As most of you are aware, another tea party tax rally was held Wednesday in Washington D.C., where outraged Americans gathered, apparently to protest the fact that their taxes are the lowest they've been in 60 years ... but never mind that, because they're outraged.
Of course we're all familiar with tea party protester's embrace of teabonics, their oft-times blatant racism, and of course their reliance on Fox-fueled misinformation. So instead of rehashing the lunacy from the crowd, let's focus on how the protest was reported by two news organizations ... one from Politico's Ken Vogel, and the other from CBS News' Brian Montopoli ... and see what a reader would have learned and what message they would take away from the event.
From Vogel, one would learn that a spokeswoman from the Tea Party Express thought that rallies were great but that, "if we truly want to affect change, we are going to have to get involved in the election process," and that:
... speakers at the midday Washington rally, including several Republican members of Congress, proclaimed that the tea party movement had already reordered the political landscape.
... followed by several paragraphs about "infiltrators" trying to destroy the movement, about organizers condemning "reports of slurs and threats of violence against Democratic members of Congress," and a quote from a protester:
I’ve been to five rallies and I haven’t seen any of that.
... then a couple of more paragraphs about infiltrators, the assertion that there were "few if any edgy sentiments – from infiltrators or otherwise – on tee-shirts or signs at Thursday’s midday rally," and concluded with its one and only quote from a speaker -- Michele Bachmann (R-MN):
" I say it's time for these little piggies to go home," she exhorted the crowd, urging them to help conservatives being targeted for defeat – including her. “We need to have your help for candidates like me. We need you to take out some of these bad guys."
All in all, it sounded like a lovely event, suitable for the whole family ... now let's look at Mr. Montopoli's account:
Clutching angry signs and occasionally breaking out into chants of "USA! USA!," the protesters listened to a series of fiery speeches attacking the Obama administration for what they cast as irresponsible spending and far left wing policies.
Rep. Michele Bachmann said the "gangster government" has instituted a "takeover of one private industry after another," again making her questionable claim that "the federal government owns or controls 51 percent of the private economy." [...]
She said the Obama administration is "perfectly content with presiding over a decline in our economy," adding: "I'd say it's time for these little piggies to go home, and come November that's where they're headed."
Well, that sounds a little different, doesn't it? But that was probably just one speaker:
Earlier in the rally, former Saturday Night Live cast member Victoria Jackson played a ukulele and sang a song claiming "there's a communist living in the White House." Part of her evidence for that claim, she said, was that both of the president's parents were communists before they "abandoned him."
Okay, that was quite vicious, but at least, as Mr. Vogel reported, there were "few if any edgy sentiments" on display:
On the more extreme end was a man dressed in tar and feathers and an Obama joker mask. There was also a large bus circling the rally with "kill the bill" written on it and photos of aborted babies and grim reapers.
The Associated Press documented some of the signs being waved: "We Want Regime Change," "Save a Seal, Club a Liberal," "Down with the Gov't Takeover," "End the Fed" and "Waterboard Bernanke."
Amazing, isn't it? It's hard to believe that those two stories were about the same event ... brings to mind the expression, "consider the source," doesn't it?
And for more positive, upbeat coverage of the tea party protest, be sure to check out Vogel's follow-up story on infiltrators, or this hard-hitting news story about Michele "gangster government" Bachmann's assertion that tea party protesters are the “happiest people you would ever want to meet.”