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The demonstrators were mostly against Big Government, but many banners and signs on display during the 9-12 march and rally in Washington, D.C. expressed disgust with liberal media bias. One of the harshest was, "Mainstream media: communists or puppets?"

Another said, "Why are the watchdogs White House lapdogs?" One of the most direct, equating liberal news outlets to state-run media, was "AP, ABC, CBS, NBC, MSNBC=Pravda."

Still another said simply, "Shame on Mainstream Media!"

On the other hand, television and radio talk-show host Glenn Beck was a hero, as the "Glenn Beck for President" sign illustrated. Several signs declared "Thank God for Fox News Channel," on which Beck appears.

Nevertheless, on the day of the protest, September 12, the Washington Post used an old liberal media trick―trying to depict the protesters showing up in Washington, D.C. as extremists. In order to give this attack some semblance of credibility, the paper ran a story (web site) quoting "a former adviser" to Republican senator and 2008 presidential candidate John McCain as saying that he was afraid that "right-wing nutballs" and "freaks" would dominate media coverage of the event.

But the real "nutball" or "freak" was the adviser, Mark McKinnon.

The Post, which is referred to by critics as the "Compost," failed to disclose that McKinnon is a well-known liberal who panders to the "mainstream media" in order to get headlines. He came to our attention (web site) in June when he garnered press attention by urging Republicans not to oppose Obama's pick of Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court. He considered her record and the substantive charges against her not worth talking about. He even went on lesbian commentator Rachel Maddow's MSNBC show (web site) to bash conservative opponents of Sotomayor.

He had previously won the admiration of the left by resigning from his role as media consultant for the McCain presidential campaign because he had promised that he would not be involved in any effort to defeat Obama for president. At the time, McKinnon said that Obama's election "would send a great message to the country and the world."

It is not surprising that he is now the "go-to" guy when the liberal media want a quotation designed to undercut or mock conservatives.

McKinnon is the vice-chairman of Public Strategies, the firm which employs Richard Wolffe, former senior correspondent for Newsweek and MSNBC commentator. The dishonesty (web site) of Wolffe's book, Renegade, about Barack Obama, is reflected in his misrepresentation of Obama's childhood mentor, Communist Frank Marshall Davis, as just a black activist. Wolffe was hired by Public Strategies to gain access to Obama's inner circle so that McKinnon and his fellow lobbyists, including Dan Bartlett, former counselor to President George W. Bush, can make their political "bipartisan" deals and big money.

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