"Conservative Woodstock?" Fox News' all-day promotion of anti-Reid tea party rally
On March 27, Fox News continued its political activism by aggressively promoting that day's Tea Party Express rally, which targeted for defeat Sen. Harry Reid and other members of Congress who support health care reform. The rally was sponsored by a political action committee run by Republican consultants and headlined by Fox News contributor Sarah Palin, whose speech Fox broadcast live.
Fox-promoted Tea Party Express III targets Reid, other health care reform supporters
Tea Party Express wants to "Vote Them Out,' "tak[e] our country back." TeaPartyExpress.org provides the following "message" for "The Tea Party Express III: Just Vote Them Out! Tour": "You, the politicians in Washington, have failed We The People with your bailouts, out-of-control deficit spending, government takeovers of sectors of the economy, Cap & Trade, government-run health care, and higher taxes! If you thought we were just going to quietly go away, or that this tea party movement would be just a passing fad, you were mistaken. We're taking our country back!"
Tour will "highlight some of the worst offenders in Congress." According to its website:
The Tea Party Express national bus tour will host a series of tea party rallies all across the nation, launching from Sen. Harry Reid's hometown of Searchlight, NV on March 27th and concluding in Washington, D.C. on Tax Day - April 15th.
At each stop the tour will highlight some of the worst offenders in Congress who have voted for higher spending, higher taxes, and government intervention in the lives of American families and businesses. These Members of Congress have infringed upon the freedom of the individual in this great nation, and its time for us to say: "Enough is Enough!"
Tour kicks off with "Showdown in Searchlight" targeting Reid." TeaPartyExpress.org bills the March 27 rally as the "Showdown in Searchlight" with "[o]ur first target: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid - he's got to go!" A promotional video for the "Mega Rally" states that "you're invited to help us kick Harry out of the Senate and send him back home for an early retirement."
Tour is "all about" ensuring that members of Congress who support health care reform lose their seats. In a March 20 post to the Tea Party Express blog, "TPX Admin" wrote of health care reform legislation, "If they defy the American people, defy our Constitution, and push this bill through, then we will make sure they lose their seats in Congress. That is exactly what the 'Tea Party Express III: Just Vote Them Out' national tour and the 'Showdown in Searchlight' are all about."
At Fox, "all eyes on Searchlight, Nevada" for Tea Party Express kick-off rally
Fox & Friends promotes "huge day for the tea party" as they begin "getting ready to rumble." On Fox & Friends Saturday, co-host Clayton Morris said it was a "huge day for the tea party... they're firing up, filling up the tanks with gas, 23 states getting ready to rumble."
On Fox, "all eyes on Searchlight, Nevada today" for kick-off of Tea Party Express III. On Fox & Friends Saturday, co-host Dave Briggs reported that "thousands of tea partiers are descending on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's hometown," adding that "they're kicking off a massive new tour across the country to protest against Democrats who voted for health care reform." During the segment, radio host Michael Graham -- who is listed as a special guest for the April 14 Tea Party Express rally in Boston -- said that the tea partiers are "fighting for fundamental American values, and they are not going to quit." Briggs concluded the segment by stating "all eyes on Searchlight, Nevada today."
Fox & Friends hosts "one of the keynote speakers" to discuss "the message" of the rally. Fox & Friends Saturday hosted radio host Jerry Doyle, "one of the keynote speakers today," and asked him to discuss "the message" of the rally.
Cavuto previews Fox News' coverage priority for the day. During his health care special Final Diagnosis, Neil Cavuto said of Fox's tea party coverage, "We're going to be going back and forth to Nevada for something that doesn't take place for another five hours."
Cavuto on protestors: "God bless these folks." During Final Diagnosis, showing footage of tea party protestors gathering for the rally "four and a half hours from now," Cavuto commented, "I don't do that for anything. Well, maybe a Cinnabon opening." He concluded: "God bless these folks."
Fox's Stegall on rally: "This is going to be a big day." During Final Diagnosis, Cavuto stated that Fox News would be covering live Fox News contributor Sarah Palin's speech at the rally. Cavuto and Fox News' Casey Stegall, who was on location in Searchlight, discussed how "quite a crowd" had gathered hours before the rally. Stegall said that the rally was targeting Reid, adding that "no doubt a lot of people are calling for his resignation, a lot of people not only in Nevada but across the rest of the country, for that matter, not happy with Harry Reid." Stegall concluded that "this is going to be a big day."
Stegall: There is "a real energy that you feel from" the protestors. During Final Diagnosis, Cavuto said that the tea party protestors are "just warming up" in Searchlight, adding that there was a "pretty impressive group thus far." In a subsequent report, Stegall said that there is "a real energy that you feel from the people who are out here." Stegall added that "a lot of folks in this country are very upset, and they are not happy about what went down in Washington last Sunday with the passage of this health care bill." He added that "this is a very grassroots campaign."
Cavuto hosts Quayle who calls protest the "silent majority" becoming "silent no more." On Final Diagnosis, Cavuto conducted a phone interview with former Vice President Dan Quayle, who said of the protestors that there had been a "radical expansion of government, and god bless these folks, they're trying to take things into their own hands." Quayle also said that "instead of being part of what Richard Nixon used to call that silent majority, they're silent no more."
Fox News asks if rally is "Conservative Woodstock." Shannon Bream opened the noon ET hour of America's News HQ by stating of the rally, "Organizers are hoping it will be a conservative Woodstock as thousands of tea party activists converge on Harry Reid's small town of Searchlight, Nevada." Bream also aired the following graphic:
During the following segment, Stegall said that the Tea Party Express was "taking this town by storm."
Bream: "How appropriate" that Tea Party Express tour concludes on "Tax Day." In a live update on America's News HQ, Stegall said that "this event is the most action Searchlight has perhaps seen ever," adding that "people from all over the country have converged on this dusty field in the desert to have their voices heard." After Stegall noted that the bus tour concludes on April 15, "Tax Day," Bream commented, "How appropriate."
Fox promotes, lauds "rock star" Palin's keynote address
Palin listed as event's "Keynote Speaker." TeaPartyExpress.org lists Palin as the "Keynote Speaker" for the March 27 rally.
Fox News breathlessly "Awaiting Sarah Palin's Arrival At Nevada Tea Party Rally." Teasing coverage of the rally at the top of the 3 p.m. ET hour of America's News HQ, host Rick Folbaum and Jamie Colby agreed that it would be a "very busy hour," with Folbaum stating that "Palin is expected to take the stage at the bottom of this hour, and we will bring it to you live." During the segment, the following caption aired:
Folbaum: "How far could today's rally go to stamping the Tea Party as a dominant political force in America?" On America's News HQ, Folbaum preceded Palin's rally speech by asking "how far could today's rally go to stamping the Tea Party as a dominant political force in America, and how real is the Palin effect?" Folbaum also stated that "these tea party folks have been very tough on a lot of Republicans out there, but they love Sarah Palin, don't they?"
Fox airs Palin's
speech in its entirety. Fox News aired Palin's entire
Searchlight speech. During her remarks, Palin attacked
the "lamestream media" for their "lies" about conservatives "inciting violence,"
offered an
explanation for her prior comment that conservatives
should "RELOAD!" not "Retreat," and repeatedly
attacked Reid.
Stegall: Crowd "went wild," "nuts" at "rock star"
Palin's speech. On
the 4 p.m. ET hour
of America's News
HQ, co-host Gregg Jarrett called the rally "the Tea
Party flexing its muscles." Reporting on Palin's speech, Stegall explained the
Palin comments for which the crowd "really went wild" and "really went nuts."
Stegall called Palin "the rock star here," and said that Palin was "no doubt
very, very big, she was the big draw of this event." He concluded that Palin's
speech was "why more than 10,000 people have converged on this tiny town, her
message very well-received."
Tea Party Express was launched by Republican consultants, headed by birther
Tea Party Express run by Republican PAC. The Associated Press reported in October 2008 that Our Country Deserves Better PAC, which launched the Tea Party Express and is the national sponsor of Tea Party Express III, "was formed in August [2008] by California political consultant Sal Russo and former California Assemblyman Howard Kaloogian." As their OCDB biographies note, Russo is a veteran Republican consultant and Kaloogian served as a Republican.
OCDB's mission is to oppose Obama and "Democratic Congress." On its "About Us" page, OCDB states that "we must stand up to Barack Obama and the Democrat-controlled Congress." The PAC also solicits contributions by stating, "Help us fight the Democratic Congress!" NPR reported on September 26, 2008, that OCDB's website then said "it has one objective: to defeat Obama." During the 2008 campaign, the PAC hosted "patriotic, pro-McCain/Palin rallies" to "Stop Obama."
OCDB campaigns against "Pelosi Democrats." As part of their effort to "Defeat Pelosi Democrats," OCDB "campaign[ed]" "on behalf of" Republican New York congressional candidate Jim Tedisco in March by "broadcasting television and radio advertisements. ... Total ad buy is expected to reach well into the hundreds of thousands by Election Day."
OCDB campaigns to "Defeat Harry Reid." OCBD has initiated a campaign against Reid and is urging people to make contributions to "purchase airtime for our 'Defeat Harry Reid' TV and radio ads."
TPM: Majority of OCDB spending in recent reporting period "went to GOP firm that created it."On December 28, 2009, Zachary Roth reported for Talking Points memo that "[t]he political action committee behind the Tea Party Express (TPE) -- which already has been slammed as inauthentic and corporate-controlled by rival factions in the Tea Party movement -- directed almost two thirds of its spending during a recent reporting period back to the Republican consulting firm that created the PAC in the first place." Roth further wrote:
Our Country Deserves Better (OCDB) spent around $1.33 million from July through November, according to FEC filings examined by TPMmuckraker. Of that sum, a total of $857,122 went to Sacramento-based GOP political consulting firm Russo, Marsh, and Associates, or people associated with it.
OCDB, which built the Tea Party Express, is essentially a Russo, Marsh creation, as we've detailed. The PAC's site was registered in July 2008 by Sal Russo, the firm's founder. That site also lists Russo as the PAC's "chief strategist." Tea Party Express fundraising emails, sent by OCDB and obtained by TPMmuckraker, come from another Russo, Marsh employee, Joe Wierzbicki.
Express chairman Williams a birther with history of calling progressives "Nazis." Mark Williams, the chairman of Tea Party Express, has previously called President Obama and Jimmy Carter "Nazis"; has advanced the discredited smear that Obama lacks a valid birth certificate and referred to him as "Our Half White, Racist President;" and has stated that "people have made up their minds ... that if we vote Democrat, that just hastens the day we disappear in a nuclear holocaust."
Fox News aggressively promoted previous Tea Party Express tours
Fox News has aggressively promoted the Tea Party Express tours. Fox News, Fox Business, Fox Nation, and FoxNews.com have promoted the tours, going so far as to cheerlead for the protests and advertise the tea party schedule so viewers "can be a part" of the events. Indeed, a Fox News producer was even caught coaching a crowd to cheer during a stop of the Tea Party Express.
In turn, the organizers of Tea Party Express have used Fox's coverage for fundraising. The OCDB PAC used Fox News' coverage of its Tea Party Express to fundraise in a July 29, 2009, email.
Fox News follows pattern of conservative protest promotions
Fox News promoted April 15 tea parties. In the lead-up to the April 15, 2009, tea parties, which the channel repeatedly described as "FNC Tax Day Tea Parties," Fox News frequently aired segments publicizing and encouraging viewers to get involved with the protests. A Media Matters for America study found that from April 6 to 13, Fox News featured at least 20 segments on the "tea party" protests. A subsequent Media Matters study found that from April 6 to 15, Fox News aired at least 107 commercial promotions for its coverage of the April 15 tea parties.
Fox News promoted health care disruptions. Fox News promoted disruptions of Democratic town hall events by protesters opposed to health care reform -- protests that are being touted by Republican leaders and supported by conservative groups. Following the August 2 disruption of a town hall event hosted by Sen. Arlen Specter (D-PA) and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Fox News personalities repeatedly lauded such protesters and urged viewers to take similar action.
Fox News promoted 9-12 protests. In the lead-up to the 9-12 protest, Beck's website worked with others organizing the September 12 "March on Washington" and he repeatedly encouraged viewers to attend the protest. Fox News also heavily promoted the Tea Party Express tour -- the final stop of which was the 9-12 protest -- on Fox News, Fox Business, the Fox Nation, and FoxNews.com.
And LOL @ Woodstock. Yeah, those conservatives sure know how to party.
Of course, 20-50 thousand didn't show up this weekend at this little "We hate Harry Reid" party.
And there was plenty of coverage of every single tea party protest that has happened since last year.
The news media covered the anti-war demonstrations briefly, regardless of how many people took part. If they were mentioned, it was usually a 30 second clip. Each of the anti-war demonstrations was larger than any of the teabag Woodstocks so far. And whenever there's a Fox sponsored event it's covered 24/7.
There's no comparison. Maybe there will be if they institute "Free speech zones", pens a mile aways from the activity to be protested, for the demonstrators.
The other funny thing, is that the weekend of the bill being passed, there was an immigration rally that had almost 200,000 people there, and it received far less coverage than the few thousand who went to scream and spit at Congressmen.
Don't ask me I don't know sh!t.
But I hear Fox is sponsoring it.
And it's 5, 6, 7, open up the silver state
'Cause we love the crap from Faux News guys
Whoopee! We'll just swarm like flies."
"Tonight on KKKlanity's America, are blacks to blame for the global warming hoax? Some say we need to drill drill drill from Skoakie to West Chester, and IN 3D!"
"Next on O'Reilly's Spin Factor, Louis Farakhan, inspirational leader, or just another dumb black man? We distort, you comply, next on OLY? IN 3D!"
"Tonight on Greta, the healthcare bill, some say the democrats are TERRORIZING the American people with Suni Muslim Iraqi type warfare and nucleur dichtomy, should you be worried about your bank accounts? Next on Greta, and see my plastic face close up and IN 3D!"
Faux, IN 3D, 24/7, WE control YOU!
Absolutley. He just babbles nonsense off a TelePrompter. She has constructive things to say. Of course Fox should cover our next president more than a Chicago street thug.
Find a new stream of blather to be monomaniacal about.
All I can say is wow, man. I just don't see how you can believe the things you post. What color is the sky in your world, dude?
Stick to topics you know about.
homer simpson
What can I say about this? What can anyone say about this comment.
Do you understand how petty, desperate, and childish the teleprompter talking point has become?
Do you stick your fingers in your ears and yell "nana-nana-nyah nyah" when people you don't agree with 100% speak?
Your above post is the equivalent of a five year old child doing exactly what I just described.
I grow increasingly suspicious that you're a plant, BJF. I think MMA pays you to make their discussions seem lively. You cannot possibly mean the absurd things you say.
What are these people protesting? Harry Reid's Re-election? The heat in the the desert? Are they protesting that a non-republican won the white house with a hefty majority and is trying to fix the messes left by the last republican administration?
Fox news has become this bizarre mutation of news-like, news-lite, and televangelist cult. If you are a Fox News viewer, ask yourself what on earth is this about.
Is it actually news to create a celebrity, send them out to a heavily promoted protest-ish type event, and then spend huge amounts of time covering it?
Much in the way the Sci-Fi channel was known for showing so little science fiction that it became Syfy, and that tabloid/reality show channel TLC was originally "The Learning channel", I think it's time Fox News got it's official dumbed-down cable makeover.
They told us "Yes we can", and damn if they
didn't. Even if "We" did not vote this administration in, WE allowed it, and furthermore allowed the violations they have committed just by thinking it could not happen! Are we idiots?
It is not going to do ANY good to keep forwarding emails back and forth ... we don't accomplish a damn thing with them. Sure they are great, etc., etc., etc., but what do we really accomplish? Nothing! We preach to the choir because the
majority of "us" who email each other share the same values. WE WASTE PRECIOUS TIME.
I am asking that NO ONE send me anymore of those "patriotic" emails! If you cannot take time to put your demands on paper, to protect your own rights, TO SOMEONE WHO YOU CAN EXPECT TO BE IN A POSITION TO GET WORRIED ABOUT HOW YOU FEEL ... I sure don't want to hear you rattle your "cage". If we have time to sit on
the computer reading everything that we agree with, and feeling so patriotic by forwarding it all, we have time to put our demands in the faces of those destroying us. We have time to write continuous letters, call our government officials offices, email each individual "traitor" ... and do IT ALL a couple of
times a week ... AND NOT JUST FOR A MONTH OR TWO! With slight organization and scheduling, we can accomplish a flood on Washington as it has never seen before, and we MUST. We have the sophistication to make our demands clear and presented
in a manner that shows we are not idiots or merely out of control radicals ... We need to make it more clear, than ever in our history, that we are U.S. Citizens who refuse to allow the government to control us. It is NOT the "president" that we need to send these demands to ... it is apparent "his" agenda is set. It is to ALL the others who have votes on what a "president" puts forth that we need to bombard AS A MAJORITY so they will NEVER dare do this to us again!
I honestly believe that if we do not do this NOW, it will not be so long and we will be physically fighting government for our Rights and Freedom! We do not have time to waste. I think that has already been proven to us. We can no longer be a "silent majority". It has been proven to us that the majority in
our country no longer rules, and it is OUR fault!
I have never been a raving radical, maybe, just maybe you might be as worried as I am and do something about it!!!
Since when did we become a country that is so lazy and worthless that we cannot even stand up for our Rights? Since when did we become a country that allows those who do not even TRY to survive, in the MOST SURVIVABLE country in the world, create LAW for the ones who are willing, and have, worked their butts off
to create better lives for themselves and their families which FORCE us to "cast our lot amongst pigs" who will only squander what they take, just as they have squandered anything they have ever gotten their hands on that OTHERS have provided them! What in the hell is wrong with us????
I hear that in an attempt to top Hendrix, Palin will read the Star Spangled Banner off her palm at sunrise!
Does this mean Palin will try and outdo Hendrix by reading the Star-Spangled Banner off her palm at sunrise?
In other words, the antithesis of anything the Republican/Tea Party stands for. It's very curious that they keep invoking it 40 years later. They did it during another FAILED conservative bash, recently as well.
They just really suck at history.
Brought to us by all those folks who did NOT get altered in the 60's, or were born later and never adjusted to the shift in consciousness.
I run into plenty of them. They can somehow explain that their participation in the "events" of the sixties and seventies is comparable to today's madness.
I usually just shake my head and try to get away from people like that before I say something that would make them want to hit me with a misspelled protest sign.
I'm guessing that they turned into right wing self absorbed greedy b*stards. Just a wild guess.
Yup, and from what I remember, half of them probably didn't even know they were there.
P.S. yo out there don't take the brown acid, man
How many 80's Wall st or corporate types bragged about "being there" with their incredible salaries paying for their children at exclusive schools which produced a generation of con men.
yo, out there stay away from the brown derivatives man
As I remember, Woodstock was "Peace & Love" hardly anything that the baggers subscribe to.
GO DEMOCRACY and you guys at mediamatters keep at it, you are doing an most excellent job
Veteran, United States Army and graduate student of History
All I can say is: "Keep your hand off my health care!"
- Woodstock "Peace, Love & Music"
500,000 ecstatically happy, optimistic, young people
Yes, most stoned on the lousy weed of the era
Lots of sex
Yasgur's farm in verdant upstate New York
Rain, lots of rain. Hey, it's upstate New York
Initially a paid-ticket event
Due to so many people, a free event
No sponsors, no corporate deals, no music labels, no beer logos, no soda logos
Free vegetarian food provided by the Diggers and Hog Farm
New York Thruway was, yes indeed, closed
- Teaparty "Weapons, Hate & Vitriol"
7,000 ticked off, depressed, mostly retirees
Yes, most on Social Security & Medicare
What's sex?
Searchlight, NV. Sunbaked, arid, scrub, rocks
Humidity a dry 20%, temp 70 F.
A 65 year-old could dehyrate and die of sunstroke quickly (hyperthermia accompanied by delusions, hallucinations, and paranoia)
A corporate sponsored event produced by Russo, Marsh, and Associates,
The E-mails that have been sent by them and forwarded prove that they are Anti-Obama, Anti-Democratic, Anti-Immigration, Anti-black, Anti-Hispanic, Anti-Islamic, Anti-health care reform and pro-for the wealthy.
I agree with Bill Maher. They are absolutely cults. Many of the E-mails contain "In god we trust" represented by the American currency. This seems to represent the religion of the group.
They are not confined to a compound like in Waco. Our response to any of the false and misleading messages they have come up with are totally ignored and blocked out, only to go onto the next lie. This was a common observance of the people in the cults in the 60's. The complaints of government spending and taxes on the wealthy are only a ploy. They really can't express the real reasons.
Progressives keep scratching heir heads about why fox outdraws both CNN and MSNBC, yet they fail to take into account the fact that Fox's news ratings are miniscule compared to those of ABC, CBS and NBC. Fox's highest-rated program, "The O'Reilly Factor," draws three million viewers each weeknight, yet that's nothing compared to the 10 million viewers who watch "NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams" alone.
Hell, O'Reilly's audience is downright microscopic compared to Fox Entertainment's "American Idol," which draws over 30 million viewers.
And while Fox's morning show, "Fox and Friends," easily outdraws CNN's "American Morning" and MSNBC's "Morning Joe," it can't hold a candle to NBC's "Today Show," ABC's "Good Morning America" and CBS's "Early Show." "Today" outdraws "Fox and Friends" by nearly 10-1.
So what's the big deal? The fact is, Fox News -- much like right-wing talk radio -- is "preaching to the choir." Its audience is overwhelmingly conservative, Republican, male, middle-aged and older -- and, most tellingly, almost exclusively white, with the heaviest concentrations of Fox News viewers living in the Deep South and the Rocky Mountain West.
But don't take my word for it. That's what the Pew Center for the People and the Press found in a recent demographic survey of Fox News viewers.
The influence of the right-wing media, while formidable, is nonetheless vastly overblown, as evidenced by the rout of the GOP in the 2006 and 2008 elections and the passage of the health-care reform bill despite a brick wall of GOP opposition.
It's time to treat the big, bad right-wing wolf as the big blowhard that he really is. All bark, no bite.
If they "took their country back" and kicked out every black, latino, progressive, homosexual, intellectual, asian, etc. etc. they don't like, THEN there'd be a Conservative Woodstock... 'cause there'd be only 500,000 people left.
We've had neo-conservative policy running this great nation of ours into the ground since the early 80s. Now we've had about three years of a slightly less conservative democratic majority in congress and one year of a moderate centrist democratic president. In these last three years the minority republicans have used a record setting number of filibusters and openly work on an agenda of absolute obstructionism.
Imagine the outrage if anything significant actually changed or moved forward!
they keep fighting ghosts and continually try to turn back time and return to either the 1950s (with McCarthyism - now known by the veiled and not so veiled innuendoes by Bachmann, FAUX news, etc; the Red Scare - now known as the WoT) or the Robber Baron / Gilded Age (of the 1890s - 1920s (by repealing all the regulations by FDR that righted the ship and kept this country alive) all while conveniently forgetting that it was the LACK of those regs that caused the 1930s meltdown (as the repeal of those regs caused the financial collapse with which we still struggle)...
methinks it goes back even further... the repugs of today are the (former) southern democrats of the post-civil war era up through Johnson's Voting Rights and Civil Rights acts... when they jumped ship and were cynically co-opted by Nixon to win in 1968... these folks never forgot the civil war and continue to fight for secession, a return to racist policies, and an eradication of every federal programme implemented in the wake of that struggle...
you see - they never forgot and they have spent the past 150 years trying to win the war (and if you ever meet a southerner and really get them talking, you will hear them say something of this ilk...)
if you look under the Tea Party talk, and the hate speech of that party, you will see they're still fighting battles and ghosts of decades and decades prior to today...
There has been no confirmed attack of any sort except by the left wing media including this site that is just trying to attack people that don't agree with government takeover. No wonder so many liberals agree with chavez and Castro.
Stupid is as stupid does, so my mother says!