unCommon Sense: to TeaBag, or not to TeaBag
The politically charged “Tea Parties” that seem to have become more widespread in the US recently have gotten a lot of people on both sides of the fence up in arms. The typical conservative response so far has been (not surprisingly) full support, while accusing the democratic controlled congress of attacks on their liberty and their futures; they say the protesters are just average folks fed up with big government. Ok… Meanwhile, the typical liberal response has been to paint these protesters as anarchists and maybe even the newly minted and potentially dangerous “rightwing extremists”. However, most major outlets largely ignored the protesters altogether… One commentator, Rachel Maddow, even went so far as to mock sexual innocence, wondering aloud on her MSNBC show tonight if the protesters realized what the dirty implication of a “tea bag” meant. The current guest on the show casually suggested that the protesters probably weren’t aware - since they didn’t watch her show, but rather the “other” channel.
So, to quickly sum up how Maddow was trying to rip conservatives: The Fox News Channel’s idea of a Tea Bag; protesting with some flavored water. MSNBC {Rachel Maddow}’s idea of a Tea Bag; dipping some testicles in an open mouth.* Oh, those silly, out-of-touch-with-crude-sexual-terms Fox News watchers… I guess they all must have graduated from high school more than 5 years ago. Stay classy, Maddow.
* The Common Sense Republic’s official stance is that while we appreciate the humor inherent to both Tea Bags, we simply cannot choose sides.
Shockingly enough, MSNBC wasn’t the only network to associate the Murdox Empire with all this tea-baggery today:
Now this video was shown in a number of conservative outlets, and yes, on the surface, this lady seems to lack any journalistic skill. Maybe it’s just me, but she didn’t sound like she was there to really hear what people had to say or how they felt. She asked condescending questions, cut off responses, and had a pretty obvious “I am better than you” air about her. The real gem comes when she inanely accuses the tea parties of being “anti-cnn”, because “this is highly promoted by the right wing conservative, Fox” (probably the biggest giveaway of her lack of common sense) I think the video pretty much speaks for itself.
As I watched the video I thought her behavior was very out of the ordinary for a CNN reporter, who generally seem to be middle of the road, and I wondered what got her so riled up. So I did a little research and discovered another, longer piece of the clip, which actually explains why she was so abrasive with the average guy just trying to be a dad while saving a buck. Right before talking to him she interviewed this guy…
So this guy… This friggin’ guy… He single handedly tries to help prove the whole liberal anarchist position right there with a stupid, off topic sign about the President. Not only that, but this philosopher makes such excellent points and backs them up with such well thought-out arguments, how could he possibly be ignored by logical human beings? Granted, he probably wasn’t ready to defend himself, but does this guy really think that calling a sitting president a fascist is going to get his conservative and/or possibly redneck agenda anywhere? It just made him look like an idiot. That can be a big problem with the right, they sometimes can get caught up in the moment and take things too far. One day they are listening to a little too much talk radio, they get all riled up, suddenly the feathers are good and ruffled, and now they want to run out and shank something. (usually the only thing that ends up dying is their personal cause). And a great example is this overzealous or maybe even complete kook of a guy… this friggin’ guy… who makes all the good folks out there, everyone who stood in the rain and cold for a legitimate political concern, look like they have no common sense.
So once again it boils down to two opposite and overly extreme points of view playing a little game of “shoot myself in the foot roulette”. And who ends up losing? We all do.
It appears Im not the only one who thinks this way, respected blogger Michelle Malkin apparently saw it coming a mile away, and even exposes some further hypocrisy by the reporter, based on some actions during a protest back in 2006.
Update: HotAir is linking to a new Youtube video that contains a key former CNN reporter calling for an apology from the “journalist” above for being rude and crossing a journalistic line. Good Stuff.
So what do you think? Are you going to let the liberals, conservatives, or even the Republic tell you what you think about this new plan for a bigger government with increased spending, taxes, and bailouts? Do average people think it’s a bad idea or is it just the extremists? Only you can decide.
Related Post: Liberals vs Conservatives vs. Common Sense: Most Offensive Protest Signs.
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Here is a link to the Newsbuster’s post back in 2006, where the very same reporter joked that a protester wearing a bush/hitler/devil mask was a “lookalike”.
http://newsbusters.org/node/3586
Come on CNN, I hate to rage against the machine here, but reporters are supposed to be un-biased.
THANK YOU. How can a dialog of different viewpoints degenerate into ‘whoever disagrees with me is stupid” (liberal) or “whoever disagrees with me is fascist” (far right). Can anyone with a rational viewpoint be heard over the din of stupidity? Why are we devolving into junior high stereotypes everytime someone asks a hard, “bi-partisan” question? Where’s my “Bang Head here:____” sign when I need it?
I commented on it yesterday, and I’ve seen a few others hit the same point. The center-left and left approach to Tea Party Day was that it was some corporate-sponsored, Fox-News-driven conspiracy. This puzzles me. If (and in the past when) there’s a grass-roots movement (say) agianst the war that’s highlighted by liberal blogs, then it’s considered excellent use of the tools at hand.
Being dismissive of an entire movement is always a bad idea, no matter how much one wing-nut riles you up.
By the way, as an attendee, I saw this a right-originated, but it was a pretty broad mix who showed.
I agree, from everything I have read, it did seem to be a pretty good mix, which would indicate some level of concern that crosses party lines.
You know, the guy calling Obama a fascist was hardly a dimwit. Ordinary citizens don’t rehearse their responses to all manner of political discourse, so when this guy got put on the spot, it’s understandable that he may not have had the best answer. Perhaps, with greater composure and more rehearsal, he could have expounded on Obama’s efforts to consolidate and enhance Federal powers far beyond the scope of the Constitution, to use the Department of Homeland Security to paint conservative dissenters as potential terrorists, to nationalize banks and the auto industry. That protester’s lack of eloquence hardly undermines the truth of his point; by any rational definition of fascism, Obama’s administration is indeed fascist.
I would love to know what definition you are referring to. Websters dictionary defines fascism as :
a political philosophy, movement, or regime that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition.
Regardless of whether you feel that Obama is moving in the general direction of fascism through bigger government, that alone does not automatically qualify him as fascist. One of the key components of fascism is a state headed by a dictatorial leader, and Obama has only just been elected by popular vote less than 12 months ago, and has shown no signs of forcible suppression to opponents. Furthermore, I know of no statements or stances by Obama that would indicate he plans to take America towards a dictatorship, and certainly nothing that would indicate he plans to follow in the steps of Hitler (the poster was directly comparing Obama to Hitler)
Let me add that I would be happy to recant this position if shown proof to the contrary.
I further believe that if anyone stands up in public and calls an elected official(or anyone for that matter) a fascist, it is a serious accusation and an attack on the target’s character and reputation. The accuser should have a VERY good explanation, and be able to articulate it accordingly.
I didn’t like it when they called Bush a fascist and compared him to Hitler, and I don’t like it with Obama now.
The point I am making is that the anyone who literally compares any democratically elected President to a mass murdering fascist dictator will not be able to articulate a logical comparison, because there is no comparison.
Im not saying the guy is a bad guy, he was probably just misguided… but either way he suffered from some serious CSL (Common Sense Loss), and he wasn’t about to talk his way out of it, even if we gave him 3 weeks to construct a thesis.
[...] the aftermath of the tea parties, I posted a few thoughts on the CNN reporter fiasco. I obviously felt she was very biased, but I also had a few choice [...]