TEA PARTIES IN THE NEWS

Mona Charen has an interesting column at Townhall.com:

One reporter, Susan Roesgen, who "covered" the Chicago tea party for CNN, was downright confrontational with attendees she interviewed, challenging a protestor who referenced Abraham Lincoln with "What does this have to do with taxes?" The man attempted to explain. But the reporter interrupted him. "Did you know that you are eligible for a $400 rebate? Did you know that your state, the state of Lincoln, gets $50 billion out of the stimulus? That's $50 billion for your state." She then tossed back to the anchor noting that "This is really not family viewing."

Founding Bloggers attended the Chicago tea party and shot its own footage of Rosegen continuing to argue with the protesters, which it posted in a YouTube video, preceded by the footage aired by CNN.

It was later reported that CNN forced YouTube to take down the version of Rosegen's performance and also removed at least one version of the Founding Bloggers video, even though it included footage shot by Founding Bloggers in which CNN obviously could have no copyright.

Now the Founding Blogger' video is back.



PowerLine comments:

It is hard to avoid the inference that in this case, CNN was motivated not by a desire to protect its intellectual property but by a desire to avoid embarrassment caused by the unprofessional performance of its reporter. In today's world, though, it just isn't possible to track down all copies of a video and suppress them, when the video relates to a matter of broad and legitimate public interest. That CNN is willing to make the attempt reveals something, perhaps, about its attitude toward the public's right to be informed.

CNN: “You have the right to be informed of anything we approve of.”

WE ARE SINKING DEEP IN DEBT ...

... Wheeee!

KINDERCARE FOR “ADULTS”

In the New York Times:

[I]t’s ... also important to consider how much money colleges have been putting into student amenities as well. When I visited my undergrad alma mater a few years ago, the chancellor pointed out that three buildings had gone up in the past decade or so that were each larger than any existing building on campus. There was a library, a convocation center (a multipurpose arena), and a huge student gym. The gym, he said, was a top priority because parents and prospective students increasingly think of themselves as customers, shopping for the most amenities ...

We’ve turned universities into indoctrination/day care centers for young adults ...

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

The private sector (non-agriculture) unemployment rate is 9.8%.

What is the public sector (e.g., state and federal government) unemployment rate?

Glad you asked. It’s 2.8%.

DC TEA PARTY VIDEOS – PART III

And no protest goes without a counter-protest. Here’s a short segment.



What is amusing about this clip is just how close (in theme) the counterprotestors to the protest itself. “Tax work, not wealth” could be interpreted as the double-taxation of capital gains, once as corporate profits, and again as a distribution to the shareholder.

“Lower the minimum wage!” Well, I could take that to mean to put back the bottom rung on the ladder to success so that the unskilled have an easier time starting the climb.

The Left has no clue about economics.

DC TEA PARTY VIDEOS – PART II

The lady speaking is (I think) one of the organizers. This was taken near the end of the protest, after the security interruption. It was the first time I could get close enough to the podium to hear the speaker.



The crowd loved the "What comes after a trillion?" question.

I'll note one misstatement on the part of the speaker: a million seconds is 11-1/2 months, not years. But the rest is accurate.

DC TEA PARTY VIDEOS – PART I

Finally! Here is a vignette of the Tea Party held on Lafayette Square in Washington on April 15.

NEW IMMIGRATION POLICY

“The only surviving Somali pirate has arrived in New York, and judging by the footage, he's got the biggest smile we've seen this side of Susan Boyle after she finished singing .... Isn't this essentially importing criminals to our prison system? What, is this some obscure, previously unrevealed detail in Obama's immigration policy?”

Any bets he’ll be voting in the 2012 election?

SPENDING CUTS? WHAT SPENDING CUTS?

President Obama convened his first official Cabinet meeting yesterday. At the session, Obama ordered his agency heads to identify and shave a collective $100 million in administrative costs from federal programs in a budget of well over $3 trillion.

The Heritage Foundation responds: “Just how laughable is Obama’s latest stunt to try to maintain his “fiscal responsibility” credentials? This graphic might help:”



Don Surber has fun with the news:

[ABC White House correspondent Jake] Tapper to White House [Press Secretary] spokesbot Robert Gibbs: “You were talking about an appropriations bill a few weeks ago about $8 billion being minuscule — $8 billion in earmarks. We were talking about that and you said that that $100 million is a lot but $8 billion is small?”

The transcript is here.

Even Paul Krugman of the New York Times is having trouble with the latest “budget cut.”

“[P]retty soon, even here in Washington, it adds up to real money,” says the president.
Except, you know, really it doesn’t. Let’s say the administration finds $100 million in efficiencies every working day for the rest of the Obama administration’s first term. That’s still around $80 billion, or around 2% of one year’s federal spending.

And the media wonders why there were some 500 tea parties on April 15?

LAWS ARE FOR LITTLE PEOPLE, CONTINUING

Via Instapundit:

It was their dream home, a two-story, four-bedroom colonial in one of Detroit’s nicest and most stable neighborhoods.

But then, one day in December, City Councilman Kwame Kenyatta and his wife packed up their belongings, locked the doors, mailed in the keys and walked away - adding another vacant house to the thousands in a city hard hit by the nation’s mortgage crisis.

So where are they now living?

About five months ago, the Kenyattas moved to a rented condo on the city's east side. It has three bedrooms, four baths, a whirlpool bath, finished basement and garage.

The news article is here.

VIEW FROM MY (OFFICE) WINDOW

Well, actually from the parking garage.





Luckily, my office is on the other side of the building from the construction, so the pile drivers aren’t audible.

For construction updates, go here. A new photo is taken every 15 minutes, every day since last February.

ISN’T THE LEFT SUPPOSED TO BE TOLERANT?

They can talk it; they can’t walk it.

Former Miss USA Shanna Moakler, who is now the director of the Miss California USA pageant ... and her business partner, Keith Lewis, a strong activist against Proposition 8, were so infuriated over [Miss California Carrie] Prejean’s answer to Perez Hilton’s gay marriage question during Sunday’s crowning, they refused to make contact with the San Diego native after the show.

When asked by judge Perez Hilton, an openly gay gossip blogger, whether she believed in gay marriage, Miss California said "We live in a land where you can choose same-sex marriage or opposite. And you know what, I think in my country, in my family, I think that I believe that a marriage should be between a man and a woman. No offense to anybody out there, but that's how I was raised."

“Prejean, a student at San Diego Christian College, is studying to become a special education teacher and spends her spare time volunteering for the Best Buddies non profit organization, a program that helps people with disabilities. Prejean is also a volunteer for the Special Olympics.”

Tolerance - it’s not for just anyone.

CRIMES AREN’T CRIMES

Unless they’re not politically correct.

Speaking of immigration violations [Homeland Security head] Janet Napolitano said “And yes, when we find illegal workers, yes, appropriate action, some of which is criminal, most of that is civil, because crossing the border is not a crime per se. It is civil.”

Um, Janet, “In fact, pursuant to 8 U.S.C. 1325, crossing the border illegally is a crime–a misdemeanor for the first offense and a felony for the second and subsequent offenses. But of course, ignoring or mischaracterizing the law is a very convenient way for those in power to avoid the laws they find most inconvenient.”

HOW TO KNOW IF YOU’RE FAT

Your waist size exceeds your inseam length.

CELEBRATE DIVERSITY!

With some exceptions.

HMM ...

The FBI adds its first domestic terrorist to its Most Wanted list -- an animal rights activist.

The Department of Homeland Security is terrified of “right wing extremists.”

Do these people even talk to each other?

STAY TUNED ...

I will post the videos from the DC Tea Party on April 15, but right now my laptop is refusing to install the antivirus software - and I do have a day job.

CHRYSLER REJECTS MORE GOVERNMENT AID

Via Fox News:

The Washington Post reported on its Web site Monday that Chrysler Financial turned down $750 million in aid on top of $1.5 billion it already has received.

Chrysler Financial ... issued a statement saying it has enough private capital to meet its short-term needs of lending money to dealers and customers, and it doesn't need more money now from the government's Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP.

The light is dawning. “I’m from the Government and I’m here to help you” is an oxymoron.

ON SOCIALISM – OR IS IT FASCISM?

In a comment thread about the lack of media attention to the attendance at the national “tea parties” on Wednesday, Tim notes (scroll down):

When the net “takers” outnumber the net “contributors” in our society ... [s]ocialism will rule. Clearly the agenda in Washington is to maximize the number of “takers” that can be created. The flaw in their design (as there always will be one) is that eventually they will eliminate all the contributors.

I’m certainly sympathetic to the thought, but based on the Webster’s Dictionary definitions, I lean a little more toward a fascist interpretation of the Obama admininstration philosophy – (a) centralized government control of private enterprise and (b) suppression of any opposition.

I’ll blame Obama for the first; the mainstream media seems to be doing its best to achieve the second.

SO WHO’S WORSE?

Brown University, for renaming the Columbus Day holiday as "Fall Weekend?"

Or Notre Dame, for covering up religious symbols for President Obama's speech?

Political Correctness run amok.