They were fed up, and they wanted to express their frustration and anger and as it happened, Roger Ailes (not the good one) gave them an opportunity. Which Progressives did not. And will not.

No, progressives, at least in the blogosphere, sat at their keyboards and mocked and derided them all, once again missing an opportunity to connect with the honest outrage of the masses against the ruling class.

i actually thought the tea parties were a progressive organizers dream opportunity. first, because whenever people show up to protest imo it's a good idea to listen to what brought them (i have no interest in listening to speakers and organizers, it is the ordinary people who interest and concern me) and 2) there might be people present who are angry and possibly in financial distress and would like to know there are alternative povs (to glenn beck, etc) and 3) i take the hard right wing populism very, very seriously and i see no reason for conceding the field of justifiable outrage to the right wing.

in my recent experience that perspective hasn't gone over very well in the progressive blogsphere (i think you are only the second person who has not responded negatively). but what really has me both frustrated and as close to political despair as i've been since the weeks after 911 (the blood lust freaked me out) is how the progressive blogosphere has taken to mocking people simply for showing up to those protests. i'm all for mocking the likes of glenn beck et al. but i don't want to have anything to do with mocking ordinary people en mass. especially people who's life stories we know nothing about - including the possibility of current financial hardship and serious distress.