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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWhat the anti-stay-at-home protests are really about - Tea Party Astroturf, Part II
Last edited Fri Jul 17, 2020, 11:24 AM - Edit history (1)
It is no accident that the anti-mask protests look and feel like the Tea Party protests that took place at the start of President Obama's presidency. You have a well funded, corporate organizer like Freedom Works, and you have Fox News for amplification:
Link to tweet
?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1251212114150244352%7Ctwgr%5E&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.democraticunderground.com%2F10142539355
https://www.vox.com/2020/4/19/21225195/stay-at-home-protests-trump-tea-party-reelection
While he told me many of these groups were very real theyre not being driven by sophisticated operatives, necessarily they are receiving additional amplification through Fox News, throwing some kindling on the protests, in his words.
Carusone told me that in contrast to how Fox News reports on left-leaning protests (for example, this 2017 Fox News report that blames a Black Lives Matter effort to encourage black Americans to shop only at black-owned businesses on billionaire George Soros), the anti-stay-at-home-order protests are being covered approvingly, with any extremism (or violations of social distancing taking place) minimized.
Telling me that were in the proto stage of these protests currently as they gain wider attention, Carusone described the effort as a three-step process for Fox News: Raise awareness about it to make it into like a broad national movement, a cauldron of energy. Carry some of the water for [the protests]. And dont mention any of the extremist ties.
cayugafalls
(5,659 posts)It is everywhere.
Until that is shut down, we will never get rid of the stupid.
BigmanPigman
(51,651 posts)TomCADem
(17,390 posts)Before, you would have Freedomworks sponsoring seminars on how to disrupt Congressional townhalls to set-up made for Fox confrontations with members of Congress. Unfortunately, this caused members of Congress to stop holding townhalls, particularly when progressives caught on and started showing up at Republican townhalls.
This time around, you have Republican Trump supporters showing up at random local government meetings to hold anti-mask protests. For example, here is a school board meeting in Utah where demonstrators disregarded social distancing requirements and repeatedly insisted that COVID-19 was a hoax:
cayugafalls
(5,659 posts)Squeeze them out. We need to learn from them and fight fire with fire. Start an organization that can counter them.
If we don't we will always be behind. We have to get out in front of them and start playing by their rules. They changed them and if we don't play by the new rules we will have to fight twice as hard and still may lose.
I am not trying to be hyperbolic here. I don't have the money or wherewithal to do it, but I would gladly help any organization that started to counter something like freedomworks.
malaise
(269,278 posts)The Con's private army