My wife and I, along with some of our neighbors attended Tea Party Express rallies in Brighton, MI and Troy, MI. Our forces are growing as we recruited two more neighbors into our ranks. These two first time rally-goers were exposed directly to the passion and the concerns of everyday Americans as they struggle to halt Obama Care and stop our nation’s slide into socialism. They now have seen first hand that there are thousands in their communities that share their same point of view. They now have first hand information that has not been processed through the filter of a potentially biased media organization.
The crowds at both rallies were huge. An estimate of 4,000 people (at Brighton) was provided the Livingston County Press and Argus. Having been to many large rallies I believe this estimate to be accurate. By my first hand account, the Troy rally was even larger than the Brighton rally.
The Tea Party Express rallies have generated a lot of enthusiasm and momentum in Michigan among an eclectic array of citizens all fighting to beat back Obama’s big government agenda. Much media attention, both national and local, has been generated due to the large crowds. As expected, some media organizations do a better job than others in capturing both the facts and the feel of these events. I’ve personally read print articles, run the day after the rally, from the Livingston County Press and Argus, the Oakland Press, and the Detroit News. It is fascinating to compare their writings with what I saw first hand. The Livingston paper provided the most comprehensive and accurate coverage capturing both the facts and the essence of the Brighton rally, while the Detroit paper covered both rallies but not in great depth. I have no objections to these two articles, although I’d like to have seen more detail from the Detroit paper. The same cannot be said for the coverage in the Oakland Press.
The Oakland Press’ coverage of the Troy rally widely missed the mark. They chose to focus on an Obama Care support rally which they stated drew a crowd of 50 people. Their coverage included a front page photo of a solitary supporter holding her Obama Care sign. Coverage of the Tea Party rally was relegated to the tail end of the article. This type of coverage is analogous to giving front page headlines to the team that lost the Super Bowl while barely mentioning the team the won. And, oh by the way, the victors won by a score of 72-0.
In addition to focusing on the losers, the Oakland Press grossly misstated the size of the crowd. They claimed there were 200-300 people when there were closer to 4,000 for the Tea Party rally. A mistake of this magnitude makes me wonder if the reporters viewed this event through heavily tinted sunglasses, perhaps a nice rosy shade of red Kool-Aid.
Given the total mischaracterization of the Troy events I examined the byline to see who actual wrote this literary masterpiece. The byline indicated that the authors were John Garcia and Shaun Byron, Special to the Oakland Press. Hmm, “Special to the Oakland Press.” What does the term “Special to the Oakland Press” mean? The word “special” implies that this article is above and beyond that which is normally published. Does the Oakland Press consider these two journalists to be special or does this newspaper consider this article to be special?
Whatever the case, I too would use the term “special” in describing this piece of journalistic malpractice. This article does appear to have a unique and special level of fraud and deceit, unusual by even mainstream media standards. Of course I could be off the mark as this level of charlatan writing may be just run of the mill for this publication. Having been at the Troy event in person allows me to unequivocally state that this story is not just a piece; it is the whole steamy pile. I’m very lucky as my first hand knowledge enabled me to nimbly side step this stinking mess. Unfortunately for Oakland Press readers that did not attend the rally in person, they will have to scrape off the soles of their shoes.
I close this blog post with a comment from an Obama Care supporter at the rally in Brighton, Michigan. She told the Livingston County Press and Argus that many people are ill-informed about Obama Care. You know, she is probably correct. Wow! Did I actual say that? It is very rare that I’m in agreement with someone with a “Yes We Can” point of view. Even though I disagree vehemently with Obama’s socialist policies I will tip my hat to his supporters when they are correct.
Yes, there are many ill-informed people. This is likely because they get their information from biased media organizations like the Oakland Press. These readers are exposed only to the party line of those that want American citizens to give up their health care rights to bureaucrats of the federal government. These people consider themselves to be informed because they read a newspaper or watch TV. They don’t even realize they are being propagandized and lied to because of the extent to which left wing tentacles have woven their way into mainstream media organizations. To these readers a left wing bias is just par for the course. These uninformed people believe they are reading the unvarnished truth when in fact they should disinfect their shoes and keep an eye out for where they step next.
Link to Oakland Press story. Note: The Oakland Press did not have an on-line version of their story. It appears that the Oakland Press used a story published by the Daily Tribune. (This link takes you to the Daily Tribune story). The text in the print edition of the Oakland Press is identical to the text in the on-line version of the Daily Tribune. The photo used by these two media organizations are different. Looks like readers have two piles they need to avoid stepping into.
Link to Detroit News Story
Link to Livingston County Press story
My wife and I arrived early, about 6:30, to get a good vantage point and talk with other likeminded individuals before the event formally started. Arriving early also gave me an opportunity to use my Sony boom box to serenade the crowd with sound bytes of Obama elaborating on his plans for America. Among other topics, these bytes included Obama lecturing a woman about how it might be better to give her elderly mother pain killers rather than surgery to correct her ailment, and how his Cap and Trade plan would necessarily cause electricity rates to skyrocket.
