![\"CNN](\"http:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/Humor\/cnn-tea-bag.jpg\")
After the State of the Union speech by President Obama, every network will broadcast the official Republican response that will be delivered by Wisconsin representative Paul Ryan.<\/p>\nAfter the State of the Union speech by President Obama, every network will broadcast the official Republican response that will be delivered by Wisconsin representative Paul Ryan.<\/p>\n
CNN, however, will also broadcast a response by the chair of the House Tea Party Caucus, Michelle Bachmann. So Democrats will have one speech on the air and Republicans will have two rebuttals. This is CNN’s idea of fair and balanced. Ironically, Fox will not be airing Bachmann’s response.<\/p>\n
So why would CNN go out on limb to give the farthest right element of the GOP an additional platform to bash the president and his policies? One word: RATINGS!<\/p>\n
CNN is wearing their desperation of their sleeve as they seek to manufacture controversy that they hope will result in drawing in curious viewers. This is the modus operandi of the current network leadership. This one fact goes a long way toward explaining this bonehead move on the part of CNN:<\/p>\n
CNN’s new president, Ken Jautz, is the man who gave Glenn Beck his first job in television!<\/strong><\/p>\n That needs to be repeated relentlessly and shared with the world. Jautz is an unrepentant sensationalist who cares more about ratings than ethical journalism. He knows that the Tea Party is not a serious political player, but he believes the drama they generate will produce viewers.<\/p>\n Jautz is also responsible for CNN’s recent partnership with Tea Party Express<\/a>, a racist and disreputable enterprise that was expelled from the Tea Party Federation. That’s the organization that Jautz thought would be a good partner to host an upcoming Republican presidential primary debate.<\/p>\n After taking criticism from all sides on this decision to fluff Bachmann and her Tea Bagger Brigades, CNN issued this defense of their move:<\/p>\n “The Tea Party has become a major force in American politics and within the Republican Party. Hearing the Tea Party’s perspective on the State of the Union is something we believe CNN’s viewers will be interested in hearing and we are happy to include this perspective as one of many in tonight’s coverage.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n That mirrors their lame defense of the Tea Party Express deal. And it still doesn’t make any sense. Poll after poll shows that the Tea Party is an insignificant segment of the population and that their views are wildly out of touch<\/a> with the American mainstream and even the Republican Party. There is no justification for giving them this free promotional airtime. And it is notable also that CNN has not offered to give the Democrat’s Progressive Caucus equal time.<\/p>\n Everyone who who cares about ethical media and fair elections should let CNN know that this is inappropriate and unprofessional. You can use this form on CNN\u2019s web site<\/a> to tell them that they should not be partnering with Tea Party Express or any right-wing wing PAC (or left-wing for that matter). You can also Tweet them at http:\/\/twitter.com\/cnn<\/a>. Use the hashtag #NoCNNTP.<\/p>\n [Update]<\/strong> Bachmann’s address was surreal. She never looked into the camera. It was like she was talking to an invisible person to her right (as if that’s possible) the whole time. She also brought up the debunked (and hilarious) assertion that the IRS is hiring thousands of agents<\/a> to “enforce”<\/em> ObamaCare. What’s more, the Minneapolis Tea Party (from her home state) is protesting that Bachmann does not speak<\/a> for them. Even her GOP colleagues are criticizing her speech. All in all, a massive fail.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" After the State of the Union speech by President Obama, every network will broadcast the official Republican response that will be delivered by Wisconsin representative Paul Ryan. CNN, however, will also broadcast a response by the chair of the House Tea Party Caucus, Michelle Bachmann. So Democrats will have one speech on the air and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1,684,4],"tags":[42,817,545,534],"class_list":["post-3749","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","category-media-bias","category-news","tag-cnn","tag-ken-jautz","tag-michele-bachmann","tag-tea-party"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4Ijg-Yt","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6257,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=6257","url_meta":{"origin":3749,"position":0},"title":"Will There Be Another Live Tea Party Response To The State Of The Union?","author":"Mark NC","date":"1\/22\/2012","format":false,"excerpt":"After last year's State of the Union address by President Obama, the Tea Party produced a response delivered by Michele Bachmann, the founder of the Congressional Tea Party Caucus. Astonishingly, this irrelevant and amateurish production was broadcast live by CNN immediately following the Republican response. It was one of the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3780,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=3780","url_meta":{"origin":3749,"position":1},"title":"Breitbart, Fox Nation Blame CNN For Fox News Mistake","author":"Mark NC","date":"1\/30\/2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Under the conspiratorially accusatory headline, \"Did CNN Sabotage Rep. Bachmann's SOTU Response?\" Andrew Breitbart posted an item that illustrates what a pathetic excuse for a news analyst he is. Michele Bachmann's \"official\" Tea Party response to President Obama's State of the Union speech was ridiculed by many because she appeared\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5361,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=5361","url_meta":{"origin":3749,"position":2},"title":"Equal Time For The American Dream","author":"Mark NC","date":"9\/6\/2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Last December CNN announced that they would be co-hosting a Republican debate with the Tea Party Express. That ridiculous idea was something put together under the new leadership of Ken Jautz who was promoted to head CNN after distinguishing himself at sister station Headline News. At HLN Jautz was responsible\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Election"","block_context":{"text":"Election","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=152"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5386,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=5386","url_meta":{"origin":3749,"position":3},"title":"Remember This While Watching The CNN\/Tea Party GOP Debate","author":"Mark NC","date":"9\/12\/2011","format":false,"excerpt":"When the Republican debate tonight airs it is important to put into context the venue in which the candidates will appear. This debate is being broadcast on CNN along with their co-hosts, the Tea Party Express (TPE). From the start, the notion of elevating any Tea Party group to the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Election"","block_context":{"text":"Election","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=152"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9064,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=9064","url_meta":{"origin":3749,"position":4},"title":"Memo To Media: Don’t Cover The Phony Tea Party Response To The State Of The Union","author":"Mark NC","date":"2\/10\/2013","format":false,"excerpt":"It was announced last week that GOP Sen. Rand Paul will be giving the \"official\" Tea Party response to President Obama's State of the Union address. In previous years it was Herman Cain and Michelle Bachmann (who CNN carried live). There hasn't been any indication yet of whether the media\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5502,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=5502","url_meta":{"origin":3749,"position":5},"title":"The Foxification Of CNN: New Management Pushes The Network Into Crazy Territory","author":"Mark NC","date":"10\/14\/2011","format":false,"excerpt":"This article also appears on Alternet.org.In the fiercely competitive world of cable news, the players have been jockeying for position as they battle for viewers and advertisers. Fox News, MSNBC, and CNN, each with their own models of programming, seek to gain scale and influence. Fox News, we know, has\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3749","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3749"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3749\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3752,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3749\/revisions\/3752"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3749"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3749"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3749"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}