What do Chick-Fil-A and the Tea Party tell us about the American left?

August 4, 2012 | Filed under Media,Meme Watch,Tea Party Movement | Posted by

As I watched the Chick-Fil-A controversy unfold during the past week or so, I was struck with how similar it was to the Tea Party uproar a couple of years ago.

To understand middle America’s support for Chick-Fil-A is to understand middle America’s support for the Tea Party, and vice versa.  Unfortunately progressives have proven once again that they understand neither.

When middle class Americans come together in support of something tagged as disgraceful by progressives, the largely progressive news media’s ability to engage in fair reporting is seriously impaired.  Their usual method of dealing with such shameful behavior is to simply ignore it and hope it goes away.  The Tea Party was ignored by the media until it became significantly large; then it was portrayed as a group of ordinary (read: “ignorant”) people who were simply “angry” but who were not smart enough to understand their anger.  At its worst, the national media mocked Tea Party protestors as backwards, illiterate rednecks.  Most mainstream press coverage of Tea Party rallies ignored the aggregate size of the movement and the friendly, respectful attitude of the protestors, who often left venues cleaner than when they arrived.

Yet media coverage of the Occupy movement overflowed with sympathetic portraits of the protestors and generally ignored the vandalism, theft, and serious violent crime that regularly occurred in the Occupy camps.  They also failed to note that the overall size of the Occupy protests was significantly smaller that the turnout for Tea Party rallies.

In a similar fashion, most mainstream newspapers all but ignored Chick-Fil-A Appreciation Day, although NBC and ABC news covered the event fairly. Of course, deciding to ignore Appreciation Day meant that fair coverage of Chick-Fil-A “Kiss-In” day was also impossible.  “Kiss-In” was supposed to be an LBGT protest of Appreciation Day, but how do you explain this to your readers/viewers if you completely ignored Appreciation Day?  Bloggers and social media posts covering Kiss-In events noted that media presence often outnumbered protesters (funny how often we see this at leftist-themed protests), and that the number of Kiss-In participants on Friday was dwarfed by the huge crowds who showed up on Appreciation Day, although the Kiss-In rallies received much more mainstream media buzz.

So what’s the problem?  Why are things like the Tea Party and Chick-Fil-A Appreciation Day so difficult for progressives to understand?  And at the same time, why are they so enamored with Occupy Wall Street and the Chick-Fil-A Kiss-In?  Progressives surely recognize the true grassroots nature of the Tea Party and Appreciation Day, yet they genuinely don’t seem to know what to do with it, because “grassroots” has been exclusively associated with poverty and “worker’s revolution” in progressive teaching.   They are simply stumped by “protest” movements where the protesters are generally happy with the way things have been, and are protesting against change, or to keep things the way they have been.

Instead of answering this question, I’d like to invite the WizBang authors and readers to offer their own thoughts.

………………………………………………………..

A hint (which I will explore in a future post) regarding the worldview of progressives on all things “suburban” (which is the home of both the Tea Party movement and Chick-Fil-A) can be found here:  Spreading the Wealth: How Obama is Robbing the Suburbs to Pay for the Cities, the new book by Stanley Kurtz.   Here is a summary by Kurtz, from National Review Online.

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Posted by on August 4, 2012.
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  • retired.military

    I think it goes to the fundamental issue that leftists are in general unhappy people. I mean look at Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, and Helen Thomas, Not a happy thought in the bunch and they look it as well.

  • davidt

    ‘Progressives’ are snobs who expect their imagined superior asses to be kissed, and failure to do so will bring their imagined superior self-righteous indignation every time.

    • ackwired

      I don’t suppose that you saw any “imagined superior self-righteous indignation” in this post?

      • jim_m

        Not until your comment.

      • 914

        Derp!!!

        • ackwired

          lol…I didn’t think so.

          • http://wizbangblog.com/author/rodney-graves/ Rodney G. Graves

            DERP!

  • Hugh_G

    As a “progressive” I’ll just say what it is about those 2 organizations that bothers me.

    First, the Chick Fil A owner has the right to believe in whatever he wants. What disturbs me about him and others with the same view is the frequent use of God or Jesus or the Bible to make judgments such as the Chick Fil A man’s reference to what God may do to America because some people choose not to believe in the same religious tenets that he does. For the life of me why does anyone else care that 2 consenting adults of the same sex want to be married to one another. It’s in the imposition of one’s Judeo-Christian belief system on other’s that I find disturbing and offensive.

    As for the Tea Party – again I believe they have the absolute right to their own political beliefs, the right to try and change government and the right to demonstrate as they wish, as long as it’s legal. I happen to profoundly disagree with their philosophical view of the role of government and that’s OK. Speaking only for myself, what offends me are deliberate or ignorant distortions of President Obama and his policies, e.g.. the infamous “death panels”, some displays of “racism” toward the President and the seemingly all or nothing attitude of its proponents.

    And to retired.military’s notion of unhappy people, you’re wrong. We’re no less happy, sad or angry than folks from the right.

    • retired.military

      ”
      It’s in the imposition of one’s Judeo-Christian belief system on other’s that I find disturbing and offensive”

      It’s in the imposition of one’s atheists belief system on other’s that I find disturbing and offensive

      As for ChickFIl A and any one else who proclaims their belief that God will do this or that becuase of this or that I have to ask. If you dont believe in God then why do you care? As far as you are concerned they might as well be speaking about what a rock will do if America does this or that. As for their money, it is their money. They can burn it and it shouldnt matter to anyone else.

      “and the seemingly all or nothing attitude of its proponents.”

      LOL. read this
      http://www.tennessean.com/article/20120803/NEWS02/308030124/Senate-nominee-Mark-Clayton-disavowed-by-Tennessee-Democratic-Party-?odyssey=nav%7Chead
      DEMOCRATIC PARTY REJECTS SENATE NOMINEE PICKED BY VOTERS…
      A dem nominee is prolife and the dem party has said “SCREW YOU we wont support you”

      How about Obama with
      “I won”
      “I am the only thing between you and the pitchforks”

      Really Hugh. Your ascertations are laughable. And you sound pretty fucking unhappy to me. Just like the tool from the ChickFIlA youtube .

      Meanwhile Harry Ried who is claiming that Romney is hiding something in his taxes is twisting arms to throw govt money towards a company that his son is employed by.

      http://www.lvrj.com/opinion/costs-conflicts-arise-in-reid-push-for-green-power-164858086.html

      • Hugh_G

        I’m glad you think I’m an atheist as of course I’ve never said a thing about that or even remotely where you could infer it.

        If you just read you own post above you seem dyspeptic, angry and hateful. Sad but true. Don’t choke on your own bile.

        • retired.military

          Hugh. I never said nor implied that you were an atheist. I merely stated what I found disturbing and offensive. Funny how you try to put words in my mouth.

          I am neither angry nor hateful. I simply dont tolerate bullshit. I also showed how the left has the right beat on every level of anything involving hatred and hypocracy.

          Just look at the accusations of racism from the left when someone merely disagrees with Obama’s policies yet you talk about .”he seemingly all or nothing attitude of its proponents.”

    • jim_m

      So why does it bother you that someone uses God as a reference for their beliefs? If you do not believe in God then they are referencing nothing.

      What I find amazing is the left’s unwillingness to exercise their right to simply not listen. If you don’t like what is being said you have 2 choices: 1) ignore it or 2) issue a rational and well reasoned rebuttal. Instead the left tends toward authoritarian responses where they try to make voicing opinions they disagree with illegal. On college campuses they have made it nearly impossible to hold a tenure track position if you disagree with them.

      As for you aspersions on the TEA Party, you imply hat some of their actions have been illegal.. I’d like to see you come up with a single example. With regard to death panels, these are the inevitable result of government rationing of health care and the administration has already admitted that these will be a part of obamacare. You have to determine what diseases will be treated and ow many patients. The government will budget only so much money and then that’s it. They do it in every other nation with socialized medicine. They will with obamacare too.

      Lastly, the only racism has come from your side and it is pretty tiring when you have been responding to every substantive disagreement with obama’s policies with psychotic accusations of racism. Grow up already.

      • retired.military

        He cant show the tea party has done anything illegal and we have Chico proudly standing up and cheering the OWS crowd with their illegal activities.

        • jim_m

          Chico has shown clearly that he supports any breaking of the law or any violence committed in support of his agenda. He likes to call people chicken hawks and I think that is just a projection of his own feelings of impotence as he is unwilling to commit the acts of violence that others do to advance his agenda.

        • Commander_Chico

          You forget that the original Tea Party was highly illegal. The present-day Tea Party are just a re-branding of religious, cultural and racial authoritarian reactionaries unwittingly organized in the service of corporate control by Big Money. They are not in the revolutionary spirit of Sam Adams.

          If the members of the present-day “Tea Party” had been around in 1770, they would have been organized by the Tory elite to protest for law and order, God and King George. They’d be saying the victims of the Boston Massacre got what was coming to them, and denouncing Ben Franklin, the Adamses and Tom Jefferson as godless intellectual radicals.

          Chick-fil-A is just another cultural sideshow diverting these stupid people from the fact they are getting assraped by the oligarchy exporting jobs, soaking them for fees and interest, using their military to secure commercial advantage, and cutting their wages, pensions and benefits.

          I’d like to think those protesters are supporting the free speech of Cathy, but I know it’s more about hatin’ on the gays. Yeah, the reason why you’re poor is because of the gays. Riight.

          • jim_m

            I’d like to think those protesters are supporting the free speech of Cathy, but I know it’s more about hatin’ on the gays

            You guys bitch and moan that I and others claim to know what you think when we read what you write every day. Yet you have the arrogance to claim to know what millions of people think without speaking to a single one of them. Perhaps you should get out a little and learn that you are completely full of BS. Perhaps you could write the author at the link and inform him on how he really hates gays (despite being gay).

            Get real and stop projecting your own bigotry. You’re a complete ass Chico. I congratulate you on your recent descent into the realm of Grumpy style trolling.

          • http://www.rustedsky.net JLawson

            As Jim says – you bitch whenever someone attributes feelings to the ‘left’ – yet you have no problem doing the same to others.

            At least be even-handed about this – if you can accuse whoever you want of ‘hate’, then be so kind as to graciously accept the same in return.

          • retired.military

            The left doesnt know the meaning of the word even handed. Look at Hugh Above. he calls the tea party racists. I called him a troll and a hypocrit and then he tells me to go fuck myself.

          • http://www.rustedsky.net JLawson

            Well, what did you expect? He can’t confirm what you said without damaging his self-esteem, and he can’t deny what he posted. That doesn’t leave a whole lot of range of response…

          • herddog505

            You sometimes use the word “libertarian” to refer to yourself. I do not think that word means what you think it means.

          • Commander_Chico

            I don’t know what all the people going to Chick-fil-A were going for, but I don’t think they are libertarians.

          • herddog505

            I can’t speak for anybody else, but I went because I support the right of free speech and to be free of government coercion. Or do you side with Rahm Emmanuel, Tom Menino, and the rest of the (ahem) progressives who want to ban businesses if their CEO says things they don’t agree with?

            And the chicken is pretty good.

          • herddog505

            I can’t speak for anybody else, but I went because I support the right of free speech and to be free of government coercion. Or do you side with Rahm Emmanuel, Tom Menino, and the rest of the (ahem) progressives who want to ban businesses if their CEO says things they don’t agree with?

            And the chicken is pretty good.

          • retired.military

            Do you actually believe the crap you spew? Or do you go to some computer program to spew this shit?

          • http://www.rustedsky.net JLawson

            He’s got a set of responses, but I wouldn’t be sure he actually believes them.

          • Commander_Chico

            Judging by the amount of personal invective, I guess I hit a nerve in my comments about the “Tea Party.”

            Mike Huckabee works for who?

            .

          • herddog505

            Commander_Chico – Mike Huckabee works for who?

            TEH OLIGARCHY, of course.

            Jebus…

            By the way: since you know so much about the schemes of our Corporate Masters (pbut), can you tell me who I need to contact about getting my check for eating at Chick-fil-A last week? I mean, I did MY part on behalf of our Corporate Masters (pbut), so it seems to me that they should live up to their half of the bargain and pay me back. After all, if they want people to stand up for free speech and liberty, they really shoul pay for it, right?

          • Commander_Chico

            I gave you an up vote because I got a laugh out of that.

            I suggest sending the bill to Huckabee himself.

          • retired.military

            I have no clue. I dont follow the tea party either. You hit no nerve. I w.as just asking a perfectly legitimate question which you have failed to answer.

          • retired.military

            I have no clue. I dont follow the tea party either. You hit no nerve. I w.as just asking a perfectly legitimate question which you have failed to answer.

      • Hugh_G

        It doesn’t bother me that someone uses God as reference for their beliefs. I do. I am a recovering alcoholic and I use God as a reference for my beliefs every day. What I object to are those who have no room for some other form of spirituality in their lives, those like Mr. Chick Fila A who judge others based on religion and those who believe in their own superiority and moral purity based on their religion.

        I didn’t make any aspersions about the Tea Party. I didn’t mean to imply that they engage in anything illegal whatsoever.

        I see you are a believer in “death panels”. That’s your choice as unfounded and without any merit as it is.

        Should I show you all those racist posters the Tea Party has shown. And Jim I know that you react to racism with a knee-jerk reflexive attempt tp argue false equivalence. The fact is that there have been racist posters and racist statements made about President Obama by the Tea Party. That’s a fact and it’s the Tea party which is the subject here. If you think they are psychotic accusations I feel sad for your blind ignorance about that fact.

        • jim_m

          AS for the death panels. At some point you have to draw a line in socialized medicine. Nobody is going to call it a death panel, but that is the effect of it.

          Years ago I met some transplant oncologists from Canada and they told the tale of how every year by June they had to stop treating patients because they ran out of money. Anyone who needed a transplant had to live until January and still be eligible to get treated. Since they were pediatric oncologists they were telling parents, “Sorry we could treat your sick child but the government says ‘No’ so we can’t”. The concept of a death panel is not unreal.

          I have been to TEA Party events and seen nothing of racism. I have seen leftists who have gone to TEA Party events to create the appearance of racism. I have seen leftist politicians make unfounded claims of racism and then seen them refuse to produce a single scrap of evidence in support of their claim.

          And yes I have been called a racist by many leftists for saying that obama spends too much, that he has a leftist voting record, that he supported infanticide in Illinois, in fact I have been called racist for saying any number of factually correct things. I’m just sick and tired of the BS.

          Perhaps you should care more about the blatantly racist statements made by Bill Clinton and Joe Biden about obama. How he’s clean and articulate. How black people belong waiting tables. But you don’t give a damn about how racist and ugly your side is, you’d rather make up crap about the conservatives instead.

          • http://www.facebook.com/people/Keith-Atkins/689931106 Keith Atkins

            Getting back to the point of this thread: the leftist media know exactly what they are doing and understand the truly grassroots movements of the Chick-Fil-A appreciation day and the Tea Party. The have the mike and are lying their asses off trying to fool the rest of us by creating the illusion that they and their allies are the majority – the right thinkers. The Bolsheviks (Russian for “majority”) called themselves the majority party when they were actually the minority. It’s all a breathless and desperate lie.

          • http://www.facebook.com/john.dewey.98871 John Dewey

            I agree with your post, Keith, except … fewer people than ever before are listening to the mike the left possesses. Tea Party and Chick Fil A Appreciation Day did not need NBC and the New York Times, did they? Big city newspapers are declining all over the nation. Who needs them? We now get our news, our ads, and our culture online. And the left definitely does not have the online mike.

          • http://www.rustedsky.net JLawson

            They would, if they could. Why do you think the Dems want an Internet ‘off’ switch?

          • http://www.rustedsky.net JLawson

            Quite true. And you can present yourself as a majority – as long as the people you present to have no other way to find out the truth. (Which is why it was so important to control printing presses, and later Xerox machines in the USSR.) With the Internet, however – it’s a lot harder to control the message being put out.

            I expect them to keep trying, however – and failing.

        • jim_m

          So it bothers you that people use religion to judge other people? Why is that different from using any other ideology? I find that leftists believe themselves to be every bit (actually far more so) morally superior to everyone else. In fact they are even more insufferable since unlike Christians, who believe that their knowledge comes from an understanding of divine revelation that is available to everyone, morally superior leftists believe that their superiority comes from their superior intellect.

          Not only do they feel morally superior but they believe themselves intellectually superior. THey are the kind of people who think that they can force their ideology down your throat and feel that they are doing you a favor. They are the kind fo people who will excuse any atrocity since their ideology tells them that they are right and that ay ‘sacrifices’ are justified because hey are always right.

          BTW, as a Christian I find many Christians insufferable too. I just see that in most cases they really do see themselves as flawed and sinful too even though to the outside world they often project a facade of holiness. It’s that last part that makes me sick.

          • retired.military

            Speaking of superiority and judging others.

            The philosophy of the left can be summed up with the following:

            “Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised
            for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their consciences.’

            - CS Lewis

            After all, It’s for the children.

            BTW Hugh. How about that study that just came out that says the left wont hire a conservative in academia if they know they are a conservative.

          • jim_m

            I was thinking of that when I wrote my comment. Lewis is completely on the money here. The left believe themselves justified in imposing any tyranny necessary to enforce their agenda because they are doing the right thing for you, your family and the entire world and everything in it.

            It’s been said that Lenin estimated that they would “lose” 10% of the soviet population in their march toward communism. Those losses were considered a reasonable sacrifice for the good of the nation. Today’s leftists haven’t gone very far from that.

          • SteveCrickmore075

            N. Carolina bans science from guiding decisions & no this isn’t from the Onion. Which world are you guys really living in? I know for public consumption such as in this post- I don’t think you really believe it, but,-ad nauseum, perhaps to boost your standing with your peers, since you are losing so many cultural battles, you say on one hand, that leftists are contemptous of facts and science and defend privileges, and that conservatives, on the other hand, are so open, empirical and fair-minded to evidence. Unfortunately, the real political world is much different as evidenced by the Republican-led House in the North Carolina Assembly!

          • http://www.rustedsky.net JLawson

            You do know that the projected sea level rises from the AGW folk aren’t exactly appearing on schedule, right?

            So SC is looking to historical data on sea level changes to decide what needs to be done in the future – instead of computer modeling which hasn’t shown any accuracy in the past.

            Hmmm.

            Obviously they ought to trust the computer models. Computers are NEVER worng!

            /sarc

          • http://www.wizbangblog.com David Robertson

            Only time will tell if those computer models are reliable. Either way you go, you are taking a risk.

          • jim_m

            Time has already spoken. The models are worthless. Not only are they inaccurate but we already know that they lack critical information needed to be accurate.

            The CERN CLOUD study showed that solar radiation was ten X greater a factor in cloud formation than previously thought. It is not calculated in ANY of the models. When asked point blank if this meant that the models were flawed the researchers said “Yes” and that the models would have to be changed to have any relevance.

          • http://www.rustedsky.net JLawson

            Not much of one. Humans are adapatable – there’s sunken ports in the Med dating back to the Roman days. And it’s not a terribly robust model (in the eyes of the modelers) if they’re not willing to show all their work in regards to software and data sets. Makes me think they’ve got something to… hide.

          • SteveCrickmore075

            why not throw out all the AGW computer projections then, which is essentially what the irresponsible realtor driven lawmakers are doing. The most generous judgment is they are buying time for another four years, when they will probably do the same thing. lawson, if you will read the report,(I seemed to have lost it) but they the authors admit it is “an inexact science” (though lately the sea level is rising a little faster than they predicted even a few years ago,) that is why they were hired to begin with, but anyone, but the usual suspects can see what is happening here and http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=north-carolina-sea-level-rises-desipte-senators and very comprehesively here, http://www.southernstudies.org/2012/07/the-big-money-behind-the-assault-against-sea-level-rise-science-in-north-carolina.html
            It appears the red states are going to be hit the hardest with AGW.

          • jim_m

            Sorry Steve, but you are a religious zealot. AGW is a fraud. It has been proven so. The Mann hockey stick was demonstrated to be a fraud, the Himalayan glacier melting was admitted by the authors to be a fraud, polar bear populations are increasing not decreasing, The best weather station data in the world has been shown to be a fraud, the shrinking polar sea ice issue has been shown to be a fraud, The sea levels rising has been shown to be a fraud.

            I really should not have to go on. But if I did I could start with Climategate and how climatologists conspired to hide data, conceal their fraud and bully dissenters into silence,

          • SteveCrickmore075

            Now that ExxonMobile is going to get out of the” AGW is hoax” game and no longer fund the cupidity of morons that jim is always quoting and become more responsible, what will he do, where will he find his legion of third class non climate scientists, except for perhaps John Christy? http://eenews.net/public/energywire/2012/06/28/4

            Tillerson CEO of Exxon Mobile”The impacts do require us to begin to exert — or spend more policy effort on adaptation: What do you want to do if we think the future has a sea level rising 4 inches, 6 inches? Where are the impacted areas, and what do you want to do to adapt to”

            I suppose jim will continue fighting, just as those who disparged the link between cancer and smoking and second hand smoke.. Where were you on that debate or the ozone layer or acid rain …and so forth? You don’t have to tell me. I think I know! The strategy is always the same to throw doubt into the scientific reports, to hold up obfuscate the debate for about twenty years, often by the same people but eventually the evidence is so overwhelming…. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_change_denial

          • http://www.rustedsky.net JLawson

            ”
            What do you want to do if we think the future has a sea level rising 4 inches, 6 inches? Where are the impacted areas, and what do you want to do to adapt to?”

            OMG!

            EVERYTHING EAST OF THE ROCKIES WILL BE FLOODED! EVERYTHING WEST OF THE ROCKIES WILL BE FLOODED!
            THE WHOLE WORLD WILL BE FLOODED! IT’LL BE LIKE THAT MOVIE WATERWORLD!

            Sheesh, Steve, get a fucking grip, will you? 4 inches? 6 inches? How much do the tides change on our shores during the course of a day? Humans are adaptable creatures, found from the Arctic Circle to the Equator. We ADAPT to changing conditions.

          • SteveCrickmore075

            The Ceo was using that figure, they are going to be much more in eastern North Carolina and very critical . Ask lawson, he lives down that way, if he thinks it is as a inisignificant issue as you do?You don’t want to buy into condos or projects on the seashore, if you don’t think they will still be there, in seventy years. That is why the real estate business, who fund the politicians including the Democratic Governor want to downplay this!http://www.southernstudies.org/2012/07/the-big-money-behind-the-assault-against-sea-level-rise-science-in-north-carolina.html

          • retired.military

            ”
            You don’t want to buy into condos or projects on the seashore, if you don’t think they will still be there, in seventy years”

            A. if you can buy a condo now do you really care about its value in 70 years? I mean look at the stupidity of your statement.

            b. If you are so sure that the studies are accurate than do yourself a favor. Figure out where high water mark is, buy as much land as you can and prove us wrong in 70 years. Go ahead we will wait.

          • retired.military

            ”
            You don’t want to buy into condos or projects on the seashore, if you don’t think they will still be there, in seventy years”

            A. if you can buy a condo now do you really care about its value in 70 years? I mean look at the stupidity of your statement.

            b. If you are so sure that the studies are accurate than do yourself a favor. Figure out where high water mark is, buy as much land as you can and prove us wrong in 70 years. Go ahead we will wait.

          • retired.military

            hey Steve why dont you go visit the North Pole. According to Al Gore it has no ice this year.

          • jim_m

            Companies do that because they have to be able to work with fascist left wing governments like obama’s.

            The world was warmer than now in the middle ages. The seas didn’t rise so much back then why should we be concerned about it now when the temperature is cooler?

          • http://www.rustedsky.net JLawson

            Now the lawmakers are ‘realtor driven’? That’s the first time I’ve heard THAT talking point.

            It’s funny. Not effective, but funny.

          • Brucehenry

            I thought you lived in NC? Ever hear of Marc Basnight, powerful Dem politician? Bev Perdue? Koka Booth, former mayor of Cary? Smedes York? Tom Fetzer?

            You DON’T think lawmakers are “realtor-driven”??!!?

          • http://www.rustedsky.net JLawson

            I said it was the first time I’d heard that talking point, Bruce. And I don’t live in NC.

          • Brucehenry

            Ooops, my mistake, don’t know where I got that idea. But around here real estate and land developer interests are VERY powerful.

          • http://www.rustedsky.net JLawson

            No problem, Bruce. We had Cynthia McKinney locally. I’d trade you her for a busload of land developers in a heartbeat.

            (Warn you now, though, you’d feel like you got ripped off and would want a refund…)

          • retired.military

            You would get the better end of the deal.

          • http://www.rustedsky.net JLawson

            Hell, yeah! Why do you think I offered?

            Lol…

          • retired.military

            You would get the better end of the deal.

          • retired.military

            Steve

            The US Govt has spent hundreds of billions (which could have been used educating the children) to push back the “Global warming clock” by about 2 seconds. I know you are a leftie but we just cant grow 100s of trillions of dollars to push the clock back by an hour or so.

            Stop with the global warming crap. You are making yourself even more irrelavant.

            “It appears the red states are going to be hit the hardest with AGW.”

            Oh heaven help us here in Tx. Oh woe is us. Yet you see millions coming here from Calfornia and other liberal havens to escape the failed policies of those states.

          • herddog505

            Exactly.

            This bill appears to have been part ‘n’ parcel of the usual AGW tactics: declare the science “settled” and then start making major public policy changes based on it. Anybody want to bet that, if the science changes (i.e. the water DOESN’T rise by three feet in the next century) the policy would be changed?

          • http://www.rustedsky.net JLawson

            Policy should change, in response to conditions where applicable. But not in response to computer models of dubious value. And in this case, I think they’re taking the right course. Things can be changed later, as warranted.

          • herddog505

            JLawson – Policy should change, in response to conditions where applicable.

            Sure. And we actually have a concrete example (no pun intended) of us anti-science North Carolinians doing just that:

            In 1999, the Cape Hatteras Light Station, which consists of seven historic structures, was successfully relocated 2,900 feet from the spot on which it had stood since 1870. Because of the threat of shoreline erosion, a natural process, the entire light station was safely moved to a new site where the historic buildings and cisterns were placed in spatial and elevational relationship to each other, exactly as they had been at the original site.

            http://www.nps.gov/caha/historyculture/movingthelighthouse.htm

            There were concerns about moving the lighthouse: could it be done without destroying a well-known and cherished symbol? After a report from NC State University confirmed the urgency of the move, the NPS successfully undertook the work.

            As you say, people are pretty adaptable. IF we find that ZOMG! Wilmington and New Bern are being flooded out, we’ll deal with it. Until we’ve got more cause for alarm than some wonky, fraudulent computer models, I see no need to worry.

          • http://www.rustedsky.net JLawson

            Fully agree. People ARE adaptable – if allowed to adapt.

            Somehow, I don’t think there’s going to be any problems that can’t be dealt with.

          • http://www.wizbangblog.com David Robertson

            That particular NC law states what public officials can or cannot do. The law does not prevent private land developers from using computer models to predict what will happen with the sea level.

          • http://www.rustedsky.net JLawson

            Somehow, I don’t think they’ll pay much attention to the computer models.

          • retired.military

            So the private land developers will buy up land farther inland (if they believe the crap you spew). SO WHAT DOES THAT HAVE TO DO WITH THE PRICE OF TEA IN CHINA. Here is a business tip Steve. Buy land inland and then sell at a profit to those folks using the computer models you want them to use. See how much money you make.

          • SteveCrickmore075

            State planners are preparing detailed maps of future high-water lines, groundwork for an eventual retreat inland of both people and buildings.
            “To me, it’s the big planning problem for this century,” said Scott Shuford, planning director in Onslow County, on the southern coast. “There’s an element of urgency about it, but at the same time a recognition that it can’t be solved easily.”

            Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/01/16/106896/rising-waters-threaten-the-coast.html#storylink=cpy

          • retired.military

            Steve

            Like I said. Go visit the north pole. According to Al Gore;s models it will be free of ice this year. (A point which you have refused to provide a counter point to).

          • herddog505

            I’m glad you’ve told us this. My wife inherited a bit of land in the mountains. It’ll be worth A FORTUNE when we have to move Wilmington to the other end of the state. BWAH-HAH-HAH!

            So, may I ask everybody to buy an SUV (and NOT one of those mamby-pamby hybrids, either) and a whole crate of incandescent lamps? Turn your A/C thermostats down. Fire up your grills and cook a whole cow. Herddog’s got a retirement beach house in Mebane to buy, baby!

          • SteveCrickmore075

            You would wait, but if you are a responsible public official, you have to think about bridges roads sewage lines etc.. there are a host of problems.It is not an academic issue ..”At some tipping point – state officials calculate sea-level rise will cause significant problems by about 2042 – decisions will have to be made. Infrastructure such as water and sewer lines, and industries, will have to be moved inland.
            “Do you move those things now or do you wait? It gets to be an interesting chicken-and-egg question,” said study leader John Dorman of the state flood-plain mapping program.

            Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/01/16/106896/rising-waters-threaten-the-coast.html#storylink=cpy#storylink=cpy

          • retired.military

            Steve

            Sorry I have much more pressing issues. LIke sorting out my unmatched socks from the dryer. Pressing stuff there. It has to be planned years in advance.

          • retired.military

            Steve

            Sorry I have much more pressing issues. LIke sorting out my unmatched socks from the dryer. Pressing stuff there. It has to be planned years in advance.

          • http://www.wizbangblog.com David Robertson

            Uh, I’m not Steve, and I merely pointed out that the NC law does not prevent private land developers from using computer models if they want to do so.

          • herddog505

            Gov. Beverly Perdue’s decision means the bill becomes law, bringing temporary closure to the debate that began when the science panel warned sea levels could rise by more than 3 feet by 2100 and threaten coastal areas. Coastal development group NC-20 rejected those findings and said the seas would rise only 8 inches.

            http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Sea-level-bill-becomes-law-in-NC-gov-refused-veto-3756882.php

            I point out that Aunt Bev is a democrat.

          • jim_m

            She’s also of such a totalitarian bent that she recommended suspension of the Presidential elections just a few months ago. She’s not just a dem, but she openly desires a totalitarian state. This is completely in line with that.

          • retired.military

            Steve
            Are you fucking kidding me? You want to make a blanket statement like it has to do with everything when your link shows

            ” restricts all sea-level predictions used for policy-making to be based on “historical data,”

            So basically they dont want the global warming nuts (who have been proven wrong time and time again) to influence decisions on investing. The “science” that you are touting claims the sea levels will rise 39 inches in the next century. Gee over the last 2000 years or so it hasnt happened but yet it will happen in the next 100. Just like Al Gore said that there will be no ice on North pole by this time.
            Get your head out of your ass and stop with the blanket statements trying to make something sound like it isnt.

        • 914

          DEROP X 6

        • retired.military

          ”
          those who have no room for some other form of spirituality in their lives”

          Really !!!!

          Then you cant tolerate a lot of on the left because they dont tolerate anyone with any form of spirituality mentioned in any form (unless they support the left that is).

          here let me point out more hypocracy.

          a. What exactly did the guy from ChickFil A say that espouses no tolerance of spirituality? DId he say Gays should die? Did he say that gays should renounce their lifestyle? Did he state that Gays are evil?
          b. Now please show me where the left has said ANYTHING regarding the african american preachers who came out against Obama because of his gay marriage agenda. Anything Hugh. Just one thing. We will wait.

          c. ” Mr. Chick Fila A who judge others based on religion and those who believe in their own superiority and moral purity based on their religion.”
          Oh you mean llke you are doing right now. Gotcha

          d. “I see you are a believer in “death panels”. That’s your choice as unfounded and without any merit as it is.:
          So once again we see C above where you are judging others and you are the one showing superiority and moral purity (whether based on religion or not).

          e. “Should I show you all those racist posters the Tea Party has shown”

          Please do. Then we can discuss all the stupid unfounded claims of racism which the left have heaped on anyone who so much as disagrees with Obama.

          f. “The fact is that there have been racist posters and racist statements made about President Obama by the Tea Party”

          Okay say there was. Give me any sampling of 100k people and I will bet you will get idiots there. What about the left which infiltrated tea parties with bogus signs to try to make the tea parties look bad. Guess you dont want to talk about that now do you.

          “If you think they are psychotic accusations I feel sad for your blind ignorance about that fact.”

          Enough said

    • retired.military

      As for the tea party “as long as its legal” I dont seem to recall you lambasting the OWS crowd and their blatantly illegal acts. Please do so now.

      You are not only a tool but a hypocrit as well.

      • Hugh_G

        See my response below. It was not my intention to argue they have done anything illegal.

        As for your last comment. Go fuck yourself.

        • 914

          DERP!!

          • Hugh_G

            Another 11 yo in the sandbox.

          • jim_m

            What? Too many big kids here for you?

          • http://wizbangblog.com/author/rodney-graves/ Rodney G. Graves

            DERP!!!

        • retired.military

          Gee Hugh. we get called racist by Stephen, Grumpy, Lee Ward, Spongebob Armstrong, and others and you get all upset when I call you a tool and a hypocrit.

          The left can dish it out but it damn sure cant take it.

          Also as I stated above. I dont see you lambasting the blatantly illegal acts of the OWS crowd. Yet you dont have a problem with the tea party protests “as long as they are legal”

          • Hugh_G

            Yes, the wingnuts of the world are saints. Each and
            every one of you. Saints!!!

            As I said before, go fuck yourself.

          • retired.military

            And yet you refuse to address anyone of the dozen or so pertinent points I have made against the left.

          • retired.military

            And yet you refuse to address anyone of the dozen or so pertinent points I have made against the left.

        • LiberalNightmare

          And yet another liberal resorts to profanity. News at 11

    • 914

      DERP

    • 914

      As an idiot, you should be ashamed of yourself..

    • LiberalNightmare

      >>For the life of me why does anyone else care that 2 consenting adults of
      the same sex want to be married to one another. It’s in the imposition
      of one’s Judeo-Christian belief system on other’s that I find disturbing
      and offensive.

      I’d sure like to know how disagreeing with someone turns into “the imposition one’s Judeo-Christian belief system on other’s”?

  • http://wizbangblog.com/author/rodney-graves/ Rodney G. Graves

    You miss the lede.

    What we just saw with Chick-Fil-A was a late manifestation of a preference cascade. Average folks are about fed up with the “Progressive” bullshit and are finding ways to make that clear. Look for them to put the NO back in NOvember this year.

    • jim_m

      Not only that, but the left sees that it is in the minority (at least those with any sense do) and they see that the only way to get their way is to impose it by force. They see that their views are not consistent (supporting gays and the muslims who hate gays), nor are the scientific (AGW).

      They will do their level best to win at the last toss of the dice. They are not concerned with what damage they may do to society if they lose. Like other dictatorial regimes from the past they see the destruction of society as the just reward for not accepting their despotism.

  • AndrewX

    I have become absolutely convinced of a truism that I have been saying for a while: that if the left is accusing their opponents of ‘X’, then it is categorically beyond any and all doubt whatsoever that — The left has been doing ‘X’ — The left is doing ‘X’ now — The left will do ‘X’ if and when given the power to do so. Tout fini.

    Here’s a tell: anyone remember in the early days of the Tea Party, there was a progressive thought (I think even Pelosi said it) that “we have to find the coterie of central people here, the twenty or so people, who are driving this, directing this, funding this… and attack it at it’s center”. How’s THAT for a tell? Of course that is what they think, because that IS how the left mobilizes in general. The very idea that this categorically did not apply to the Tea Party simply never entered the radar screen. It couldn’t

    As to why this is, I can only say that comparing the left to an actual full bore religious faith is extremely helpful when pondering any question of why they do what they do. Why do they not “get” conservative grass roots activity like the TP, the Chick fil et reaction, ratings for Rush and Fox… NON-ratings for MSNBC and Air America? Why do “journalists” and “artists” relentlessly and without fail parrot the leftist line while cutting their own throats financially, seeing the utterly obvious that ‘the dogs don’t like it’, but shoveling out the same gruel day after week after year?

    Because to do otherwise is akin to a Christian, Jew, or Muslim turning their back on their faith. Oh, it happens, but it is rare and surely takes a massive upheaval of the soul to do it, as it means cutting ties to one’s past, one’s icons, one’s treasured beliefs of decades, and many of one’s friends and even family.
    Just not easy.

    And of course, like a religion, leftism is an act of faith, to be held as essentially unquestionable truth, always and forever. That truth simply “is” — all repeat ALL facts exist simply to serve that “truth” in the end. The narrative MUST triumph, and those of us in the media, culture, academia exist to wage personal jihad to that end. And of course, heaven awaits at the end, and heathens and heretics must be burned mercilessly in the present to protect and advance the faith.

    Where the left has truly succeeded wildly is in making this kind of thinking the norm for so many.

  • Rick DeLano

    Tipping point?

    I agree with Mr. Graves below.

    This is going to be an election that stuns Big Media, which has been losing money on its flagship newspapers for years.

    It was assumed the non-financial benefits of shaping public opinion would outweigh the financial losses, but that hope lies in ruins today.

    All the frenzied propaganda for same sex “marriage” has backfired.

    The issue, while not the central one of the campaign, will nonetheless turn out to be the winning one- for Republicans and for Romney.

  • Walter_Cronanty

    From the pro-Communists of the 50s and 60s, to today’s progressives, whose latest display of anti-Americanism is their would-be banning of Chick-Fil-A from their cities [ostensibly because of its CEO being anti-Gay (which he isn't), while welcoming with open arms Muslims, who would kill homosexuals], the left has repeatedly demonstrated that it simply cannot abide three founding principles of our Republic: 1) Small Government; 2) Individual liberty, both political and economic; and, 3) Traditional Judeo/Christian values.
    The Tea-Partiers and the vast majority of those who participated in the Chick-Fil-A buycott fervently believe in at least two, if not all three, of the above principles. Progressives, because they despise those principles, cannot understand why anyone would actually believe in those three principles; therefore, they cannot understand either the Tea-Partiers or the buycotters. This also explains why progressives hate America and will not be satisfied until they destroy it.

    • jim_m

      There is one thing that unifies the left and the radical muslims and that is that both have a hatred for people being able to think for themselves and make decisions on how to lead their own lives. While they disagree completely on issues such as homosexuality, extramarital sex, women’s rights etc, what they do agree upon is that government should have the one and only voice in determining what the accepted views should be. They utterly deny the concepts of personal responsibility and individual liberty.

      They can unite on oppression of everyone else and that is what they both desire most.

  • GarandFan

    It’s tyranny of the “minority”. Because EVERYONE KNOWS if you are ‘the minority’ you are endowed with certain qualities that are obviously missing from those in the majority. The majority will LIE, CHEAT, STEAL, KILL to maintain their advantage. That this isn’t true today is immaterial. That there have been such incidents by majorities in the past is all that is relevant. Which only bolsters the minority view of themselves as “victims”.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Mikey-Michaels/100001133503060 Mikey Michaels

    great article.

  • http://www.facebook.com/brian.chester.982 Brian Chester

    Progressive democrats are pro baby murdering/abortion , pro legalizing weed,a drug that has been linked to schizophrenia. Pro men marrying men and woman marrying woman. Pro transsexualism wich is twisted and evil on its own right. Pro destruction of Christ’s church banning Christ from public forums. Literally every single thing about the progressive agenda is twisted and evil. What hurts the most is Obama is in favor of all of it. It’s time to make a change.

  • http://www.wizbangblog.com David Robertson

    The 1st Amendment says that people have a right to speak – which is what the participants of the 08/01/12 event did – but the 1st Amendment does not say that people have a right to an audience. Just as the 08/01/12 participants exercised freedom of speech by being participants, newspapers exercised freedom of the press by not reporting that particular event. Just as liberals don’t have a right to dictate what religious doctrine that people believe, conservatives don’t have a right to dictate what stories that newspapers report. The 1st Amendment works both ways.

    • jim_m

      True. However, the MSM pose as being objective reporters of fact. Many of them are former political operatives now posing as journalists (Stephanopoulos, Matthews). With the dems recently agitating to bring back the fairness doctrine the purpose was to enshrine leftist bias as “neutrality”.

      The media do not have an obligation to report on anything. They do not have an obligation to report on anything fairly. However, their obvious bias coupled with the pose of objectivity borders on fraud. If the media were objective they would report the news regardless of their ideology. That is what conservatives object to.

      • Walter_Cronanty

        Exactly right. I won’t be nearly as annoyed with the MSM when they finally are honest about what/who they are. They will then go the way of MSNBC – honest, but woefully lacking viewers. To see the NYT actually admit to its liberal bias would be akin to the Berlin Wall coming down.

    • http://www.rustedsky.net JLawson

      CNN’s already having their viewership fall on the order of 20% per month. How long can any network withstand something like that, before someone in management goes “Screw this – let’s try reporting ALL the news instead of just what’s good for Obama.”?

      Newsweek’s already defunct. You can’t tell me the other news organizations aren’t noticing the bleeding.

      • jim_m

        Newsweek is your primary example. CNN can do this until they go out of business. Newsweek has essentially done that already.

        • http://www.rustedsky.net JLawson

          As long as they can find funding, they can stay on the air. Sooner or later, however…

          I could be wrong, but I think that newscasting like that has a much larger baseline cost (infrastructure, equipment, personnel) than a magazine like Newsweek. Sooner or later, the cable companies will get tired of carrying a channel with no viewers.

      • herddog505

        Now we know why the Ford Foundation is pumping money into (IIRC) WaPo and NYT. Look for more and more mutterings about “bailing out” other news agencies.

        Rush also had a good comment about CNN’s viewership. So long as advertizers keep paying for time, it really doesn’t matter whether people watch CNN. Sure, if NOBODY watches, the ad execs will stop buying air time as there’s no point, but with CNN on in every airport, lounge, gym, and waiting room in the country, it’s a no-brainer to advertize on it. Further, it may be that the ad execs’ political preference (most of them live in NYC; what does that tell you?) may drive their decision to advertize on CNN even if it isn’t such a financially wise idea.

        • http://www.rustedsky.net JLawson

          It’s on as background noise – not as anything someone’s paying attention to like they did in the Gulf War.

          But the numbers (or lack thereof) will eventually take their toll. IPads, phones, tablets – they all combine to suck away attention from those old ceiling-mounted tube sets.

          • Commander_Chico

            That’s why CNN is always hyping another war, right now with Syria. It’s good for ratings.

    • LiberalNightmare

      I think your seeing this as a first amendment issue, when its really more of a mind-share issue.

      The fact that the media chose not to cover the Chick-Fil-A support events isn’t really the important part of the story, in fact, that’s a fairly common part of the bigger story.

      The bigger story is that the general population seems to be rejecting the ‘approved’ version of events provided by the media outlets.

      The left cant control the world view of the proletariot if the proles choose to ignore the messenger.

      • http://www.rustedsky.net JLawson

        Thus, the desire for an internet “Off Switch”, and the Fairness in Broadcasting idea. Control the message, you control the people. But you’ve got to first actually control the message. Hard to do that when you’ve got more than one way to get messages out…

  • http://www.facebook.com/david.smith.77715 David Smith

    Hmmmm Is the Left’s inability to see the depth of the TEA party movement related to their elitist topdown view of organizations.
    If there isn’t strong leadership, then there cannot be any value in the group. Central planning for everything.

  • LiberalNightmare

    This is a good article.
    I have spent some time wondering how the left can simply fail to ‘get-it’ when it comes to the question of the tea-party.

    At first I thought it was simple political opposition. The tea party at its base level is for smaller govt and responsible taxation, liberals in general fear those ideas like vampires fear squirt guns full of holy water. Still that doesn’t really explain the depth of ‘failing to get it-ness’ that we see in media these days.

    At this point Ive settled on the notion that they simply don’t want to get it. They are smart, educated and they completely, consistently miss the ball on this.

    Its the only reasonable explanation.

    • Walter_Cronanty

      They’re not nearly as smart as they they represent themselves to be – see, e.g., Obama

    • http://www.wizbangblog.com David Robertson

      I suspect that demographics (if I am using the correct word) has much to do with why liberal members of the professional media don’t “get” the Tea Party. It can be difficult to “get” people if you have never lived among them. I wouldn’t expect someone who has always lived along either the East Coast or the West Coast to “get” people who live in “fly-over country”.

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  • SherryLevine

    From Randy Hannig, the director of a social-conservative hater group (Equality Illinois):

    “Company President Dan Cathy clarified Chick-fil-A’s views of gay
    and lesbian Americans, shedding light on its multimillion dollar
    donations to groups that actively seek to influence government leaders
    and the
    public to take away rights from gay and lesbian individuals ”

    While Hannig relentlessly works to take away from all social
    conservatives their most fundamental human rights (freedom of
    conscience, speech, religion, etc.), that is, to destroy our democratic
    functioning.

    “The company is using its dollars to shape public and political discourse by funding organizations that promote homophobia in the U.S. and abroad.”

    While Equality Illionois is using its dollars to shape public and
    political discourse by promoting hatred of social conservatives and
    “conservative-phobia” in the US and abroad.

    “In a petition, Equality Illinois is urging socially responsible
    business and institutional leaders across the country to challenge
    Chick-fil-A’s discriminatory practices and end all relationships that
    enable the
    Chick-fil-A brand to operate on their premises.”

    As far as reported, CFA does not discriminate in its business
    practices. What Hannig is doing is a public smear of CFA equal to what
    the Nazis did of Jewish businesses in the beginning of the 1930s. Hannig
    first shamelessly smears CFA with a false accusation of discrimination
    practices in order to justify his call for a sordid destruction of this
    upstanding company. This is a company where 60,000 employees work making
    a decent living in a decent environment. The majority of the employees
    are young and very much in need of their jobs.

    Obviously, it takes a vicious organization to want to destroy all of this, but it’s what “Equality” Illinois is doing.

    Equality, you note.

    “We urge mall owners who rent space to Chick-fil-A to look deeply at
    the hateful organizations the company supports. We ask university
    officials to reconsider accommodating a business that ostracizes a
    large segment of their student body. We want corporate leaders who allow
    Chick-fil-A to do business in their offices to consider a new restaurant option during contract renegotiations.”

    It would be nice if mall owners looked deeply at what CFA supports –
    they might be shocked to find out just how much CFA is being smeared. It
    would be even more important if these mall owners looked at how much
    violence and harm people with a homosexuality agenda cause in society.
    But, we know, there won’t be much of a chance for the latter.

    Equality Illinois’ aim is to ostracize millions of social
    conservatives in society, along with any such student, and turn them
    into social pariahs.

    “We want corporate leaders who allow Chick-fil-A to do business in their offices to consider a new restaurant option during contract renegotiations.”

    Why, it’s like the National Socialists targetting the Jewish business owners in 1932.

    Hannig: “We’d like all Americans to think twice before they bite into their next Chick-fil-A sandwich.”

    So would we. But we would also like for everyone to think about what “Equality” Illinois is trying to do.

  • Guest

    I don’t speak for the left. I only speak for myself. But a couple thoughts nevertheless:

    So what’s the problem? Why are things like the Tea Party and Chick-Fil-A Appreciation Day so difficult for progressives to understand?

    They aren’t that hard to understand. The Tea Party is the right-wing base in colonial costumes and carrying teabags. That’s pretty much it. Yes, they have a new spring in their step with Obama in the White House and they’re a bit more quixotic than previous incarnations, but there’s not much more too it.

    Chick-Fil-A Appreciation Day also isn’t that hard to understand. It’s a relatively low-cost way for members of the right wing to signal their conservative bona fides to other conservatives.

    And at the same time, why are they so enamored with Occupy Wall Street and the Chick-Fil-A Kiss-In?

    Don’t color me enamored. I had some high hopes for the Occupy movement. Even though large corporations sign my paycheck, I agree with the general idea that the corps need to behave better. I also believe that regardless of the ingenuity that got them to where they are today, a number of large businesses are concerned not with new innovation, but with shaping the law (the “rules of the game”) to preserve their market-dominant status.

    But the Occupy was a disappointment. Their organizational skills sucked. They weren’t willing to put in the work needed to win an election, let alone wage a campaign of ideas. And at the end, Occupy didn’t stand for anything other than camping out in public spaces.

    Progressives surely recognize the true grassroots nature of the Tea Party and Appreciation Day, yet they genuinely don’t seem to know what to do with it, because “grassroots” has been exclusively associated with poverty and “worker’s revolution” in progressive teaching.

    I know what to do with it … the same thing that the GOP establishment will eventually do to the Tea Party. You adopt the group’s rhetoric, take its members’ money and hard work, and then you suck all meaning out of the movement as you subvert it to your own purposes.

    Nothing against the Tea Party in particular here. That’s just the nature of political movements. They either peter out or they get subverted.

    They are simply stumped by “protest” movements where the protesters are generally happy with the way things have been, and are protesting against change, or to keep things the way they have been.

    Not really. You’ve always had those kinds of protest movements, whether you’re talking about folks who wanted to preserve segregation in the 1960s, the Hell’s Angels who protested motorcyle-helmet laws, or establishment types today who oppose medical marijuana.

    You always have people who agitate for change, and you always have folks who prefer things just the way they are.