Reply #13: First, I wasn't "standing there and looking angry". I wanted to let some of the more timid

[Atticus]

in the community know that not everyone believed this blather. We did have some very pleasant conversations with a handful of folks who were also present wearing shirts, caps and buttons that made it clear they were not baggers.

Second, you don't know these people. We do. They were not there to engage in "reasonable conversation". They were there to hear an assortment of reasons why it is not only OK, it is downright patriotic to oppose this black man who ACORN got elected. It is no more complicated or sophisticated than that.

An old neighbor whose children used to play with ours, approached, smiled, saw my wife's "Obama" cap and anti-Palin buttons and walked past looking the other way without speaking. We were "shunned".

We are white. We stood for some time talking with the ONLY black male at the rally and had to put up with hostile looks and a trio of young punks who clearly wanted to start something but weren't sure if the young black guy and the old white guy were more than they could handle.

It would have been interesting.

I agree that there are "individuals at these rallies" who are not true-believer wingnuts and, yes, as I've posted before, we should be trying to reach out to them. But, if you believe that many of the Teabaggers are just well-intentioned but misinformed folks, you have, IMHO, grossly misjudged them. I strongly believe that the majority are angry that we have a non-white President and they know it is no longer acceptable to simply shout out racist remarks to win political arguments.

In some ways, "socialist" is the new "n-word" and I will not dignify these jackasses by pretending to respect their "opinions".

"---and the mule they rode in on!"