Where Ann Coulter and Ronald Reagan reign supreme:
Friends warned Beckham to stay away from the conservative theme before the cafe opened in October. The former art teacher says he came up with the idea about five years ago, after souring on Starbucks and the other higher-end coffee chains.
He didn't like piped-in folk music, specialty drinks with faux-Italian names or patrons who frittered the hours away on laptops or listening to iPods. The atmosphere, he said, seemed an affront to Midwestern values he learned growing up in northwest Indiana.
"Coffee shouldn't be about sitting in a cafe for 12 hours," Beckham says. "Coffee gets us through our workday. It's what we drink before we make steel for the rest of the country or head out into the fields."
As his disdain for the coffee chains coincided with his fear of an erosion in national pride, Beckham made plans for the Conservative Cafe, an old-fashioned java joint near the Crown Point town square. There were two Starbucks within 3 miles of the shop, but Beckham and his wife, Jill, were convinced his pro-United States decor and Indiana roasted coffee would strike a chord with the community.
"We're trying to push back against the media and those in Europe who are anti-America," he said. "And it feels good to do it."
Since the opening, Starbucks has announced plans to close one of its Crown Point locations and Beckham has begun pondering franchise opportunities for his cafe. He acknowledges Starbucks' downturn stems from a sagging economy and the company's massive growth, but he believes his success proves that some people are turned off by traditional coffeehouse culture.
Crown Point resident Matthew McPhee is one of them. He doesn't feel comfortable in trendier coffeehouses, where he sometimes doesn't recognize the music and often doesn't agree with the political conversations. He prefers the Conservative Cafe, where red-white-and-blue bunting hangs outside the brick building and patrons can buy T-shirts that read, "Silly liberal. . . . Paychecks are for Workers."
"I like it here," he says. "I don't have to worry about listening to beatnik poetry or some political ideology that makes me want to vomit."
― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Thursday, 31 July 2008 21:17 (fifteen years ago) link
Wow, what a penis.
― Autumn Almanac, Thursday, 31 July 2008 21:18 (fifteen years ago) link
Silly liberal. . . . Paychecks are for Workers
This is what I don't get.
― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 31 July 2008 21:19 (fifteen years ago) link
welfare joke no?
― Euler, Thursday, 31 July 2008 21:20 (fifteen years ago) link
I could just as easily read it being a hard-left slogan decrying non-union sellouts!
― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 31 July 2008 21:21 (fifteen years ago) link
Maybe the guy secretly loves Phil Ochs.
anyway this makes sense to me as a business move, even though the article screams "paging Dr. Freud" and it sounds like a lousy place to hang out to me.
― Euler, Thursday, 31 July 2008 21:22 (fifteen years ago) link
because you see, taxes become so big, they almost eliminate the paycheck lol!
Sp much for the lack of political ideology.
― Mackro Mackro, Thursday, 31 July 2008 21:22 (fifteen years ago) link
It is well known that all Starbucks employees are paid in rat pelts.
― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 31 July 2008 21:24 (fifteen years ago) link
what starbucks is hosting beatnik poetry nights????
― max, Thursday, 31 July 2008 21:24 (fifteen years ago) link
I just forwarded this to a friend of mine whose parents live in Crown Point.
― jaymc, Thursday, 31 July 2008 21:25 (fifteen years ago) link
I have a feeling the two guys interviewed were at Lollapalooza 1994 and think that the poetry tent = all Starbucks. But they didn't care because Green Day were so awesome! Before they turned into political assholes!
― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 31 July 2008 21:26 (fifteen years ago) link
"I don't have to worry about listening to...some political ideology that makes me want to vomit."
And yet I would! Oh, the irony! Er, the making steel for the rest of the country.
― Oilyrags, Thursday, 31 July 2008 21:26 (fifteen years ago) link
Man every time I go to Starbucks it's beatniks reciting poetry. Just constantly. The one down the block in the Harris Teeter, you'd think it was Noe Valley in 1965, what with the bongos and the berets and the best minds of my generation and all that. I hope the Conservative Cafe comes to Durham soon. To save me from the fucking BEATNIKS.
― J0hn D., Thursday, 31 July 2008 21:26 (fifteen years ago) link
Indiana roasted coffee
― Mr. Que, Thursday, 31 July 2008 21:26 (fifteen years ago) link
That article is missing the picture that accompanied the print edition - a t-shirt with the famous picture of Uncle Sam pointing, with the caption "Zip It Hippie". Which would be pretty awesome coming along in another context.
― jon /via/ chi 2.0, Thursday, 31 July 2008 21:26 (fifteen years ago) link
how long before this place is overrun with ironic hipsters
― Edward III, Thursday, 31 July 2008 21:27 (fifteen years ago) link
(10 seconds ago)
― Oilyrags, Thursday, 31 July 2008 21:27 (fifteen years ago) link
Nah, send the young Randians down there to tell them all about how they're not real conservatives. Hijinks!
― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 31 July 2008 21:28 (fifteen years ago) link
I smell sitcom.
― jon /via/ chi 2.0, Thursday, 31 July 2008 21:29 (fifteen years ago) link
Thankfully a coffehouse that discourages you from spending time there!
― brownie, Thursday, 31 July 2008 21:29 (fifteen years ago) link
Anyway, following Mr. Que's observation, I will be gravely disappointed if they do not sell quality American-grown coffee.
xpost -- hahah
― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 31 July 2008 21:30 (fifteen years ago) link
does anyone discuss politics in cafes anymore? I see couples doing homework and solo diners on iPods.
― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Thursday, 31 July 2008 21:34 (fifteen years ago) link
even listening to iPods is an affront to Mr Beckham. If he plays Mellencamp and Seger non-stop though I will forgive him
― Euler, Thursday, 31 July 2008 21:36 (fifteen years ago) link
but Mellencamp Rocked Against Bush in '04!
― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Thursday, 31 July 2008 21:36 (fifteen years ago) link
at my local coffee houses I've heard a lot of religious conversations and Bible studies (not everyone's cup of tea).
― Euler, Thursday, 31 July 2008 21:37 (fifteen years ago) link
You drink tea = you are a liberal
― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 31 July 2008 21:37 (fifteen years ago) link
tea? FUCK YOU PINKO!
― Oilyrags, Thursday, 31 July 2008 21:38 (fifteen years ago) link
xp
It's be really interesting to see how deep his convictions run. I mean, would he still happily serve someone ordering their cup of Joe while sporting an anti-Bush t-shirt?
― jon /via/ chi 2.0, Thursday, 31 July 2008 21:38 (fifteen years ago) link
I think the capitalist line on that is "I don't care if they're Reds as long as their money is green."
― Oilyrags, Thursday, 31 July 2008 21:39 (fifteen years ago) link
hey this place seems like a small price to pay to get Midwesterners to learn to drink better coffee.
― Euler, Thursday, 31 July 2008 21:40 (fifteen years ago) link
...from Indiana?
― Laurel, Thursday, 31 July 2008 21:40 (fifteen years ago) link
lol
― Euler, Thursday, 31 July 2008 21:41 (fifteen years ago) link
seriously this place is crying out for people with laptops having conversations about how awesome obama is while showing off the sublime frequencies cds they've just bought at other music.
― omar little, Thursday, 31 July 2008 21:43 (fifteen years ago) link
It's okay, because the co-owner is a Democrat!
― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Thursday, 31 July 2008 21:44 (fifteen years ago) link
should team up with these guys
― DG, Thursday, 31 July 2008 23:18 (fifteen years ago) link
I'm really, really curious as to whether or not they have a tip jar.
― nabisco, Thursday, 31 July 2008 23:41 (fifteen years ago) link
only libs feel sorry for the working class.
― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Thursday, 31 July 2008 23:41 (fifteen years ago) link
that's what I hate about cafes the most, the beatnik poetry
― burt_stanton, Thursday, 31 July 2008 23:42 (fifteen years ago) link
-- Autumn Almanac, Thursday, July 31, 2008 5:18 PM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Link
^^^^^
― Eisbaer, Friday, 1 August 2008 00:21 (fifteen years ago) link
sorry but i'm a lolbrit and i couldn't get past the guy's name
― Just got offed, Friday, 1 August 2008 00:26 (fifteen years ago) link
Young Ayn Rand(y).
― SeekAltRoute, Friday, 1 August 2008 00:38 (fifteen years ago) link
lol this thread
There's a cafe/diner near here called the K0zy K0rner Kafe which is a popular hangout for you guessed it. I hear there's a hand signal to signify whether you're in or not.
― RabiesAngentleman, Friday, 1 August 2008 01:01 (fifteen years ago) link
Finally a cafe for illegal immigrants and the employees of Asian companies.
― Hurting 2, Friday, 1 August 2008 01:18 (fifteen years ago) link
― max, Friday, 1 August 2008 01:37 (fifteen years ago) link
"I don't have time to sit around in no coffee shop. I need to get my coffee and go so I can sit around in my underwear managing my ebay auctions."
― Hurting 2, Friday, 1 August 2008 01:51 (fifteen years ago) link
Also, like, that's what Dunkin' Donuts and delis and mini-marts are for dude.
― Hurting 2, Friday, 1 August 2008 01:52 (fifteen years ago) link
right-wing ice cream
― Eisbaer, Friday, 1 August 2008 02:13 (fifteen years ago) link
so i'm thinking the wi-fi here ain't exactly the draw, if even existent
― kingfish, Friday, 1 August 2008 02:42 (fifteen years ago) link
For anyone wondering about this, The Conservative Cafe closed down not long after opening, in 2010. A new place, Station 21, opened in the same location, in early 2011 and is still going today
Meanwhile, also in Crown Point IN, The Conservative Coffee Company opened in early 2022. It is unrelated to the earlier Conservative Cafe
― Tow Law City (cherry blossom), Sunday, 11 February 2024 11:26 (three months ago) link
Coffee shouldn't be about sitting in a cafe for 12 hours," Beckham says. "Coffee gets us through our workday. It's what we drink before we make steel for the rest of the country or head out into the fields."I grew up on a farm and I can guarantee that my grandfather and his friends liked nothing better than sitting around shooting the shit over coffee at the local cafe
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Sunday, 11 February 2024 16:43 (three months ago) link
Dude totally lost his opportunity for New York Times reporters to come and quiz the locals about why they hate Obama.
― B. Amato (Boring, Maryland), Sunday, 11 February 2024 16:45 (three months ago) link
xp lol, trying to twist yourself into thinking that socializing and relaxing is only something that effeminate liberals do is such a hilarious self-own
― budo jeru, Sunday, 11 February 2024 16:47 (three months ago) link
Also, similar to the defenders of western civilization being pretty ignorant about it, the defenders of capitalism seem to frequently not know how to run a successful business.
― B. Amato (Boring, Maryland), Sunday, 11 February 2024 16:48 (three months ago) link
Also, similar to the defenders of western civilization being pretty ignorant about it, the defenders of capitalism seem to frequently not know how to run a successful business.― B. Amato (Boring, Maryland)
― B. Amato (Boring, Maryland)
i'm told there's a fash coffee shop around here; i guess they're doing ok. there's one in every crowd!
― Kate (rushomancy), Sunday, 11 February 2024 18:27 (three months ago) link
What if all the reactionary coffee cafes were already built, and you wanted to do an açaí bowl place instead, only wallpapered with shitty Facebook AI block text?
https://www.instagram.com/bigfreedombowls?igsh=dzU5emxyMmZkODZn
https://x.com/dogfanhan/status/1753108725244809565?s=20
― Glower, Disruption & Pies (kingfish), Sunday, 11 February 2024 19:01 (three months ago) link
_Also, similar to the defenders of western civilization being pretty ignorant about it, the defenders of capitalism seem to frequently not know how to run a successful business.― B. Amato (Boring, Maryland)_i'm told there's a fash coffee shop around here; i guess they're doing ok. there's one in every crowd!
― B. Amato (Boring, Maryland), Sunday, 11 February 2024 19:04 (three months ago) link
the fact that no one is blinking an eye at me casually mentioning that we have a nazi living across the street from us is such a portland moment https://t.co/LFBCKrgmyg— ~GOODEND.DOG (@sorrynotsoryu) February 12, 2024
― Kate (rushomancy), Monday, 12 February 2024 02:28 (three months ago) link