Blatantly biased front page article
From the opening line (“beneath the glow of the gold domed capital.”), it was painfully obvious where Ms. Sorensen’s loyalties lay-with those conservatives who had “gathered with the spirit and pride that formed the foundation for America’s success.” Never on the front page of a legitimate newspaper, school-run or otherwise, have I seen such blatant disregard for objectivity.
Because Ms. Sorensen failed to even suggest another side to the tea party story, I will do so now; the vital difference being that my side-although swimming in fact-will rightfully dwell in the Opinion section, while her side was unforgivably presented as unbiased reporting.
“In a true grass roots movement.” – Since when are grass roots movements initiated by Dick Armey, plugged non-stop by Fox News and hosted by Sean flipping Hannity (as the Atlanta event was)? Since never; that’s when. Nice try, millionaires.
“.people of all ages and ethnicities gathered.” – Every single photograph from the event and everything we know about Republicans and libertarians suggest that the crowds were predominately older (yes, some with toddlers in tow) and overwhelmingly white.
“There were mixed sentiments about congress [sic] and excessive government spending. Some radicals even went as far as to call the government socialist.” – There were no mixed sentiments about excessive government spending: everyone in attendance railed against it; some were crazier than others. “Even the nation’s youth turned out to protest the massive amounts of debt the government was pouring on them.” – Keep in mind that this sentence is being presented as fact. Are you sufficiently livid? OK, now consider the actual fact that President Obama has yet to raise income taxes on a single American. On the contrary, he has given 95 percent of citizens (all those making less than $250,000-that means you, Joe College) a tax break.
So, if taxes aren’t students’ cup of tea, they should be attending a rally in support of Obama’s stimulus package, instead of a silly, paradoxical “party” protesting the $300 he just deposited into their ungrateful bank accounts.
“Americans of all socioeconomic classes showed concern for future generations that will carry the burden of this generation’s debt.” – This isn’t factually inaccurate; I’m just curious where all the tea parties were being held while George W. Bush was wildly expanding the government and turning America’s greatest surplus into its greatest deficit by way of (among other things) a superfluous war in Iraq that has cost us nearly $700 billion. For eight long years, Bush exponentially increased the reach and expenditure of government while simultaneously lowering taxes for the rich. During that time, conservatives held exactly zero tea party-like demonstrations (that I know of).
Meanwhile, Obama has been in office three months, during which time he has put a stop to torture, vowed to pull out of Iraq and given a sizable tax break to the middle and lower classes. The result: conservatives up in arms, storming the streets with picket signs (in lieu of pitchforks) in one of the most hilariously hypocritical instances of “democracy in action” ever produced.
If not for the myriad, mammoth follies of the previous administration, Obama would never have had to propose such a broad and yes, expensive, stimulus package. Would you poor college students rather he asked you to help pay for it, instead of the wealthiest tax bracket in America (which includes Obama himself)? I didn’t think so.
“With a strong voice, these American’s [sic] have regained the spirit of national pride and are ready to take responsibility for the nation.” – I am all for national pride, civic participation and long-term consideration for our economy, safety, etc. But in order to participate responsibly in a democracy, it is absolutely essential that one retain a sense of what my dad calls Situation Awareness-that is, a basic understanding of what’s going on around you.
An example of a lack of situation awareness would be the man holding the “Born free but taxed to death!” sign at the Atlanta tea party. This man almost definitely has a tax break on the way, courtesy of the president he was so passionately attacking.
Another example would be the man whose sign read “I’ll keep my money, freedom & guns! You can keep the CHANGE.” Sir, there is a 95 percent chance that you, too, just received a tax break, and Obama hasn’t even hinted at stripping anyone of their freedom or guns. (Of course, that hasn’t stopped gun sales and even gun violence from irrationally spiking in fear of some vague, mythical “Obama gun ban.”)
Misinformation is an airborne plague upon our democracy; it spreads via word-of-mouth and the airwaves of Fox News, MSNBC and other skewed “news” outlets. In order to combat propaganda, we must tune in to a variety of sources, particularly those without bias (if there are any left) and those that challenge our beliefs. As Ms. Sorensen pointed out, we also must hold our representatives accountable-but it is equally vital that, when they fail to illuminate the whole truth, we hold our media accountable.
Last week, our local medium-The Colonnade-failed us miserably.
Posted by Colonnade Archives
on Apr 24 2009. Filed under Opinion.
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