Ratigan is a complete psychotic conspiracy goofball who only appeals to the uneducated loons who cannot read and he plays on their fears for ratings. His grip on the facts is only a little tighter than his grip on reality.

(above comment copy and pasted from any random Glenn Beck thread)

Hey Ratigan….let the man answer your question. You sound as mad as Keith O.

“Feisty”? How about “idiotic”?

Hahahaha…more unhinged lunacy from a Lib media hack who was probably swigging champagne thirteen months ago. I love it.

I have one burning question: When does he BREATHE?

On another note, I think Joe Biden and Ted Kennedy are pikers at asking the fifteen minute question and then calling time on the witness compared to this guy.

Another question, who or what group put out the Report, whose conclusions were so prominently displayed in the chyron?

One more, between the two men who exemplifies that constant charge that Tea Partiers are rabid raving screaming lunatics? Ratigan has my vote for sure!

This is the problem with MSNBC and the rest of the left-wing media. They refuse to let the tea party people tell their side of the story, and will shout them down or even cut off the microphone if necessary. The tea parties are driven by concerns about out-of-control government spending, rising deficits, looming tax increases and an intrusive federal government. But MSNBC can’t let people hear any of that, because it would detract from their smear campaign. No wonder MSNBC’s ratings are tanking. They are propagandists, not journalists, and this move by Dylan Ratigan lets everybody see how deep the bias runs.

You really have to love the irony that the segment was to be focused on the anger supposedly emanating from the Tea Party movement and Ratigan ends up losing his mind because he would not let the man speak.

Dylan Ratigan is an idiot. Who wants to kill black people? What the hell is he talking about?

But Mark Williams is a stooge. I’ve seen him on AC360 and he’s kooky. Ratigan managed to make him look good though.

Christine says:
March 2, 2010 at 5:09 pm

I’d comment on this, Christine, but I don’t remember seeing Williams before and I certainly didn’t see much of him today except that he kept cool during what can only be described as a vicious personal attack.

what the hell is wrong with that guy Dylan? The tea party guy answered him like three times. (No we dont embrace racism). what more did he want? He would not even let the other guy talk.

This is what the left does all day long. no facts, no proof. just throw the word racist out there when there is nothing to stand on. what a joke .

Just a little over the top. Time for Dylan to apologize on Twitter again.

The report was from the Southern Poverty Law Center. it is worth reading IMHO. Ratigan covered that first and interviewed a spokesperson from there, so hopefully MSNBC will put video of that on their website. That was a much better interview than this one.

http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-report/browse-all-issues/2010/spring/rage-on-the-right

It seemed like Ratigan planned to get angry and kick the Tea Party guy off the air, before the interview even started. Why don’t Tea Party leaders actively insist that far-right extremists are not welcome in the movement, if they really want to build it and go mainstream with it? That is a fair question and I would like to know the answer. But.. Ratigan could’ve asked it in a better way and pressed for an answer in a better way, because this just came off as theatrics.

Thks, Da, I’ll check out the link.

I was at the 9/12 march & didn’t hear one word of racism. For me, the only thing that will save America & bring both parties back to the middle & represent Americans is the TeaParty. America does need to get away from the 2-party system since they both spend our money as though it’s water & don’t realize that, taking our tax dollars from us, means taking our money away from our families.

Ratigan has become a clown. I don’t support with this kind of behavior whether it is Glenn Beck or Ratigan.

While I feel that Ratigan was asking a somewhat valid question, perhaps it’s time for him to re-view an old clip from Morning Joe, where once again he had a point, but it got buried by the delivery.

are you losing the debate? SHOUT RACIST and you silence the opposition which ends the argument allowing you to claim victory. …cheap left wing tactic.

If you’re going to cut mikes, why not do it the way Around the Horn does it? If someone tries to interrupt or filibuster, their mike gets muted for 10 seconds instantly:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dSoC17fwi8

This is off topic but, I read that fox news reported this afternoon that Bunning had ended his faux filibuster but, that’s not true as I’m sure you all are aware. There are rumors that tonight the Dems will force Bunning to stay on the floor and actually filibuster. I hope they do but, what’s up with fox and it’s continued misinformation campaign? Let me guess. Are wingnuts calling fox and cursing them out?

Chris Matthews is pretty good at it, too…asking someone a question, then answering it himself. Instead of doing this, it would be more entertaining if far left interviewers would adapt the old Vaudeville routine. Ask a question, then have a hook reach out and drag the person off camera before they can respond.

Wow, that was entertaining! Where are all the Libs to defend this guy? It’s pretty quiet.

I notice that Rox didn’t have a comment on the relevent subject. Do you even know what Bunnings beef is? Probably not. It’s that he would like Obama to keep his promise of pay as you go. You remember how he talked about it only a couple of weeks ago and said how important it is? You probably forgot that.

Oh and Rox, please provide specified cases of Fox’s misinformation. These drive by accusations with NOTHING to back them up with are getting tired.

MichelleF says:
March 2, 2010 at 7:13 pm

Michelle, surely you jest!

Roxy actually claimed on another thread that Scott Brown was an Independent, poor misinformed girl.

What was I thinking!

Probably all she needs is a little Fox in her life. :)

Seems the gang over at MSNBC are the angry bunch of white man.

da-wdc says:
March 2, 2010 at 5:19 pm

Why don’t Tea Party leaders actively insist that far-right extremists are not welcome in the movement, if they really want to build it and go mainstream with it? That is a fair question and I would like to know the answer.

I don’t think that’s possible, is the answer. How can any organization purge “followers,” of a different ideology? When a left-wing knucklehead is arrested for being a attacking a solider, is it the Democratic establishment’s fault for “allowing” that guy to be on their political side? I don’t think so… and the same goes for this. Sure there are loons, but there are loons in all political movements… and aside from openly not representing their loony ideas, I’m not sure there’s much more the administrators can do.

Jelperman says:
March 2, 2010 at 6:10 pm

We don’t agree on much, Jelp… but I’ve always thought a political show styled after “Around The Horn” would be very interesting. Just without Tony as the host… I can’t stand that guy.

roxsteady says:
March 2, 2010 at 6:11 pm

This is off topic but…

…we’re not surprise.

I read that fox news reported this afternoon that Bunning had ended his faux filibuster but, that’s not true as I’m sure you all are aware.

Perhaps you should tell whomever you read it from, that their information is wrong.

I hope they do but, what’s up with fox and it’s continued misinformation campaign?

I like that you assume your “source” is correct. Let ME guess… they didn’t provide a video, so you’re not really sure… but you’ve decided to take them at their word. Where did you read the original story… throw us a link.

Watching MSNBC can be pure entertainment at times. The only times I will watch it are usually when I don’t have control of the remote, i.e., while on the elliptical at the gym or at someone eles’s place.They’re nothing but babbling baboons from Morning Joe to Rachel Maddow. They continue to fall even further behind in the ratings..and think ratcheting up the idiocy is going to help.

GE is dumping the money-losing NBC, and I think when the deal with Comcast goes through MSNBC will go through a huge shake up.

NewsBusters — Ratigan Goes Nuts: Accuses Tea Party Organizer of Including People who Want to ‘Kill Blacks and Jews’
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/jeff-poor/2010/03/02/ratigan-goes-nuts-accuses-tea-party-organizer-including-people-who-want-k

MichelleF says:

Oh and Rox, please provide specified cases of Fox’s misinformation.
———————————————–

Well I’m not Rox, but I’ll throw out a few. Do you remember when O’Reilly claimed the “Paris Business Review” (a magazine that doesn’t even exist) showed that his boycott on France was working? I remember O’Reilly saying when he was attending Maris College he held the punting record for the league. Well all you had to do was a little google and surprise, surprise. When he attended Maris College they didn’t even have a sanctioned football team. It was a intercolleggeate league. They didn’t keep records. Maris College football team was not sanctioned until 3 yrs after O’Reilly graduated. If you want more examples, just let me know.

I find it extremely troubling that many of the MSNBC activists, appear to be 100% focused on creating even more racial disharmony in the US, than presently exists. In spite of their feigned ‘anger’ rhetoric, bigotry comes in all political stripes and persuasions. No matter the political debate, the MSNBC activists always fall back on the race card, to stir controversy and boost their ratings. I could almost swear, that some of these activists are secretly hoping to incite a race war. No wonder MSNBC keeps sinking below sea level, day after day. No one believes these phoney race-baiters. Last, but definitely not least, why does MSNBC consist only of old grumpy white men? I hope Comcast eventually cuts all of their mics.

The lefties are avoiding this thread like the plague save a couple olbyloon diversion attempts. Very telling.

@ Olby Sucks

Well I guess you were to busy to read my comment at 8:39pm. Thought I’d let you know before you break your arm trying to pat yourself on the back.

the real john t says:
March 2, 2010 at 8:39 pm

That’s the best you can do? Got anything… oh, I don’t know… relevant?

the real john t says:
March 2, 2010 at 8:39 pm

And these stellar examples from years and years ago from the man who recently complained about and ridiculed J$ for using an example from the Hounds from 3 months prior to make a point.

Why am I not surprised that John t and his alter ego The real john t can’t keep their stories straight?

If you scream for a link re you I’ll scream for one too, Really real john t.

I hate to ruin a good tea-bag party but I loved this slap down of ultra-moron and lead tea-bagger Mark Williams who plays his part perfectly. All you tea-baggers should be proud that Mark Williams is in a leadership role; personally, I’m thrilled about it. I even have a little tingle going up my leg…hold it…nope, sorry, has nothing to do with Williams.

@ Grammie

OH! But you don’t have any problem with Koldys going back 3 or 4yrs ago to dig up something the NHs wrote. I hope you don’t live in a glass house Grammie.

t-bone, do you have ADD or are you just faking it?

the real john t says:
March 2, 2010 at 9:20 pm

Really, Really real, you really need to remember what you say from day to day.

This is what you said just YESTERDAY at NH:

“John T
I know this is OT but it’s truly pathetic. Mark Koldys has finely lost it. His hatred for the NHs has eaten his brain completely up. From his weekly NHs hate fest.:
—————————————————–

“They ridiculed the notion that Iran is getting closer to a nuclear weapon, calling it “war mongering” and insisting that John Bolton must be running “his own private spy agency”. Well he must have loaned that secret agency to the UN, since the IAEA found evidence that Iran was looking to create a nuclear payload for a missile. Oops.”
—————————————————–

Well, the article from the NHs Koldys linked to is from November 2009. To show that the NHs were “wrong headed” (Koldys words) he linked to an article from BBC about a report that came out in (drum roll) Feburary 2010.

Of course his mindless sheep don’t even bother to read the links, let alone look at dates. Whatever Koldys says they just take as the gospel. Koldys has to go back to 2009, 2008 and beyond to find a NHs article and then find a current article and start screaming, see they’re “wrong headed”. Like I said, the silly little man has completely lost it.
Yesterday, 12:29:33 AM”

So, just yesterday you’re claiming that J$ “finely (sic) lost it” and I/we are “mindless sheep” for not refusing to accept the legitimacy of something that was never corrected from just three months ago while today you are using incidents from years and years ago, that have been addressed BTW, to criticize BOR.

Really, Really real johnt, you should really strive for some consistency.

@ Grammie

Well, Grammie, I know you people at Koldys Dump don’t even bother to click on the links let alone read the dates to his FHWIF. But he has used stuff from 2006 and 2007 that was said on the NHs. Then tried to prove something out of it. But I realize you Dollarettes are so brainwashed by Koldy that everything is just fine whatever he writes.

t-bone has not a clue what it actually means to prove a point or accusation. Sometimes that takes using something someone said/ posted on a previous date to prove ones backpedalling or flat out lying. t-bone, do you and patty cakes use the same connection for your drugs? If so, you’re gettin’ some bad stuff!

@ Olby Sucks

Does your hair hurt constantly? Because what you just wrote, I can see your are so dumb, your hair has got to hurt.

Man oh man, there’s a lot of inside baseball talk in the comments section that the occasional Mediate reader like myself will never understand.

Hey the real john, you have anything in this century?

@ MichelleF

Do you have anything worthy of discussing?

BTW Michelle let me know what you’d like to discuss.

Let me try for the last time to explain to you why YOUR positions stated on consecutive days are so blatantly contradictory.

On Monday you write a long scathing denunciation of J$ using a post made by Ellen ridiculing Fox for having a guest that maintained that Iran was close to having nuclear weapons b/c of a long since discredited 2005 (?) NIE report that claimed Iran had ceased all such activity in 2003. Mind you Ellen’s post was made in November 2009 or three months ago.

J$ used the IAEA report that recently released that verifies that not only did Iran not stop working toward developing nuclear weapons but were ominously close to achieving that goal.

The very next day after J$’s post you wrote a long comment (in which you made clear you don’t have a clue what the word wrongheaded actually means) ridiculing J$ for using something Ellen said waaaay back three months ago.

You have that firmly fixed in your mind I hope. You were outraged at J$ and his readers’ stupidity and ignorance for using Ellen’s prognostications from November for criticizing her three months later. I never made that point, YOU DID!

One day later when Roxie is asked to provide proof re Fox’s misinformation you volunteer two incidents regarding BOR, and one is re a personal matter, from years and years ago.

Now I hope you have these three thoughts in mind simultaneously.

What are we to believe is your criteria for such things, Really real johnt? Is it what you said on Monday when you were defending your friend or is it what you said today when you are attacking someone who disagrees with you?

Or is the case that you really support the Humpty Dumpty School of debate? As Humpty so famously said:

“When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, “it means just what I choose it to mean- neither more nor less.”

bamman says:
March 2, 2010 at 11:05 pm

You are absolutely right and I will try to do better.

Sorry!

@ Grammie

Put the bottle away and go to bed. You didn’t even read my last comment about that, or you just couldn’t comprehend it.

@bamman: What’s worse is that it almost always revolves around something from some other site(s) and people or usernames that we don’t know.

Magister Magister says:
March 2, 2010 at 11:49 pm

You expanded bamman’s excellent point.

I will refer to everyone here by the name they use here and will translate anyone else that I am conversing with so the other readers will not need a score card to tell the players.

Again, sorry for my part in it.

@Grammie: I know that I for one would appreciate it.

The other night, I tried to figure out where “Koldys” was because it has come up so much in the comments lately, but I don’t think I would’ve known to go check “Johnny Dollar’s“, if Steve (Mediaite), TVNewser and other sites hadn’t been hat-tipping him for years.

John,
Still waiting for something in this century. You having some trouble?

the real john t says:
March 2, 2010 at 11:38 pm
@ Grammie

Put the bottle away and go to bed. You didn’t even read my last comment about that, or you just couldn’t comprehend it.

John,
Why is it that Libs think they are so much smarter than the rest of us? You are so condescending. It’s pretty pathetic.

Michelle, it is a losing battle.

That charming little bon mot has been used here by TRRK, MrMcGlennKoldys… and one or two others based on something I said at Olbermann Watch about celebrating with a double Absolut on the rocks and has been dragged along with them everywhere. Then the wannabe in the loop with them hangerons pick it up. Mature these guys are definitely not.

I ignore them and have an extra double Absolut on the rocks with a Grey Goose chaser just in their honor. :)

“Why is it that Libs think they are so much smarter than the rest of us?”
———————————————-

Why is it that the RWers keep trying to tell Liberals what they think. Now who is it that’s trying to act smarter than the other one?

@ MichelleF

Now I offered to discuss anything you wanted to discuss. So you start it off and then we’ll see who breaks down and starts throwing out the juvenile insults. Fair enough?

I bet Ratigan would have loved to show all the racist posters are the Tea Party Express rallies calling for ‘killing black people.’ Unfortunately for this delusional person, they do not exist. Ratigan really shows what scares him, and all lib progressives, the most about the TP protests, that they aren’t part of an organization with a political agenda to accomplish goals of power and wealth for its members and contributors with a military style leadership that instructs everyone what to do.. only people coming out saying WTF. But I’m still trying to figure out why the tax and economy problems in this country somehow turn to a racism problem for people Ratigan and Matthews.. it must be too much for my puny conservative mind to comprehend. Smears.

It never ceases to amaze me how out of touch with the country these people are, or the things they actually believe to make them behave in this way.

(Insert my standard disclaimer about not wanting to get overly political in this forum)

@rmbltmbl: I’m not going to pull them up, but there has been some racist signs, some implied racist statements and implied threats of violence at some protests. And, while I’m not a “Tea Party” member and don’t sympathize with their cause… what I think is not fully understood by the NYC/Washington-based media and thus isn’t being communicated very well is a point that I take from your comment.

There are some basic, “Beckian” philosophies that appear to be shared by all or most members of the “movement”, but they’re not an organized group with completely common beliefs, nationwide.

Each and every little, local “Tea Party” group seems to be operating as a separate entity and though there are some unifying principles; a group of housewives in New Hampshire aren’t in total agreement with those who attended the pro-gun rally in Las Cruces, nor does the lady in Baton Rouge who has publicly considered turning her local “chapter” into a purely educational vehicle necessarily see the same means to an end, as a bunch of farmers from Fresno.

da-wdc (above) and Ratigan are right and if the “Tea Party” wants to become “mainstream” and would like their positions to be better understood by the masses, they are going to have to do something to disavow the fringe elements. As da-wdc and myself have said and I’m sure other would agree, Ratigan didn’t do the discussion any favors with his one-sided tantrum, but somebody has to answer the question.

In the Texas primaries, yesterday, not a single high profile Tea Party candidate won, yesterday, and, although I haven’t carefully reviewed each local race, I don’t think a single Tea Party candidate won anywhere. Given the gaggle of extreme rightist racists we have amongst us in the Lone Star state, I think this is telling. Williams should have thanked Ratigan for even giving him a forum.

I notice some back-and-forth about another site, once a very good site, which has now become simply a very small, insular group of people united simply by exclusion of all those not sharing the same opinion as they do and by odd, powerful, crippling obsessions with a third site and with Olbermann. There is value in discussing the sad demise of that site, but only to the extent that it serves as a reminder to those of us so very fond of Mediaite that the path followed there is not one which we ought to chose. I don’t think anyone followed the path of the Donner Party, and I don’t think we should.

Magister, I don’t want the Tea Party to become ‘mainstream’ if that ends up like the Republicans and Democrats.. liberals and progressives would love to see tea party candidates for a Ross Perot effect. There are white supremacy groups that are very christian.. does that mean we need Christ around to scold them out of religion? If a racist isn’t breaking any laws, what on earth could we do about it anyway? Should we have $3000 fundraising dinners? The idea that most of the tea party are de facto ‘anything-ist’ because of a couple people is such a ridiculous argument and you and I both know why ‘the masses don’t understand’ the views of the tea party.. because we are talking about this. And ‘somebody has to answer the question’ sounds a lot like ‘somebody has to pay for this’ to me. If you’re going to villify the entire tea party for a few racists, go ahead onto the entire American people. Absolutely silly.

rmbltmbl: Let’s assume for a moment that there are members of the various Tea Party factions who, in fact, have made a considered judgment that government is too big and needs to be reigned in. I understand this to be the principle belief of this group, at least as presented to the media. I do believe that there are a likely a few members who are committed to this principle, while many others, perhaps the majority, simply want to lock in a White/Anglo power structure out of some inexplicable fear and loathing of African-Americans and immigrants. Are you suggesting that the true believers have no obligation to purge themselves of the wretched stench of the racists and xenophobes? I for no other reason than transmitting their core belief in a strong, clear signal, ought they not disavow the xenophobes and racists in their midst? I’m truly lost here. The Democrats went through an ugly purgative process in the late 1960′s a drove out the Crackers into the welcoming arms of the Republicans. As a Democrat, that is a process I am very proud of, indeed. And, it seems to me that when we didn’t have to tailor our message as not to offend the racists in the party (I’m not sure xenophobia was as rampant in 1968 as it is now), our message, agree with it or not, became much clearer.

@rmbltmbl: I’m not vilifying the whole Tea Party movement because of a few extremists, but I do recognize that they exist and for as long as they and their prejudices are highly visible, it’s easier for people to paint the whole group with a wide brush.

On the liberal or progressive side, we had the DLC and the rise of the Clinton wing to help distance the Democrats from some of the extremes. John Kerry famously told an interviewer that he hadn’t seen Fahrenheit 9/11, while Michael Moore claimed that he was at the DC premiere and for the longest time, no mainstream Democratic candidate would appear on the same stage as the controversial filmmaker. A couple of low level or fringe party members may have gone down to Crawford to meet with Cindy Sheehan, but she eventually challenged Nancy Pelosi in a primary and though environmentalists are a large part of the Democratic coalition, those who commit domestic terrorism or acts of vandalism have been rightly pushed to the side.

Center-right, center-left and right down the middle is where elections are fought and won. Neither party can kow-tow to the periphery and as you might imagine, the “netroots” haven’t been too happy about that lately on one side and if those in the Tea Party movement would a like a seat at the electable table, they’re going to have to do the same.

… we had the DLC and the rise of the Clinton wing to help distance the Democrats from some of the extremes.

—

That is so true. While I often find myself at odds with the DLC and while I think its time may be ending, it profoundly changed the party for the better. I can point most particularly at Senator Webb, but there are many others, who found the party more inclusive, more welcoming, and the party is the better for it.

How gracious, (White) Royal “K”ing. You’ll grant that a few tea partiers might be decent people, but most are locked into the (White) ‘power structure’. So if you’re at a football game and someone throws a bottle onto the field, the whole crowd is to blame. Got it.

faux must be hittin the hard stuff already…..

Now Magister, while I appreciate your comments about party inclusion/exclusion ther still exists a difference in perceptions and accusations. You rightly bring up domestic terrorism and while it may have been pushed to the side a certain reality still exists. Members of ELF for example may not be welcomed actively on the podium with a Democratic candidate, but few would doubt were those members would place their vote, (save for a pure environmental 3rd party candidate maybe.) On the other side though if a white supremecist is at a rally they somehow tinge the entire Tea Party image, even though they would never appear in a campaign event any more likely than the ELF member. Their existence alone is used to taint the movement.

Look at it this way: there has been numerous speculations made regarding the potential of violence on the horizon coming off of the Tea Party movement, yet for years we have seen violent actions from leftist groups like ELF, many anti-war rallys resulted in skirmishes with police, and protests at G-8 summits have led to vandalism and cars getting set on fire. Yet fears of violence are directed at Tea Parties.

@MartiniShark: I can’t say that I personally know any ELF members, but my perception is that if the more “moderate” may be Green, while the true nutjobs are anarchists. Nonetheless, I’ve been to a lot of political events and have seen a lot more on TV and I haven’t noticed their presence. While the Tea Party members with questionable signs, those who give apocalyptic quotes to the media and that fellow who ignored street vendors of one race to chase those from another, all the while screaming “ACORN” have received a lot of attention.

If I were Tea Party, I’d take a page from Ross Perot and get peacefully organized. Perhaps not necessarily into a third party for the reason rmbltmbl mentioned, but I could point toward several small town reports of local “chapters” who have tried to recruit people from both parties to field in the next election and others who plan to host political forums.

IOW: They need an articulate, pretty face and wash some of the dirt from their feet.

IMHO

Magister says:
March 3, 2010 at 2:05 pm

Magister, IMO it is b/c the MSM does not give the story from the fringe left much coverage at all while seeking out and emphasizing the right fringe way out of proportion to its frequency and ratio to the whole.

Just check this out for a bit and tell me whether you were aware of the magnitude back in real time:

http://www.ringospictures.com/index.php?page=20090816

Mag,
I was only tossing ELF out there as an example, understanding they are a fringe group. Yea, I agree completely with the local activism and only add that most all of the Tea Party gatherings have in fact been peaceful. My objection is with media types like Ratigan who bring up “Killing black people” as if that were a major component – or a compenent at all. That was specious and offensive. There has been a focus on the “possible” violent rhetoric they interpret at these events yet there was no such outrage when blatant acts of violence have occurred in leftist protests.

I’m not a Tea Party devotee but I do agree with much of their platform, like scaling back the swelling government size. Watching the media reduce a policy-driven platform into race-baiting is disturbing.

@Grammie: I didn’t go to or watch every event during the Iraq War, but I did see many images along those lines on signs, especially as more and more young people became more involved.

Of course, I’ll start by saying that I could also pull up news stories about the protesters getting gassed, beat down or shot with rubber bullets by the authorities and I could even pull-up forum discussions from very early in the war, where reasonable people who were opposed were shouted down, but that’s besides the point.

For the most part, the anti-war protesters were never really given a seat at the table. I’m sure some did eventually work their way into the Obama Administration, but I assume that if there’s a pic of an admin official holding a “bad” sign, Glenn Beck will find it. Not to mention that it took a long time until the anti-war movement were “embraced” by the mainstream of the party and it occurred mostly after they started moderating their behavior by getting refocusing on the process and after they found an articulate, pretty face.

Oh, and as for the Pelosi quote on your linked page; I’d have to read the actual context, but my understanding was that it was mostly targeted toward the Town Hall shoutdowns (decorum) and less about the protests. Though, I could be wrong because I’ve never bothered to check.

Ratigan ought to know about using up “precious oxygen”. He loves nothing more than the sound of his own voice. Thank god he is off CNBC where he seemed to think that his guests came on air to listen to him. No where was he a bigger disaster than on “Fast Money” where he hogged most of the time, blathering on like a village idiot. Melissa Lee is a quantum improvement.

(clarification for 3rd graf – I flipped back and forth between “getting involved with” and “refocusing on”, which just left me with a muddled mess.)

@MartiniShark: As I said way up top, somewhere: I don’t believe the NYC/Washington-based media has an understanding of the movement and because the questionable imagery is easy to sell by partsans, plus it gets blog embeds along with ratings, a lot of the treatment is a meme that feeds upon itself.

But, it’s like they used to say… a lot of politics is perception.

Mag, rightly or wrongly the Tea Partiers and the crowds of citizens that showed up at the town hall meetings are pretty much lumped together now.

You were obviously better informed than I was thru the earlier 2/3 of this decade. I didn’t even know about these political blogs till July 2006 and I was a very slow study learning how to navigate it and I was therefore not aware until then how widespread that violent aspect was.

I am not saying in any way that only my political opposites have faults but I am saying that the MSM has a big say, even now, in what stories grow legs and how long the stories are trotted out on those legs. As evidence I remind you of Van Jone’s resignation and Acorn being defunded by the Feds.

BTW, i certainly enjoy your presence here.

@Grammie: Thanks for the kind words. I generally try not to get too deep into political discussions on the media sites, but sometimes I can’t help myself and sometimes I doing something else during an “Mediaite Office Hours” plagued with technical difficulties.

And because I know that some people like it when folks back up their assertions… I was living in New Mexico for part of this past decade, so I knew that they had a protest where the police arguably over-reacted, so I took a couple of minutes to find some links.

Unfortunately, I had some trouble going through the television station’s archives back to 2003, but luckily(?) a civil rights trial based on the 2003 Albuquerque protest has finally gotten into court, so it made this trial preview easy to find and once I had a name, I could quickly grab a link to a previous trial, which happened two years ago.

If nothing else, I guess the Tea Partiers could be happy they’re not getting similar treatment.

I cannot understand why I am being put into a position to defend the Tea Party protests against a perception created and perpetrated by the left which is almost entirely baseless and self-proclaimed conjecture! Maybe the Tea Party should start going around with some OMNISCIENT MORAL AUTHORITY shaming and blaming everything that is wrong with society and claiming to be the only thing to fix it! Or maybe that has been the problem the whole time. Who the hell has any right to judge a Tea Party protest when YOU KNOW they have never been to one?? Are you afraid you will be KILLED??? My God!

Just another race baiting question so removed from the truth of who the tea party people truly are. This guy is a joke.

Instead of Rat-again apologizing on Twitter again, his parents should apologize for bringing this (I can’t think of anything acceptable to say in polite company.)

Magister said:
While I feel that Ratigan was asking a somewhat valid question, perhaps it’s time for him to re-view an old clip from Morning Joe, where once again he had a point, but it got buried by the delivery.

Yeah. Just patiently keep asking the question. Was he asking this guy because he had specific evidence his particular group dies contain a racist element?

I’ve read at least two articles where members of the Tea Party have jettisoned members. One for racism and one for offensive homophobic remarks.

Whatever happened to Ratigan anyway? Don’t hear much about him anymore. I guess that racist meme outdid the boy crying wolf about six months ago.