Friday, March 12, 2010
Would You Share a Cup of Coffee With This Woman?
Posted by Jackson Baker on Fri, Mar 12, 2010 at 11:16 AM
Want to have coffee with Cheri and others and talk over how to solve some real problems? Saturday is the day to do it. Here’s a press release on the subject.
"MEMPHIS, TN —Today Coffee Party USA, a new grassroots effort that has captured the attention of the nation, announced it will hold a community event at OTHERLANDS COFFEE BAR, 641 COOPER ST. AT 2:30 PM as part of National Coffee House Day on March 13, 2010.
"In the midst of growing frustration with the political climate of the country, the grassroots movement Coffee Party USA has declared March 13, 2010, National Coffee House Day, during which Americans across the country will meet at coffee houses and around kitchen tables to facilitate informative and civil dialogue about a myriad of issues. This diverse and non-partisan organization has drawn members from all walks of life who wish to regain their civic pride and have a strong desire to contribute to the political discourse that is the basis of our democracy.
"The Coffee Party movement gives voice to Americans who want to see cooperation in government, and welcomes everyone to the table. 'We are purely grassroots movement, independent of any party, corporation, or lobbying organization. That is our strength and we plan to use it to facilitate a collaborative process that would encourage people to come together as a community, checking party affiliation at the door,' said Annabel Park, the founder of Coffee Party USA. As voters and grassroots volunteers, they intend to use new media and social networks such as Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube to support leaders who work toward positive solutions, and hold accountable those who obstruct them.
"On March 13, 2010, National Coffee House Day, Coffee Party USA plans to take the next steps towards creating a movement that will reignite the passion for civil discourse and participatory democracy that has been absent from the political arena for some time. 'We want a society in which democracy is treated as sacrosanct. The Coffee Party is a call to action. Our Founding Fathers and Mothers gave us an enduring gift — Democracy — and we must use it to meet the challenges that we face as a nation,' Park says."
Comments (24)
Showing 1-24 of 24
Ha Ha Ha! No. I wouldn't care to have coffee with this woman. I recognize a blatant attempt to mute the Teaparty voice that grows ever louder as mid-term elections draw near. Progressives... you have had your time at bat. All have witnessed the chaos and destruction of a bankrupt philosophy put in practice by an inexperienced leader that appears woefully unqualified for the top job in the nation.
Sorry Ms. DelBrocco. This is a war to take back our country. You are the enemy. I take no prisoners. "Give me Liberty, or give me Death!"
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The only "alternative" I'd be interested in is an alternative political party. It's obvious the two-party system is corrupt and dysfunctional. If this latest "movement" is nothing more than a way of reinvigorating the justifiably frustrated base of the Democratic party (which is what it sounds like to me), it's destined for failure.
What I propose is a "Humanity" (as a double entendre, referring both to human beings, and to humane behavior) Party, led by someone like, maybe, Bernie Sanders, Alan Grayson or Anthony Weiner (I'd suggest Kucinich or Nader, but---oracles though they still are---they're just too hated by both the pseudo-conservative right and the pseudo-liberal left to have any ability to draw from those factions).
Cheri: I'll have coffee with you once you've figured out that this "coffee party" is nothing more than a sop to disaffected Democrats, and that placation isn't what pissed off progressives are looking for, right now.
P.S. You might see me there, all of the above to the contrary notwithstanding, if my curiosity gets the better of me (and if the weather isn't conducive to golf).
"[T]he two parties should be almost identical, so that the American people can ‘throw the rascals out’ at any election without leading to any profound or extensive shifts in policy.... But either party in office becomes in time corrupt, tired, unenterprising, and vigorless. Then it should be possible to replace it, every four years if necessary, by the other party, which will have none of these things but will still pursue, with new vigor, approximately the same basic policies." - Carroll Quigley in his 1966 book Tragedy and Hope: A History of the World in Our Time.
Absolutely! This is what the DEMOCRATIC process is all about! People having the right to gather and discuss political views and PERHAPS find a way to make things better. I look forward to sharing a Cup of Joe with an Enlightened Individual who wants to make a difference. People who are comfortable with the present state of things frankly scare me and are probably closet fascists, extremists, or just plain weirdos.
So, how did it go? How many showed up? I haven't seen anything anywhere about the meetup. Not even on the Facebook Coffee Party TN page. (As of Sunday afternoon.)
I'm curious too. Not curious enough to be in two places at the same time, but I would like to learn more.
A little Googling lists more than one name as the putative founder of this movement, including one woman whose goal seems to be joining together with other self described 'elitists' in order to offend as many of 'them' as posible (her original name suggestion was the Cappucino Party).
Since it is axiomatic that power corrupts, exactly why would it be a good thing for these people to get more of it?
Well, I found the following report from Divers & Sundry:
http://divers-and-sundry.blogspot.com/2010…
Not very promising.
I appreciate what these folks are trying to do, but man do they ever have an uphill battle. No attention grabbing, wildly inaccurate claims about what the government is or isn't doing, and no 24 hour cable news ratings whore "news" network to fan the flames.
you want civilized discourse and a responsible, responsive government? support secession for the Teabag Nation NOW!! Caveat: all the normals in the mid-south area are going to have to relocate.
I'm proud to introduce our new grassroots organization, "BlotterAcid America." We don't expect to accomplish much politically, but future events include a screening of "Fantasia" and a meet and greet with Peppy Castro of The Blues Magoos.
sorry, phlo, i already own the copyright and domain name for that, as well as "SugarCube America" and "Shit I Spilled the Vial in My Palm America".
U.S. Blues! Yes, that's our theme song. Anyways, I'm sure you'd gladly donate the domain name "BlotterAcid America" if you knew what our noble intention was...
I'll take this as an admission of failure then. Change of topic and then a massive pile-on in order to bury the original point. Ok then! Thanks.
C'mon Mike, Success & failure are defined by goals over time. I'm not sure any of the chatty Cathys here are attached enough to claim success or concede failure, nor do I see enough comments for there to be a massive anything, let alone a pile on. That said, it's not a very clever idea, is it? And I don't see it ever being the sort of thing that captures much attention or wields any influence. If you want that you've got to bring the big freakshow. That's not to say that Coffee Parties like Drinking Liberally, and other meetups won't bring productive people together in interesting and potentially important ways. And if that's that's the goal only time will tell. But any group that sees itself as a counterweight to the tea party is doomed. As semi-homogeneous groups go, teabaggers have no real opposite. There's only the great fragmented everybody else.
Boy, ain't that the truth. I think Mike is reckoning us collectively, as is his habit. We are, after all, "collectivists," right? I just wanted to call him out for being so lazy about it.
Posting by Cheri DelBrocco on Facebook (16 March, 2010)
In your article you quote "This diverse and non-partisan organization" however, this group, according to Cheri DelBrocco is a partisan:
"Sorry, Verna, but the Tea Party crowd is NUTS!! You are a nice lady, but this group is living in a galaxy far, far away from reality. We oppose their ideas, their process, their freak show gatherings, and their leaders aka Dick Armey, Sarah Palin, Tom Tancredo, Michelle Bachman and Marsha Blackburn, among others (6) We are ready to listen, ready to talk, and ready to take some kind of action to oppose Republicans and the Democrats who vote with them. We are open minded enough to know we don't have all the answers, but we do not plan to go back to the past eight miserable years of Bush!"
Is the Coffee Party movement the Democrat Party? I am an Independent.
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