Danville TEA Party undecided on Pelosi, Perriello effigy burning
The chairman of the Danville TEA Party Patriots said Sunday he was unsure about whether the group will continue with its planned effigy burning of Rep. Tom Perriello, D-5th District, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi at a bonfire rally Saturday in Blairs.
Hours after news of the bonfire hit the Internet on Friday, at least one national news outlet had the story on its Web site, among dozens of bloggers. Chairman Nigel Coleman said coverage of and public reaction to the event was “kinda strange.”
“We’ve been getting a lot of flack about this,” Coleman said, “about burning those two in effigy and a lot of people in the public are unhappy about it. The story has gotten so large, it’s kinda strange.”
Coleman sent a news release to local media Friday about the event, which opened with: “In a move sure to spark controversy, the Danville TEA Party will close their ‘Fired Up for Freedom’ rally by burning Rep. Tom Perriello and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in effigy in response to the passage of landmark health care legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives.”
But Coleman said Sunday that some members of his group were “uneasy” with the idea of counter-protesters and that people might mistake the TEA Party Patriots for being violent. Coleman compared the event to similar acts of protest in the nation’s history, such as opposition to the Stamp Act of 1765.
The bonfire is still planned, Coleman said, but the effigy burning was in question. However, TEA Party member Patricia Evans wrote in an e-mail to the group Saturday night that “nothing will be burned at our upcoming bonfire except an occasional hot dog.”
“I still would like to do it,” Coleman said, “but it’s still up in the air at this point. We’ve already started stacking firewood and building the effigy …we will have a bonfire. Burning someone in effigy was just gonna be part of it.”
In a news release Friday from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Chairman Chris Van Hollen condemned the bonfire.
“These shocking and despicable acts are becoming all too common at extreme right-wing Republican rallies,” Van Hollen said in the statement. “… While there should be a robust debate about reforming America’s broken health insurance system, violent expressions are beyond the boundaries of a respectful debate.”
Coleman defended the burning, which he said was not violent in nature.
“We were using it as a symbol of how things are similar to that (colonial) period in history,” he said. “Things have gotten out of hand … the more real we get, the more unreal it gets.
“We knew that it would garner attention; we didn’t know how much … People are upset, people are angry. This isn’t just some $100 million bridge to nowhere. This is a fundamental change in the constitution; a fundamental change in America.”
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Reader Reactions
Burning stuff can be at times serious business. I remember way back in the 70’s there was a popular preacherman here in Danville who jumped on the “burn rock & roll records” bandwagon. I knew my parents weren’t that gullable; but, just in case I hid all my Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix and Grand Funk albums which they knew about (and my Richard Pryor ones which they didn’t know about). Still mad at that preacherman though for the grief he caused some of my friends.
Lets see, JP made a typo so that makes him uneducated. That is what he called brix18, over a single post. So , since fair is fair, we can now deduce that JP is a toothless, uneducated (insert race here, he never says, though I have a pretty good idea), and obese (how does that fit into any group of people?), hey it is your words, not mine. Do you see how silly you appear when you sit here and call people you disagree with petty childish names, day after day?
I know this is a silly post. But it is what comes out of JP each and every day. What does toothless, obese, uneducated have to do with a group of people who are far from that? It shows a great deal about JP. A very great deal.
I still think people are giving entirely too much attention to a bunch of dolls being burned. Burn books, it is considered a near sin. Burn the US flag, and it is deemed by many as an act worthy of a serious fight. Burn a doll of people who are very unpopular to a large amount of people, and I could care less. Just remember, the fondness some have of these people is equal on all forms. As much as some people love them, others hate them. And vice versa. Big deal, lol.
JP your comment cannot be taken seriously. When JC Watts (who by the way supported Barrack Obama) ran for Congress in Oklahoma, his Democratic opponent put out an ad with an old picture of Watts sporting a huge afro and looking like a thug. The Democratic Party did that, not the GOP. Get your facts straight.
Colin Powell, a fiscal conservative not necessarily a social conservative, was elevated to the highest uniformed position by a Republican President, not a Democrat. Get your facts straight.
Clarence Thomas, a brilliant legal scholar by any reasonable measure, was nominated to the Supreme Court by a Republican President, not a Democrat. Get your facts straight.
Michael Steele was elected by the citizens of Maryland to the position of Lieutenant Governor and then, selected to the leadership of the National Republican Party by the Republicans, not the Democrats. Get your facts straight.
In each case with each one of these men, people in the African-American community, of course being egged on by the Democrats, engaged in personal attacks upon the character of these individuals. Much like your personal attack on Mr. Coleman. It is this despicable behavior which we should condemn. But, as you know, this is typical standard operating procedure for the Democrats.
But alas, I digress. At least you didn’t accuse Coleman of treason. Or did you? (Still waiting for that one example. Just one).
Rockit. The sad thing is that the black conservatives are not treated as 2nd class citizens by the liberal but by the GOP. They us their black leaders so they can show the “colors” or use their women (like Sarah Palin) so they can show their diversity in gender leadership (I use that term, “leadership,“ with reservation in the same sentence with Mrs. Palin).
‘Nuff said. Peace.
I agree Rockit, the door does swing both ways. Why can’t one side or the other be big enough to stop the stipidity. I am not a tea party participant and never will be, but i was never part of the other activities you described as well. I don’t believe that butrning anything, be it books, effigies, flags, etc does any good no matter who does it be they liberal or conservative.
johninva69 - I agree in principle with your comments. But, the door does swing both ways. Some of the very same people who are faking outrage at this effigy burning business said nothing when effigies of George Bush and Dick Cheney were burned or the one of Sarah Palin was exploded in Hollywood. And, those left-wing liberals had every right to make their protest in that manner. Yet now, when the shoe is on the other foot, this type of speech is somehow offeeeeensive or dangerous.
As to some who have chosen to engage in personal attacks upon Nigel Coleman, I don’t know the man. Never met him. However, we have a history in this country of anytime an African-American conservative speaks up for conservative issues, he is branded as some type of turncoat or Uncle Tom. This is the way Michael Steele has been treated by the “black establishment” which is 100% beholden to the Democratic Party. This is the way others like JC Watts, Hermane Caine, and Clarence Thomas have been treated. As if an African-American is not allowed to have anything other than a liberal point of view. If the African-American community in this nation ever finally gets tired of being lapdogs for the National Democratic Party, then we will see some real change that real people can believe in. Until then the Democrats like those locally attacking Mr. Coleman will continue to treat conservative African-Americans as second class African-Americans. And how exactly does that further race relations in this country? When you say that Nigel Coleman needs to think back to what African-Americans in this country dealt with, that’s almost (maybe not quite, but almost) codespeak for “you don’t know your place.“ Now that’s offensive!
I am not here to get in an argument with anyone about health care legislation or President Obama or any of that. I will keep my opinions of that to myself. All I want to do is remind people of the past. It wasn’t so many years ago that all Americans got upset that effigies of our presidents were being burned in the middle east and in other places. It wasn’t so long ago that the very people that are holding these tea parties got upset that people in the Untied States and abroad were burning the American Flag. And I think Nigel Coleman needs to think back to what African Americans in this country had to deal with not so many decades ago with people burning crosses in other peoples lawns.
I believe in people’s right to free speach and if these guys and girls want to go out and burn effigies and have a bonfire and do whatever go ahead…whatever it doesn’t harm me. But how far is the jump from tea party people burning effigies of people that obviously a majority of their peers put into office and name calling, stone throwing, and other forms of violence that this type of disrespect can lead to.
JP, if you are “liked by your peers” then I guess they don’t ever disagree with you, huh? And why is it okay for you to spew racist comments about the obese, toothless and uneducated white folks?
This is certainly on its way to becoming the social event of the season! I shall most certainly be bringing a monogramed pair of Jackson Pollock’s twisted, wadded up panties to toss on the bonfire.
Where is the out-rage from the Republican’s running against Rep. Perriello? Where is the out-rage from the Republican leadership? Their silence leads me to believe that they condone this.
Do you know that the effigies are ready and that they showed them to Channel 13 News? (fact not fiction) What kind of message is Danville and Southside sending? Would you want to bring your business here? Danville will be known for the breeding ground of hate. How have we come to this?
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