CNN/MSNBC take shots at Tea Parties, plus Pelosi and Begala

If you haven’t seen this you need to. I have documented as much as anyone the clear bias on the part of CNN … but as they sink in the ratings (CNN and MSNBC combined does not total the audience of Fox News) … their anger begins to show. From Hot Air. (Allah’s analysis is priceless)

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6G3fvNhdoc0

But wait there’s more (I love that line). Here’s Anderson Cooper ridiculing you. “Tea bagging”

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I64Ed5iLu4M

Oh and here’s one more … From Pundit and Pundett, CNN analyst and White House consultant, Paul Begala thinks you are a bunch of wimpy whiny weasels.

But wait there’s more. Nancy Pelosi calls it … “Astroturf”, not grassroots.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P44q7Jt68DA

I need to take a moment to explain astroturfing. Astroturfing is a faux grassroots movement. Rallies not organized by the people but rather put together by paid political organizations, labor unions busing members, Acorn rounding up 4o protesters in Connecticut, Political action committees gathering their members to protest … oh I don’t know … plastic bags. Astroturf. Got it.

Oh and before I go … those tea parties … haven’t really caught on … so says Chuck Todd. From Newsbusters.

By the way … big thanks to Instapundit for pointing me to the source on this stuff … Netrightnation.

Posted in

Jim Vicevich

Jim is a veteran broadcaster and conservative/libertarian blogger with more than 25 years experience in TV and radio. Jim's was the long-term host of The Jim Vicevich Show on WTIC 1080 in Hartford from 2004 through 2019. Prior to radio, Jim worked as a business and financial reporter for NBC30 - the NBC owned TV station in Hartford - and as business editor at WFSB-TV in Hartford for 14 years while earning six Emmy nominations and three Telly Awards.

17 Comments

  1. Brian Partridge on April 15, 2009 at 5:06 pm

    <div style="font-weight:normal !important;">Thought the post deserved a clip from Fox News (to keep it fair and balanced).  I bring to you Neil Cavuto, asking about how many people were there at the rally he was covering in Sacramento.  His estimate was about 5,000, maybe a little more.  Of course, that was off camera.  On camera, he was happy to announce that they had far exceeded expectations!

    </div>

    <div style="margin-top: 10px;">

    </div>

    <div style="font-weight:normal !important;"&gt ;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zqVsNXh4n8#t=2m00s
    </div>

    <div style="margin-top: 10px;">

    </div>

    <div style="padding-left: 15px;font-weight:normal !important;">Cavuto:  "Johnny, any estimates on how many people are here?"</div>

    <div style="padding-left: 15px;font-weight:normal !important;">Johnny:  "Um, we're trying to get th…"</div>

    <div style="padding-left: 15px;font-weight:normal !important;">Cavuto:  "Gotta be five thousand."</div>

    <div style="padding-left: 15px;font-weight:normal !important;">Johnny:  "Oh, at least.  You know, I mean, I… The cops aren't going to tell us and we've been trying to get a hold of the PR person to give us the number, but… I think five thousand.  You could say it's… [inaudible]… '<span style="font-style: italic;">Starting at five thousand, and [maybe] more</span>'"</div>

    <div style="margin-top: 10px;">

    </div>

    <div style="padding-left: 15px;font-weight:normal !important;">Cavuto (on the air):  "Bill, you cover a lot of these things, Shep, so you're probably better at estimating crowd sizes than I am… They were expecting five thousand here; it's gotta be easily double, if not triple that… But, again, I'm no expert."</div>

    <div style="margin-top: 10px;">

    </div>

    <div style="font-weight:normal !important;">No expert indeed.  At least not in reporting what you believe to be the truth… Possibly an expert in exaggeration and inflating crowd numbers to make it seem like a ton of people are there.  "Double, if not triple".  Hey, five thousand people is no laughing matter, not sure why he thought it needed to be 10k or 15k…  </div>

    <div style="margin-top: 10px;">

    </div>

    <div style="font-weight:normal !important;">I guess it's possible that another 5k (if not another 10k) people showed up to the rally in between those two clips.  Unfortunately, most every news account of the rally I could find online listed  "more than 2,000", and I think they would have mentioned if it were either 10k or 15k.  But those must have been the liberal news media.  The first-hand individual accounts online tend to range in the 5,000 estimate.</div>



  2. Dimsdale on April 15, 2009 at 5:55 pm

    Kinda like the "estimates" at the "Million Man March" possibly?  How does Cavuto's ballpark estimations of crowd size even remotely compare with the blatant editorializing of that CNN "reporter" who cut off people and editorialized, or better, spun what she was seeing?  Anderson Cooper cleverly calling up his expertise in talking while "teabagging"  (Liberals teabag, while conservatives have Tea Parties, by the way)?  And the undoubtedly unbiased Nancy Pelosi talking about "astroturf?"  All plastic references aside, this is the woman responsible for more of the Congressional feeding at the trough and exclusion of Republicans in debates than possibly anyone.  She is quite good at projection though.

    You are really stretching with this one, Brian!



  3. Lazybum on April 16, 2009 at 12:09 am

    Classic Liberal move- accuse the opposition of what your party continually does. Doubt that? Explain the rent-a-mobs that show up at most protests. Busloads of homeless people and union thugs from out of town on local issues are the norm. WHo organix=zed the dozen or so protestors covered by twice as many reporters protesting AIG bailouts at peoples homes? ACORN was proud to be involved in that Astroturf Protest.



  4. Brian Partridge on April 16, 2009 at 1:57 am

    @Lazybum  Good point, certainly liberals do the same thing.  Jim's been saying that the Right has a lot to learn about the left.  Sounds like Cavuto just took took a page from that book…  Cheers to him.

    <div>

    </div>

    <div style="font-weight:normal;">@Dimsdale  Is that the Million Man March that Cavuto said that Fox News covered?  Before Fox News was even on the air?  My point wasn't that none of the other clips weren't great discussion points about the bias in the news media, but that I thought we should acknowledge <span style="font-style: italic;">all</span> of the news media in their slanted coverage of the rallies.</div>



  5. Wayne SW on April 16, 2009 at 1:59 am

    It was interesting that the only point Brian would bring up were crowd sizes……Not the content of the gathering.  Liberals typically cannot win a debate on ideas.   Great point there, I sure get a tingley feeling going up my leg knowing that you are at the ready to pinpoint errors in crowd sizes estimations.   Wow, such vision and insight.  Certainly crowd size was the meesage of the day.

    Spending money you don't have does not work.  It did not work with a Republican President and it will not work for a Democratic President.  I doubt that Brian and his personal spending are as reckless as our Congress and Presidents.

    Notice how that CNN reporter when asked a question and did not like the answer and got snotty.  Great job there….now go ask for a raise on your performance.



  6. Brian Partridge on April 16, 2009 at 2:05 am

    I enjoy how Jim and others claim this isn't about political beliefs.  Where were these rallies when President Bush was in office?  Wayne just claimed that it didn't work with the Republican president, but now that Obama is in office we should totally let us know how we feel. 

    <div>

    </div>

    <div style="font-weight:normal;">And, my comment was focused on numbers because it seems like that was a good deal of the coverage, making sure that we all know just how many people there were that showed up all around the country to make their voices heard.  Between 3k and 5k at the Hartford capitol was a great crowd!</div>

    <div style="margin-top: 10px;">

    </div>

    <div style="font-weight:normal;">Wasteful spending is bad.  I don't disagree.  Not too many comments, so it's not as if I was a drop in the ocean bringing up crowd sizes, but I'm not disagreeing on the content.  The post was about the media taking shots at the Tea Parties, so I thought we should look at the other media propping up the Tea Parties.  Apologies if you think that was out of line.</div>



  7. Dimsdale on April 16, 2009 at 3:24 am

    "The post was about the media taking shots at the Tea Parties, so I thought we should look at the other media propping up the Tea Parties.  Apologies if you think that was out of line."

    More to the point, how would you say that coverage was distributed, e.g. was there more "other media" and was it positive or negative, or more of the supportive media, apparently only Fox.  And if the bulk of the media coverage is negative, as it demonstrably is on CNN and MSNBC, would that not make moderate coverage by Fox appear supportive by comparison?  Is limited, diminished or no coverage of the events tacit disapproval of them by the "objective" press.  Seriously, the selection of the "first dog" got more coverage!

    It is all about the vast majority of the media being in the Democrats pocket, be it the political affiliations of the reporters like Susan Rosen, or the daily calls that former Clinton advisor Stephanopolous of ABC receives from Raum Emmanuel, or coordinated "news" that revolves around Democrat talking points (remember "gravitas?"), to the morning show on CBS covering only one side of an argument, if they carry it at all (remember the news blackout of the Swiftboat Veterans?).

    It is so amazing that liberals are so very vociferous about Fox's "bias" when they effectively own the bulk of the news services and control the ebb and flow of the news, and proudly display considerable bias of their own.  What happened to true objective journalism?

    So what is your complaint again, Brian?  (missed ya, buddy!)  😉



  8. Brian Partridge on April 16, 2009 at 3:59 am

    Can't say the same, Dims.

    <div>

    </div>

    <div style="font-weight:normal;">Bulk of my complaint: media bias across all networks.  Seems pretty clear.  And, I'm pretty sure I didn't deny bias on other networks.  Also, had you actually watched anything except for Fox News, you would have known that the First Dog didn't get more press.  Convenient to make it up, though.  Much like attendance at rallies, seems like if you say it, it's true… until someone calls BS.</div>

    <div style="margin-top: 10px;">

    </div>

    <div style="font-weight:normal;">Not sure what else to refute in your retort.  I could go at referencing talking points: good thing it's not a common practice in all of politics, not sure where we'd be then.  Stephanopolous being a former Clinton advisor: good thing Tony Snow didn't have his own show on Fox News.  And, tying those two together, it's been plenty documented that Fox News aligns itself almost word for word with the Republican talking points.  Even to the degree that they've read a press release on the air down to the typo…</div>

    <div style="margin-top: 10px;">

    </div>

    <div style="font-weight:normal;">Look, I think it's great that conservatives have their own network.  Liberals have MSNBC, why shouldn't the Right have their own mouthpiece?  Liberals have the New York Times, why shouldn't conservatives have a paper like the Wall Street Journal to rely on?</div>



  9. GaryInSoGlast on April 16, 2009 at 6:17 am

    The liberals were so desperate for us to be hateful.  The CNN reporter wanted to cause a riot and we were not at our Tea Parties to be mindless fools.  They hate us for our convictions and they hate us for our idealism.  Too bad.  They woke the sleeping giant of the real Americans.  I hope we can keep everyone up and going until they hear our message in Washington.  This was the beginning of a long fight.  It was glorious and it was fun, but it is just the first step in our long fight.  I want to the Tea Party in Hartford, and it was the first time I ever did anything like that.  It won't be my last time.  Everyone must take our country back now, before we are too late.

    Via La Revolution.



  10. Steve in Norfolk on April 16, 2009 at 12:39 pm

    CNN is a radical arm of the Democratic party, their reporters are nothing more than agitators with press credentials, they don't even try hide their bias! They bow at the feet of Obama and the left and  remind me of union organizers with baseball bats! With no credibile argument against FOX News they resort to innuendo, it's a wonder they didn't compare the TEA parties to a reality show calling it world's biggest losers!



  11. Anne-EH on April 16, 2009 at 1:18 pm

    While the gentleman with the 2-year-old was trying to cite Abe Lincoln, the reporter from CNN was pushing PBO's talking points. No wonder CNN is dying as a cable network.



  12. Dimsdale on April 16, 2009 at 3:32 pm

    Sorry you feel that way, Brian.

    I was referring to the bulk of the media being oriented to the left, i.e. if Fox weren't there, would there be any right oriented TV news?  You cite one to one examples, but do not assess the overall picture.

    Bottom line: the media should be objective to the point that I could not discern the political leanings of any of the participants.  The gross leftward swing generated the need for a Fox network.

    Thank you for your time.



  13. Dimsdale on April 16, 2009 at 4:03 pm

    Oh, and by the way, I put Tony Snow into the same category as Tim Russert: they were both consummate reporters, that, while they had similar positions in government at one time, could put their jobs ahead of their political bents and be truly effective.  Apparently the good to die young.

    And the "dog got more coverage" was meant to be humorous.  Good thing we have you out there timing all the coverage for us, Mr. Partridge. 

    Could you put the actual times by network up for us to peruse?



  14. Ms. Pamela on April 16, 2009 at 3:33 pm

    I just watched the unprofessional, negatively provoked, jaw dropping outrageous? “interview” from yesterday’s Chicago Tea Party plus Pelosi’s warped, grasping at straws, perception of one of the most honest, heart felt, genuine, gentle movements our Nation has seen in quite awhile.? CNN…..desparate about your ratings much?!? Hey Nancy…..Polly, I mean Pelosi want a cracker?



  15. libertarian27 on April 16, 2009 at 5:21 pm

    Here’s more footage AFTER the CNN reporter/commentator interviewed that man with a child
    http://www.foundingbloggers.com/wordpress/2009/04/founding-bloggers-exclusive-our-footage-of-the-cnn-chicago-tea-party-throwdown/



  16. Dimsdale on April 17, 2009 at 5:55 am

    And now, the rest of the story:  footage of Tea Party members taking Roesgen to task.  Of course, the CNN cameras were off or this was edited.  Maybe it will be on Fox.  I wouldn't know, because, contrary to the assumptions of some, I don't have cable in my house.

    http://www.foundingbloggers.com/wordpress/2009/04



The website's content and articles were migrated to a new framework in October 2023. You may see [shortcodes in brackets] that do not make any sense. Please ignore that stuff. We may fix it at some point, but we do not have the time now.

You'll also note comments migrated over may have misplaced question marks and missing spaces. All comments were migrated, but trackbacks may not show.

The site is not broken.