Blatantly false “Associated Press report” posted as a comment on both stories about local Teabag Parties:
You would think they would pay more attention to deliberately misleading and completely false reports attributed to the Associated Press. One has to also wonder if the AP has safeguards against this in their agreement with Gannett.
Either way, this also proves the extent to which the intellectually dishonest Birthers will lie and manipulate the facts in order to continually undermine President Obama’s legitimacy.
It’s Gannett, Lamar – why expect better?
On the Tea Party issue, I see that the one down there is featuring Tony Perkins. Blech.
Rob Gaudet organized the Tea Party in Bossier City and was adamant that they have no politicians (or wannabes) speak. He made an effort to keep it non-partisan, and this in one of the two parishes in Louisiana that has more registered Republicans than Democrats.
I commend him for that.
I suppose Rob Gaudet is to be commended for attempting to eliminate any type of grandstanding from his event; then again, now, we’re talking about Rob Gaudet.
Either way, it is difficult for me to believe this is a grassroots effort, particularly given the earned media it has received and the Vitter resolution (no surprise that Pineville had Tony Perkins in town; didn’t he sell Vitter David Duke’s mailing list? http://www.thenation.com/doc/20050509/blumenthal ).
This looks like a coordinated, national, top-down “protest” movement, organized by many of the same people who make up the leadership structure of the Republican Party (on all levels of government).
In CenLa, for example, the Tea Parties have been organized and promoted by the Chairman of CenLaGOPAC, the only local PAC that supports area Republican candidates. (Something that has never been reported by the Town Talk– in all of the earned media they have awarded to the Tea Parties, including the Our View editorial urging us to attend the last Tea Party in Alexandria. During that Tea Party, the keynote speaker, Congressman Alexander, was actually booed by the crowd: https://cenlamar.com/2009/04/16/tea-party-fail/ Maybe the folks attending these events don’t like politicians, but Republican politicians seem to like these events).
I should say this: I think the freedom of assembly is one of our most important rights as Americans, and I take no issue with these Americans assembling to express their opinions. I DO, however, take issue with people who attempt to paint this particular “expression” as somehow organically grown by the grassroots– or something that is somehow disconnected from Republican leadership. It’s disingenuous of the media, particularly Fox News, to perpetuate that meme.
I see that the Tea Party in Austin featured Sen. John Cornyn, who was roundly booed. Cornyn voted for the Bush stimulus last fall. Rick Perry was also booed.
Guess they are beginning to eat their own . . .
theyre tea parties lamar, why dont you quit with the sophmoric “weird science” type humor!? the fact that attendants booed republicans proves the point that this is not aimed at just the dems.
The one at LC certainly was aimed at Dems as the TT story has many quotes about it being organized and staffed by people from organizations supporting “traditional family values” (ie denying familial rights to gays while sleeping with secretaries and prostitutes in the name of Jesus).
I do think the ability to organize like this in protest is a good thing and one that makes America great. Ironic though that the preservation of such freedoms are due in thanks to the Democrats and organizations like the ACLU.
If the “conservatives” and Republicans had had their way over the years flag burning would be punishable by imprisonment, most literature that makes you think would be banned and long since burned, and we’d all be legally required to be a part of some evangelical protestant faith.
When these tea parties become only about taxes then they’ll have some legitimacy, until then they’re just guised media campaigns of a a group who’s time has gone.