G.O.P. and Fox News promote tea parties

04/16/09 - Yesterday, as President Barack Obama described it, was "not exactly everyone's favorite date on the calendar." April 15 is tax day, when money flows out of the taxpayers' hands and into the government's coffers. Taxes have always been in place to pay for services that benefit the nation: such as infrastructure, education, healthcare and the military. Few would claim that taxes should be abolished completely, but there is a constant argument about how large the role of government should be in redistributing citizens' money.

Yesterday also presented the perfect opportunity for some Americans to protest big government and taxes. The ailing economy and the recent stimulus package fueled protests across the country.

The protests were called tea parties, in memory of the 1773 Boston Tea Party that destroyed tea on a docked ship to express anger toward Britain's tax policies. The 2009 tea parties used TEA as an acronym for Taxed Enough Already.

There is nothing wrong with standing up against your government and its current policies. Sometimes the most patriotic citizens are those that speak out against the government and bring real reform. There is a problem, however, with claiming a protest is a bipartisan effort to decrease taxes when it actually serves as a platform for Republican politicos, and is given frenzied attention by Fox News anchors and commentators.

According to taxdayteaparty.com, the rallies are "where advocates of the free-market system could join in a protest against out of control government spending."

Spencer Ginsburg, a University of Rhode Island student, attended a tea party in Providence, R.I. He and friends estimated a turnout of about 2,500 people throughout the day. Ginsburg, who voted for John McCain in November, went to join opposition against big government.

"The government is over-taxing and it needs to be stopped," Ginsburg said. He described the event as "completely non-partisan, with people from all sides of the political spectrum."

The tea parties' plan to assemble in a non-partisan manner was quickly hijacked by the Republican National Committee. The RNC's website provided a front-and-center link that allowed visitors to send e-mails with attached tea bag photos to Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, Senator Harry Reid and Speaker Nancy Pelosi. They were providing a way to virtually tea bag a Democrat.

If the intent was bipartisanship on addressing tax concerns, then the picket signs I saw, chants I heard and politicians that attended the events showed otherwise.

Texas Republican Gov. Rick Perry visited three protests and used the opportunity to rally support for his 2010 gubernatorial campaign. The Dallas Morning News reported "many in the crowd held signs deriding President Barack Obama and the $786 billion federal economic stimulus package." Perry has taken on an old-school, anti-federalist tone protesting the growth and power of central government. He recently rejected $550 million of stimulus money aimed at Texas unemployment.

Two other attendees of tea parties, as reported by Politico's Ben Smith, included South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford and the House minority leader John Boehner. And although he won't be in attendance, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal vouched that the tea parties fight against "the Washington attitude that we can just continue to print money or borrow from China."

President of the URI College Democrats Ryan Drugan hoped that the events did not have a political slant, but were national events that rallied people around similar ideals.

Although Drugan admitted not having had the opportunity to read in depth about the protests, he did question the timing of them. Protests on this scale were not held during the Bush presidency.

"I think people are fearful," Drugan said. "I would hope today's protests were not an attempt to cater around people's fears."

I suppose not too much blame can be put on the G.O.P. for using the protests to rally its base. The recent mindset of some republicans, especially during the election cycle, was that "I haven't left the Republican Party, the Republican Party has left me." Perhaps the protests will help promote the party's core ideals (low taxes, small government,) and bring its deserters back home for 2010.

President of the URI College Republicans Jonathan Hansen believed that this was a chance to get back the core republican voters lost over the last eight years.

"The tea party is a good way to rally the base," Hansen said in a brief interview. "If we appeal back to the base, go back to small government, then we'll start winning again."

Hansen also criticized the 9,000 earmarks in the recent budget and said they were "slapping tax payers in the face."

We cannot delude ourselves into believing these were completely bipartisan protests.

Steadfast liberals are always accused of blaming Fox News for promoting Republican ideology, and in this case they are completely correct. The network was inundated with images of the protests.

Glenn Beck, the doomsday predictor himself, preached from the Alamo where a tea party was being held. He said the protests were aimed at both former President George Bush and Obama's policies. I might have believed his opinion was in earnest, if not for a sign over his shoulder calling to impeach Obama, Pelosi and Reid.

Other top-names either reported on or hosted their shows from the tea parties, including Neil Cavuto, Sean Hannity and Greta Van Susteren.

The problem with Fox's hyperactive coverage was that it was not just reporting on the day's events, but promoting the parties with non-stop interviews, continuous use of positive diction and had a virtual tea party on its Web site. Yes, that's right, a "fair and balanced" news corporation actually hosted a virtual event in case people could not attend one.