The cable news was where this showdown was really intended to take place, CNN, MSNBC, FOX, ABC and CBS don't care what happens in the streets of America. (Trust me, after being part of over 400,000 people marching on Washington, and having FOX tell me we were only about 1,000 strong, and CNN flinch when they reported the truth, change it a minute later to 'thousands' because FOX's story was different) What they were interested in is whether or not they could effectively produce - in the sense of producing television - produce a movement. MSNBC's Keith Olberman was all over it, mocking it and calling it a sham, in the mean time FOX was fairly and with balance telling everyone that they needed to be there, and that every one of their shows on tax day would be dedicated to showing how outraged everyone was with their taxes. I did some looking, maybe not enough, but it looked like CNN took the sideline on this one...
So the stage was set, the news networks had drawn their lines in the sand, their lead commentators faced off... Would the people turn out, would the "Mainstream Media" cover it? I thought it was particularly funny, in a couple clips from FOX I was watching, they kept questioning if the "mainstream media" would cover it, like they weren't ranked number one in cable news... doesn't that make YOU mainstream? Anyway, the numbers are out, the guesses totaled. Nationwide the highest estimate from city and county officials totals 240,000 (remember thats nationwide) and the largest was 20,000. These statistics are from the Christian Science Monitor, the only newspaper i could find that would offer me real numbers. Though I did find it laughable in my search reading from several conservative newspapers from around the nation that this was the largest movement seen in the nation in decades... Nonetheless they had their little party, sponsored by the industry leader in cable news, and they all cheered and patted themselves on the back. As one conservative newspaper put it, the protests were "dominated by white conservatives and libertarians".
Now for a little perspective... In March 2006, led by community organizers, 1.5 million protesters hit the streets around the nation to protest the conservative initiative to clamp down on immigration and build a ridiculous Stalin-esque wall between our nation and theirs. In February 2003, the highest estimates of anti-war protesters pleading with George W Bush to not invade Iraq was 10 million. In January 2007 between 100,000 and 400,000 people showed up in Washington DC to protest the announcement of the surge, a plan to send more troops into a war that was, and is failing. To FOX's point these, and many other events were largely absent in the mass media, there was a Britney Spears bad hair day to cover instead.
What does this all say? First of all, FOX should no longer be allowed to use the name "NEWS" in their title, something more fitting like ' FOX current events and opinions' or 'FOX what we think news ought to be'. I'm not saying there's much better about the other networks out there, any of you that listen to my ravings know that I'm not much a fan of anything corporate... Clearly though, you can't call yourself a news organization and then organize a nationwide series of protests to a government's policy. That is where you cease to be a news agency and become part of a movement. A news agency would be present at the rally, but would not have their top anchormen leading the charge...
Second, it looks to me as though this teabag nonsense has gotten more press coverage in five days that the entire anti-war movement has gotten in the last six years. There are more important things out there than your money in your billfold people. I don't think that the majority of the public seems to care that 5000 or so Americans have been killed as well as hundreds of thousands of Iraqi's in this needless and illegal war we are engaged in.... By the way for all you tax activists out there, upset because we're spending billions of dollars trying to save the economy at home, just a quick fun fact for you, the US military budget including all costs Iraq and Afghanistan is more than any stimulus type package we've seen so far... Thats okay with you, lets spend 700+ Billion dollars on killing and destroying a foreign land, but when it comes to rebuilding our own after the flawed system of the last thirty years is collapsing, thats when we're wasting money... I get it.
Last, I would like to welcome the white middle class, 'living cozy in my four bedroom, two story, two stall garage house - But I'm getting taxed too much' people into the fold of faithful social dissidents, I hope that someday we'll find an issue to hit the streets together in agreement on. Until then, go back home, sit back down in front of your 46" LCD HDTV, keep ignoring the fact that your kid is popping prescription pills, and shut the fuck up. Taxes are the price we pay for living in a civilized society. It's a hassle yes, but one of those necessary evils. I would much rather live in a nation with roads, police forces, public schools, fire departments, a national defense, and all the other wonderful things that our taxes buy us. This is not to say that there is some wasteful spending that comes out of our government. There is. I recommend that you take issue with the things that you find wasteful, rather than the means to which both the useful and the wasteful are funded. Thats like saying 'hey I don't like that my kid stays out too late every once in a while, I'm going to kill him' rather the response should be to correct the disagreeable behavior.
