Exposing the Party Crashers: the Big Day

It’s Tax Day, and with it, Tea Party Day.  As we publicized here, and others covered elsewhere, there is an effort to discredit and disgrace the tea party demonstrations called “Crash the Tea Party” — I’m not going to link it, if you want it, find it yourselves — by, as they put it :

Whenever possible, 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, of course, isn’t the only group that has tried this little bit of guerrilla theater.  Lyndon LaRouche’s organization has also been known to try it. But we now know that this is being directly supported by at least some Democratic Party operatives.

What’s more, in anything with as many people involved as the tea party movement, there will undoubtedly be a few misguided souls who think racist signs, white supremacist signs, or wild conspiracy theories really will help the tea party cause.

It’s their right to say what they like, but we refuse to be associated with them.  We declare that racism, white supremacism, and other things from simply offensive to flat-out nutty don’t belong in tea party events.

WE REJECT RACISM, HOMOPHOBIA, AND ANY EXTREME AND OFFENSIVE SIGNS OR STATEMENTS

As part of this, Pajamas Media and PJTV will be providing a special website to document and repudiate anything that appears to fit with the tea party crashers’ agenda.  We invite all attendees at any of the Tea Party events to photograph or video any signs that would call the tea party demonstrations into disrepute. In particular, look for:

1. Deliberately misspelling words in signs
2. Using racist slurs in signs or verbally
3. Using homophobic slurs in signs or verbally
4. Using exaggerated imagery, such as showing Obama as Hitler
5. Generally behaving in a hostile and disreputable manner that reflects poorly on the demonstration

Capture these images and send them to us at [email protected].  We will publicize them on PJTV and here at Pajamas Media.

Here are a list of do’s and don’t’s as a guide.

Things to do:

• DO get photos or video of any offensive signs or behavior — racist signs, signs connecting O’s administration to Nazis, anti-Semitic signs, signs calling for violence — and send them to [email protected].
• DO inform them calmly and civilly that the signs and behavior are unwelcome.
• DO get pictures including the faces of people holding and standing with the offensive signs, and context around them for identification.
• DO have “Infiltrator” and “Brought to you by…” signs, and stay close to the offensive signs so it’s hard for the legacy media to single out the offensive signs as being somehow representative of the tea party demonstration.
• DO watch any representatives of the mainstream media. Make sure that they don’t have the opportunity to isolate an offensive sign. Record video of the media observing the crowd (don’t forget how powerful it was when amateur video revealed the bias of a CNN interviewer).
• DO capture video of people shouting offensive words or slogans. Loudly — but calmly and civilly — challenge them for the misbehavior, and get that on video, so it’s clear it was denounced at the time.
• DO assume people with their faces covered, especially with a balaclava or ski mask, are not your friends.
• DO report any harassment or assaults to the police, and capture that report on video as well, if possible.  (I learned this at the Democratic Convention in 2008: after Michelle Malkin was mobbed and I was assaulted, I reported it to the police, who said, “Shall I call an ambulance?”  I eventually got an apology from the Denver PD, but it would have been a much bigger thing for them had we had video. And don’t forget, Alex Jones really is a consummate ass.)
• DO KEEP YOUR COOL.  Keep calm.  Be nice. These people are agents provocateurs, and the worst thing you can do to them is not be provoked.

Things not to do:

• DO NOT confront offensive protesters any more strongly than to tell them they’re unwelcome.
• DO NOT make any attempt to force people to leave or do anything they don’t want to do.
• DO NOT make any concerted attempt to figure out if someone is a “real” tea partier or a plant. If they’re being offensive, get their pictures and send them in. No one with a racist sign is a friend of the tea party movement, no matter how much they say they are on the tea party’s side.