RW anger at the lit table today.

[Raven]

Interesting. I've been manning an out-of-Iraq table in Keene NH for 3 years now, every Saturday (except in the dead of winter). When we first began in 2003 there wasn't much interest in the war. Interest gradually began to build and exploded after Katrina. It has grown steadily ever since and the anti-war sentiment was what ran Charlie Bass out of Congress this past Fall. During all of this time we have been the victems of very little verbal abuse. People who support the war have politely told us so but have respected our right to be in the public square.

Today, for the first time, we took some really nasty, abusive comments and I am wondering if this is a sign that we are finally beginning to win the struggle. The people today seemed really angry...really angry! I think this might be a sign that they know they have lost.

[proud2BlibKansan]

1. Yes there are fewer of them but they are angrier

We are dealing with the die hard bush supporters. Everyone else has seen the light.

[hlthe2b]

2. People become aggressively defensive when...

they come to the realization that what they are doing or justifying is really INDEFENSIBLE.

I think this explains a lot about RW behavior...:shrug:

[Kip Humphrey]

17. CAUTION: Mind Model Meltdown in Progress... Like the glaciers

[IChing]

3. What did they say? n/t

[Raven]

5. The usual horseshit...get out of the country, you must hate the troops,

you are giving aid and comfort to the terrorists...one guy told me I didn't know anything about war and that he had been there and had seen wmd's with his own eyes...a lot of sneers and a few fuck yous'.

[IChing]

14. Yikes. Did you get more postive or negative reactions?

I found that the last remnants are the most angry, bitter and unwilling to face reality
and even get more defensive and aggressive. Look at the height and then the fall of the Klan.

Hopefully it will be like the fall of Berlin
scenario but without the violence. It is a bunker mentality now.

[peacetalksforall]

23. And if a little fly followed them home they would see them walking

in their house, turning on The 700 Club for a new dose of propaganda and lies. And maybe they would write themselves a note to get up early tomorrow to call WJ and get even.

[senseandsensibility]

4. You're probably right

I remember at one point during the 2004 campaign when Kerry was polling very close to the chimp, my husband was screamed at and threatened by a freeper type because of his Kerry bumper sticker. He was also called a "faggot." Our yard sign was pulled out of our yard and thrown in the bushes. And going even farther back, I remember being screamed at by some republics with a bush sticker when they drove by me during the Clinton/Bush race. I was very young, and proudly driving with my Clinton sticker. I will never forget the anger on their faces. They knew they were going to lose.

[Raven]

8. Yes, we ran into the same thing up here during the Congressional

election this past Fall. We had about 1000 year signs made up saying "Stop Bass - Stop the War" and they were stolen within about 4 hours after we put them up. That is unusual for NH. People usually leave opponents' signs alone. We were told that it was the Bass campaign and that they were getting desperate.

[durtee librul]

25. Yes but you MUST remember,

this is the party of compassion, values and family morals.

Throwing signs, name calling and destruction of another's property do not count for the above. Those are exempt - you know, like following the laws if you are the pres.

I'm gonna use that the next time I get pulled over for speeding. I am going to tell the judge that bushie doesn't follow the law so I am not either. After all, he's the cic so what he does should be good 'nuff for the rest of us. (yeah, I know - I'll still have to pay)

[annabanana]

6. You may be running into the

"dead enders".

They cannot find a sympathetic ear anymore. I suspect that fewer and fewer people even politely nod and sidle off. . and more are vocal in their disagreement.

In short, you took their cheese.

[angstlessk]

7. It really reminds me of wrestling...the phonier it is the louder the cheers

it is like they KNOW it is a lie, but if they cheer loudly enough they can pretend it is real is some bizzaro land.

[stevedeshazer]

9. My brother is a rightie war supporter

He's very angry, so much so that we are barely on speaking terms. It's gotten really personal.

When people who are passionate about something and are forced to conclude that they've either lost their argument or must admit to themselves that they are wrong, it can get really ugly.

I think a lot of folks are at that stage right now. It's only going to get worse.

Then it will get better.

[Vexatious Ape]

18. I have a "dead-ender" buddy at work.

He was running his mouth about the Dem's being the party of surrender....blah, blah, blah. So I just said, "We won dumb-ass. It's over, no WMD's, the regime has been changed, the dictator is dead, they've voted, written a constitution, and like most smart people predicted, started a civil war. Our job is done so let's get Osama now like we we're supposed to do after 911--you know before the * flipped the fucking script." It shut him up for the rest of the day.

[twenty4blackbirds]

26. how can they be talked out of their corner?

They were led to that corner (and cornered feeling) by unscrupulous people. How can they be shown that they can come out of their corner and still keep their self-respect?

Negotiation tactics anyone?

[stevedeshazer]

28. I've tried, really tried

Nothing has worked.

[Snarkoleptic]

10. These people are Bush-Cheney dead-enders.

These are the few remaining clowns out there with W'04 bumper stickers.
You know the type...kool aid drinkers who still think that our Iraq invasion is about something other than OIL.

[Cabcere]

13. Welcome to DU, Snarkoleptic!

:hi: Great username. :thumbsup:

[Longhorn]

15. Welcome to DU!

:hi:

I can't believe I still occasionally see those stickers, though there are many fewer around here than just a year ago.

[Snarkoleptic]

19. The zombies walk among us...

My sister still has her W'04 sticker on her minivan. I give her crap about it constantly.
It's kind of funny since even my staunchly Republican father sees Bush* for the chimpy neocon lapdog that he is.
My uncle used to say to my dad "Hell, you wouldn't vote for Jesus if he was runnin' as a Democrat.".

[NMDemDist2]

20. welcome to DU Snarkoleptic!

:hi:

what a funny username too :rofl:

[karlrschneider]

11. Cornered rat syndrome.

...

[Snotcicles]

12. Tell them their conscience is starting to reveal it self, but they

need to guide their anger to the real cause.

[silverweb]

16. What's that quote?

"First they ignore you, ...something...something...something... then you win."

:shrug:

Has anybody got that one? It certainly seems to be the case.

[aquart]

21. Yeah. Fight you is the last stage before You win.

First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win. by Mahatma Gandhi.

[silverweb]

27. That's the one!

Thanks!

:hi:

[OnyxCollie]

22. Point at them and laugh.

Drives them crazy to know they can't rile you up.

[meldroc]

24. Got a few hecklers at our impeachment & anti-war vigils last week.

We got a few single-finger salutes, thumbs down, and we got a few assholes yelling "TRAITOR! LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT!" and that crap.

We also got some asshole redneck in a big diesel pick-em-up truck who stopped his truck in front of us, let it idle, then dumped the throttle to hit us with a big cloud of diesel smoke. Fucking coward? :mad:

[me b zola]

29. It could be, as others have suggested, dead-enders...

It could be, as others have suggested dead-enders, but I would like to offer another possibility.

You are in NH which drips with presidential politics. Between your OP and your responses in this thread i get the image of some polite disagreement before, to now that the primaries are being kicked into third gear several mean-spirited talking points slung at you.

Could it be members from the local rePublican party attempting to intimidate/harass you into packing up your table and going home? Could your harassers be more organized like the Brooks Bros "revolt" rather than individual unhinged rw neighbor types?.

I suggest this because it seems strange that all of the rw unhinged neighbor types would collectively become hostile at the same time (it kind of gives me the image from 'Night of the Living Dead').

Anyway, I just thought I'd toss out an alternative possible explanation.