Friday, June 5, 2009
News Tea-bagging is no laughing matter
Posted by Asher Smith on Fri, Jun 5, 2009 at 6:59 PM
They're back, Atlanta. And this time, they're prepared for your childish antics.
While the April 15 Atlanta Tea Party protest in front of the Georgia Capitol included Sean Hannity, local politicos and quite a bit of traffic, what the organizers didn't necessarily account for beforehand was the sophomoric glee with which anchors and guests on major news networks, including CNN's Anderson Cooper, would greet their declared intent to "teabag the White House."
According to a press release issued by the Tea Party Patriots early this week, announcing their intended demonstration outside CNN headquarters today from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.:
CNN poked fun at and demeaned the Tea Party Patriots Protesters around the country on April 15th. ... The repeated use of sexual innuendo and other offensive language primarily centered around an alternate meaning of the word "teabagging" were insulting, rude, and lacked the decorum expected of a professional news organization.Content like this is not family friendly. As parents, we are outraged that your network incorporated these sexual innuendos and other offensive language into your news content as if they didn't matter.
Though the Tax Day protests drew anywhere between 10,000 and 20,000 attendees (and Sean Hannity!), there was no sign of any demonstrators early this afternoon afternoon at CNN — and nary an indication that they so even briefly distracted the hordes of summer campers and tourist groups that normally mill around the CNN Center.
Regardless of how many enthused teabaggers actually were offended by CNN's coverage of their event, it rings a tad hollow, given that many of the most hilariously suggestive parodies came from the teabaggers themselves — such as the sign held up by 38-year-old medical professional Christian Stevens last April 15 in front of the Capitol:
“Stimulus check: $20.32. KY Jelly: $20.32. Coincidence? I don't think so.”
(Photo by Joeff Davis)
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