Former State Lunatic Asylum (now Austin State Hospital). ©2006 Larry D. Moore. (Used under a Creative Commons ShareAlike license.)
Eunice was a character. When we met her in 1972 she was in her eighties and feistier than any teenager.
Eunice had lived in Austin, within a few blocks of the University of Texas campus, all of her life. She had been born into money, and she delighted in regaling us with stories of the UT social scene back in the days of her youth, a time before the dawn of the Roaring Twenties. Among her favorite stories was one about a popular entertainment she enjoyed with her socialite friends during the summer months of 1918 and 1919.
“You know where the State Lunatic Asylum is here in town? Just up Guadalupe from the university campus?” she’d ask. “Well, back in those days they used to hold dances there on the first Saturday night of every month. One of our favorite things to do was to go up there and watch the crazy folks dance. It was always funnier than any comedy show going on in town!”
Yeah, I know how bad that sounds, but she really was a sweet, refined and thoroughly delightful woman. She was a product of her time, and her youth was spent in an age that resembled the 1970s only in that the sun rose in the east.
“Then,” she’d continue, “on the third Friday evening of every month, the local Republican Club would hold their dance at one of the hotels on Congress Avenue. That was always good for a laugh too!”
I was reminded of Eunice’s stories this past weekend while watching news coverage of the Tea Party march held in Washington, D.C. On one level, like the asylum dances, the event was morbidly amusing. On another level, it was tragically real.
I refer you to the video posted in the upper right column of this page. After watching the video you’ll know what I mean.
The video provides an introduction to Tea Party culture, a sneak peek at the people attracted to this political sideshow, and an overview of the many faces of lunacy. Within the span of only nine and one-half minutes you will see a cornucopia of racism, conspiracy dementia, homophobia, paranoia, shocking greed, contempt for the sick and the poor, and evangelical Christian zeal whizzing around like one of those whistling fireworks that scoot across the ground in unpredictable directions before exploding.
Make no mistake about it. The Tea Party people combine to make a volatile brew that appears just a few more Glenn Beck rants away from exploding into blind, senseless violence.
Think I’m exaggerating? Need a preview? Here’s a list of just a few of the gems you’ll see and hear in the video:
- “Czars were Russian kings. Here, Jesus is our king.”
- A call to punish homosexuals because they are “perverts.”
- A call to “Boycott Hollywood.” Hollywood is full of nothing but commies.
- 9/11 was a warning from God that America must repent.
- A sign that reads “A revolution is coming. Violate our liberty at your peril.”
- Pelosi is a Jezebel.
- Joe Wilson for President,
- “Obama is a Muslim. I’d like to see a Christian in the White House. That’s what I’d like to see.”
- “It hasn’t been a year yet, and he’s already like destroyed most of the country.”
- “His mother was white, so he’s not an African-American, but he’s going that way because it pays off for him.”
- Obama wants a civilian army of 2 million soldiers operating inside the U.S. that are armed as well as the regular Army.
The 9/12 Washington Tea Party was quite a spectacle. I sure hope Eunice didn’t miss it.
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
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Watching this video is very similar to watching a disastrous car crash. I just spent the last 9 minutes and 31 seconds rubber-necking. Having surveyed the carnage, I am left with a feeling of nausea and awe. The film between markers 7:36 and 8:00 is by far the best. “You know this how?”… Priceless…
The scary thing about this is that it could have been filmed in my neighborhood!
“You know this how?” That is priceless! When people are this stupid they can be led to do anything. In these protests they are acting against their own self interest, but they don’t have enough sense to know it.
Now, there’s some smart people in that video. Real smart people. I’d say they applied it directly to the forehead.
YOUR A COMMUNIST!!!!!! YOUR NOT AN AMERICAN OR DO NOT DESERVE TO LIVE IN A FREE COUNTRY YOU WONT DEFEND OR STANDUP FOR.
I don’t normally watch something this ridiculous more than once since it’s usually too depressing. This one has a howl factor. Hopefully more of this type uncovering that shows who it is the ring wing hatemongers are leading on will either implode and cause their efforts to collapse on themselves or, even better, allow them to see they are being taken for uneducated fools. Oops. They are uneducated fools. Please leave room for a large collapse and collect their teapots.
Yeah… he’s right… you’re a commie.
Oh wait… crap… I forgot to capitalize every letter of my post. Now I won’t be taken seriously.