In this Wisconsin labor mob story, there is a double standard of epic proportions that has in my opinion eclipsed the actual story itself, because the media serves the gatekeeper role in our society of shaping public opinion. When the truth is actively suppressed, a key element to understanding the story has gone amiss. True reporting in journalism means telling the whole story, whether you like the truth or not. Not just choosing to omit facts and details that would change the entire way one would view the story. In this particular ongoing and still developing story, it would seem that the protestors have enjoyed a protected status by suppressing inconvenient facts which would undermine their moral authority.
By comparison, Tea Party supporters were not just subjected to an infinitesimally higher amount of scrutiny, but were actually accused of words and actions that were wholesale manufactured — complete fabrications. Lies. The Tea Party in general, and by extension, conservatives at large, were painted endlessly as hateful, illogical, uneducated, racist rabble that was the lowest of scum in America. And this narrative went largely unchallenged until the media was forced to actually attend rallies instead of ignoring them, allowing their own prejudicial decrees to filter into their reporting on a subject they resolutely remained ignorant. The media, hoping the Tea Party would fizzle out, did their best to ignore the story by refusing to treat the first real grassroots movement in America in some time as something serious and worth reporting on with accuracy to serve their proper function and role in the interest of the American people and society as a whole.
Once it was clear the Tea Party wasn’t going to implode as the media hoped, phase two on the War on the Tea Party went into effect. This phase was guided by their own ignorance and prejudice and it came through in their reporting. Instead of doing some investigation to shed light on the movement, and come face-to-face with the people themselves to learn what they could of it all, they instead launched a smear campaign where any member of the Tea Party found themselves a target of disdain. All major media accounts during this time portrayed these people as bloodthirsty, racist, “overwhelmingly white,” gun-happy, and irrationally angry. Another tactic was to smear these people as reactionaries to the idea of a black man in the White House. Again, painting with the racist brush without even really knowing a single thing about what the reality was and remains to this day.
We all heard about the out-and-out fabrications such as the “kill him!” exclamation that was supposedly heard at some Obama rally. There was absolutely no basis or truth to this lie, which was propped up by a single reporter who claimed to have heard it. Later a thorough FBI investigation concluded that this reporter was the only person that “heard” this shouted. When you look back, and consider that reporters were actually fired for wearing Obama t-shirts at his rallies while on the job, reporting, one could possibly draw a somewhat educated guess as to what really happened there.
But the damage here had been done. Before truth got its pants on, this story had made it fully around the world — truth be damned, because this was so good (in the minds of your left-leaning editors) it had to run right away without a single fact-check. You see, this was clear-cut evidence that the hatred was out of control — that anyone who opposed Obama wished death upon him, that there could be no ideological reasons for opposing Obama for president. This story, even after proven false, had served its purpose to further cement the fabricated notion that the opposition, or Tea Party supporters, were an angry mob bent on destroying the American way of life.
Part of the War on the Tea Party was the use of the term teabagger. Personally I find this term revolting, juvenile, and completely out of bounds for any serious, adult discussion. The term was used by some of the older Tea Party proponents with complete ignorance to its slang term for a sexual act. I seriously don’t believe that you will find a genuine member of the Tea Party using this term with a full understanding of the meaning of it used as slang. However, this did not stop the left from latching on to this term like a starving vampire and suck it dry for all the mileage they could get from it. It is ironic indeed that as a group they are calling for civility, yet giggle like 12-year-olds using the term every chance they can as a way to deflate relevance through endless ridicule. It says quite a lot about anyone who employs this term because it shows a complete disdain for civility, for open and honest discourse, for true tolerance and diversity in the political marketplace of free ideas. Anyone who chooses to drop this term is showing some true colors here as it quite plainly proclaims they are not interested in anything other than deep-seated partisanship that makes true dialog a waste of time for all parties.
An aside here – now the latest term seems to be variations on the Koch brothers. All one has to do is look at the signs. It is indeed hard to believe we are dealing with fully functional adults with these crude references that they must giggle about smirkily with their compatriots. It says more about them then anything else.
Now back to the War on the Tea Party. As time progressed, a funny thing happened, funny at least to these left-leaning journalists who thought they had it all figured out. They were forced to go into these crowds and talk to the people. And once this started happening, the narrative started to break down, because the truth was finally being unearthed (from their perspective at least, because to us it had been in plain sight from day one). Suddenly the media became aware of minority Tea Party members and whole minority Tea Party groups and coalitions. This did not fit the narrative at all. In fact MSNBC famously cropped out the “blackness” of a gun-toting Tea Party member who never once caused any trouble at all. They were clinging to their prejudiced, warped reality in the face of the truth: that the Tea Party welcomes all races and creeds, and is not violent in the least.
These minority Tea Party and conservative members had a voice, and they used it. The media grudgingly reported on this but it was summarily ignored by the mainstream media. However, the reality remained true, and this reality was realized on election night when conservatives elected in Marco Rubio, Allen West, Tim Scott, Susana Martinez, Nikki Haley, and Brian Sandoval. This showed something surprising to the media from Republicans: undeniable tolerance and diversity on display. It is clear that the Tea Party and conservatives as a whole are listening to the message, and the messenger as well, but without concern to gender or race. One would think that by the election and support these candidates have received it should be enough to thoroughly dismiss the claims that the Tea Party and conservatives as a whole are racist or discriminatory. The actions should speak for themselves, at least if you are paying attention to the lesson they are teaching you in this year of 2011. Open your ears and your mind, and you may learn something here.
By comparison, the left has seemingly regressed, or perhaps more accurately, they are showing that their claims to champion tolerance and diversity ring hollow. In examining the videos, photos, and blog entries being generated by new media activists and bloggers, we can see that there is a lot of outright hatred and a propensity for violence that we simply did not see from the Tea Party in reality. In just the last couple of weeks, we have seen signs with crosshairs on Walker, signs calling him a terrorist, a dictator, Hitler … we have seen Tabitha Hale knocked down by an unhinged protester … we have seen a 17-year-old activist get accosted by an elderly pervert wanting to “teabag” him … we have seen a black gay Tea Party member insulted … we have heard a black conservative told that she’s “on Koch’s plantation” … we have seen conservative activists get assaulted … we’ve seen a cameraman called a sexual slur and then threatened with violence … we have seen outright racism, hatred, and a complete lack of tolerance on display for anyone who could see with their own two eyes. Not to mention that the union crowd protesting is “overwhelming white.” It was of utmost important to drive this home during the Tea Party protests, yet can’t seem to get a single mention on any mainstream media broadcast or published piece.
By far and large, the mainstream media seems absolutely determined not to mention a word about the signs, the hatred, the violence, the racial slurs and sexual bigotry among the very people that were supposed to be the model citizenry opposed to such vileness. This is an absolute dereliction of duty, and the only cause can be that the mainstream media is far more engaged in protecting the narrative they advocate rather than tell the American people the truth.
One of the fears of the media during the Tea Party protests was that the anger would spill over and form an unruly mob which would pour into the seat of government, creating an atmosphere of fear and hostility to anyone who oppose them? Isn’t this the very thing that has happened with the Wisconsin labor mob? Where is the concern from the mainstream media for those Republican members of government in their capitol?
And before wrapping up here, it is interesting to note that there has not been any condemnation of the Wisconsin Democrats who fled the state. Do I even have to write here what the difference would be if the parties were reversed? I guarantee the reporting on that facet of this story would be a whole new ballgame.
By all accounts the mainstream media has absolutely failed the American people on so many fronts it has become a tragic comedy. It has become clear that attempting to garner any truth from the networks or newspapers is a lost cause. If one wants to see what the whole story is one must do their own reporting by seeking out as many sources as possible to find what that truth may be. My trust in the mainstream media died back in 2008, and my utter contempt has reached a rather steep level as we witness what might be some of the most one-sided reporting in the history of journalism.
We are truly lucky to have the internet in this age of advocacy journalism when reporting the truth is an actual inconvenience in broadcasting the narrative which must be preserved no matter what the ethical journalist cost is. I mourn the lack of objective journalism and have taken up the cause to combat the lies the mainstream media in my own element, and I take heart that so many Americans understand what is at stake by joining the cause as well.
