In a report currently time-stamped early Saturday morning, Emily Wilkins at the Columbus Dispatch claimed in her opening sentence covering Ohio's second We The People Convention in Columbus ("Fears fuel kinship at tea party convention") that "Tea party members are alone and scared — and to them, that’s a good thing."
Well, I was there this weekend in Columbus. I didn't see "alone" or "scared," or hear anyone say that such a combination of emotions would be "a good thing. Neither did the rest of Wilkins' report, some of which follows the jump:
Tea party members are alone and scared — and to them, that’s a good thing.
The fear is part of what has brought them together to the second annual We the People Convention, an annual gathering of tea party members from across Ohio. About 1,000 people are expected to attend the two-day event, which opened yesterday.
The sources of their concerns vary. Some said they’re worried about their children’s futures; others said they worry that the United States will follow Europe, first in policies and then into a debt crisis.
... “The fate of the nation rests with us,” said Tom Zawistowski, the convention’s president. “We’ve been so disappointed when we’ve had other people deciding for us. There will be no one else deciding for us. We can do this on our own.”
... “People are getting involved who have never been involved before,” said Akron tea party member David Miller. Miller said he was never much into politics until the government began bailing out companies that were “too big to fail.”
Zawistowski acknowledged that there is an “underlying fear” in the movement but that it’s accompanied by optimism and confidence in its mission. The convention brings together people with the same fears and reminds them that they are not alone.
I did sense the fear Zawistowski identified -- what person who understands this country's foundations and the rule of law wouldn't, given the Supreme Court's ruling on Thursday, President Obama's arbitrary executive moves, and his regulators' "crucify them" zeal? -- and plenty of kinship.
But Zawistowski's "they are not alone" phrase doesn't support Wilkins' contention; it directly contradicts it. Additionally, Tom Z's notion that "we can do it alone" is really irrelevant to her opening sentence's assertion implying small numbers, because "we" is really millions of people nationwide. The sole purpose of the Dispatch reporter's opening sentence appears to be to present those who attended as isolated from whatever she might think is mainstream thought in an effort to convince them not to read on. Sorry, ma'am, "mainstream thought" is still the U.S. Constitution as properly interpreted; those who attended are the mainstream.
One obvious question is whether anyone at the Dispatch or any other newspaper in Ohio has ever described any of the Occupy groups which rarely numbered more than a couple of dozen at any one event "alone" or "scared." I'll bet not.
Cross-posted at BizzyBlog.com.
