The Day Spa Protest

by Matt Stoller, Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 11:19:23 AM EDT

I took a bunch of pictures from today's wingnut protest in the heart of DC sponsored by Free Republic and Accuracy in Media. The flickr set is here. I'll give you a little tour.

Ahh. And then there's this one, which oozes joy. And respect.

Next we have a sort of WWII retrospective.

The hamburglar also showed up (hat tip to reader MS).

There were about 15 journalists there. You can tell the non-traitors because they put flags on their cameras. This woman, for instance, can be trusted with state secrets.

But these people CANNOT!

Wonkette got a new notebook.

And Michelle Malkin was very into the hamburglar.

The wit was also staggering, and not every sign came with its own wingnut.

The main spokesman for the protest, who won the recently held middle aged Don Johnson look-alike contest, was a rousing success! If you ever publish state secrets again, New York Times, they shall hold another protest outside of the Unique Salon and Day Spa!

Tags: Blogosphere, wingnut (all tags)

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Re: The Day Spa Protest

LOL!!! Not exactly the visuals this group was hoping for.

by John Mills 2006-07-03 11:37AM | 0 recs

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Re: The Day Spa Protest

The media outnumbered the protesters. This was the most over-covered "event" since a KKK rally that drew a crowd of 2 KKK members to DC along with hundreds of police and dozens of reporters.

by David Kowalski 2006-07-03 11:43AM | 0 recs

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Re: The Day Spa Protest

That's not the Hamburglar. That's Boris Badenov from Rocky & Bullwinkle.

by KimPossible 2006-07-03 11:45AM | 0 recs

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Re: The Day Spa Protest

I thought the same thing, but it's just so much funnier to call him the Hamburglar anyway.

by Scott Shields 2006-07-03 11:50AM | 0 recs

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except

boris badenov was (a) a great pun on the seminal russian story of boris gudenov and (b) 1000% funnier than the hamburglar any day.

by skippy 2006-07-04 08:50AM | 0 recs

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Re: except

Lousey moose and squirrel.

by FGF 2006-07-04 12:29PM | 0 recs

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Boris sez:

Moose and squirrel must die!

by RT 2006-07-05 06:13AM | 0 recs

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Re: The Day Spa Protest

you are correct, kimpossible. "eeet eeez boris, dahlink." and the obvious point they're trying to make here is that, see, boris was a communist spy. ok. i guess i don't get it either.

by soodi 2006-07-03 07:39PM | 0 recs

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Re: The Day Spa Protest

What a protest MSM was all over it. What was it 5 protesters and 10 signs. If media didn't show no one would have noticed.

by john64 2006-07-03 12:01PM | 0 recs

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wanna bet how it's reported?

With unearned "respect" as another "side" of the "debate"?

by tuffie 2006-07-03 12:11PM | 0 recs

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Re: The Day Spa Protest

So Matt, do you, ya know, converse or anything with michelle malkin? I'm just imagining the hilarity that must ensue.

by JAmbro 2006-07-03 12:15PM | 0 recs

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Re: The Day Spa Protest

Well, at least if the tragic day arrives when Ann Coulter gets her wish and someone engages in violence against the New York Times, the list of suspects will be rather small, judging by the massive size of this "spontaneous" uprising.

by Steve M 2006-07-03 12:17PM | 0 recs

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Re: The Day Spa Protest

I wonder whose budget got nicked for those fancy four-color posters.

by stumpy 2006-07-03 12:20PM | 0 recs

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Why the location?

Why in front of a day spa? Doesn't look good. Why do the media even cover events where there is more media people than protestors anyway?

by michael in chicago 2006-07-03 12:27PM | 0 recs

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Re: The Day Spa Protest

Wow. 10 people.

by Sitkah 2006-07-03 12:33PM | 0 recs

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Re: The Day Spa Protest

I can't wait for Wonkette's report. How closely will it mirror reality?

by zappatero 2006-07-03 12:48PM | 0 recs

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About as closely...

as the answer to "Honey, do these jeans make..."

Aw, nevermind.

by Kagro X 2006-07-03 05:04PM | 0 recs

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uhhh...in this case the answer is yes.

But I suspect that condition is independent of the clothing choices...

by joby 2006-07-03 08:38PM | 0 recs

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Re: uhhh...in this case the answer is yes.

Now that's some "mirror reality" for you.

by Kagro X 2006-07-03 08:53PM | 0 recs

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Re: The Day Spa Protest

What did the Day Spa do to deserve this!?!

by KernBlue 2006-07-03 02:38PM | 0 recs

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Re: The Day Spa Protest

I know some might object to this question, but someone has to ask it: Are they really outside a day spa in Washington, DC, or is this the embittered white trash convention outside of a truck stop in rural Nebraska?

by illinois062006 2006-07-03 02:52PM | 0 recs

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Re: The Day Spa Protest

And that goy with her sign about Anne Frank is beyond offensive.

by illinois062006 2006-07-03 02:53PM | 0 recs

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Re: The Day Spa Protest

It's weird, because they also consider "New York Times" to be a code word for Jewish, and I don't understand anti-Semites accusing people they think are Jewish of being anti-Semitic. They didn't really think that one all the way through, it doesn't seem.

by DanM 2006-07-03 08:40PM | 0 recs

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as opposed to...

all the other times when they really did think things all the way thru?

by skippy 2006-07-04 08:52AM | 0 recs

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Re: The Day Spa Protest

You're the reason we're losing in "red states".

by Reece 2006-07-03 06:09PM | 0 recs

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Re: The Day Spa Protest

If you believe these people represent red states. I happen to believe they do not, and I do believe one needs to discuss how these people do not represent the middle class of America. I am not sure what they represent, but I am pretty confident these are people many would avoid based on their appearance.

by illinois062006 2006-07-03 10:25PM | 0 recs

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These folks look like

they could come from any smaller city or town straight from a small ultra conservative church. (almost any denomination) They're in blue states as well as red. They are the people who don't really learn about the issues - they just repeat talking points. I run into people like this all the time when I'm out working on campaigns.

They could just as easily be Democrats. The only difference would be that the Democratic versions would be smiling and wouldn't have that vacant look in their eyes.

by The Southern Dem 2006-07-04 05:37AM | 0 recs

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Re: The Day Spa Protest

see my reply to Chicago Dyke below. it's not about these people, it's about your scorn for other people, specically, as you called them, "or is this the embittered white trash convention outside of a truck stop in rural Nebraska."

by Reece 2006-07-04 01:56PM | 0 recs

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Re: The Day Spa Protest

No, it is not scorn for those who are economically disadvantaged. But I do have scorn for those who are misinformed and unwilling to consider how a political alternative can improve their plight.

by illinois062006 2006-07-04 04:17PM | 0 recs

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Re: The Day Spa Protest

But you're confusing the issue.

You have scorn for the Talking-Point-Spewers. Fine. Me too. But to say that protests by TPS'ers belong at truck stops in Nebraska displays a blatant stereotype. Clearly such protests do not take place at truck stops, they take place outside of day spas.

Black people are more likely to be illiterate than white people, but when I something is horribly written, I don't say, "sounds like the author was black." That would offend black people, just like dem-friendly Nebraskans may be offended by your stereotype.

by msnook 2006-07-05 03:26AM | 0 recs

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Re: The Day Spa Protest

What exactly does an embittered white trash convention outside of a truck stop in rural Nebraska look like?

Well, it doesn't look like these photographs.

As for these people, let's just say they are severely misguided and at this protest, few in number. And that knows no bounds.

Who knows, maybe they're from Illinois (just joking!)

by v2aggie2 2006-07-03 10:47PM | 0 recs

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Re: The Day Spa Protest

Regardless of where they are from, they could have at least combed their hair. But then again, they are from freerepublic.com.

by illinois062006 2006-07-03 11:06PM | 0 recs

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Re: The Day Spa Protest

The Don Johnson look-alike did OK with his comb.
Then again, he had to keep up with Tubbs.

by v2aggie2 2006-07-03 11:23PM | 0 recs

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Re: The Day Spa Protest

He and the others never left the 1980s. This is a very sad crowd.

by illinois062006 2006-07-03 11:31PM | 0 recs

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that's sarcasm, reece?

'cause you know, i lose sleep at night worrying over the influence of the 15 people at this protest. obviously very heavy hitters, they are.

by chicago dyke 2006-07-03 06:17PM | 0 recs

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Re: that's sarcasm, reece?

It has absolutely nothing to do with the 15 people at the "protest." Look at what this dude wrote:

"is this the embittered white trash convention outside of a truck stop in rural Nebraska."

Now, tell me, how can someone expect to gain the votes of people they so openly despise?

by Reece 2006-07-03 09:01PM | 0 recs

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Re: that's sarcasm, reece?

Reece, I hear that around here fairly frequently only its directed at the south. For some reason the entire south is painted with the racist brush. I've learned that hatefulness isn't relegated entirely to the right.

by The Southern Dem 2006-07-04 05:48AM | 0 recs

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What a babe. Damn!

Michelle Malkin, that is. Saw the pix on the other site--much better for babewatching.

And she's a psycho wingnut. Noooooooooooo!!!!!

by traveler 2006-07-03 09:59PM | 0 recs

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Re: The Day Spa Protest

Did the "special" yellow tour bus break down before it reached the NYT building?

by fouraces 2006-07-04 04:01AM | 0 recs

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Re: The Day Spa Protest

I don't get the whole "The NYT would expose Anne Frank" soundbite.
The people who keep trotting it out are the same people who would kick in the attic door, drag Frank and her family out, and send them off to a forced labor camp.

You are confusing your pop culture icons. Boris Batinoff was protesting against a free press in DC; the Hamburglar stole elections in Florida and Ohio.

by YGBLUIG 2006-07-04 05:58AM | 0 recs

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Re: The Day Spa Protest

The ultra rightists sometimes joke that you need an extra chromosome to REALLY be a "movement conservative." They must be right, because the genetic defects are REALLY obvious in Matt's snapshots. It looks like a meeting of the American Mongoloid Associationn.

by billmon 2006-07-04 10:47AM | 0 recs

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Re: The Day Spa Protest

Matt, I really don't understand why you would rate this comment a 3. No one is defending these protesters and their idiotic demonstration. But the comment is gross--it's beyond reasonable taste.

by Reece 2006-07-04 05:28PM | 0 recs

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Re: The Day Spa Protest

Is the comment inappropriate, or is it an apt description of the people captured in the photographs? I believe it is an apt description, and I also believe we have the right to comment on the protestors' appearance. After all, they are horrifying, and one should react if people such as these are shaping our country's policy.

by illinois062006 2006-07-04 07:40PM | 0 recs

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I think the problem is the racism

In John Langdon Down's 1866 book, Observations on the Ethnic Classification of Idiots he wrote that Europeans are superior to Asians, who are superior to Africans, and people with (what we now call) Down Syndrome are as stupid as Asians (which were then called Mongoloids) so he named the disorder Mongolism.

Not that Billmon is racist -- and in fact I think the humor in his comment was partly the Silverman-esque meta-racism of skewering the term -- but the term is an incredibly racist relic of a closed-minded, ethnically dismissive era.

That said, I didn't really have a problem with that comment, but I wanted to clarify the record a bit, and I certainly wouldn't mind if we distanced ourselves from any and all ethnic classifications of idiots. This means we shouldn't call profoundly retarded people "negroids" anymore either.

by msnook 2006-07-05 03:55AM | 0 recs

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Re: The Day Spa Protest

And why, again, was this event held in front of a day spa??

by helzphar 2006-07-04 11:35AM | 0 recs

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Re: The Day Spa Protest

I'm a rightie and I agree: LAME

by Don Surber 2006-07-04 02:51PM | 0 recs

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Re: The Day Spa Protest

One of my local stations - a sinclair affiliate (surprise!) - ran a story about the day spa protest during its noon news telecast.
The footage looked every bit as ridiculous as the still photos.
Har-Har.
I guess they had no car accident scenes or water-skiing squirrels to run in its place.

by YGBLUIG 2006-07-05 06:13AM | 0 recs

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Re: The Day Spa Protest

It looks like Wonkette struck another blow for women and finally got that pinkytoectomy.

by patriotboy 2006-07-04 03:30PM | 0 recs