Thursday, April 16, 2009

After the Tea Party

The Tea Party in Houston was a big success. As happened across the country, in all 50 states, organized rallies brought people of all political persuasions, and those not politically active, together in the common protest of government running wildly out of control. The crowd for the Houston rally was estimated at 8,000. There were other rallies in suburbs around the area, too. Not bad for a Wednesday afternoon.

Now that the Tea Party is over, what is next? Here's a suggestion: go to www.aftertheteaparty.com and find out how to stay involved on the issues you are passionate about.

The media in this country showed their true colors again - much as we saw during the presidential campaign as they cheered openly for Barack Obama - and dismissed or tried to ignore the protests of ordinary Americans fed up with the continued growth of government that reaches into their lives every day, with no end in sight. Those on two losing cable networks decided it was amusing to turn the words tea bag into a sexual joke - just like the juvenile male view of candidate Obama and thrills running up their legs over him. Professionals all.

Susan Roesgen, of CNN, is coming under fire on the Internet at YouTube for her obnoxious "interview" with a protester in Chicago yesterday. She decided to berate and debate him, as he held his toddler daughter, instead of allowing him to answer her question. She was all about accusations and condescending statements. Then she cut away when those around him objected to her exercise in vanity. She tossed it back to the studio while remarking that the Tea Parties were promoted by "right wing, conservative FOX". Professional.

CNN is behind FOX, and even MSNBC now in ratings for cable networks. Gee, wonder why.

The common theme that comes from the White House related by Press Secretary Robert Gibbs is that these protests don't amount to much. He claims the President isn't even aware of them. Really? If President Bush was said to not be aware of citizen's opinions, especially with the numbers of these protesters, he was accused of being out of touch. Double standard? Gibbs hopes the media will completely drop coverage, of course. This president is still in his honeymoon stage and it is unusual, to say the least, for such massive protests to being occurring around the country opposing government policy.

The Tea Parties, despite what the media would have you believe, were non-partisan events. Many refused to allow politicians to speak, preferring ordinary people to deliver the messages. Politicians, like my Representative John Culberson, attended and came to listen, not speak, as he said to the organizers.

People of all political persuasions and non-political people attended Tea Parties. Many groups organizing to attend insisted that signs not reflect anti-Obama messages. I am a contributor on the website www.motherofallconservatives.com and there is a Wii giveaway for the most clever sign used at a Tea Party. The rules state that an entry cannot reflect anti-Obama sentiments or cheap shots. They may be clever but that was not the point of the rallies.

The rallies were not the brainchild of FOX. The rest of the msm decided to label it as another "right wing" activity. So be it. The people won. The movement began on the Internet. The traditional media is no longer a driving force when people are inspired.

Go to www.foundingbloggers.com and watch the crowd and "reporter" Susan Roesgen as they interacted after the CNN camera stopped filming.

Last night, as I watched local coverage on the late news here in Houston, I was pleasantly surprised. The channel I was watching, an affiliate of NBC, did an unbiased report. The reporter showed some clips from the gathering downtown and mentioned the numbers. She read a statement from the Harris County Democrat Party in rebuttal to the success of the event. Their statement included the Democrat talking points of the day. They included the riff that it was just more evil Republicans at work. The reporter, after reading the statement, said that in fact it wasn't just Republicans represented there yesterday. She spoke with many who identified themselves as Democrats.

Those who dismiss these protests as partisan or Republican events are missing the boat. It is about policy and taxation. It is about freedom. Fiscal conservatives are in both parties.

Hey, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs! Are you listening?

3 comments:

namaste said...

great post and great info, karen. thanks!

srp said...

I am glad to hear that the main network media there was respectful and perhaps, even starting to get it. I hope we can keep the pressure up...

BTW, my brother is here from Europe and has decided to register as Libertarian. If our Republican politicians don't quickly get the message, there may be a larger ground swell from both Republican and Democrat to become a new third party.

Great job on the recap!

The Vegas Art Guy said...

They dismiss because they are scared. They hope by trying to marginalize what is happening that they will stay in power. They are in for a shock. Remember how people like Karl Rove said the biggest mistake that Obama could make would be to over-reach in the beginning of his term? I guess that some people don't read history because Obama redefined over-reach in less than 100 days.