Teabagging Behind Closed Doors: Tea Party Plans Media Blackout at Its First Convention
TEABAGGING BEHIND CLOSED DOORS.... As a rule, when political activists organize large events, featuring high-profile speakers and guests, the goal is to generate as much media attention as possible. It's about getting the organizers' message out to an audience far beyond those literally in the room.
Next month, however, an outfit called "Tea Party Nation" is hosting a big gathering in Nashville, with the first ever Tea Party convention. Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann are among the notable right-wing speakers who will be paid handsomely to rally the troops. But don't expect to see too many reports from major media outlets -- they're not welcome.
It looks like the revolution will not be televised, after all. At least not the Tea Party's revolution. Word from Nashville on Monday was that the First National Tea Party Convention next month will be closed to the press, other than for a limited number of "selected" journalists. No word on who or how many.
This includes a media blackout of the Palin and Bachmann speeches.
Like Dave Weigel, I find this pretty surprising. I've covered all kinds of right-wing events over the years, and while there are occasionally closed-door strategy sessions held for select attendees, the notion of preventing reporters from major outlets from even stepping foot in this conference seems bizarre, and kind of paranoid.
It's worth noting that the public will probably get some sense of what transpired during the festivities. A few undercover reporters -- you know who you are -- may sneak in past the list-checkers desperate to keep out those who may disagree, and some hand-picked, right-wing media types will probably get some access that the rest of us will be able to read.
But for the most part, this will likely be the first ever national political convention held in secret. Given all of last week's bitter complaining about health care policy negotiators working out their differences in private, I suppose the obvious question is, "What do the Teabaggers have to hide?"
Could it be because the room will be filled with all whites? That would look kinda odd for a "grass-roots" organization. There really should be some minorities to represent middle-America. :-)
Maybe it has something to do with weird religious rituals going on. Maybe Palins' Pastor will be there to bless the women in their run for the White House, Palin/Bachmann 2012.... You Betcha!!
Would you pay 549.00 to listen to Palin??
MSNBC's Rachel Maddow and the Washington Independent's Dave Weigel have been covering the profiteering aspect of the conference, with Weigel reporting that Palin may be making as much as $100,000 for her speech to the Nashville Tea Party gathering. But it's not just progressives who find the situation a bit slimey. Check out Red State's Erick Erickson, one of the most Tea Partiest bloggers I can think of:
Let me be blunt: charging people $500.00 plus the costs of travel and lodging to go to a “National Tea Party Convention” run by a for profit group no one has ever heard of sounds as credible as an email from Nigeria promising me a million bucks if I fork over my bank account number.
Erickson also frets that the event will reflect poorly on Palin, writing, "I am afraid Sarah Palin is going to harm herself unintentionally over this tea party convention in Nashville."
Pity
42 comments:
Could it be because the room will be filled with all whities
That'd kinda give a whole new meaning to "black-out", wouldn't it?
Maybe it has something to do with weird religious rituals going on.
You mean like mass prayers for the deaths of their enemies (like the Psalm 109:8 thing)? Or maybe they'll just come right out and do Satanic curse rituals.
I think Satan goes where the teabaggers congregate :-)
Of course the teabaggers think quite the opposite!
Maybe because they the way the media reported on the tea parties by falsely reporting the real reasons people came out by the millions.
Or maybe they are exercising their right to peaceful Assembly without the spin of the hate mongers at NBC.
Or maybe they are just doing what congress is doing with the health care bill.
Lisa: the media reported on the tea parties by falsely reporting the real reasons people came out by the millions.
I think you mean falsely reporting that people came out by the millions (like Fox did with those reports that had footage of other rallies spliced in to make the tea parties look bigger).
Or maybe they are just doing what congress is doing with the health care bill.
You mean they're going to spend the whole event kissing Joe Lieberman's ass? Now that's what I call a Satanic ritual!
I don't know why the Tea Bugs are worried about the MSM since it has been bending over backwards to kiss their ass.
I think I'll leave Nashville for the duration - maybe go to Boston?
Leslie you should go!! You could be the bloggers correspondent, incognito of course!
Isn't it a bummer that the community is organizing without Obama?
The reason is simple. Every time they open their mouths they embarrass themselves.
"I think you mean falsely reporting that people came out by the millions (like Fox did with those reports that had footage of other rallies spliced in to make the tea parties look bigger)."
that's BS Infidel because I went to one on April 15th and there were 5000 people there and our local media sent a helicopter there at 7:30 when it was almost over and reported it as a couple of dozen people.
I even told some people that were there watch how it gets reported.
Where's Media Matters Fact Checking NBC and ABC? Too busy scrutinizing FOX that they refuse to report the lies of those media outlets.
that's BS Infidel
Are you denying that Fox did that? They even acknowledged it themselves after getting caught, on at least two occasions that I know of.
They are just tired of all the "libral media" attention on their racist, misspelled signs. And you know how they dress for the occasion. You betcha!
I'm scared if I go, I might have a wenching attack.
I'm just thankful we don't have to be bombarded with Palin/Bachmann psycho talk. I hope the Humane Society will be in attendance to make sure no animals will be harmed during their voodoo rituals. :)
Yes they are all racists Judi. All those fat white racists hating the president because he's black.
Just ask Harry Reid betchya he will vouch for that.
This is a way to start a political movement? In secret!
They follow the Dick Cheney, Republican way of doing the peoples business, secrecy.
If they are not willing to let people know what they are doing, or talking about, then Americans should automatically reject them.
They don't deserve the support of the people, if they are not willing to include the people.
Those that participate in a "closet" political movement, are dangerous.
Speaking of Tea Party racists, check out this picture of Dale Robertson who is behind teaparty.org. Nothing racist there right? http://wonkette.com/413001/its-2010s-hottest-tea-party-leader-dale-robertson
P.S. If you're gonna use the word, at least spell it right.
Oh stop it Tom is not. You are making trouble for nothing.
I know some local people who are going. They are just regular people. A single mom,a retired cop,a school board member and business owner and an eighth grade Social Studies teacher and and her daughter who is an Iraq and her husband who is a small business owner. You know real people.
I think they are just tired of the misrepresentation.
I went to a few of the rallies believe me you are making it into more than it is.
Alot of these people are truly concerned about the spending,the health care debacle ,cap and trade and the way they are hiding how it will all be paid for.
Nancy that's probably photo shopped. I have never seen any racist signs at any of the rallies I went to. They are forbidden and are not tolerated.
Many of the igns were more anti Pelosi,Reid and Frank
So now what are they anti woman.anti Mormon or anti gay too?
"I have never seen any racist signs at any of the rallies I went to."
And I never put blinders on my horses to keep them from freaking out when they saw something that scared them.
Leslie sorry but I guess when you get all your info from left wing blogs and NBC what else would you expect to hear?
"You mean they're going to spend the whole event kissing Joe Lieberman's ass? Now that's what I call a Satanic ritual!"
Actually Infidel, it's pagan idolatry. Apparently, lisa and those like her have given up on Jesus(or chosen deity) to worship tea bags and a shit bag.
"Leslie sorry but I guess when you get all your info from left wing blogs and NBC what else would you expect to hear?"
And you get your info from....???
Whatever, cracker.
Funny, I don't watch TV - not even Foxey Snewz.
Seems the Teabaggers are the ones hiding. Hiding what? If they have a good platform, why not allow people to see it and hear it, reporters to report it, or question the leaders of the movement?
The fact that you seem to think discussions of public issues by a group seeking public support is acceptable, shows your misunderstanding of our system.
The point that you make about the MSM cannot be trusted to report fairly, is a straw man argument, meant to protect those involved from criticism, or the people from deciding by using critical thinking skills.
Can't believed I overlooked this:
"Would you pay 549.00 to listen to Palin??"
If so, there better be a pole, over-priced drinks and Motley Crue music at high volume involved to be somewhat fair...and balanced.
Dylan Radigan talked about this on his 4 o'clock show, I just caught the part where people were saying it wasn't affordable for middle America at 549.00 a tickets and alot of people were upset about that. Sorry I didn't hear more!
CDM: there better be a pole.....and Motley Crue music at high volume
So you're saying Palin should be seen and not heard?:-) Less risk of embarrassing herself that way, to be sure.
I'm just sayin'....
Just testing my new screen name.
Infidel ~ Good grief...did you run out of stereotypes yet?
Lisa ~ After reading all the comments on this post, I realized just how sick these people are. They are a complete waste of time.
They wouldn't recognize the truth even if they opened their eyes long enough to see it...which, of course, they would never do.
No matter how many times you attempt to engage them in a real discussion, it fails. They will only call you some profane name and then pat themselves on the back for "really telling off the wingnut."
They are blinded by hate...it is as simple as that.
Linda nobody here hates teabaggers and we don't call people hurtful names either. We just have fun with that group of, uh hum, people.
Most blogs whioh strongly support a political viewpoint include a certain amount of mockery and insult directed at the opposition. It comes with the territory. You want to see real hatred, check out the Christmas thread on Pamela Hart's blog and look at what her fellow conservatives were saying about liberals (and about her for hanging out with liberals).
Getting back to the point of the posting, the bottom line is that closing an event like this to the media is sufficiently unusual, indeed bizarre, that the closure to the media itself inevitably became the big story. I think anyone able to organize such an event must be politically savvy enough to anticipate that. So why did they do it? It can only be that, for some reason, they expected that publicity of the event would produce worse results for them than hiding the event.
Right now, we can only guess at what that reason is. Maybe they're just afraid Palin will make some embarrassing gaffe. Maybe they anticipate the rhetoric getting more towards the extreme right than they want the general public to know about. Maybe they're just afraid people will bring embarrassing signs, although usually organizers are able to control things like that.
But we will know eventually. News from the event will get out, one way or another. It always does. And then we'll find out what they thought it was so important to keep the media from seeing.
"Lisa ~ After reading all the comments on this post, I realized just how sick these people are. They are a complete waste of time."
And you guys are a waste that is a terrible thing to mind.
We can think of several reasons for Harry Reid to resign as Senate Majority Leader, though the flap over his obtuse racial comments isn't one of them. The uproar is nonetheless instructive about the perils of identity politics. Mr. Reid is apologizing to all and sundry for saying in private in 2008 that Barack Obama should run for President because he was 'light-skinned' and spoke with 'no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one.' Republicans are calling for Mr. Reid to resign, on grounds of the Trent Lott precedent. When the Republican leader in 2002 joked at a birthday party for Strom Thurmond that America might have been better off had the one-time Dixiecrat won his 1948 Presidential campaign, Democrats demanded Mr. Lott's resignation. An Illinois state senator with a big political future went so far as to suggest at the time that Republicans needed to 'drive out' Mr. Lott in order to 'stand for something.' Mr. Lott resigned, notwithstanding his profuse apologies. In contrast, Mr. Obama and various black Democrats have rushed to Mr. Reid's defense. ... In any event, this is hardly Mr. Reid's worst rhetorical offense. That prize goes to his all too public comments in April 2007 that 'the war is lost' in Iraq, even as the surge was finally making victory possible. That was a betrayal of American soldiers risking their lives in Iraq, and to the extent it emboldened the enemy, it may have cost American lives. If Mr. Reid has apologized for that defeatism, we don't recall it. That's reason enough to resign."
anon, ever hear of plagiarism? I know lisa hasn't. Unless you wrote that article, you're a thief AND a coward.
Infidel you can bet the rhetoric is gonna be geared towards the extreme right. With Palin and Bachmann as keynote speakers, how can it not??
Linda I reread your comment and I take offense to it. We are not a hateful bunch. Infidel is right, go check out the total hate coming from the rightwingers towards liberals who just want to have a say on Pams blog. Some there like Malcontent just reek of hate, it's a wonder he can even type the words he says without having a stroke!
Wow! A major fight going on over here. I am sorry I got here late.
My precious Linda: As the internet's recognized authority on Truth, I can say with the authority of my title that you are nuts.
No Mike, no fight here, just our normal conservative visits and us liberals trying to spread the truth.
Truth, you are always truthful and fair and we appreciate you!
Very nice blog you have here. I like reading political blogs for some reason. Anyway, I have a site myself where people from around the world come and debate on popular issues. I feel as if this will give citizens some form of power, letting their voices be heard.
I'd like to exchange links with you to help spread some traffic around between each other. If you'd like to, please leave a comment under our "Compadres" page when you've added our link and we'll return the favor.
Until then, keep up the good work.
Jason
DEBATEitOUT.com
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