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“Progressive” Tea Party Infiltrators: What You Can Do to Thwart Them

by | 12:03 am, April 14, 2010 | 29 Comments

**Welcome Michelle Malkin readers!

**Update 2: Stay up-to-date with Colorado Tea Party developments at #coteaparty

**Update: The last time we saw the Revolutionary Anti-Imperialist Movement-Denver folks was during the Democratic National Convention. They’re back to “greet” the Denver Tea Party tomorrow:

The Revolutionary Anti-Imperialist Movement is calling on all radicals – anarchists and communists, Mexican and Black nationalists, Third Worldists and Indigenists, students, social critics and anti-racists – to come out and oppose this vile, hateful message in the midst of the Tea Party Movement. Bring signs, bullhorns, props, a hat and sunglasses, etc. Cut loose and let these racist crackers know they are opposed.

And our good friend Bill Menezes, formerly of the now defunct Colorado Media Matters offers a new Tea Party slur–“teabaggers” has become “tea klanners.” Cute.

Much has been written in the past few days about the supposed plans by “Progressives” to inflitrate and embarrass the Tea Party rallies to be held across the country on Thursday. Many posts and articles seem to come back to one site:

“We will act on behalf of the Tea Party in ways which exaggerate their least appealing qualities (misspelled protest signs, wild claims in TV interviews, etc.) to further distance them from mainstream America and damage the public’s opinion of them. We will also use the inside information that we have gained in order to disrupt and derail their plans.”

This guy doesn’t especially worry me – after all, why would one announce such a thing publicly? Doing so gives the Tea Party movement an all-encompassing plausible deniability if anything unseemly does happen on Thursday.  Any embarrassing sign, slogan, shout, or scuffle can now be handily (and believably) dismissed by Tea Party organizers as the doings of the opposition, regardless of who the culprit might be.

Of course that won’t stop Big Media or mendacious tools like Michael Huttner from focusing like a laser on anything unsavory, and taking at face value that it came from the Tea Party movement itself – it’s what they do. Nor will having their punch so blatantly telegraphed stop anyone interested in infiltrating and stirring up controversy from doing so. So it’s up to us as individuals to document the truth ourselves to counter the lies from the Fourth Estate, and to inoculate the events as best we can from criticism earned by legitimate participants.

Thwarting Big Media Lies

Carefully-selected and deliberately slanted video clips, soundbites, or photographs can easily distort the truth about what really happened at a Tea Party rally, especially when Big Media outlets present only one or two items to characterize the event.  Citizen journalism can completely undermine their ability to control the story.

  • Bring your own cameras and camcorders, and document the event yourself. Post a large collection of photos and video on free sites such as Flickr and YouTube, then share the links with your friends and neighbors, in blog comments, and on your own blog if you have one.
  • Take wide-angle photographs of the crowd to help document crowd size, and prove that those “dozens” your local newspaper reported showing up at the rally were in fact thousands.
  • Record (video or audio) the entirety of the speeches at the Tea Party rally and post them on YouTube. If Big Media then claim that a certain speaker said something they did not, you will have proof of what was said, in its full context. (Note: PPC already has it covered for the Denver rally, with our planned live Denver Tea Party webcast.)
  • Photograph as many Tea Party rally signs as you can to prove, in the event an unflattering or obnoxious sign does turn up,  that the objectionable sign wasn’t as representative of the entire gathering as Big Media would have the public believe.
  • Take and post photographs of attendees who demonstrate the breadth of the Tea Party demographic, disproving the commentariat’s threadbare assertion that it’s a movement of “old white men“.
  • If there is a counterprotest nearby, repeat the above with their signs, slogans, and demographics. Based on PPC’s experience with left wing events, there’s bound to be far more objectionable material to be found in the counter-protest than in the main event. Hold the opposition accountable for the same offenses they claim to see in the Tea Party movement.

Being a Responsible Participant

If you’re not interested in or able to photograph or record the rally, and plan to attend as an ordinary participant, there are a few helpful things to keep in mind – adapted from comments by Eileen Mahony, PPC’s Washington Bureau Chief:

  1. Please spell check your posters
  2. Check your bleedin’ facts; this includes attributing quotes and citing bills on your signs and in conversation.
  3. Leave the conspiracy theories at home. The Tea Parties are about small government, fiscal responsibility, and liberty — not birth certificates or black helicopters. Likewise for social issues.
  4. Lay off the references to Nazis, communists, fascists and murderers. No matter how historically accurate your own particular reference may be (or not), it distracts from your broader message: freedom. Don’t be against statism (although you are), be for freedom. Don’t be against Obama, or Congress, or your local elected disasters, be for positive, pro-liberty reforms.  Bring a positive rather than a negative message.
  5. Go easy on the political flair. You do not work at T.G.I. Fridays. You may think wearing enough bling on your shirt to function as plate mail makes you look ultra-committed. It does not. It simply makes you look as if you were savaged by a roving gang of campaign buttons.
  6. Should you be asked for comments by some media outlet, speak in soundbites. DO NOT RAMBLE. While you’re at it, please be aware that not everyone talking to you at a rally is necessarily on your side, and may be recording you in hopes you say something “useful”.
  7. Do your homework; if you make a contentious statement and then cannot back it up when challenged, the sum total of your contribution will probably be negative.
  8. Screaming is not debate. Trading insults is not debate. Keep calm, stay rational, and if you argue, argue on the facts.
  9. Laugh, smile, have a good time. That’s something you rarely see at the excessively earnest, humorless, and anger-filled protests the opposition puts on.
  10. Keep your focus on the core issues of the Tea Party movement: small and limited government, fiscal responsibility and accountability, and liberty-minded reforms.
  11. Really, please, just spell check your posters.

What To Do About Unfortunate Situations

You may despite everything find yourself in a situation where racist, hate-filled, moronic, or just plain crazy signs are present or speech is being used. Here are some ideas on how to handle it constructively:

  • First, stay calm. Don’t let it get you angry – anger won’t help, and will most likely make things worse. After all, that’s part of what the infiltrators are after, right? Don’t give them what they want.
  • If you have a camera, capture images or video of the objectionable attendee. If the person is an infiltrator, it might be possible to identify them later and publicly shame them for stirring up trouble. Post the images and video for public rebuke – do not try to cover these things up: expose and shame the persons involved, whether infiltrators or not.
  • Recognize the fact that not all such instances will be the result of infiltrators – there is, after all, a reason why they think what they’re doing is an effective tactic. You may be able to persuade the person or people in question to stop their objectionable behavior by politely asking them to do so, or by going a step further and explaining why it is both inappropriate and potentially harmful to the movement they claim to support.
  • If you have a video camera, record yourself, a friend, or a bystander calmly and rationally confronting offenders about their objectionable material. Make them aware (on camera) that what they or their sign are saying is not acceptable and not welcome at a rally for liberty, small government, and fiscal responsibility. Post the video on YouTube after the event, to demonstrate that, whatever the origins of the offensive sign or speech, the offender was clearly not accepted or condoned by the other rally-goers.

None of this should be particularly new to anyone who has been to a rally before. And it’s quite likely that no one will be there causing problems apart from the unfortunate elements at the fringe of the Tea Party movement itself. But everyone should keep these things in mind, keep alert, and keep a camera in hand, just in case.

And if you do take pictures and/or video at the Tea Party rally, please let PPC know. We will have an open thread for the purpose once the rally starts, where you can post a link to your own citizen journalist coverage in the comments.

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Comments

  1.   Kevin J Jones
      April 14th, 2010 @ 2:37 pm

    “Leave the conspiracy theories at home. The Tea Parties are about small government, fiscal responsibility, and liberty — not birth certificates or black helicopters. Likewise for social issues.”

    What is meant by “social issues” and why do they deserve to be lumped in and ostracized with conspiracy theories?

  2.   elpresidente
      April 14th, 2010 @ 3:15 pm

    If I understand T.L. correctly, I don’t think there is any intent to conflate the two–social issues are not tantamount to conspiracy theories. I agree there needs to be a laser-like focus on the issues of fiscal restraint and liberty/small government. Infusing the Tea Party Movement with every issue under the sun makes it unwieldy and thus ineffective.

    Conspiracy theories, by definition, are crude and kooky and should not be given any coverage at any rally, left or right.

  3.   Michelle Malkin » Denver radicals issue Tea Party crash call: “Cut loose and let these racist crackers know they are opposed.”
      April 14th, 2010 @ 3:43 pm

    [...] Peoples Press Collective/El Presidente. T.L. James has tips on thwarting the crashers. Posted in: Tea Party Printer Friendly comments [...]

  4.   Heidi
      April 14th, 2010 @ 3:54 pm

    I’ll have my camera handy..

  5.   Bravo: Oregon “Crash The Tea Party” Teacher Jason Levin, Lying Leftwing Nutjob Who Wants Other Lefties to Wear Nazi Uniforms to Tea Parties, Under School District Investigation « Frugal Café Blog Zone
      April 14th, 2010 @ 4:33 pm

    [...] source says state liberals trying to recruit Tea Party crashers People’s Press Collective: “Progressive” Tea Party Infiltrators: What You Can Do to Thwart Them The Foxhole: Leftwing Agitators Plan to ‘Infiltrate’ Tea Party Dana Loesch, Big Journalism: Tea [...]

  6.   Cindy Lyons
      April 14th, 2010 @ 5:36 pm

    Great advice. Why not be the positive people we all have seen each other being? I’m looking forward to celebrating the fact that I get it when it comes to high taxes. Stare at this clock for 5 minutes and you get the idea that we are in serious trouble. http://www.usdebtclock.org/ But no problem, there are solutions Conservatives have available to address the national and state debt.

    The Constitution does limit government and that is a fantastic thing. I’m pumped at participating in the upcoming District and State Caucuses. I write for a great paper, The Constitutionalist Today and I hope we can pass out as many papers as there are people at Acacia Park, Colorado Springs, CO. The Tea Party Movement is one of the most positive movements in US history. It focuses on the positive changes vs the negative changes that Obama is ramming through. We’ve got great candidates this year.

    We are prepared for whatever! Tomorrow cannot get here soon enough.

  7.   Lance
      April 14th, 2010 @ 7:51 pm

    Well hell…you morons might as well stay home, because the idiots you’re talking to are too &*#@ stupid to friggin’ read, let alone spell. Good grief, you people are so full of sh*t.

  8.   Tea Party slur–“Teabaggers” has become “Tea klanners.” | Politics & Capitalism is FusionFX
      April 14th, 2010 @ 7:54 pm

    [...] Source : http://www.peoplespresscollective.org [...]

  9.   T.L. James
      April 14th, 2010 @ 9:07 pm

    Someone who can’t express himself rationally and without resorting to profanities has little credibility in describing others as “morons”.

    Thanks for proving that hate, anger, and intolerance actually reside on the left, Lance.

  10.   T.L. James
      April 14th, 2010 @ 9:10 pm

    Absolutely correct, EP.

  11.   catonaroof
      April 14th, 2010 @ 10:17 pm

    Don’t be against Obama?????? Are you crazy??? That is the MAIN thing I am against. I am beginning to wonder whose side you are ON????? Tea Parties are not about social issues??? YES we are! This site sucks, and I think Michelle better have another look at just who you are.

  12.   Ed
      April 15th, 2010 @ 1:54 am

    Real tbaggers think you suck. Go back to Siberia or wherever you came from.

  13.   twellsy
      April 15th, 2010 @ 7:25 am

    I once had a dog named lance. Helluva dog. And he didn’t have a filthy mouth like the resident lance here has. So lance, I guess we can count on seeing you at one of the opposition rallies?

  14.   Andy
      April 15th, 2010 @ 7:57 am

    I would say also that if anyone in “the media” comes up to interview you at a tea party, rather than getting into a debate or giving them something they can use against us…just politely tell them that “You’ll do your talking at the ballot box in Nov.”

    …problem solved.

  15.   Denver radicals issue Tea Party crash call: “Cut loose and let these racist crackers know they are opposed.” « Thoughts Of A Conservative Christian
      April 15th, 2010 @ 8:04 am

    [...] T.L. James has tips on thwarting the crashers. Posted in B Hussein Obama, Barack Hussein Obama, Barack Obama, Hussein Obama, Islam, Islam sympathizers, Islamic immigration, Obama, Tea party, Tea party revolution, democrat muslim, islam fundamentalist. Tags: Democrats, In The News, News, Tea party, Tea party crashers. Leave a Comment » [...]

  16.   Sarah Palin at Boston Tea Party with Tea Party Express… Mark Levin’s Historical Overview… God Bless America! (video) « Frugal Café Blog Zone
      April 15th, 2010 @ 8:12 am

    [...] Victoria Jackson, Big Hollywood: My Sarah Palin Experience People’s Press Collective: “Progressive” Tea Party Infiltrators: What You Can Do to Thwart Them Patterico’s Pontifications: Obsessed with the Tea Party and “Crash the Tea Party” — [...]

  17.   Paul A'Barge
      April 15th, 2010 @ 9:04 am

    attach your Tea Party sign to a baseball bat.

  18.   keyboard jockey
      April 15th, 2010 @ 9:25 am

    If they show up why not just have ICE on hand to collect them up? Who do people think make up these movements? Revolutionary Anti Imperialist Movement – Denver…hmm Yankee go home. Sorry we already are home – you go home :) Isn’t Denver a sanctuary city for illegals? Chavez wannabees and La Raza – reclaiming mythical Aztlan.

    People should take a minute to define just who the opponent might be? Who would use an image of throwing the US flag in a waste basket would be?

    Time to alert ICE? Maybe folks should use some video cameras scan the crowd, who knows these folks might be of interest to US law enforcement?

  19.   cheryl
      April 15th, 2010 @ 10:02 am

    Though I agree with the suggestions in theory, I refuse to allow the left to dictate the argument. These suggestions are once again in response to the left. We must stop allowing them this type credibility once and for all. If I want to dress up like Abe Lincoln – I will! I don’t care what the left thinks of that. I’m tired of dancing to the left’s tune and responding to their criticism. They are not my conscience.

  20.   Kevin J Jones
      April 15th, 2010 @ 10:41 am

    Cheryl, fantastic comment. Worrying about what Keith Olbermann will say about protesters is a sign of subservience to the media and to PR consultants. While it’s true obviously dysfunctional people should be discouraged from expressing themselves in stupid ways, that dysfunction should be construed pretty narrowly.

    Fav. Tea Party sign: “It doesn’t matter what I say, you’ll just call it racist!”

    The “social issues” jab struck me and several TPM participants I know as strange. Many such issues are opposed to govt. action, like the redefinition of marriage or personhood in destructive ways. A social issue like immigration has obvious fiscal and big govt. consequences.

    While some see the “social issues” as against liberty, it’s pretty clear many of our forerunners would see their advocacy as corrections to a licentiousness inimical to true self-government. Economic irresponsibility draws strength from a dysfunctional culture of personal indulgence and transgression.

    TL’s comments seemed like an attempt of libertarians to define the movement. If social conservatives are right, libertarians and simple fiscal conservatism aren’t capable of addressing the root problem of culture.

  21.   Kevin J Jones
      April 15th, 2010 @ 10:41 am

    Cheryl, fantastic comment. Worrying about what Keith Olbermann will say about protesters is a sign of subservience to the media and to PR consultants. While it\’s true obviously dysfunctional people should be discouraged from expressing themselves in stupid ways, that dysfunction should be construed pretty narrowly.

    Fav. Tea Party sign: \"It doesn\’t matter what I say, you\’ll just call it racist!\"

    The \"social issues\" jab struck me and several TPM participants I know as strange. Many such issues are opposed to govt. action, like the redefinition of marriage or personhood in destructive ways. A social issue like immigration has obvious fiscal and big govt. consequences.

    While some see the \"social issues\" as against liberty, it\’s pretty clear many of our forerunners would see their advocacy as corrections to a licentiousness inimical to true self-government. Economic irresponsibility draws strength from a dysfunctional culture of personal indulgence and transgression.

    TL\’s comments seemed like an attempt of libertarians to define the movement. If social conservatives are right, libertarians and simple fiscal conservatism aren\’t capable of addressing the root problem of culture.

  22.   bella
      April 15th, 2010 @ 11:25 am

    Good suggestions, but I think we could just say “be yourself.” For over a year now all over this country people have been meeting under the loose heading of “tea partiers” and all of these have been peaceful and polite, comprised of law-abiding, tax paying citizens of America. The only, and I mean the only, negative has come from the corrupt media spreading lies or from a story in D. C. that is completely unbelievable and unconfirmed.

    For the most part, we have gone along to get along, because we are busy and don’t want to make any waves. Well, that is over now. The Silent Majority is Speaking and we will not be silenced.

  23.   T.L. James
      April 15th, 2010 @ 11:34 am

    Kevin, have you been following PPC’s live feed from the Tea Party today? Those same three things I mentioned above have been recited several times by several different speakers today as the core issues of the Tea Party Movement.

    I’m not redefining anything. I’m sorry you don’t like it, really I am, but this is not about abortion or gay marriage. It’s simply not. There are mass movements addressing those and other issues – this is something different.

    It’s not a criticism of social conservatism. It’s just recognizing what the movement is.

  24.   Kevin J Jones
      April 15th, 2010 @ 6:45 pm

    My biggest concern was that the guidelines struck me as saying social conservatism was irrelevant, unwelcome, or even crackpot.

    I actually returned to this thread right after reading a commenter elsewhere critical of “attempts from some quarters to define the Tea Party as only a fiscally conservative movement.”

    I’m certainly not alone. Of the five or so TPM participants I know, four are definite SocioCons and the other’s big issue is immigration. There’s no reason to single them out as unwanted. And I don’t see why they should define the movement any less than bloggers and speakers.

    They shouldn’t be given the impression they can’t wander around a TP gathering with their signs or petitions. If they meet people who don’t agree with them, hey, it’s a big movement.

    If they meet up with energetic people who agree with them, that just helps network people who want to sap the power of the left-wing coalition.

    Again there is the question of long-term success. Fiscal conservatives can’t cut spending and benefits unless demand for those goes down. Pro-family types have a way to reduce demand by encouraging marriage, fatherhood, and a healthy culture.

  25.   Jerry Jeff
      April 15th, 2010 @ 9:34 pm

    If you really want the Tea Party movement to evolve into something significant and lasting, rather than eventually being written off as a gathering place for the ignorant, paranoid and intolerant right-wing, then someone really needs to to start calling out the nutbags and fringe wackos who hurt the larger movement…case in point, one of the organizers of the Colorado springs Tea Party today was wearing a black t-shirt that said on the front “Liberalism Creates Terrorism” and on the back, “Terrorism Creates Liberalism.” She actually got some camera time with a TV station…she might as well have been wearing a t-shirt that said “interview me for a whack-job soundbite.” I mean really, how the f**k is anyone else supposed to take these “leaders” of the Tea Party movement seriously?

  26.   T.L. James
      April 15th, 2010 @ 9:53 pm

    Good point, Jerry. I was inside the tech tent throughout today’s event, but normally I make it a point to find and photograph questionable signs and the like for this reason.

  27.   T.L. James
      April 15th, 2010 @ 9:56 pm

    I saw a pic a few minutes ago of a guy wearing that same sort of shirt at the Denver Tea Party, and found it baffling.

  28.   Sweet Justice: Dishonest Liberal Oregon Teacher, Creator of “Crash The Tea Party,” Now on Admin Leave from School « Frugal Café Blog Zone
      April 16th, 2010 @ 8:24 am

    [...] source says state liberals trying to recruit Tea Party crashers People’s Press Collective: “Progressive” Tea Party Infiltrators: What You Can Do to Thwart Them My Two Cents Worth: Targeted: The Tea Parties The Foxhole: Leftwing Agitators Plan to [...]

  29.   INFILTRATION FAIL: Left-wing Tea Party Fakers Foiled… Photos of Soros-Paid Statist Crashers « Frugal Café Blog Zone
      April 16th, 2010 @ 9:48 am

    [...] info and Jason Levin, the man behind the crashtheteaparty.org site People’s Press Collective: “Progressive” Tea Party Infiltrators: What You Can Do to Thwart Them My Two Cents Worth: Targeted: The Tea Parties The Foxhole: Leftwing Agitators Plan to [...]

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