With Busloads and Sarah Palin, "Teabaggers" Still Outnumbered By Supporters of Wisconsin Values

Saturday, Sarah Palin came to the State Capitol to try to drum up support for Scott Walker. The event was organized by the Koch brothers' Americans for Prosperity, and "teabaggers," as they originally called themselves and Bill Maher still does, were bussed in from around the state (and what looked like to me at least one from outside Wisconsin*).

However, the Wisconsin Wave organized a counter-protest, and wow did people turn out in short notice! The "teabaggers" were like animals in a petting zoo surrounded by supporters of Wisconsin values such as workers' rights, open government and progressive taxation.

A great account of the day can be found at The CapTimes by Judith Davidoff and Jessica Vanegeren. According to the article, the police estimate the crowd at about 6,500. The police couldn't say how many were there for which protest, because the lines between the protests were "so unclear." Here's a little more,

"Americans for Prosperity organized the rally and brought busloads of supporters from around the state. Tea party supporters, who gathered at the King Street entrance of the state Capitol, were surrounded on three sides by counter-protesters, who rang cowbells and shouted "Shame! Shame! Shame!" through megaphones. The counter-protesters were so loud at times that they easily drowned out the speakers, including Palin."

Since the Americans for Prosperity rally is an annual event, top "teabagger" Sarah Palin keynoted, "teabaggers" were bussed in, and the Wisconsin Wave didn't announce the counter-protest until Friday morning, it's very clear where the momentum is here in Wisconsin. It's with the Wisconsin Wave!

I shouldn't speak so harshly of the rank-and-file Tea Party supporters, and I admittedly did it for attention. The same reason they originally called themselves "teabaggers" is the same reason they follow people such as the Koch brothers and Sarah Palin. They're not in general stupid or greedy, most of them are just uninformed and not critically thinking. Fox, the media organization that likes to think it spreads news, has much to do with this. Don't let your loved ones watch Fox for news, you get more spin and lies than news there, and the best way I believe we can move Forward is to try to politely inform our fellow Wisconsinites.

The recent report showing Wisconsin is not broke by the local non-partisan Institute for One Wisconsin is a great piece of information to read and spread.

Also, this seems to be little known information, but Sarah Palin is not running for President in 2012. In early March, Fox said they would have to suspend any contributor planning to run for President. Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum were subsequently suspended. However, Sarah Palin continues to work for Fox, and thus has no plans to run for President. Sure, she could still change her mind, but the tiny likelihood of that is quickly dwindling with every passing day.

The reason some people want you to think Sarah Palin is running for President is because as soon as it becomes clear she's not running she'll lose a large portion of media attention. Palin's a great Republican fundraiser, and so it's not only Palin who wants you to think she's running. Palin makes way too much money in TV and public speaking to run a losing campaign against Obama, and she's able to do that in part because most people think she's running for President.

Other great information like this can be seen weekdays on MSNBC's The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell at 7pm. Lawrence has a progressive lean, but I argue it's more centrist than most shows and definitely one of the most intelligent.

*A man exiting a bus was carrying a sign saying "Illinois Stands With WI Tea Party." I know that's not much proof, but maybe others will have more.

Update: (5:53pm) Thanks to John Peterson from Democurmudgeon for putting this video together of the local TV news coverage from WMTV and WKOW. Contrast that with the coverage from the Journal Sentinel.


Update: (April 19, 9:13pm) John Nichols wrote in this great article about the rally in The CapTimes that the Tea Party supporters were outnumbered by a factor of about 5 to 1.

George Carlin Saw It Coming: "They Got The Politicians"

Now that we know collective bargaining rights for public employees don't affect the budget, and our governor would rather talk to rich campaign contributors than teachers, we're beginning to realize that Walker and the Republicans are just doing the bidding of their corporate donors that got them elected. The late George Carlin saw this coming and said it best in his 2005 American Dream skit,

"...big, wealthy business interests...They got the politicians...They want more for themselves and less for everybody else. I'll tell you what they don't want. They don't want a population of citizens capable of critical thinking -- well-informed, well-educated people capable of critical thinking. That doesn't help them. That's against their interest. They want obedient workers, people who are just smart enough to run the machines and do the paperwork and just dumb enough to passively accept all these increasingly s***tier jobs with the lower pay, the longer hours, the reduced benefits, the end of overtime and the vanishing pension that disappears as soon as you come to collect it.

The game is rigged...Good, honest, hard working people, white collar, blue collar, doesn't matter what color shirt you have on, continue to elect these rich [politicians] who don't give a [hoot] about them. They don't care about you. That's what the owners count on."

Note: As this is George Carlin, there is some graphic language.



Thanks to Bill Berry from The Cap Times for pointing this out.

There are some politicians who we've seen do care about us, and they are Senator Dale Schultz, the Wisconsin 14, and the rest of the Wisconsin Democrats, who all stood up for workers' rights and against out of state corporate interests like the Koch brothers and Americans for Prosperity.

Let's make sure politicians know that the jig is up. Recall the Republican 8, and vote for JoAnne Kloppenburg.

Fox News Lies, And It Hurts America

The watchdog group Media Matters for America has released a video that is pretty good at showing the overt lies from Fox News regarding the workers' rights protests in Wisconsin. It's important what Fox News says, because, as they say, they have more viewers than any other cable news network. If Fox News intentionally lies, which they have been shown to do time and again, they are intentionally skewing the views of a large portion of American voters. Americans assume that a news organization tells the truth, or at least if they realize they had the facts wrong, issues a correcting statement. Fox News doesn't do this. So most viewers will accept the lies from Fox News, because they don't have the time to do the fact-checking we expect news organizations to do before making public statements.



When will we stop calling Fox News a news organization? Or when will Fox News be forced to do so for misrepresentation? The press is referred to as the fourth branch of government because it provides further checks and balances on the three branches of government. I think it may be time for the other three to provide some checks and balances on the fourth.

I truly believe that the main reason this nation is so polarized is because many in this country are deliberately misinformed, and Fox News isn't the only culprit. We can add radio personalities such as Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, and Glenn Beck. For example, a poll published last month found that 51% of Republican voters think Obama is not a U.S. citizen. This, even though the Hawaii newspaper of record from 1961 has his birth listed, and the state of Hawaii has issued certified letters of birth which is exactly what any Hawaii-born citizen has. Somehow either this information isn't being passed to 51% of the Republicans or additional information is being concocted to add doubt. This is one example, but a very telling example. Nearly 25% of this country think our president is not a U.S. citizen, contrary to fact. Other studies have shown that Fox News viewers are the most misinformed on various issues, and this journalist agrees with me, calling out CNN as a contributor as well.

This falsification or fabrication of facts will inevitably stall progress, because we can't have genuine debates if the people we're debating with base their views on misinformation, particularly if they're not willing to listen to reason. It's the Republicans at the top who encourage and spread the fabrications that are the cause for the majority of progress's stall. They're the people the Democratic leaders have to negotiate with. However, I believe they do this, because they can always go on Fox News and say such things without a hint of rebuttal, and the misinformed believe the Republicans are correct. If the Republicans didn't have such a large venue to spread their fabrications, they would have to accept reality.

It's time to call Fox News what it really is, just Fox. That's how I'll refer to this media organization until they become a news organization, if they so desire. But more importantly, we have to loudly call out those who intentionally perpetuate myth as fact, and politely help those who are victims of misinformation get the correct information.

Fox News Lying About Protesters, Again

This is at least the second time in a week that Fox News has been caught lying about the workers' rights protesters in Wisconsin. The Colbert Report caught Fox News using old footage of protests in California that showed violent protesters while claiming it was the "violent" Wisconsin protests. Of course, we know better.

Notice the palm trees that must have been shipped in.



Why does Fox News continue to be considered a news organization? Is it really just the name?

On a lighter note, I've now seen plastic palm trees at the Capitol.

Fox News Caught Lying On Camera

Here's a lesson in doing your own critical analysis on anything you may read, see, or hear. Mike Tobin from Fox News has reported that he was "punched" while standing in a crowd of protesters. However, he has refused to retract the statement or release footage of the experience even though it was being filmed. Unfortunately for Mike Tobin and Fox News, a citizen was filming the experience as well.

See for yourself how Mike Tobin was "punched" when a citizen tapped him on the shoulder, from firebelow at LiveLeak.com. Just after the tap Mike Tobin yells, "A guy just hit me."



Why does this matter? Because the protesters have been exceptionally peaceful, but Fox News and Republicans seem to want to fictitiously portray the protesters in a bad light. It's an often used fallacy called ad hominem, and these people are good at it.