The Mainstream Media got caught with their hands in the cookie jar again. They were jubilant to jump on the “it’s the Tea Party’s fault” bandwagon within hours of an August 17 firebombing of Democrat Congressman Russ Carnahan’s St. Louis office. No one was hurt. The finger pointing was immediate, because this was a double header for the MSM. Not only did this give them an opportunity to try to pin something, anything, on a Tea Partier, but it also gave them a chance to take pot shots at conservative favorite, Ed Martin, who is currently gaining in his race to oust the unpopular, liberal Carnahan in Missouri.
Speculation began immediately for the liblogs, and in some local papers. St. Louis Tea Party Founder Bill Hennessy quickly put out a statement that the bombing of a Congressman’s office should be immediately investigated by the FBI. Bill and I spoke at that time along with others in Tea Party leadership. We knew, without asking around or knowing the details, that this was not a Tea Party tactic, and that the investigation would lead to the truth and further embarrassment of the left, by the left.
The Riverfront Times and other blogs reported that since the description of the suspect was “50, white, angry — he certainly fits the demographics of a Tea Party member.”
The MSM has spent thousands of man-hours trying to paint the Tea Party and grassroots conservatives as “Angry (Old) White Dudes,” when in fact, they tend to be young females who are highly educated. But let’s not get distracted with the facts. They never do.
When the investigations were complete, and the suspect was announced, cooler conservative heads prevailed. The firebomb suspect in Congressman Carnahan’s office in St. Louis is not only a liberal blogger in the area, but also a former paid campaign worker for Russ Carnahan, himself. He writes for TPMCafe under the name, “Ripper McCord.” St. Louis Tea Party leader Jim Hoft was first to break the story at Gateway Pundit. Carnahan confirmed the suspect’s relationship to him as a former paid canvasser in a statement released yesterday.
“As to the legions of Tea Party adherents who are calling for my head: No, I have no regrets. I was having fun — at their expense,” Riverfront Times reporter Chad Garrison said in an email to the conservative website, the Daily Caller. This is completely typical of what MSM and leftist journalists do in St. Louis on a regular basis.
As in the case with Kenneth Gladney, the black man who was beaten by SEIU workers at a rally because they thought he was a Tea Partier, the facts are buried beneath the speculation and misrepresentation. Their own echo chambers become their news feeds, and the public never knows the truth.
So far, there is no apology for any of the misinformation reported on conservatives. Don’t hold your breath. Perhaps the Riverfront Times reporter gave himself an escape hatch when he later wrote: “On second thought, maybe he’s (the 50 year old angry white male) not a Tea Party member. Firebombing your opponent’s office seems a little too, um, sane for that group.”
Instead of an apology, or any honesty in this whole situation, it appears that conservatives will instead have more such left-handed compliments tossed at them by the leftist media. Typical. But we are always ready.