Fox News advances false claim that "House Call" protest was "spontaneous"
Fox News has repeatedly advanced, and in Sean Hannity's case adopted, Rep. Michele Bachmann's (R-MN) false claim that her November 5 House Call protest in opposition of health care reform was "organic" and "spontaneous." In fact, the protest was organized by House Republicans in collaboration with conservative activist groups, and was promoted by right-wing media outlets in advance of the actual event.
Fox News advances false claim that "House Call" protest was "spontaneous," "organic," organized by "word of mouth"
Napolitano does not dispute Bachmann's description of protest as
"spontaneous...organic." Appearing on the November 4 edition
of Fox News' Glenn Beck, Bachmann asked "real freedom-loving
Americans" to come to the steps of the Capitol, and said to guest-host
Andrew Napolitano: "Judge, we're going to have a meet-up. And it's
spontaneous. It's organic. Just last Thursday afternoon, I had the idea
to really kill this bill. We need to have members of Congress see real
freedom-loving Americans." After Bachmann pitched the protest, Napolitano said:
"Alright. You and I have been at these tea parties. We have each spoken at
them. And you know what the fire in the belly is like when freedom-loving
Americans hear the words that they want to hear."
Bachmann on Hannity: "[T]his was totally word of mouth. This was nothing that we organized, nothing that we planned. We didn't order one bus, one carload. Nothing." On the November 5 edition of Fox News' Hannity, after registering surprise at the number of people who attended the rally, Bachmann claimed "this was totally word of mouth. This was nothing that we organized, nothing that we planned. We didn't order one bus, one carload. Nothing. Complete word of mouth. And estimates are anywhere between 20 and 45,000 people" attended.
Brent Bozell: Protest was
"spontaneous combustion." On the November 5 edition of
Hannity, Media Research Center President Brent Bozell responded to
Hannity's claim that there was a "huge march on Washington today" by calling it
"spontaneous combustion. This wasn't an instant tea party, this was a coffee
urn exploding."
Peter Johnson Jr. advances GOP claim of no organization. Discussing
the protest on the November 6 edition of
Fox & Friends, guest host Peter Johnson Jr. uncritically
advanced the claim that the protest came together without planning or
organization on the part of GOP leadership, stating "the thing just kind
of grew, the Congresspeople claim that there was no organization for it, and it
kind of was a word of mouth thing."
Hannity: "This is a last minute thing." On the November 3 edition of The Sean Hannity Show, after guest Mark Levin discussed how "we're hoping to put together a pretty good little rally," Hannity responded by stating, "can I add one thing? I don't want to interrupt you. ...This is a last-minute thing."
In fact, the event was organized in collaboration with prominent Astroturf group
Bachmann worked with Americans for Prosperity on the "House Call"
protest. Fox News hosts repeatedly ignored that, despite Bachmann's
claim that "[t]his was nothing we organized, nothing that we
planned," health care opposition group Americans for Prosperity [AFP]
hosted a conference call with Bachmann and RedState.com's Erick Erickson before
the protest. A November 4 post on the AFP blog advertised that "Americans
for Prosperity will be hosting a conference call with Rep. Michele Bachmann and
RedState.com's Erick Erickson tonight (November 4th) at 8pm EST to discuss
tomorrow's Congressional House Call Day." The post added, "As the health care debate has drawn on,
we've heard from our contacts on Capitol Hill that calls and visits to the
members' D.C. and district offices are making a big impact. Americans for Prosperity is joining
with Representative Michele Bachmann and many others to drive citizen activists
to pay a visit to their member of Congress tomorrow, November 5th, at
noon."
Hannity did not challenge Bachmann's claim that there was no busing. On
the November 5 Hannity, Bachmann claimed that "[w]e didn't
order one bus, one carload. Nothing." In fact, according to their
website, AFP organized and ran numerous buses to bring people
to the protest. AFP listed free bus rides for supporters in New
Jersey and Pennsylvania.
Think Progress: Americans for Prosperity staffed the protest, organized
buses from multiple states. Think Progress reported
that at the protest, there were several AFP staffers organizing the
arrival of buses. According to one of those staffers, "We have
about 40 buses coming" from multiple states, including New
Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Maryland.
And, it was aggressively promoted by Fox News days in advance
Beck: "We'll get the word out ... and we'll
continue to have you make the pitch for people going to Washington, DC,
noon this Thursday." On the November 2 edition
of Glenn Beck's radio show, Bachmann stated, "I really believe, Glenn, if
we can get good normal patriot, freedom loving Americans to D.C., converge at
noon on Thursday on the Capitol steps, and what we need to do is
literally go into these members of Congress' offices, look in the whites of
their eyes and tell them don't take away my healthcare, don't take away my
freedom. Because once government gets this power, Glenn, they can use
healthcare as cradle to grave, they can use that as a pretext for controlling
every other aspect of our life." Beck stated at the end of the interview,
"Michele, God bless you. We'll get the word out and let's have you on a
little bit later on this week and we'll continue to have you make the pitch for
people going to Washington,
D.C., noon this Thursday, and
look them in the whites of their eyes." Bachmann again promoted the
protest on the November 4 edition
of Beck's radio program.
Bachmann: "[W]e began this on Sean Hannity's show." Also
during the November 4 Glenn Beck broadcast, Bachmann further detailed
her motivations to organize the protest, saying, "what we've done, and we
began this on Sean Hannity's show, is just to - the only thing I know to do at
this point to kill this bill is to ask and plead for real freedom-loving
Americans to come to the steps of the US Capitol tomorrow."
Fox and Friends posts details of the protest on their website. On
the November 3 edition
of Fox & Friends, two days before the protest, host Gretchen Carlson
interviewed Bachmann. Calling the planned protest "the Super Bowl of
freedom," Bachmann asked the show's viewers to join her on the steps
of the Capitol, and listed guests who were scheduled to show up. While Bachmann
was speaking, the on-screen text read: "Thursday reform bill protest
planned." At the end of the segment, Carlson told viewers
that "people can get more information, they can go to FoxandFriends.com. We'll link it
to your website."
And local police officials are hardly "naysayers." They're more, y'know, regular sayers.
Don't believe any police reports. In fact, don't believe any real news outlet that doesn't put the numbers over 5,000.
We should just believe you and wherever you got the 20,000 figure. Oh yeah, you probably heard that on Hannity's America, an opinion program.
Yet more proof some people can't tell the difference between opinion and news.
First off, the minimum in attendance was 20k! Plain and simple. My mother and I decided to drive nine hours from East Tennessee Tuesday evening after finding out my boss was going to be able to accommodate my work schedule so I could attend. Not that it matters but we drove ourselves (In my 95 Civic) as did many of the people we spoke with at the protest.
The first protest I ever attended was Knoxville's Tea Party earlier this year where about 2k people attended so needless to say I have a good idea on what a thousand people look like. (The amphitheater where the Knoxville Tea Party was held had a capacity of 1800 people and it was overflowing) Both Bush and Obama are to thank for my awakening; their ignorance and pure disregard for the voices of the American people (TARP, Stimulus, Bail Outs) is what's opened the eyes of so many people and Obamas ongoing agenda is only going to increase our numbers. Attending the House Call has motivated me to do even more. When liberals refer to people like me as Astro Turf all it does is fire me up more and pushes me to continue my involvement. Thank You!
We met many great people at the event; some flew from California, others drove from Michigan, Ohio, and Beyond. I assure you no one paid for my gas or hotel. Doing my very small part to save our freedom from this extreme President and his administration is all the payment I needed.
You're welcomed to view the protest from my point of view which only covers a small portion of the crowd:
Your text to link here...
See, that's really easy to do, too.
By showing up, you are, in fact, doing work FOR the insurance companies.
What proof is there that under the Democrats that government is any bigger than under Conservatives?
Photos don't lie. The aerial photo posted online yesterday at twitpix by Republican Congresswoman Lynn Jenkins clearly showed 3500-4000 people.
AFP paid for at least 40 buses and even made signs to appear as though they were hand-made by the people.
I believe you can go to thinkprogress.org to view a video showing AFP workers handing out propaganda and signs to those they bused in. I can't view the videos on Think Progress for some reason.
Here's a link on Youtube to a TYT episode that shows the same video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLkxYDesZVM
NBC's Luke Russert got an estimate of 3,000-3,500 people, from a Capitol policeman.
A photo posted by rally supporter Rep. Lynn Jenkins (R-KS) showed that the crow DID NOT even take up the full area of the Capitol building's lawn, and could NOT have been more than a few thousand people.
"there were definitely more than 4000 people there. Several people that were there put the nimbers closer to 50,000."
Reliable sources place the number around 3000 to 4000.
So by your estimates, "several people" was probably one person.
Yup, and that person was 'a friend of a friend of a friend'...
And let's be fair, a public option for health insurance is hardly "big government."
Doesn't sound so spontaneous or organic...
I mean who gave the notice?
"20,000 working people"
Eh, let's wait for the actually tally to come in, before we call this group, "working people", and if there were "20,000" of them.
But judging by the signs, we can say there were quite a few ignorant goof-balls in the group.
I'm still amazed that this mob (call them a "crowd" if you want) follows Republican politicians (emphasis on "politicians") to protest the "government".
Hmmm....
Aren't these same GOP politicians also part of the same government that the mob was supposed to be protesting? And, weren't some of these same GOP politicians in office when all this debt was laid on us?
Just what were these "average Americans" protesting? Not the GOP it seems. Judging by the signs, there seems to be a lot of emphasis on Obama and HC reform.
Where's the rage against all politicians that ran up the debt for the past 8+ years? Example: Iraq will cost at least $3 trillion for a war of choice, and the GOP thought it would be just dandy to cut taxes while conducting 2 wars. Good move, fiscal conservatives!
Once again, well-meaning, but ignorant people are used as pawns by the GOP con artists.
How convenient for the GOP.
I may not agree with the validity of those concerns but I can at least respect their right to express them, no matter how misguided I think they are.
However, I find their disengenuous rhetoric, batsh!t tactics, and colonial revolutionary mindset offensive and detached from reality.
I believe that this was organized by the GOP because I've so far read reports that this was a GOP news conference not a legal protest created by the public. Secondly I have no respect for those who gather for hate speech.
Please read this article and tell me if you still respect them.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/05/AR2009110504566.html?referrer=facebook
About 4,000 tea party protesters, many transported in free buses provided by AFP.
Americans for Prosperity buses coming to DC Nov 5th...
It was purely a political move, and had nothing to do with trying to actually accomplish anything positive.
To maximize the media coverage on Friday AM, leading into the weekend. Same reason disgraced political appointees almost always resign late on a Friday PM (to minimize coverage).
To maximize the media coverage on Friday, leading into the weekend. Same reason disgraced political appointees almost always resign late on a Friday (to minimize coverage).
Yeah... right
Spontaneous like a presidential campaign is spontaneous!
What a bunch of moronic chumps!
Hilarious Colbert segment
What makes me sick about you tea-baggers sudden concern about spending is that you're angry at the wrong people. ACORN,unions...working and poor people you view as the culprits or unworhty for relief,while you excuse the corporate greed and mismangement that has brought this country to it's knees. You shill for policies that will futher punish the workers while allowing the crooks who caused this crisis to continue to profit. You believe in the myths of the "Welfare Queen", and poor people laying around getting rich, or others getting something for nothing. The real truth is that healthcare reform and competition will ease the burden of many working people,the stimulus funds was to save jobs to not do it would have created even more hardship for the people who had nothing to do with the cause of the collaspe. All spending is not the same. What kind of economic stability would there be if President Obama would have let this country sink into another Great Depression? Your protest is misdirected and amounts to protesting that the rich are not rich enough, and the poor should just be quiet and accept their fate. I would have been more immpressed by you tea-baggers if you would have protested as George Bush ran this country into the ground. Instead you protest healthcare for all and a stimulus to save jobs and unemployment extensions to those suffering from the crisis,all the while CEO's earn 400x's more than their employees and Goldman Sachs reaps enormous profits from TARP. In the words of Mr. Spock of the Star Trek series "quite illogical."
I have seen no evidence of what you just described and I have google searched to see for myself. No free buses for sure, but invitations to show up. No corporate lobby subsidies and no cable news channel promotion. If you have actual evidence to the contrary I would be happy to see it.
I have indeed seen video interviews that confirm that the crowds are diverse in their loyalties and affiliations. But they continue to be misinformed by the powerful corporate and political interest groups under whose umbrella of vested interest they are rallying. The insurance industry lobby underwrites and directs the entire Tea Party movement. They do not operate in the interest of any of the protesters who serve their agenda.
There's where you really lose me. That invokes the perpetual smears by the Tea Party leaders and supporters, conservatives, and libertarians who just accept as gospel that they are the only true defenders of the Constitution. But few seem to understand what is in it. For God's sake, Senator John Boehner has twice now, held up a copy of the Constitution while quoting from the Declaration of Independance. Even HE doesn't understand what he is talking about. And he darn well should!
Yes. I remember "that old thing", and I know what is in it.
I am 59 years old; I have lived enough, seen enough, and have learned enough to know that virtually ALL of the rhetoric of the Tea Party leaders and protesters directly contradict what is in that document and that the preponderance of their fear and loathing is just flat out wrong! And you can see from my defense of your other post that I do not dispute the "patriotism" of protestors
The Constitution belongs to all of us, even the "stupid" "elitist" liberals or progressives. And as such, we also defend the Constitution. We don't interpret it to suit our whimsey, like it was the Bible. Its language is explicit and interpretation of its provisions is the sole mission of the Supreme Court. So forgive me if I choose not to have its content and intent dictated to me by people who clearly don't understand it.
I swear to God Darcy......I am not the enemy.
WAKE UP, SHEEPLE.
If you can stand to listen to the false and bombastic retoric, during the change of speakers you may detect the shouts of the progressive rally shoved waaay off to the side.
This was not unexpected.
The facts are that there is not a united belief that we need the Pelosi plan-- a plan that totally shuts out any republican input. This is not a compromise bill crafted by both sides; it is a one-sided power grab by Democrats who feel drunk with the majority power and feel they don't need any republican votes.
Any 2000+ page bill that gets passed without reading is going to create mischief for years to come, all at the taxpayer's expense. The problems with healthcare are economic, not medical. It boils down to people wanting something they can't presently afford, or costs more than they feel it is worth. The fact that many of us pay insurance masks the costs of health care and we too would find it expensive if we had to pay retail. There must be another way to address costs, but it is an economic problem not a medical issue. The same could be said for any commodity, except people have the impression that they are due health care as a God-given right.
Health care has too broad a meaning to be applied-- I may agree that everyone has a right to have their broken leg fixed, but I don't agree everyone has a right to a fanny lift or botox injections. None of this seems to be part of the debate-- it's an all or nuthin' agruement, with Robin Hood vs. Scrooge, as the cartoonish protagonists. If we want to have an honest change that takes us all seriously, we probably can improve health care. This endless posturing and demonization of the opposing side is tiresome and fruitless.
That well spring of opinion is well supported at 1.4 million a day from corporate medical opponets of medical reform, as well as the ability to spontaneously divide into four people of course.
There's carefully worded poll or two that doesn't put the public support at over 60%. The rest show that the public does want this in a majority of at least that much.
The GOP has had 11 months, and are members of all committes which produced bills. Their input was solicited, 500 amendments were produced, no few by Republicans. They did produce their own bill lately, might reduce the uninsured in this country by maybe 3 million, out of 46 million. The's some talk that none of the producers of this bill would be able to qualify for inclusion in their own program. The publicly stated purpose of their actions is to make this Obama's waterloo. To kill him politically. That's how much they care about medical reform.
The GOP demanded 72 hours to study the bill. They got it. I think your fudging your figures again, on the page count this time. Still each page was only printed on one side and not in anyway overly filled up on the printed side. Still to much like work for congressional aids? Pity.
I think the number of bankruptsies and house foreclosures due to medical costs would indicate how little we get for our medical health dollar. There are a few examples of countries who pay better than 1/2 of our costs per population. The majority of develped countries pay less.
Elective surgury is no part of the current bill. Why would you think it should be part of the debate?
Nice try at an objective air on this. Your details trip you up as a reform opponet though.
Speaking truth to/about progressives
It's a simple, reactionary philosophy based on a single meme: war. They will fight any and everywhere any idea for change is proposed, whether it is for the better or not. Remember 'Bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran'? This is the summation of their beliefs. Change Iran to health reform. Change it to stimulus spending to avoid a depression. Change it to anything President Obama and the current government have proposed, and you will find folks like proudconservative standing dutifully on the other side, objecting loudly but usually in a fact-free manner.
However the point i was trying to make and i spelled it out in another post on this thread is that in my own opinion CONSERVATIVES be they , traditional, NEO CONSERVATIVES, OR FAUX COSERVATIVES, have been on the wrong side of history when it comes to programs to better conditions for the people . Just like now they are opposing health care reform. That is the CONSERVATIVE mindset oppose any reform unless it benifits the rich or big business.
How so? Please illumine me!! :|
Speaking truth to/about progressives
Speaking truth to/about progressives
So if liberals are whistling past a graveyard, it has nothing to do with superstition but glee. And why not? Look closely and you'll notice all the grave markers say the same thing:
"GOP
RIP"
Randy