While America's media continue to depict the Tea Party as homophobic, angry racists, they shamefully ignore the REAL hate speech going on in our nation, namely what's being regularly hurled at this movement by its opponents.
Take for example the absolutely shocking voice-mail messages that have been left at the offices of FreedomWorks, a non-profit organization that has supported the Tea Party since its inception.
In response to a video that fired GEICO announcer Lance Baxter aka D.C. Douglas created last week that included messages he received from non-supporters after his termination, the folks at FreedomWorks on Monday published a collection of their own.
This video contains astonishingly vulgar and hateful voice-mail messages left for FreedomWorks employees that likely would be front-page and headline news if this was a liberal organization (video follows with commentary, STRONG vulgarity and content warning, h/t Right Scoop):
Amazing.
Now, compare that to the messages left for Baxter by FreedomWorks supporters (relevant section at 1:00):
Complaints to be sure, but civil and lacking vulgarity -- a far cry from what Baxter's supporters left for FreedomWorks.
This is itself especially ironic as this entire episode began with Baxter's voice-mail message to FreedomWorks which was also far worse than any left for him.
Not surprising, that didn't get a lot of coverage either.
According to LexisNexis, only two newspapers -- New York's Daily News and the Washington Post -- covered his termination. As for television, CNN did one segment on Baxter, MSNBC did two -- one actually praised him! -- and Fox News did three.
And that, as they say, was that.
Clearly, the voice of a leading insurance company getting fired for leaving a disgusting voice-mail message to a non-profit organization isn't newsworthy in 2010.
Would things have been different if he was a conservative and the non-profit was liberal?
Before you answer, consider what NewsBusters' Scott Whitlock uncovered: on Saturday, ABC's "Good Morning America" reported a rally against Arizona's new anti-illegal immigration law. Despite riot police having to be called in due to protesters throwing bottles, and regardless of arrests having been made, reporter Mike Von Fremd said most attendees were peaceful.
By contrast, when "World News" covered ObamaCare protests on Capitol Hill in March, the treatment by ABC's David Muir was far different:
"Protesters against the [health care] plan gathered on the streets of the capital where late today we learned words shouted turned very ugly, reports of racial and homophobic slurs, one protester actually spitting on a Congressman." Continuing to fret over those [sic] opposed the bill, he complained, "Late word from Washington tonight about just how ugly the crowds gathered outside the Longworth office building have become."
Yes, in the course of about a month, ABC depicted people peacefully protesting a Democrat healthcare reform plan as "very ugly" while a rally against a new law in Arizona where bottles were thrown at police officers and arrests were made was mostly peaceful.
Doesn't make much sense, does it, especially as nobody was arrested at the healthcare reform protest, riot police weren't needed, and there were no reports of anything being dangerously thrown in the air.
This of course was consistent with how Tea Partiers have comported themselves from the onset. As NewsBusters' Candance Moore reported last Wednesday, police have found this movement's rallies to be so well-behaved that they've relaxed security requirements at their gatherings.
Ironically, Tea Parties are more peaceful than anti-war rallies, but you wouldn't know it from the abysmal reporting by America's conservative-hating media.
