Ana Marie Cox Compares Tea Party Movement to Code Pink

Ana Marie Cox on Sunday compared the Tea Party movement to the anti-war women's group Code Pink.

Appearing on CNN's "Reliable Sources," the GQer formerly known as Wonkette wasn't at all bothered by Code Pink co-founder Jodie Evans disrupting Karl Rove's book signing last week.

"It's not infringing on Karl Rove's right to speak to have someone else interrupt him." 

She continued, "Code Pink was to Fox News, you know, what the Tea Partiers are to MSNBC now. I mean, Code Pink was the group that the Republicans and the GOP and Fox News wanted to have represent the Democratic Party" (video embedded below the fold with transcript and commentary): 

HOWARD KURTZ, HOST: I want to turn back to this, what I call selective outrage. So, for example, Karl Rove was at a book signing about a week or so ago in Beverly Hills. And you all probably saw what happened.

Let's roll a little bit of that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KARL ROVE, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: No, no, no. I didn't say go ahead. I said you get away.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KURTZ: That signing was disrupted by Code Pink. And Fox played that up every other hour because obviously it fit the Fox narrative and obviously is an infringement of free speech.

ANA MARIE COX, GQ: Right. Of whose free speech?

KURTZ: Well, shouldn't an author be able to go and have a book signing without being shouted down?

COX: Well, I mean, I don't know.

KURTZ: You don't care?

COX: I go on either side. I prefer that everyone be sort of civil with each other, but I don't think -- it's not infringing on Karl Rove's right to speak to have someone else interrupt him.

CRAIG CRAWFORD, CQPOLITICS.COM: But, you know, here's the contradiction.

COX: But I want to get back to this. Code Pink was to Fox News, you know, what the Tea Partiers are to MSNBC now. I mean, Code Pink was the group that the Republicans and the GOP and Fox News wanted to have represent the Democratic Party.

Code Pink was to Fox News what the Tea Partiers are to MSNBC now? Really?

According to LexisNexis, since Code Pink's inception in October 2002, in programs transcribed by Fox News (mostly prime time), the anti-war women's group has been mentioned 135 times.

That's roughly thirteen times a year.

Not much, right?

By contrast, in the programs MSNBC transcribes (again mostly prime time), since Tea Parties became popular about a year ago, the movement and/or its members have been referred to in 77 shows. 

As such, it's a rather specious comparison by Cox, and just another one of those "government-run media" attempts to kill Tea Party messengers discussed by Dana Loesch Saturday.