Conversative Blog Claims Video Debunks Stories of Bigotry Among Tea Party Movement

As passionate as the Tea Party folks are about politics, I think they should just embrace whatever biases move them. Their defenders, however, are trying to debunk stories, confirmed by multiple sources, of several racist and homophobic incidents involving Tea Party protesters who converged upon Washington, DC last week.

The Dana Show blog has posted 23 seconds of video that purportedly prove that no Tea Party participant hurled any epithets towards members of Congress. The video proves no such thing.

First, the footage is too short to capture everything that occurred during last week's protests. Also, and most importantly, because there were so many people chanting during this particular clip, audio could only capture clearly what the broader group was chanting (sounds like "kill the bill"). This does not disprove the reports that individuals in this boisterous group made racist and homophobic comments. Instead, it shows that with respect to one person's video recording, the louder shouting drowned out individual commentary. Individuals on the ground almost certainly heard more than the video captured.

I have not seen many conservatives agree that this audio disproves the allegations of bias. Perhaps they are not persuaded either.

Finally, The Dana Show went on and on about how persons making these allegations intend to discredit arguments against healthcare reform and the Tea Party movement generally. I disagree. People can have legitimate arguments on some issues while subscribing to racism and homophobia. Racism and homophobia, however, are deplorable and worthy of our attention -- just as much as government spending. The Tea Party movement is not exempt from scrutiny or criticism.

Here is the video footage:

Twilight Zone Alert: Conservatives Suddenly Oppose "Indoctrination" of Children

President Obama is scheduled to deliver a video message to school children next week. The message, billed as an event to inspire interest in education among students, has created controversy.

Educators, the Department of Education and the White House crafted educational materials to accompany the event. One question in the materials asks students to describe how they could "help" President Obama. It is unclear who designed this particular question, but it has has led to projectile vomiting among conservatives. In response, the White House has instructed educators to delete the offending materials.

Conservatives' Sudden Opposition to "Indoctrination" of Children
Personally, I find the idea of a video message from a president to the nation's young children a bit creepy. I found it even creepier, however, that President Bush was reading stories to children during and after the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center.

But conservatives' sudden opposition to "indoctrination" of children is absolutely laughable -- and pathetically hypocritical. Conservatives have no problem with school officials leading children in Christian prayers or telling them the scientifically impossible myth that the Earth was created in 6 days by an omnipotent being who needed to "rest" after completing the project. They think it is faaah-bulous to force kids to recite the Pledge of Allegiance and salute the flag. And they favor blatant restraints on students' First Amendment rights -- particularly when those students do not subscribe to socially conservative notions of morality. Yes -- conservatives are the ones trying to beat the admirably tolerant "Gay/Straight Alliances" out of public schools and to punish students who protest wars and who make political statements favoring drug use. But now, indoctrination is a terrible social harm.

Give me a friggin' break!