Comment by kysteelgirl
January 5, 2010 @ 11:04 am

So when is the Republican party going to publically embrace us 9-12'ers? Even if it includes Glenn Beck & Sarah Palin. Would Steele & McCain rather split the party? Makes no sense to me just like McCain giving the last election away to this bunch of thugs rather than campaigning on the truth & highlighting obama's anti-American close friends.

God help the USA - us 912'ers are trying to do our part.

Comment by Chief Cockeye
January 5, 2010 @ 11:13 am

I have long advocated that Government funding for NPR & Public Television be discontinued until those agencies terminated their so-called NEWS programs. How can any Government funded Radio/Television broadcasting operation include on its staff a "National Political Correspondent" without engaging in pure propaganda for one or the other of the political parties?

There is a GREAT NEED for public funding of such things as classical music & nature programming; however, there are plenty of commercial Radio & TV broadcasters available to cover all the news.

Chief

Comment by AlexandraS74
January 5, 2010 @ 11:27 am

I hope this cartoon is exposed somewhere else. I am appalled that NPR can get away with degrading fellow Americans. Our country is disgustingly divided and a station like NPR SHOULD be upholding true journalistic standards and be speaking the truth. I'd rather be known as a "tea bagger" anyday than a pansy ass bleeding heart liberal who wouldn't know truth and justice if it smacked them in the face. I hope 2010 brings good, honest, conservative politicians to Washington and lets the RINOs go as well as the liberal goons.

Back to the cartoon, I hope the majority of the country is outraged by this. This is degrading fellow Americans who have a right to peacefully disagree with this curernt administration. If we did this to the "enlightened" liberals we'd be called racist or an "angry mob". Oh wait, we already have been called this.

The left is disgraceful and I am disgusted and saddened by the current state of our country.

Comment by jaybee99
January 5, 2010 @ 12:08 pm

kysteelgirl, I'm with you! We need to create a stronger conservative party, not the wishy-washy half-vast one we have now.
That we have to pay to be ridiculed and degraded is beyond belief....or would have been in the past.

Comment by Karl Hungus
January 5, 2010 @ 12:10 pm

Alexandra- I'm also disgusted with this garbage. Where does NPR get off thinking they can use our hard earned dollars to make fun if honest hard working Americans. I know why they do it though. There scared of us because theirs a lot of us and we are waking up to their liberal agenda. So they think if they make us look dumb that it will make our message look dumb also. The American people are not falling for it no more. The progressives are being exposed and they know it.

Comment by jmanzano
January 5, 2010 @ 12:13 pm

Just goes to show how messed up our private/public relations are. Not only does NPR get public funding directly, it openly competes with other "charitable organizations" through the Combined Federal Campaign initially designed to serve the poor and unfortunate. NPR actualy takes money from the mouths of the poor to perpetuate, if not increase, its hold on public sector budgetary support, but also its propagandize for public programs.

Private corporations that support PBS with advertising may also be getting charitable tax deductions. Individuals do. Foundations like that of Microsoft Gates underwrite the costs of broadcasting with non-taxed contributions, an indirect subsidy tax payers have to compensate for with higher rates and payments.

Finally, NPR broadcasts the British Broadcasting Service, allowing that organizaation to double-dip into public coffers. It then continue to spread its institutional leftist philosophy acquired through its British Labour Party DNA.

PBS operations deserve review, but odds are our domestic politics can't handle the truth, or reform.

Comment by tzor
January 5, 2010 @ 12:20 pm

First and foremost, it is important to separate radio from television. While PBS continues to receive significant federal dollars from the CPB, NPR does not. What funds it does get from CPB is mostly for local stations that are in remote areas without the membership to enable them to continue operations. Federal support for local stations through the CPB is also extremely minor. (The budget for my station lists CPB funding at 7% of its total income.)

But forget my money, what about my money? I’m sure I’m not the only conservative in this nation who supports one of the fewest classical music sources on the FM airwaves. So considering how much I contribute to my local station and how much of that goes to NPR, I am mad as hell. When I first heard of this insult of an animation, yesterday, I located the Ombudsman page on the site and told her of my dissatisfaction with this animation. (Unfortunately as of today I have only gotten an automated reply.)

I think the “public money” angle is the wrong one. NPR receives far more money from member supporters and corporate sponsors who give at the local level, and I’m willing to bet that there is a considerable percentage of this revenue comes from conservatives. It is time for every conservative supporter to go to their local station and say “enough is enough.” That will put far more pressure on NPR than complaining about the 1% of their revenue stream that comes from the federal government.

Comment by Tucker Scofield
January 5, 2010 @ 12:50 pm

Guys, take heart: If they are slamming the Tea Party movement in such a way then it must be because the Tea Party Movement is effective! This form of intimidation is used regularly and often to attach a stigma of ignorance to an otherwise intelligent and logical movement/argument/debate, and we should be bright enough to see it for what it is...a complete and total lack of intelligent counter-point by the left. THEY HAVE NOTHING so they resort to name-calling. Awesome! My six year-old daughter can do that too, Poopy-Pants!

Progressives, liberals, Dems, and worst of all our media use this tactic on a wide range of issues including, but not limited to, race, same-sex marriage, terrorism, interrogation, Iraq/Afghanistan, town halls, President Obama, and government policy. When We, The People research and are better versed at legislation/taxation/entitlement programs than our congressmen/president/media, we make them look bad. And so, they resort to attempting to make US look bad with the only thing they have left…slanderous character assassination.

Obviously, we expect this out of the snake-pit that is Washington, DC, but what happened to our free press, those watchdogs for We, The People who were supposed to be the primary tool in our vigilance? They were intended by our founders to be the armed guardians of Truth, the one entity capable of setting the record straight, digging deep for the facts and then presenting them against the official storyline of their antagonist. It was our free press that was supposed to be the voice for We, The People and hold politicians, government, and Big Business accountable. And it was this accountability that kept those who could steal from us at bay and in line.

Our free press has abandoned Truth for the sake of pursuing their own agenda. Not only have they failed to defend Truth but they have partaken in its assault, lending themselves a willing tool of propaganda instead of dissecting and divulging facts. Despite mountains of credible and often disturbing evidence to the contrary, our free press has become a cheerleader for this president, this administration, this congress, and any other proponent of their collective agenda. But then they take it one step further by chastising, denigrating, impugning, and assassinating the character of We, The People who speak out against their progressive agenda. Consider the Tea Party Movement, the 9/12 gathering on the National Mall, Joe the Plumber, and Sarah Palin for starters.

Yeah, it p*sses me off to be called a “tea bagger” but it upset me more to hear it from Anderson Cooper than from NPR, who’s entire listenership falls under Barney Frank’s constituency.

Comment by Kurt
January 5, 2010 @ 1:00 pm

Along with the comment from tzor I would suggest that more effort be made to go after the "Bread Basket" or "Rice Bowl"of liberals: corporations that have significant ownership by liberal LARGE donors; GE, Progressive Insurance, Quark Software, and worst of all Hollywood! We are in a war that we are losing. The GOP will (maybe) have huge gains in 2010. But in 2012, all of those gains will be lost!
Why? Because the Obama administration and liberal Democrats know the American people will forget and they have distributed $2,000,000,000 to companies owned by people who contribute to MoveOn.org
Obama won the presidency because he had $600,000,000 to spend and he was donated BILLIONS of free advertising by his liberal friends in the media.
Pray for the USA! Vote with your wallet! Don't spend one dime of money with any company that advertises on ABC, CBS, NBC, in the New York Times, etc.
Get conservative companies to identify themselves and then push all of our business to them!
Get pastors on board! You can do that by firmly agreeing with people like me that moral issues are MORE important than any other! Have every GOP candidate sign an agreement to fight the Homosexual Rights movement and end Abortion. Require that all GOP candidates re-propose to their wives and agree NEVER TO BE ALONE WITH A WOMAN other than their wife! (Just like the pastors at my church!)
They are pastors and they know what happens when you are alone! This isn't brain surgery.
1 Offer business loans and visas to illegal immigrants that return to Mexico
2 Require all children to study the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights every year through High School.
3 Legislation to cut the government workforce by 50% by the year 2025
4 Give private nonprofit organizations the ability to approve SBA loans (not just the liberal banks)
5 $10,000 Bonus to anyone who gets a job (other than with a government agency) and keeps it for at least 1-year who is currently on Welfare.
6 Give a $1,000 Tax Credit for every child who gets a "B" average or better grade in school for every American with kids.
7 Fund tutoring centers for Math, Science, and English Grammar.

Comment by hunter
January 5, 2010 @ 1:03 pm

Rather be a tea bagger than a mindless kool-aid drinker.

Comment by ldot
January 5, 2010 @ 1:17 pm

NPR has probably gone the whoring ways of AARP and the AMA, Nelson, Landriau (sp) and others....they can be bought.

Comment by MrT
January 5, 2010 @ 1:21 pm

So NPR are the first in their family to be walking upright with this demonstration. I'll not listen nor patronize their sponsors............boycott their sponsors, boycott anyone who does such ignorant demonstrations. That's the way to make the impact.

Comment by rbrirbri
January 5, 2010 @ 1:57 pm

Money is the lifeblood of any organization, even NPR. How about we stop patronizing, or even totally boycott businesses, which support NPR. Why should we support an organization which demeans us? Only if we are more stupid than they are. Hopefully we are not.

Comment by mgreer
January 5, 2010 @ 2:18 pm

kysteelgirl, the Republican party IS embracing the 9-12ers (Tea Party).

I was in D.C. for the CODE RED rally December 15th. I spent the day with the national directors of the Tea Party Patriots.org. We met Congresswoman Michele Bachmann and had dinner with Michael Steele staffers. The next day Michael Steele met with the national directors of Tea Party Patroits and said the Republican party wants the Tea Party to "come home". The Patroits told him EXACTLY what we want the party to represent.

Comment by Tucker Scofield
January 5, 2010 @ 2:48 pm

Mgreer: Perhaps Michael Steele heard the results of the polling data suggesting that the Republican party would finish a distant third if the Tea Party ran its own candidate!

Comment by MarcusTullius
January 5, 2010 @ 3:01 pm

If this is the best that NPR can do and they actually choose to display it then NPR is in an even shabbier state than I had previously thought.

I've listened to PBS for years. Their editorials couched as "news", their so their called, "experts", poorly vetted in those areas for which I am competent to comment, mean that I must also discount "experts" in those areas for which I am not competent to comment.

Such a "juvenile" work is of no threat to the Tea Party movement; it only shows the incompetence of the current NPR staff in allowing it to be displayed at all.

Create a "do not buy" list of NPR's sponsors, make it public, update it with additions and deletions so that sponsors who withdraw support from NPR can see the positive results of that decision.

Of course, I will miss the Classical music, the Jazz, and some of the other non-political programming ... but not editorials being sold as news and the "questionable" experts being cited.

Well, there are other radio stations, the internet, satellite radio, MP3s, CDs, etc. so they won't be missed for long.

Comment by Ken
January 5, 2010 @ 3:10 pm

To AlexandraS74, I agree that PBS should stick to a more objective viewpoint. However, I doubt that many people will be outraged after seeing the cartoon on a PBS station. Only a handful of liberals watch much on PBS. The few times I've tuned in were for documentaries about trains and national parks.

Tucker Scofield is correct in saying that propaganda such as this cartoon only shows that the tea party and 9/12 activities are hitting home. The socialists may win a few battles, but they will lose the war.

Comment by MarcusTullius
January 5, 2010 @ 3:24 pm

as Tucker Scofield suggests, a Tea PARTY candidate or candidates might be just the thing we need if the Republican party doesn't play fair. I'm picking up rumors that are not so good in that respect. I want to work with the Republican party but only if it returns to a platform of small, Constitutional government, fiscal responsibility, and personal Liberty ... and stays out of other areas. "Business-as-usual" in the Republican party at any level simply cannot be tolerated but it will be especially damaging at the national level.

I think it would be really good to have another alternative party in place and ready to go with common members and common candidates (don't know if that's even possible) should they (Reps) try to make promises to the People and then try to renege at the last moment. I see no reason to grant the Republican party too much trust at this point; there are too many ways for them to try to use us. We must continue to organize and work within the Republican party but stay vigilant and keep our Tea Party together and strong.

Please dheck out the following sites:
http://www.NationalPrecinctActivists.com
http://www.WagTheDog2010.com

We have a lot to do and not much time to do it in,

Comment by vietnamvet
January 5, 2010 @ 3:28 pm

If you don't like what NPR displays on their website, you can complain about it to your friends...or you can tell the 'management' about it.
I just sent this to them using the contact form on the NPR site...

Hello,
I just finished viewing the 'cartoon' by Mark Fiore titled "How To Speak Teabag" which you used my tax dollars to host on your website.

Is there some identifiable reason that makes you feel it's logical to use my money to insult me?
Could you tell me what that is?

Did you know that "teabag" refers to a sexual act? Do you care?

If you (and Mark Fiore) would care to visit me in Montana, I will gladly give you (both) lessons in 'NPR'.

That is the Needle Pricked Regressive dialect of "Left Wing Liberal"...

With utmost sincerity,
(signed)

Comment by gadsdonian
January 5, 2010 @ 3:34 pm

1st off, as pointed out, NPR is paid for by private donations, unlike PBS.
2nd, i agree this cartoon is a pretty strongly opinionated emotional appeal that is not newsworthy. It belongs in an opinions section, which it is.
3rd, Discredting NPR is not going to help the Republican party. I agree NPR has a bit of a liberal slant but many republicans listen to it because it is still the most objective radio news source out there.

Comment by flyboy
January 5, 2010 @ 4:44 pm

I read the article and the comments and thought, "Don't people have anything better to do with their time than whine about the little bit of funding NPR gets from the federal govt.."

We are living in a nation nearing bankruptcy, with massive deficit spending, a national debt so huge it can never be paid off, fighting 2 wars, a health care system out of reach of millions of Americans, doublt diget unemployment, oil prices increasing daily, facing a severe shortage of rare earth minerals in the near future and even a shortage of uranium with 37 nuclear power plants in the pipeline.

I might add, that a number of these problems were either brought about or ignored by the Bush administration. "DEFICITS DON'T MATTER" anyone?

When am I going to find a Republican party to represent me?

Comment by NPR Listener
January 6, 2010 @ 2:33 am

Seven times you say that this piece was funded with tax dollars. Got any evidence of this? NPR as a whole gets a whopping 2% of its budget from the federal government, and it's not at all clear that ANY of it was spent on this cartoon. There goes the whole rationale for your rant.

Also, it's a lie to say "Tea Party activists don't ever use the term 'tea bag'". The term was COINED by Tea Party activists.

But don't let the facts get in the way of a really good bout of righteous indignation!

Comment by vito-danelli
January 6, 2010 @ 9:57 am

The story is from November 12, 2009(!) so why the outrage now? Is it a slow news day?

There's an element of truth to political humor and I think the animation correctly reflects the fact that many (not all) self-proclaimed "tea-baggers" do use such inflammatory words as "socialist", "nazi", "Stalin", etc.

I'm still wondering where many of these "tea-baggers" were when George W Bush was spending on such wonderful programs like Medicare Part-D (added $14 TRILLION to unfunded liabilities - Federal Reserve president St Louis), No Child Left Behind (co-written with Teddy Kennedy), and his completely insane "Homeownership Society".

I suppose it's easier to just listen to what Rush/Hannity/Beck/Levine et al tell you what "reality" is and you can repeat their ramblings verbatim as if it were your own opinion.

It sure beats READING!!

Comment by Tucker Scofield
January 6, 2010 @ 9:59 am

NPR Listener: Show me the documentation that the term "teabagger" came from Tea Party activists.

Comment by tzor
January 6, 2010 @ 10:01 am

Note to NPR Listener: the term was not “coined by” tea party activists. The term was actually coined by a parallel movement by some people to send tea bags to congressmen and to create a display of crates of shipped tea bags in the Capitol. It was coined by a few people (and not officially) as a verb against certain Democrats. It was never a term coined by or used by the organizers of the tea parties.

Comment by AcadGrad81
January 6, 2010 @ 2:24 pm

Why must citizens continue to subsidize the CPB and the liberal mouthpieces that spew therefrom in various outlets? Remove the subsidy and see if these "news" streams can survive on their own in the commercial marketplace, like any other broadcast venture. This money could be better used elsewhere.

Comment by NPR Listener
January 6, 2010 @ 7:29 pm

@ Tucker Scofield: It's common knowledge that Tea Party activists used the term "tea bag" first (ever heard of wikipedia?). If Bobby Eberle and you have evidence to the contrary, produce it.

Comment by NPR Listener
January 6, 2010 @ 7:42 pm

@tzor: Whatever. If are genuinely not the same movement as the "tea bag" people, perhaps you need to come up with a name for yourselves that is noticeably different. But I think you'll find that in truth you are the same bunch of people.

Comment by gadsdonian
January 6, 2010 @ 9:59 pm

If you had asked me a week ago why I am not getting involved in and writing in support of this Tea Party movement, for the life of me I would not have been able to give an answer. These are the principles that I have ferociously argued and stood by for a great many years now. So why now when so many Republicans are coming out of the woodwork to argue what I believe do I keep to myself in silence?

There is no rational reason that I have been able to put my finger on until today. Today upon reading this GOPUSA article, a thought hit me right square in my tea bag. The reason I have been uninterested in politics this past year is far more sublime and simple than any rational conclusion. Simply put: My feelings are hurt.

You must understand that I have fervently preached traditional Republican values for a long time. Before the recent depression I preached Republican reform. Before the invasion of Iraq I preached to bring focus and consolidation to our foreign affairs. Before 9/11 I preached for a smaller and more focused government on the necessities like defending our borders from foreign attack. Before deficit spending once again began to increase in 2001, I preached the dangers to the future prosperity of this country and our children. When the government started borrowing against social security (which doesn’t appear in any deficit spending data under any presidency), I cautioned against our short-sightedness and the prevailing “quarterly report mentality” of modern America. Republican voters ignored me and even berated me.

Now suddenly the same Republicans that berated me are standing on a pedestal and preaching my words? I admit what I want is selfish, but nonetheless I want an apology. My feelings are hurt, and I want the mainstream Republicans to suck up their pride, admit I was right and they were wrong, and give me an apology. Maybe then I might not feel like these Tea Party Republicans are being quite as hypocritical. Maybe then I will believe that they understand how truly lost the Republican party has become. Maybe then I will believe that they understand the philosophies of the true Republican party and are not just saying these things as a way to throw stones at the Democrats. Maybe then I will believe that they understand Bush made the exact same mistakes as Obama.

For those still on the fence regarding the differences between the Neo-Con Republicans and the true Republicans, let us take a brief moment to compare resumes.

True Republican accomplishments: Freed black people from slavery, kept government in check, protected the constitution and our civil liberties, and expanded the middle class to levels never before seen in the history of humanity and heralded in the golden age of this country and the modern era of this planet.

Neo-Con Republican accomplishments: We’re all living in it, and our children will be paying for it.

Comment by gadsdonian
January 6, 2010 @ 10:04 pm

Phew! Glad I got that off my chest !

Comment by hadenough
January 12, 2010 @ 9:32 am

to NPR Listener

"@ Tucker Scofield: It's common knowledge that Tea Party activists used the term "tea bag" first (ever heard of wikipedia?)."

You've got to be kidding me, right? ANYONE can post to Wikipedia - it is truly not a reliable source.

Comment by pnyikos
January 16, 2010 @ 10:38 am

Quite right, hadenough. And although anyone can correct a wikipedia entry, the person being corrected is notified and can change the entry again. I experienced that when I caught a hilarious mistake by a fan of our former State School Superintendent, Inez Tenenbaum. His/her wikipedia entry claimed that South Carolina performance on the SAT had skyrocketed from 49th in the country to 18th. Turned out that SC had dropped to 50th and the 18th had to do with percentage of students TAKING the SAT.

I corrected that, but the bozo responsible for the entry "re-corrected" it to where it is now self-contradictory! It has her responding to something in an interview that took place when she was still in office, and has the next sentence saying that this was after she was out of office!