I was just wondering,,,,,

[ewagner]

I come into contact with a lot of Tea Par-tay types....

I hear the words "freedom" and "independence" (both often misspelled on their literature) and they call themselves a "real" grass roots movement...

but I wonder if they ever ask themselves where all that money for the negative advertising comes from?

I wonder if they are ever asked to contribute to those PACs and 527s that are running the ads?

Where do they think the $800K+ that Citizens for s Strong America (CSA....hmmm CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA?)came from?

Do they ever ask?

[HereSince1628]

1. No, I don't think they ever ask....

My daughter is an Illinois teabagger (let's not get into the outcomes of bad parenting, OK?)

She can't explain anything, and has no curiosity about where the beliefs she has adopted originate.

She just knows she's mad and isn't going to take "it" anymore.

[ewagner]

2. ..on an encouraging note:

my son's in-laws are tea baggers and so my son keeps peace in the family by rationalizing their views....

he called last night...called the Tea Baggers "STUPID" and said they make no sense whatsoever.....for the 1st time in about 10 years, he's taking a stand...

oh yeah...the "in-laws" are coming for a visit this weekend...hehehehehehehehehe

[mojowork_n]

3. Great Question

The average American is exposed to what -- somewhere between "many, many hundreds" and
several thousand advertisements per day?

From ad space on the sides of buses to --who knows-- ads within ads:

http://www.11points.com/Food-Drink/11_Hidden_Messages_In_Food_Ads_and_Logos

We're so used to the daily bombardment of "harmless" consumer rhetoric, we take it for
granted that "no one's going to tell US what to think," and no one ad or series of ads
has much effect.

But if they weren't effective, the advertisers wouldn't be spending so much to manipulate
public perceptions.


In order to ask, "who benefits," "who's paying for this," or beginning to make the
distinction between genuine, bottom-up, grass-roots popular movements (what we saw in
Madison most of the last month), and top-down, bought-and-paid-for, ready-made
messages, you need to have an awareness that advertising is Doing Something to you.

Most people don't have that, you have to break it down for them. Make the connection
between that scene in Star Wars, "you don't need to see their identification... these
aren't the Droids you're looking for," and the effect of the constant pounding and
repetition of combined media messages -- from all sources. (But first turn over the big
rock that says "AM Radio" on it, if that's a part of the person's daily listening
habits.)