executive order 1110.
The ashes left behind are fluoride heads taking up a cause on which form of slavery they enjoy.
Debt is slavery, taxation is slavery- federal reserve notes are debt, if the national debt were paid off none would be in circulation. The country has been in receivership for decades and you argue about what?
Only a voluntary society is free…
July 12, 2009 at 9:55 pm
At my age I would more likely be a: “Mupp”; as opposed to a: “Muppet”. And a “Mupp” is way to conservative sounding. So I would also more likely be a: “Muppie”. And as a Muppie, I would like to say that our system of government is faith inspiring and worthwhile. It is evil greed that has corrupted a good idea; once again.
The Constitution has the legal mechanisms needed to non-violently revolutionize the country. So let’s get on with it.
“Save the Planet-Hug a Muppie!”
July 12, 2009 at 9:59 pm
I’m sorry for the confusion. But it seems my identity changes between Moviedad and Ecumenik, depending on which computer I’m on.
July 12, 2009 at 10:48 pm
I would first of like to say, that we shouldn’t boycott tea party type events like this one. The entire concept of the “tea party” rebellion is americans getting sick and tired of paying more taxs then they should! The way the PRIVATLY owned Federal Reserve system works in american allows them to use fractional reserve economics to inflate the money supply to alow them to print as much “fiat paper money” as they want, essentialy giving a private corporation a monopoly on our money supply. With every new dollar they print to spend, your money looses more and more value. That is why a soda pop cost you 5 cents 70 years ago, and now it costs you 1.70$ The prices havent gone up the cost of production hasn’t risen. The Money has lost its value! When obama signed the Bailout bill. he gave this PRIVATE bank trillions of dollars on americas Credit! (think americas credit card) This credit is backed up by the fact that they know eventualy american tax payers will pay back all the intrest! Witch on trillions of dollars, is ALOT of MONEY. So much that your kids will still be paying this debt when they have kids of there own! So think now, when obama gives the banks trillions of dollars and there is no oversight of the spending. They go ahead and bailout all there friends, all along we the american people will be paying the intrest on the loan taken out in our name by the obama adminastation and all the money was given to the privatly owned bank (federal reserve). The truth be it! We do not even need to have a private bank running our money supply. and american history will show a repeated stuggle between private bankers trying to setup central banks in america to establist monopolys! Its just not a good idea! Thats not to mention that your Federal Income tax is only payed because 100% of it goes to pay the intrest on the national debt witch is 100% profits to the private bankers who own the federal reserve. For more information please read the book “The creature from jeckle island”
Now on a side note, i do not know what this flyer for the conservative get to gether is but i am not a republican, and they are just as dumb as democrats. Both have sold out to big buisness and are just two wings of the same fascist party!
July 13, 2009 at 7:57 am
Yeah, no difference at all.
July 13, 2009 at 10:23 am
“That is why a soda pop cost you 5 cents 70 years ago, and now it costs you 1.70″
WTF?
July 13, 2009 at 10:47 am
This is a reference to the dramatic inflation over the last 70 years where 5 cents is equivalent to $1.66.
This is why some of us don’t buy into the “record gold prices” as if $1000 were a true record. $2500 / oz would be a record. I don’t know of a good layman’s comparison… maybe how Babe Ruth fans complained that Roger Maris had dozens more at-bats to hit one more home run? Comparing dollar values without taking inflation into account is like having 250 inning games. Maybe the Federal Reserve inflation is like Barry Bonds on steroids? Something like that.
July 13, 2009 at 11:00 am
We are constantly bombarded with prohibitionist propaganda about how marijuana is much more potent than it used to be.
I doubt it has got much stronger in a genetic sense, but growing techniques for the production of sensimilla have been perfected so that might account for a general increase in strength of sampled marijuana.
So thank you Mr. Nice for reminding me.
Isn’t it true that soft drinks are much sweeter than they used to be? I think that soft drink bottlers long ago realized how addictive suger (and designer sugar / sweeteners are) and have relentlesly made soft drinks sweeter and sweeter, thus reinforcing the addictive properties of their product.
Soft drinks containing sugar, aspartame, high fructose corn syrup (hfcs) or other unnatural designer sweeteners should be regulated by the governmet as a drug.
have a peaceful day,
Bill
July 13, 2009 at 11:04 am
I agree with you Mr. Nice, gold is not at a record high.
The problem is that all the commodity markets are still infested with riverboat gamblers slinging the taxpayer’s billions about. That bubble is gonna burst again.
have a peaceful day,
Bill
July 13, 2009 at 12:11 pm
No, they should not, at least not by our corrupt Health and Human Services Food and Drug Administrators. You have pinpointed both the incorrect enemy and the incorrect solution to the sweetener issue.
Take the example of stevia. Stevia has less side effects, is less (zero) fattening, and is cheaper to produce than (non-subsidized) corn or cane sugar. So, naturally, for the last 40 years, Stevia has been taking over the sweetener market… in Japan.
In the United States, stevia-based Japanese robot-shaped candy rocket chocolate ball shooters are about as legal as crack rocks. We should be used to the rationale for this type of ban. There is not enough history of the food use of stevia to call it a food sweetener even though it has been cultivated for who knows how long in South America. There is not enough evidence that stevia is safe to consume in large quantities even though Japanese ready-made tea shops blow through acres of the stuff on a regular basis.
Of course, none of the above is the real reason for the stevia ban. Stevia has both historical and scientifically documented medicinal properties. The high-potency stevia varieties are derived from exotic genetic clones. Stevia has been proven to be carcinogenic by the same super-accurate tests that have proven grapefruit seeds and peanut butter to be carcinogenic. You might be familiar with other banned herbs which fall into these categories.
Recently, the FDA has approved Marinol… I mean “Truvia” for use in zero-calorie Coca-Cola in the United States. Finally, coca-cola is allowed to use a purified form of stevia in another market besides the last few decades of stevia-flavored coca-cola in practically every other market in the world.
It is not evil candy corporations who want to use these questionable sweeteners instead of cheap alternatives like stevia. It is congressional Democrat-backed regulatory actions, the FDA, and federal monogenetic corn production subsidies which restrict corporations to using either HFCS or mutagenic chemicals as the proper sweeteners to feed our children.
July 13, 2009 at 4:26 pm
TPN = Toilet Paper Nation
July 14, 2009 at 8:11 am
Mr Nice,
We are in agreement about the FDA. It is hopelessly corrupt. It is so corrupt that it cannot in my estimate be reformed.
As far as stevia, I have tried it both as a sugar substitute and as a sweetener in beverages, and for me it doesn’t taste sweet, it has an off flavor and a wsird aftertaste. But if it works for you I am fine with you consuming it.
Yes I think that the soft drink corporations are intentionally addicting young people with unnatural chemicals that are highly addictive. They do need to be regualated.
Yes I am a libertarian. I believe in personal libery, in other words if you want to poison yourself with hfcs and give yourself a dose of diabetes, well that is ok with me. I am not the kind of libertarian that worships the “free market” like it is God. The free market is not God.
The existence of corporations requires that they be regulated, and also requires the existence of workers unions to counterbalance their power.
have a peaceful day,
Bill
July 15, 2009 at 10:14 am
I assume you are talking about the powdered stevia they sell in stores as a “dietary supplement.” That stevia is garbage. If you ever get a chance to visit Japan, try some of their formulations.
That sounds fine emotionally and spiritually, to regulate for the good of the people… but whose pocket are the regulators in anyway? I am all for third-party objective analysis and disclosure of corporate business practices, but government regulation is inherently corrupt. I’d rather read Consumer Reports to help me decide if it is worth it to buy a 50 mpg biodiesel car than have the government mandate that I have to buy a 50 mpg biodiesel car. Of course, if the government was involved, it would be something stupid like a 10 mpg corn ethanol mobile.
July 23, 2009 at 4:05 pm
For those of you who spew out the term “teabagging,” you really have no idea what the movement is about. You have bought into the media making fun of the Tea Parties. You are living in their false left-right paradigm. You need to start waking up to the divisive tactics (divide and conquer) that our dear leaders of the country and the world are employing to keep you a sheep. Get it?
Read up on Roman history about the tactics employed by the Caesars to control the subdued populations of Europe. Then compare it to our current state of affairs. Don’t fall into the left or right trap.