Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Denny's and the Tea Party Movent

It's 12:30AM, an hour and a half past my bedtime. But I saw a Denny's ad (video link is forthcoming) set to the "Battle Hymn of the Republic" and thought about a recent patriotic meeting hosted by the Minneapolis Convention Center. So I figured I would churn out a quickie on the Tea Party.

My thoughts on the Denny's ad: I wonder if they are trying to capitalize on the Tea Party movement. My guess is that they are. There is seasonal reason to tap into patriotic fervor. Presidents Day is past, Memorial Day and the Fourth of July are months away. There must be some other reason...(this is where I once again reveal my liberal snobbery).

I think Denny's knows their demographic. I think that they know a lot of the people who go out to Denny's are probably pretty sympathetic to Palin's ilk. The ad portrays some common man finding cheap "American" deals on breakfast meals. It's a complete appeal to Tea Party-style prurience. It has to be.

Speaking of the Tea Party...I'm I the only person who thinks about the Jacobean reign of terror in A Tale of Two Cities every time that I hear about a protest? It's not just the herd/mob-mentality which Dickens portrayed that reminds me of them, but the emphasis on being "patriots." I swear, all I can hear in my head is Madame DeFarge saying "I say, Jacques" or "good day, fellow patriot." Certainly I can't be alone.

And about that Tea Party...I promise this is the last point: I found a favorite Tea Party group: the delightful Anger is Brewing. I had heard a rumor that the Tea Party is going to run a third-party candidate against Harry Reid and whoever the GOP fields. It turns out it is true. A Romanian named Scott Ashjian claims that he will run on the Tea Part platform, much to the chagrin of the populists at Tea Party National). When searching the TP's web page I came across the group.

AIB is a small, Nevada TP group that proclaims there are only two motivations: anger and fear. Fortunately for the TPers, they're not afraid. (Gwahaha.) I know this is probably a fringe group within a "semi"-radical right-wing fringe, but you wonder where the news media might get ideas about violence within the TP movement.

That's enough of my liberal snobbery...for now.

No comments: