Alan Caruba
The "secret" tea party protests
By Alan Caruba
An estimated 2,000 "Tea Party" nationwide protests against excessive taxation did not get much coverage in the nation's mainstream media.
You had to visit World Net Daily to get the story. According to WND, between 3,000 and 4,000 gathered in San Antonio while more than 2,000 gathered in Marietta, Georgia. There were a reported 1,500 in Louisville, Kentucky, and 1,500 in Olympia, Washington. In Reno, 3,000 showed up.
If you Googled for "Tea Party" on July 5th, the day after the many events scheduled for Independence Day, you would come up empty except for a brief story in the Newark, NJ Star-Ledger, "Thousands take part in 'tea party' protest against high taxes in Morristown."
While the Star-Ledger deserves credit for its coverage it was a tad short on its tally of those held in New Jersey, calling it "more of more than a dozen." According to the Tea Party website, there were 37 such events in New Jersey planned for the day. Many states had comparable numbers.
With the exception of a few local Associated Press stories there was, in effect, a news blackout of coverage turning the tea parties into the equivalent of secret events. Watching television news throughout the Fourth, one would scarcely have been aware of them.
In my lifetime, it is a massive departure from the coverage given the Civil Rights movement and the Vietnam War protests that dominated the 1960s and 70s.
The failure to provide coverage further exacerbates the growing distrust of the mainstream media.
The fact that hundreds of thousands of people can peacefully gather to protest the Cap-and-Trade bill that passed the House and to oppose the proposed healthcare reforms, along with the many bailouts and limpid "stimulus" bill results thus far, and not generate any coverage among the media is extremely troubling. It makes Rush Limbaugh's charge that they are now "government" newspapers ring true.
It amounts to a cover-up and a very deliberate one at that. The lack of news of the tea parties would surely cause many to assume they either did not occur or represented only a small number of protesters.
There is no way to estimate how many participated, but it is foolhardy to ignore the numbers which, together, were very likely a million or more.
If the economy continues to tank, there will be even greater participation in these events in the months and years ahead.
Despite the constant media coverage of Obama as singularly blessed with the skills to solve the nation's problems, a growing number of Americans are not fooled and, indeed, Rasmussen polling that tracks opinions of his performance is now showing that more people disapprove than approve. It has taken barely six months for the disenchantment to set in.
Put all those people at the protests together with all those who share their discontent and you have a huge voting bloc in 2010 that is going to be eager to vote out any member of Congress who participated in these policies.
© Alan Caruba
July 8, 2009
An estimated 2,000 "Tea Party" nationwide protests against excessive taxation did not get much coverage in the nation's mainstream media.
You had to visit World Net Daily to get the story. According to WND, between 3,000 and 4,000 gathered in San Antonio while more than 2,000 gathered in Marietta, Georgia. There were a reported 1,500 in Louisville, Kentucky, and 1,500 in Olympia, Washington. In Reno, 3,000 showed up.
If you Googled for "Tea Party" on July 5th, the day after the many events scheduled for Independence Day, you would come up empty except for a brief story in the Newark, NJ Star-Ledger, "Thousands take part in 'tea party' protest against high taxes in Morristown."
While the Star-Ledger deserves credit for its coverage it was a tad short on its tally of those held in New Jersey, calling it "more of more than a dozen." According to the Tea Party website, there were 37 such events in New Jersey planned for the day. Many states had comparable numbers.
With the exception of a few local Associated Press stories there was, in effect, a news blackout of coverage turning the tea parties into the equivalent of secret events. Watching television news throughout the Fourth, one would scarcely have been aware of them.
In my lifetime, it is a massive departure from the coverage given the Civil Rights movement and the Vietnam War protests that dominated the 1960s and 70s.
The failure to provide coverage further exacerbates the growing distrust of the mainstream media.
The fact that hundreds of thousands of people can peacefully gather to protest the Cap-and-Trade bill that passed the House and to oppose the proposed healthcare reforms, along with the many bailouts and limpid "stimulus" bill results thus far, and not generate any coverage among the media is extremely troubling. It makes Rush Limbaugh's charge that they are now "government" newspapers ring true.
It amounts to a cover-up and a very deliberate one at that. The lack of news of the tea parties would surely cause many to assume they either did not occur or represented only a small number of protesters.
There is no way to estimate how many participated, but it is foolhardy to ignore the numbers which, together, were very likely a million or more.
If the economy continues to tank, there will be even greater participation in these events in the months and years ahead.
Despite the constant media coverage of Obama as singularly blessed with the skills to solve the nation's problems, a growing number of Americans are not fooled and, indeed, Rasmussen polling that tracks opinions of his performance is now showing that more people disapprove than approve. It has taken barely six months for the disenchantment to set in.
Put all those people at the protests together with all those who share their discontent and you have a huge voting bloc in 2010 that is going to be eager to vote out any member of Congress who participated in these policies.
© Alan Caruba
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