Al Sharpton, playing the part of completely awful television host on MSNBC, recently decided to wade in to the not-at-all risky Progressive waters of attacking the Tea Party. Yes….dangerous stuff. What a rebel.
Sharpton (video here) decided to call the Tea Party, “…a monster that threatens to eat the Republican Party.” In the same exact sentence, he states:
“Back in 2009, town halls were being disrupted by what appeared to be grassroots protests against healthcare. (Obamacare) Turns out, Republican backed, corporate funded groups were sponsoring speakers and bussing people to events when the Tea Party movement went prime time.”
His proof of the “corporate sponsorship” is a montage of FOX News clips talking about the Tea Party, and some of the Tea Party t-shirts that were for sale from budding capitalists all across America.
If MSNBC is serious about hiring Sharpton on a full-time, prime time basis, they should examine what he just said. First, calling the Tea Party “monsters” is so 2010. It’s uninspired, unimaginative and not funny. What kind of writers does MSNBC have if the best they can come up with for Sharpton is Tea Party “monsters?” (NOTE – I only assume the writers came up with this, as I do not believe that Sharpton could have come up with that kind of zinger on his own.)
Looking at the rest of the sentence, what MSNBC producer allowed Sharpton to completely contradict himself that quickly into the piece? He states that the Tea Party is Republican backed and corporate funded. If the Tea Party threatens to eat the Republican Party, why would the Republican Party back the Tea Party? The two things simply are incompatible, and Sharpton doesn’t really seem to care. He is pushing a famously ignorant meme about the origins, and the validity, of the Tea Party. Two things that are best left as questions about his National Action Network.
The Tea Party has pushed Republican candidates, and sitting legislators on the local, state and Federal level, to be better. (We would like to push Democrats to be better, but they all got pushed out in the 2010 election, leaving only Hard Core Leftist-Progressive ideologues behind.) The Tea Party is focused on accountability to we, the people. This debate over the debt ceiling would never have happened if it weren’t for the Tea Party. It would have been passed silently, like always. Now, millions of Americans are aware of the out of control spending of this Administration, and prior administrations. The Tea Party has done more to educate more Americans in the last two months than Al Sharpton and NAN has ever done for Americans.
As for the FOX montage, good for FOX. At least one news organization was following the story, as opposed to the vicious attacks, or selective reporting, from groups like his employer, MSNBC. The Tea Party was a cultural phenomenon, born out of the disgust for runaway government spending and politicians who refused to listen. It has then been cultivated by the millions of members into a force for accountability. It’s message of The Four Basics – The Constitution, Capitalism, Fiscal Responsibility and Smaller Government – resonates with all citizens, from all walks of life. That is a story worth covering, yet Sharpton attacks FOX for engaging in journalism.
That’s to be expected from Sharpton. But one could have hoped for more from MSNBC. Once again, “hope” has let us down..we’ll see if the ratings follow.
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