Hey Studio!! Let me make sure I understand your logic......You are pissed at the grass roots movement that created the Tea Parties, because FOX News chose to cover the events?
I am baffled..... On Thu, Apr 16, 2009 at 3:32 PM, studio <[email protected]> wrote: > > I hate taxes, which I consider plain robbery, but not all tax protests > are equal. The stench of Fox News and other rightists should give > these > "tea parties" a taint that no one would want to be associated with. > > It's interesting to note the mention of money from Koch, a billionaire > who gives so much to conservative and right-libertarian groups that > left-libertarians have labeled them the "Kochtopus". > > http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/04/14-4 > Tuesday, April 14, 2009 by FireDogLake > The Corporate Lobbyists Behind the Tea Parties > by Jane Hamsher > > Anyone who has watched Fox News of late has seen them talking about > the > April 15 "tea party" demonstrations, which they take pains to > characterize as a spontaneous grassroots uprising against government > spending that they are simply "covering." > > Neil Cavuto said: > > "We are are going to be in the middle of these protests because at > Fox, > we do not pick and choose these rallies and protests. We were there > for > the Million Man March, even though, as I pointed out, it turned out to > be well shy of a million men." > > The Million Man March happened in 1995. Fox News didn't go on the > air until 1996. > > Why all the effort to distance themselves from the teabaggers? It's > obvious they are integrally involved -- Fox has given them millions in > free publicity, despite the fact that there's no evidence of "ratings > gold" here. Four of their biggest stars will be appearing at the > rallies, Fox Nation will be hosting a "virtual tea party," Glenn Beck > is > holding a $500 a plate fundraiser for them and Fox has been > officially promoting the entire affair as the FNC Tax Day Tea Parties. > > Maybe they're afraid that if people knew that those behind the > demonstrations were the very same lobbyists and influence peddlers the > teabaggers claim to decry, the whole thing would be revealed to be > what > it is -- a hollow excercise in extremist right-wing hypocrisy. > > A report by Lee Fang at Think Progress documents the involvement of > corporate lobbyists FreedomWorks in organizing the teabaggers. > FreedomWorks is run by ladies' man (and registered lobbyist) > Dick Armey, and if they're not "organizing" the Tea parties, it's news > to him. From a letter he wrote on March 10: > > "FreedomWorks has been organizing many of these 'tea parties' and we > are > listing the details on our website IamWithRick.com > > "If you visit the website, you can rsvp for an event near you, and you > can download guidelines to organizing a tea party in your home town if > there isn't one being planned already." > > On the Freedomworks website, it says: "If you are not able to organize > or attend a Taxpayer Tea Party, you can still help the cause by > donating > or buying a t-shirt. > > The "donation" for the Tea Parties page goes to -- you guessed it -- > the > FreedomWorks Foundation. The "thank you" letter is signed by Matt > Kibbe, President & CEO, who cut his teeth working for Lee Atwater. He > was behind the attempt to get Ralph Nader put on the ballot in Oregon > in 2004, prompting a complaint to the FEC of illegal collusion with > the GOP. > > FreedomWorks was launched as a GOP version of MoveOn. "We believe that > hard work beats daddy's money," said Dick Armey at the time. Armey > seems > to be a bit irony challenged -- Steve Forbes is on the FreedomWorks > board. As Krugman notes, their money comes from the Koch, Scaife, > Bradley, Olin and other reliable funders of right wing infrastructure > including Exxon Mobil. > > This fact that none of this would be possible without the open > checkbooks of right wing billionaires and the lobbyists who love them > is > beyond the grasp of Glenn Reynolds: > > "These aren't the usual semiprofessional protesters who attend antiwar > and pro-union marches. These are people with real jobs; most have > never > attended a protest march before. They represent a kind of energy that > our politics hasn't seen lately, and an influx of new activists." > > In 2004, a woman who identified herself as a "single mother" in Iowa, > Sandra Jacques, appeared at a George Bush town hall and gushed about > his > plan to privatize Social Security. She left out the part about being > an > employee of Freedomworks, who were lobbying on the issue at the time. > > Before any media covering these events accept the idea that this is > just > a grass roots outpouring of populist sentiment, they ought to take a > look behind the curtain -- where Dick Armey is laughing and counting > his > cash. > > Jane Hamsher is the founder of firedoglake.com. Her work has also > appeared on The Daily Beat, AlterNet, The Nation and The American > Prospect. > > -- > Dan Clore > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more. -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
