Tea Party

Glenn Beck: Give Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize To Tea Baggers

Posted by on October 9, 2009 at 2:51 pm. 5 Comments :

One thing everyone seems to agree on is that they were surprised by this morning’s announcement that the Nobel Committee was awarding their Peace Prize to President Barack Obama. There may be reasonable arguments as to whether a president struggling with two wars and various other diplomatic challenges was the best choice. But even more surprising is the reaction to the announcement.

Michael Steel, chairman of the Republican Party, said it was “unfortunate.” Rush Limbaugh said it was “an embarrassment.” John Bolton said he should “decline it.” But leave it to Glenn Beck to surpass the Conventional Idiocy:

Beck: “The Nobel Peace Prize should be turned down by Barack Obama and given … to the Tea Party goers and the 9-12 Project because — because of the arrogance … because of the arrogance of the progressives that thought no one would stand in their way, that he would be able to accomplish everything. Two weeks into his presidency, they nominated him for it and said, oh, this is going to be a slam dunk. And because of the Tea Party goers and the 9-12 Project people that stood in his way and stopped him from accomplishing the things that he thought — please, I’m the messiah. I’ll be able to accomplish that. We have now seen — we are now pulling the curtain back and seeing, oh, wait a minute, he just got an award for doing things he couldn’t get done. Hmm.”

That’s right. The Tea Baggers should get Obama’s Peace Prize. These folks:

The violent, racist, unpatriotic, fear mongers who go to Tea Parties are the ones who deserve a Peace Prize, not for anything they’ve done, but because they “stopped [Obama] from accomplishing” things. Of course.

And what have they stopped? Well, in truth, nothing. The President is still pursuing the same goals that he articulated in the campaign. Plus, he has already successfully passed an $800 billion stimulus plan. He nominated the first Hispanic to the U.S. Supreme Court. He signed the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. He repealed Bush’s policy against stem cell research. He gave us Cash for Clunkers.

There have, however, been delays on issues like closing Guantanamo Bay, drawing down troops in Iraq, and finishing up health care reform. But all of those initiatives are still going forward. And it is patently insane for Beck, on behalf of the Tea Baggers, to boast about delaying them, considering how important and popular they are.

Nevertheless, it is the Tea Baggers who Beck thinks…

“…have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses”.

All I can say is that it’s a damn good thing that Beck isn’t on the Nobel Committee.

Addendum: In 2007 Al Gore won a Nobel Peace Prize and was attacked by Rush Limbaugh. Limbaugh actually dispatched his attorneys to see if he could challenge Gore’s award, even as he asserted that it had become “devalued.” But that didn’t stop him from declaring that he ought to win it himself.

If You Still Think That Fox News Is Not Racist…

Posted by on October 1, 2009 at 9:40 am. 12 Comments :

This summer has seen an abundance of animosity directed at America’s new president. Town brawlers congregated at local Shriner’s clubs shouting to take “their” country back. Tea Baggers descended on Washington with posters of the President as an African witch doctor. When we weren’t marching toward Socialism we were euthanizing our grandparents. And through it all there was an overbearing stench of racism. It was stench that emanated most noticeably from Fox News, who went to extraordinary lengths to deny it. They complained that they were vilified as racist just for disagreeing with a black President – who himself was a racist according to Glenn Beck.

So if Fox News was not race-baiting, what would you say these folks have in common?

Pictured above (left to right) are Barack Obama (President), Van Jones (former White House Advisor for Green Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation), Mark Lloyd (FCC General Counsel/Chief Diversity Officer), Valerie Jarrett (Senior Advisor and Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Affairs and Public Engagement), and Patrick Gaspard (Director of the White House Office of Political Affairs). And their obvious commonality is that they are all patriotic public servants with records of distinction and achievement, right?. Oh yeah…they are also all targets of Fox News conspiracy mongers like Glenn Beck, Bill O’Reilly and Sean Hannity. Hmm…Any other similarities?

The Obama administration has fended off attacks from inauguration day when Chris Wallace (of Fox News) suggested that Obama wasn’t really president because the Chief Justice flubbed the oath of office. It’s been downhill ever since. But it’s hard to ignore the fact that most of the fire has been aimed at low to mid level African Americans in the administration. The faces above have been relentlessly assaulted by Fox News and affiliated conservative outlets. Fox has attempted to marginalize them as “czars” and smear them as either corrupt or bent on subverting the principles of democracy. Van Jones has already been driven from his post by the forces of a resurgent McCarthyism. But this time the McCarthyites are as obsessed with race as they are with Communists.

The latest victim of this campaign of character assassination is Valerie Jarrett, a distinguished professional woman with a resume that includes public service, law, finance and academics.

Glenn Beck is now focusing his arsenal of defamation on Jarrett with all of the classic Beck smears: communism, corruption, and guilt by association, whether or not any association exists. Beck rolls out his “black” board to connect dots that only he can see. He aligns Jarrett with Che Guevara, Mumia Abu-Jamal, and even Darth Vader. He accuses her of being the lynch-pin between the Obamas and manufactured scandals at ACORN and the National Endowment for the Arts. By the end of his ravings he places her at the center of an evil cabal that he dramatically asserts is cancerous.

Much of these aspersions are cast in the shockingly despicable framework of her support for bringing the Olympics to Chicago in 2016. This is also a goal sought by the President, who is personally lobbying for the games in Copenhagen with the First Lady. Most nations consider it an honor, as well as an economic opportunity, to snag the Olympics. But Beck, and others at Fox News, seem to regard it as evidence of villainy. It makes you wonder for whom Beck is rooting. Spain? Brazil? Why does he hate America?

It cannot be mere coincidence that most of Fox’s targets have been African American. Obama has some pretty prominent associates who are not black: Vice President Joe Biden; Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel; Senior Advisor David Axelrod; Council of Economic Advisers Chair Christina Romer; Secretary of State Hillary Clinton; Secretary of the Treasury Tim Geithner; Secretary of Defense Robert Gates; etc. Yet there has never been a campaign against any of these, or other white staffers, even though there are many more of them and they have far more powerful positions. Fox pointedly goes after only African Americans who are much lower down the executive ladder. This is a situation that even Bill O’Reilly expressed concerns over when interviewing Beck last Thursday:

O’Reilly: Now, you’re hammering this guy Mark Lloyd, another Obama appointee. Is he a czar guy too? He’s the head of the FCC, right?
Beck: He’s the diversity czar.
O’Reilly: The diversity officer at the FCC.
Beck: He’s not the only one. Cass Sunstein and Mark Lloyd put together. That’s a dangerous combination.
O’Reilly: Sunstein’s a white guy, because I don’t want you to, you know, all black, and it’s the black…We had a black professor on just before you, thinks you’re…you don’t like the blacks and all of that.

How thoughtful of O’Reilly to consider the appearance of Beck going after all black guys. O’Reilly and Beck were clearly relieved that Cass Sunstein was white. They needed a token Caucasian to avoid the appearance of racial motives, and Sunstein fit the bill.

Unfortunately, as the photo montage above illustrates, there is still a vast over-representation of African Americans on Fox’s hit list. The presence of one or two white guys doesn’t change that. The obvious racism by the Fox crowd extends beyond the attacks on the administration. The crusade against ACORN is a blatantly racist attack on efforts to assist people of color with housing and voting rights. Beck has even called the movement for health care reform “the beginning of reparations” for slavery.

The truth is that it doesn’t matter what this administration does, the Fox contingent will find evil in it. If Obama personally found Osama Bin Laden and wrestled him bare-handed to the death, Fox News ranters would complain that Obama only did it boost his reelection bid and to sweeten the deal for his post-presidential autobiography. And in addition to finding fault with anything Obama does, they can also put any issue in a racial context. Then, of course, they will holler if anyone calls them on it. Their response to allegations of racism is that their accuser is guilty of reverse racism. But it isn’t much more than the old schoolyard taunt of “I know you are but what am I?” That’s the level of debate that is practiced on Fox News. It is a response that is just as childish and arrogant as one would expect from a network of overtly bigoted blowhards who still can’t believe that a black man is president.

Now Fox News Is Sponsoring Protests Against The Media

Posted by on September 30, 2009 at 9:48 am. 5 Comments :

Sooner or later someone is going to have to explain to Fox News that it is not the function of news enterprises to openly promote partisan political activities. This is a principle that they failed to observe when they hyped the Tea Party in Washington, DC, a few weeks ago. In the days leading up to the affair, Fox News actually had a their correspondent, Griff Jenkins, riding along with the Tea Party Express Bus and literally cheerleading at every stop along the way. Fox News also demonstrated that they do not understand the business of news when they helped to solicit money for the legal defense fund of Hannah Giles, the pretend hooker in the ACORN entrapment operation.

The most recent example of Fox News discarding professional ethics appeared on the Fox Nation web site this morning:

This featured item links to a web site for “Operation Can You Hear Us Now,” a Tea Party spin off that is organizing rallies against the media. Note that the link does not go to an article about the organization or the events it is planning. It goes directly to the organization’s web site. This departure from ethical behavior is multi-layered.

First of all, a legitimate news operation would not be helping to spike attendance at political rallies. Recently Fox News complained in an advertisement that their competitors missed the story on the 9/12 event in Washington. But what they really meant was that no other news outlet lowered themselves to promotion of it as Fox did. Now they are overtly promoting another right-wing event without actually reporting on it.

Secondly, this free publicity for a partisan protest is directed squarely at the news media (except, of course, for themselves). This means that they are now hyping public rallies against their own competition. Try to imagine how inappropriate it would be for Disney to use ABC News to incite the public to rise up against X-Men or other competing movie fare. That’s what Fox News is doing here, fomenting discord in the media marketplace to benefit their own brand.

I still don’t understand how the rest of the media can sit by idly as Fox trashes their products and even riles up a citizen revolt against them. It would be easy for the other news networks to return fire considering that Fox isn’t even engaged in the practice of reputable journalism. They should mount a campaign to sear into the public mind the facts about Fox: that they are no more news than the National Enquirer; that they repeatedly employ lies and misrepresentations to advance a political agenda; that their on air personnel are not journalists, but advocates; that they exist only as a mouthpiece for right-wing causes and the interests of big business.

If responsible news enterprises don’t begin to stand up for the ethical practice of their profession, then the worst elements of the business will continue to gain momentum and influence. The press will devolve into a factless forum for verbal fisticuffs and rhetorical rants. Even more so than it already has.

The 9/12 Rally Fox News Did Not Broadcast

Posted by on September 14, 2009 at 3:06 pm. 9 Comments :

Journalist Max Blumenthal attended Glenn Beck’s 9/12 Million (Minus 930,000) Paranoid Malcontents March on Saturday and documented a far more realistic representation of the Tea Baggers confederation than anything you would have seen on Fox News. Enjoy:

Speaks for itself. My favorite part was the English-only advocate who had a bit of a problem with English himself. Overall, Blumenthal produced an outstanding depiction of the hypocrisy and ignorance on display by the Beck Brigades. And despite boasting that the event would draw a million people, it couldn’t produce even five percent of that.

I attended a rally in Los Angeles that drew a pathetic 300-400 Fox Pods. They had the usual array of crayon-drawn signs with insulting and childish slogans, i.e. “Ted’s Dead – So is Obama Care” and “Just Say NO to Lucifer Obama.” Then there was the enterprising tea bagger with the giant poster of the President in African witch doctor attire. That was typical of the crowd that spanned the racial spectrum from Pasty Trailer Parker to Alabaster Aryan.

There were less than a handful of minority protesters in attendance. Yet when a counter-protester showed up asserting that the event was racist, one of the organizers complained that he was offending the African Americans in the crowd (all four of them). But the same organizer didn’t seen to think that the witch doctor poster would be the least bit offensive to anyone.

The speakers were a parade of nobodies spouting memorized talking points. Each was announced with a flowery introduction touting their talent and notoriety. That was followed by blank stares, furrowed brows, and whispering to neighbors in a vain attempt to recognize the honored guest.

This was the best they could do. And this was not some charming little agricultural village in the plains states. This was the megalopolis of Los Angeles with a population of more than eight million. This was the entertainment capital of the world, but not one celebrity of note. And there were no local politicians either. I counted four buses with a capacity of 100 passengers. That means that it’s possible that the entire crowd was bused in, rather than being a spontaneous aggregation of locals.

That’s a grassroots movement as done by Fox-driven, Beck-ified, commie-fearing wingnuts.

Tell President Obama: Glenn Beck Doesn’t Speak For Me

Posted by on September 10, 2009 at 1:54 pm. NO Comments :

America is presently undergoing a sort of devolution that is unprecedented in its history. The Tea Party fanatics who are disrupting town halls and appearing at rallies with signs associating the President with socialism, fascism and Hitler, are contributing to a hostile political environment that pits neighbor against neighbor and divides families and all citizens. This advances the premise that those with whom you disagree are traitors and enemies, as opposed to fellow Americans with a different point of view.

The deep divisions in our nation that are ripping at the seams of democracy are being exacerbated by a rightist media that is more interested in its own welfare than that of the nation. It is becoming ever more critical that Americans speak out against this propaganda crusade and make certain that our elected representatives don’t take the bait.

It is already too late for Van Jones, who was hounded by a manic Glenn Beck into resigning, despite the fact that the allegations against him were ludicrous smears that were demonstrably untrue. Beck has already set his sights on his next targets for his mudslinging. They include respected and effective public servants like Cass Sunstein, Carol Browner, and Mark Lloyd. And of course, ACORN will be drudged up along with irrelevant players like Rev. Wright and Bill Ayres.

Leading this crusade is Fox News who have abandon any pretense of impartiality as they have literally boarded the Tea Party Express, reporting its progress as it rambles across the nation inciting phony dissent and worse. This bus tour is wholly sponsored by lobbyists and powerful partisan enterprises like Americans for Prosperity and Freedom Works. Yet the media has been ignoring a bus tour by Health Insurance Reform Now that has been attracting crowds just as big.

And rising to the helm of Fox’s crusade is certifiable nutcase, Glenn Beck. His ravings have riled up a pitifully uninformed audience of frightened political outcasts. And worse, he is beginning to have an impact outside of the padded halls of Fox News.

Now, FreePress.net has initiated a real grassroots campaign to collect signatories to a statement alerting the president to the fact that Glenn Beck and his ilk do not speak for us. The press release announcing this project reveals how uniquely dangerous the current situation is:

“At Free Press, our focus is on structural media policy, not on media content. But we take this extraordinary step because what’s happening is so poisonous to American political discourse.

“That Fox News Channel lets Beck use its media megaphone to stir up hatred and fear of others is repulsive, divisive and beyond all common sense or decency. By giving Beck a nightly platform for such McCarthy-esque witch hunts and smear campaigns, the national news network undermines our democracy. But Fox News is not alone. Unfortunately, this kind of rant is endemic to a media system that cares about ratings far more than about the truth.”

In the wake of Beck’s attacks on Van Jones and others, this is an important campaign that deserves the support of the country. Beck has promised to escalate his witch hunts and to continue his assault on anyone he deems an enemy. At the center of all of this is a brazen disregard for the truth in pursuit of a conservative coup. They want to derail the health care, environmental, and economic reforms that the American people have been fighting for. These media megaliths want nothing less than to destroy the presidency of Barack Obama. They have said so explicitly. This is an attempt to reverse the results of a fair and historic election. They must not be allowed to succeed.

Please visit FreePress.net and voice your support.

Fox News Is On Board The Tea Bagger Express – Again

Posted by on August 31, 2009 at 2:58 pm. 13 Comments :

In a reprise of last April’s Tea Party propaganda campaign, Fox News is once again heavily promoting the latest Astroturf movement by rightist opponents of the administration. This episode of tea baggery is focusing specifically on health care reform.

Recall last April, when Fox News not only aired millions of dollars worth of free publicity for the Tea Baggers, they also assigned their anchors to host the events. Neil Cavuto in Sacramento. Greta Van Susteren in DC. Sean Hannity in Atlanta. Glenn Beck in San Antonio.

The latest promotional effort is already underway. One of the first assignments is Griff Jenkins (Bill O’Reilly’s ambush specialist) who is actually tagging along with the Tea Party Express bus tour. His reports consist of unabashed cheerleading for what he falsely identifies as a grassroots movement (It’s more like grassROTS. After all, these people don’t care much for nature). The Express is winding its way across America. paid for by the Our Country Deserves Better PAC, an organization headed by far-right talk radio host Mark Williams.

But the “fair and balanced” network is demonstrating its bias by ignoring another bus tour that is generating as much or more popular appeal as the Tea Baggers. This project, sponsored by Organizing for America and Health Care Reform Now, is taking a similar path across the country, stopping along the way for rallies, and is scheduled to wrap up in Washington, D.C. on September 13, one day after the Tea Baggers. OFA has reported brisk attendence of their events so far:

“…hundreds of health insurance reformers [in Milwaukee] […] Earlier today, more than 3,000 reformers gathered in New York City with the same message of hope. One thousand came out in Portland. Another 1,800 are finishing up a reform event in Austin, Texas. And, nearly 800 rallied for health insurance reform in Fargo, North Dakota today.

“These crowds come on the heels of last night’s 1,500-plus reformers gathering in Denver, Thursday’s 1,000 plus rally in Albuquerque and another 1,100 on Wednesday night in Phoenix”

With turnout like that, these events are at least as newsworthy as those by the tea bag/insurance lobby. Yet Fox News has invoked a virtual blackout on any news of reform activists. Not only do they not have someone like Griff Jenkins riding along with the reform bus, they haven’t even reported that the effort exists (except for a couple of tangential and backhanded references). What might the media landscape look like if there were an alternative to the overtly partisan Fox News that published something like this:

I harbor no illusions that anything like that will happen. It isn’t an accident that Fox News is ignoring these events – it’s deliberate. They have a vested interest in keeping this information from their viewers. In addition, they surely don’t want to raise the profile of these events for fear that it might enhance turnout. So Fox has committed to suppressing coverage as part of their political agenda.

What would it take to get Fox News to assign a reporter to the Reform Now bus tour? Could any amount of phone calls or emails turn the trick? Could a sustained campaign of exposing and/or ridiculing Fox for their journalistic dishonesty result in a reporter (even a biased one) embedded with the reformists? Probably not. But here’s another question: What would it take for the rest of the media to cover the reform bus tour? Because they aren’t in the game either.

There are going to be two events on the weekend of September 12 and 13. One of them is getting premium promotional services from a major television network and its extended media platforms in print, radio, and online. The other is not. It’s impossible to predict the attendance for either of these rallies, but if progressives could draw more reform advocates in spite of the media imbalance, it would go a long way toward educating our representatives, and the press, as to where the people really stand on this issue.

Your assignment, if you chose to accept it, is to get to D.C., if you possibly can, on September 13. If that’s not possible, get to a local reform event. And by all means contact every media outlet, not just Fox, and ask them why they are not covering this truly grassroots movement.

The Organizing for America Action Center:
Where you can find local events and send letters to your local and national newspapers.

Contact these National TV news networks and ask them to cover the Health Reform Now bus tour.
Fox News / CBS News / NBC News / ABC News / CNN News

Fishy Right-Wingers Accuse Obama Of Recruiting Nazi Snitches

Posted by on August 5, 2009 at 1:12 pm. 3 Comments :

With the Congress in recess, Republicans and their rightist allies have taken to the streets to attack President Obama’s agenda, particularly with regard to healthcare. It has already been well documented that much of the protest has been orchestrated by lobbyists and partisan political groups. Their efforts have also been aided by the rightist media including Fox News, the Wall Street Journal, talk radio, etc. The Fox Nation is so heavily involved that it featured eight separate stories on its web site yesterday on the phony town hall disturbances (and four more today).

After observing this all-out campaign by insurance industry-backed rightist mobs to disrupt public discourse in town halls and other public events, the Obama administration responded by having White House Communications Director Linda Douglass set the record straight. The video in which she appears is posted on the White House web site along with an invitation for citizens to help debunk the rapidly spreading disinformation:

There is a lot of disinformation about health insurance reform out there, spanning from control of personal finances to end of life care.  These rumors often travel just below the surface via chain emails or through casual conversation.  Since we can’t keep track of all of them here at the White House, we’re asking for your help. If you get an email or see something on the web about health insurance reform that seems fishy, send it to flag@whitehouse.gov.

Naturally, the right wing lie machine immediately seized on this as an outrageous invasion of privacy and an abuse of executive power. They are casting it as a Big Brother style operation to pit neighbor against neighbor. One Tea Partier said that Obama wants to “turn everyone into a Nazi snitch.” The only problem is that nowhere in the appeal is there anything remotely suggesting that people turn in other people. Furthermore, there is no threat associated with the disclosure of the rumors that the White House is seeking to be apprised of. The only thing they are interested in is the substance of the attacks on their proposals so that they can rebut them.

But that hasn’t stopped the allegations of intimidation from erupting out of the depths of the Tea Bagging brigades. Shock and outrage is being expressed from every direction. The National Review, the Washington Times, Hot Air, and of course, Fox News. Fox News has also aired a segment on this in which they revealed that Rush Limbaugh has joining this parade of paranoia. What’s more, both CQPolitics and the Washington Independent have uncovered plots to commit virtual disruptions by spamming the White House’s email inbox.

Even Texas GOP Senator John Cornyn is getting into the act with a letter to the President in which he alleges that this is a Nixonesque enemies list:

“By requesting that citizens send ‘fishy’ emails to the White House, it is inevitable that the names, email addresses, IP addresses, and private speech of U.S. citizens will be reported to the White House. You should not be surprised that these actions taken by your White House staff raise the specter of a data collection program. As Congress debates health care reform and other critical policy matters, citizen engagement must not be chilled by fear of government monitoring the exercise of free speech rights.”

To reiterate, the White House is NOT asking for anyone’s name, email address, IP address, or any other data connected to one’s identity. They are asking only to be informed of arguments against their health care proposals so that they can respond with the facts. Cornyn is reaching new heights of hypocrisy by feigning concern for chilling the exercise of free speech rights when he supports the Tea Baggers who are preventing such speech in local town hall meetings. He further embarrasses himself by saying that he would have also condemned the Bush White House should they have engaged in a similar invasion of privacy. Except that he did no such thing when he voted for warrantless wiretapping.

As it turns out, it is a good thing that the White House now has a facility for reporting the fishy assertions of fatuous fringe dwellers who have trouble with facts. Perhaps we should start by reporting the idiotic claim that the President is recruiting Nazi snitches.

Fox Nation Declares Victory: Susan Roesgen Edition

Posted by on July 16, 2009 at 11:52 pm. 2 Comments :

In yet another example of the Fox Nation’s embarrassing unprofessionalism and arrogance, they are once again claiming victory for something they had absolutely nothing to do with. On this occasion they are suffering from the delusion that they are responsible for CNN not renewing the contract of reporter Susan Roesgen.

In last April’s Tea Parties, Roesgen confronted a teabagger who was blathering incoherently about Obama being a fascist. The crowd became increasingly hostile making it impossible to continue the segment. She eventually signed off saying that…

“I think you get the general tenor of this. It’s anti-government, anti-CNN, since this is highly promoted by the right-wing conservative network, Fox.”

The encounter drew criticism from right-wing blogizens who pounced on her for daring to tell the truth about Fox News. In all honesty, I feel that Roesgen did cross a line by appearing to be confrontational. It is appropriate for her to challenge a subject, but not to become emotionally connected. However, it is exceedingly hypocritical for FoxPods to complain so bitterly about Roesgen’s alleged bias without ever acknowledging the far greater bias exercised by Fox News. Remember, Fox correspondents were actually participating in the Tea Parties as promoters and even hosts.

Nevertheless, Fox’s declaration of victory is hysterical. First of all, there is nothing to suggest that Fox deserved any credit whatsoever for this personnel decision by CNN. They don’t even offer any evidence that Roesgen’s separation from CNN had anything to do with the Tea Bag affair. In case they haven’t noticed, lots of people at all networks have succumbed to downsizing in recent months due solely to market conditions.

While Roesgen could have conducted herself better, her actions did not merit termination. So the fact that so many rightists on sites like Fox Nation and TVNewser are so giddy upon hearing this news is revealing. After all, none of them were calling for Glenn Beck’s head when he agreed with his guest that “the only chance we have as a country right now is for Osama bin Laden to deploy and detonate a major weapon in the United States.” Apparently, to conservatives, it is a worse offense to take a clumsy rhetorical swipe at a competitor than it is to advocate terrorist attacks against America.

Less than a week ago, Fox Nation triumphantly declared that they were the victors over President Obama because a climate change bill had been delayed. In that case as well, Fox had nothing to do with it and it wasn’t much a victory because the delay was temporary and had no material effect on the bill’s progress.

It appears that Fox Nation is going to make a habit of these “Mission Accomplished” moments. That stance in and of itself is evidence of Fox’s bias. They have ceased to even pretend to be a neutral news enterprise. They are now openly admitting that they have a stake in the outcomes of political affairs. And when they think their side has won, they won’t hesitate to declare victory and commence a celebration.

The Tea Party Tea Baggers Really Have Balls

Posted by on July 3, 2009 at 12:13 pm. 1 Comments :

Last April’s Tax Day Tea Party was by all objective accounts a massive failure. Estimates of national attendance hovered at something below 300,000. To put that in perspective, twice as many people went to see “The Hangover” last Saturday.

The dismal showing of Tea Baggers was achieved after having received millions of dollars worth of free publicity and promotion from Fox News. The network executed a wall-to-wall campaign promoting these events and their own participation in them. They shamelessly recruited viewers to take up the cause and sent their biggest stars out as enticements. And still they underperformed the expectations of their own organizers who predicted crowds in the millions.

So capitalizing off of that disaster, the Tea Partiers are back with a new sense of excitement and hope. Unfortunately, other than the most rabid disciples, the excitement is shared by very few. Even Fox News is offering tepid support. They have made a few mentions, and hosted a few interviews, but it is nothing comparable to the far-flung campaign they orchestrated last spring. Without the support of Fox’s mass media megaphone, it is unlikely that this ersatz movement will make much of a splash.

A story in the Washington Independent provides some interesting (and hilarious) details about the July 4, version of the Tea Parties. Organizers seem to have accepted the reality that prospects for the revolution they dreamed of have receded. One of the national organizers for the Tea Party Patriots is expressing her joy that a followup to Atlanta’s Tea Party in April (which she said drew 20,000 people) brought out only 70 TPers. This way, she feverishly rationalized, she could talk to every participant. Perhaps all sponsors of public protests should implore people to stay away so that this benefit could be enjoyed more often.

The organizer of the Dallas Tea Party is taking a different approach. He seems to want people to attend, even if that means he won’t be able to speak to all of them individually. To that end he is pulling out all the stops:

“We’re using the fireworks and the Monkees and the rest of that to attract people who never though they’d be at a Tea Party.”

Actually, it is just one Monkee, Mickey Dolenz. That should guarantee at least the 70 people that the Atlanta Tea Party pulled in. More interesting is the admission that he intends to dupe potential attendees with fireworks and celebrities on the Fourth of July holiday to get them to show up for a Tea Party that they likely would not have otherwise attended. How much you wanna bet that Tea Party organizers across the country will try to take credit for every municipal fireworks display, every holiday concert, and even every tailgate party and backyard barbecue, in an attempt to validate their movement?

The funniest part of all of this is the campaign by radio talker Phil Valentine to “Give the Senate Some Balls.” Inspired by those who thought sending members of congress tea bags was a good idea, Valentine is encouraging his listeners to send balls to senators. No, I swear, he really is. So after being mocked relentlessly for having chosen to engage in tea bagging, Valentine is compounding that unfortunate imagery with the vision of people sending their balls to the senate.

I am now officially speechless.

Michael Moore’s Campaign To Save Our CEOs

Posted by on June 15, 2009 at 3:19 pm. NO Comments :

This past weekend, a few lucky moviegoers were treated to a preview of what to expect when Michael Moore’s new movie is released in October. The short trailer consisted only of Moore making a personal plea on the behalf of the troubled corporations and executives who have suffered so much in this economic downturn:

“The downturn in the economy has hurt many people, people who have had no choice but to go on government assistance. Yet our welfare agencies can only do so much. That’s why I’m asking you to reach into your pockets right now and lend a hand. Ushers will be coming down the aisles to collect your donations for Citibank, Bank of America, AIG, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and a host of other needy banks and corporations. Won’t you please give generously?”

Those familiar with Moore’s work would be safe to assume that this project will contain a fair measure of disdain directed at greedy industrialists and ineffectual politicians. He is likely to highlight the hypocrisy of partisan rhetoric that condemns government intrusion into contracts that protect executive bonuses, but advocates for such intrusion to break contracts that benefit unions and workers.

However, the tone of this documentary, based on the trailer, appears to be deeply critical of corporate bailouts and government spending. Sound familiar? That is the principle theme upon which the Tea Parties held earlier this year were based. It is the issue that supposedly motivated thousands of “non-partisan” protesters to “spontaneously” gather in parking lots across America with tea bags dangling from their hats. Will those same people be filling seats in theaters to see a movie that addresses the same concerns?

What I’m really wondering, however, is whether Fox News will turn the debut of this movie into a major news event, as they did with the FNC Tea Party Day. Will they promote it for weeks prior to the opening? Will Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity be dispatched to metropolitan cineplexes to cover the premiere – LIVE – and for the full hour of their programs? Isn’t this precisely the issue that they claimed had captured the hearts and minds of a nation that was screaming out for reform? And wasn’t that the pretense for their wall-to-wall coverage of the Tea Partiers?

I’ll go on record right now – more than three months before the release – to predict that more people will attend the opening night of this movie than attended the Tea Parties nationwide. That’s just the opening night. Wouldn’t that make this event at least as representative of the public mood as the Tea Parties were said to be? Wouldn’t that suggest that it deserves at least as much attention from Fox News and the rest of the media? And remember, the Tea Parties were free. People will have to pay to see Moore’s film. Isn’t that an even greater expression of support?

Somehow, I’m not expecting Beck to be preening on a specially erected festival stage outside an Alamo movie house on October 2, with Ted Nugent on lead guitar. More likely he and his Fox cohorts will bash the film and its director in an attempt to preempt the message and its impact. And, of course, they will then continue to insist, through it all, that they don’t regard this as a partisan issue.