VIDEO REPORT: ThinkProgress Reports From Virginia Tea Parties

On Wednesday, ThinkProgress traveled to Lynchburg and Charlottesville, Virginia to witness the tax day ‘tea parties.’ Victor Zapanta compiled a short video report on the protests. Watch it:

Former Rep. Virgil Goode (R-VA), a speaker at the Lynchburg rally, launched into a tirade against “illegal immigrants.” Goode declared, “The next thing Obama and his followers in the House and the Senate want to do is tell the illegals ‘come on, we’re going to give you another amnesty.’”

George Caylor, another speaker featured in the film, and a radio show host on local ESPN and Lynchburg talk radio, said:

CAYLOR: The next American revolution begins here and begins tonight. […] Yesterday a friend of mine gave me a report from Homeland Security telling the FBI that people who are unhappy with government spending, the tax code, the general dismantling of our country, with supporting illegal immigrants with tens of millions of tax dollars, that you may be dangerous people. [audience cheers]

AUDIENCE MEMBER: We might be!

CAYLOR: I pray to God you are.

As ThinkProgress has noted, corporate front groups like Americans for Prosperity took a leading role in organizing the tea party protests across the country, including the ones in Virginia. Americans for Prosperity is financed with oil industry money and is run by Tim Phillips, a former partner in Ralph Reed’s lobbying firm.

About 40 Republican lawmakers and Governors attended the protests on Wednesday.

Steele Offers New Conspiracy Theory, Alleges Government Is Spying On Anti-Abortion Rally

By Faiz Shakir

Last night on Fox News, host Sean Hannity and his guest RNC Chairman Michael Steele ranted and raved about a Department of Homeland Security report “requested by the Bush administration” which warned of increasing incidents of “rightwing radicalization and recruitment.”

Hannity responded by implying that President Obama is a possible terrorist threat. “If you’re pro-life, you’re viewed as the potential extremist,” he complained, but “you can start your career in the home of an unrepentant terrorist and hang out with a guy named Jeremiah Wright.” “I don’t want to beat an old horse here,” said Hannity, who incessantly harps on Obama’s affiliations. “But I’m telling you if anyone hung out with radicals that needs to be investigated by Homeland Security,” he said, cutting himself off before explicitly stating that the President of the United States is a terrorist threat.

Michael Steele, who spoke at an anti-abortion rally in Indiana this past week, said he was “sure” that the government spied on the event:

They’ve got their eye on the 3,000 Americans who assembled in Indiana last night, in Evansville, Indiana, to profess their continued effort to save the life of the unborn. … I’m sure there was somebody in the room with a notepad and a camera taking snapshots and writing down names. But that’s not the place our government needs to be.

Where our government needs to be is on that border, securing that border. Where our government needs to be is overseas and in the backhalls and rooms of the Middle East to make sure that we’re not suffering another terrorist attack here at home.

Watch it:

Of course, Steele offered no evidence that the government was monitoring the event.

(HT: Oliver Willis)

Conservative media freak-out: claim Obama DHS targeting conservatives in report on right-wing extremists

Since the Department of Homeland Security declassified an April 7 report detailing potential increases in right-wing extremism, media figures -- including CNN's Lou Dobbs, conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh, Fox News' Sean Hannity, Fox News national political commentator Andrea Tantaros, and Fox News contributor Michelle Malkin -- have advanced the claim that the Obama administration is targeting conservatives and others simply because they disagree with administration policies and proposals. For example, during the April 14 edition of his nationally syndicated radio show, Limbaugh claimed: "[Y]ou have a report from Janet Napolitano and Barack Obama Department of Homeland Security portraying standard, ordinary, everyday conservatives as posing a bigger threat to this country than Al Qaeda terrorists or genuine enemies of this country like Kim Jong-Il." However, while the report addressed potential issues that could spur right-wing extremism, it did not allege that someone is an extremist simply because he or she holds conservative views.

The DHS report concluded that "rightwing extremists may be gaining new recruits by playing on their fears about several emergent issues. The economic downturn and the election of the first African American president present unique drivers for rightwing radicalization and recruitment." The report also cited as potential mobilizing issues for right-wing extremism "immigration and citizenship, the expansion of social programs to minorities, and restrictions on firearms ownership and use," as well as "[r]ightwing extremist paranoia ... harkening back to the 'New World Order' conspiracy theories of the 1990s."

In addition to Limbaugh, the following media figures have responded to the DHS report by alleging or suggesting that the Obama administration is targeting Americans simply because of political differences:

• On the April 14 edition of CNN's Lou Dobbs Tonight, Dobbs asked viewers: "Do you think a person concerned about borders and ports that are unsecured, illegal immigration, Second Amendment rights, or a returning veteran from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is likely or even possibly probable, as the Department of Homeland Security suggests, to be a right-wing extremist?" As Media Matters for America noted, the DHS report warned of a possible resurgence among extremist groups that "will attempt to recruit and radicalize returning veterans in order to exploit their skills and knowledge derived from military training and combat," citing, in part, a 2008 FBI report authored during the Bush administration.

• On the April 14 edition of Fox News' Hannity, Hannity stated that DHS "is warning law enforcement officials about the rise in right-wing extremist activity" and asserted that the department "would define it as people that maybe think we're not controlling our borders, people that have pro-life bumper stickers." Hannity later claimed: "Now if you disagree with that liberal path that President Obama's taken the country down, you may soon catch the attention of the Department of Homeland Security. Now the DHS Office of Intelligence and Analysis has issued an intel assessment that warns of a rise of what they're calling right-wing extremism. But critics of the report say their definition of a right-wing extremist sounds awfully close to somebody who might simply just disagree with the Obama administration."

• During the April 14 edition of Fox News' Your World, guest host David Asman stated that Tantaros is calling the DHS report "an attempt to silence the right." Tantaros later said of the report, "I'm just wondering if this is just an effort to shut up their critics."

• In her April 14 blog post, titled, "Confirmed: The Obama DHS hit job on conservatives is real," Malkin wrote: "[T]he piece of crap report issued on April 7 is a sweeping indictment of conservatives."

Moreover, in dismissing the DHS report, Limbaugh, Hannity, Malkin, and Tantaros also suggested that the Obama administration declassified the report to coincide with April 15 tea parties:

• Limbaugh claimed that "this speech of Obama's and the DHS report yesterday are timed for one reason, and that's the tea parties tomorrow."

• Hannity stated: "I wonder what the DHS is going to call those thousands of great Americans who take to the streets tomorrow to have their voices heard at tax day tea parties across the country."

• Malkin asserted: "In Obama land, there are no coincidences. It is no coincidence that this report echoes Tea Party-bashing left-wing blogs (check this one out comparing the Tea Party movement to the Weather Underground!) and demonizes the very Americans who will be protesting in the thousands on Wednesday for the nationwide Tax Day Tea Party."
• Tantaros claimed, "You know, it's no coincidence that it's happening right before these tea parties, which are proving to be extremely effective in getting attention. But, look, this is an administration that does not like any kind of dissent." Asman then stated: "I'm looking at the report, and it says, among other things, that the federal government is going to begin gathering information on right-wing extremists' activities in the United States. Does that mean they're going to be spending -- sending spies to these tea parties?" Tantaros also said of tea parties: "It's free speech and the Obama administration is trying to shut it down, because, as I pointed out before, they don't like any kind of disagreement or dissent when it's against their policies."

From the April 14 edition of CNN's Lou Dobbs Tonight:

DOBBS: Well, we'd like to know what you think about all of this. Our poll question tonight is: Do you think a person concerned about borders and ports that are unsecured, illegal immigration, Second Amendment rights, or a returning veteran from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is likely or even possibly probable, as the Department of Homeland Security suggests, to be a right-wing extremist? Yes or no.

Cast your vote at LouDobbs.com. We'll have the results here later in the broadcast.

From the April 14 edition of Fox News' Hannity:

HANNITY: The Department of Homeland Security, Dr. Dobson, is warning law enforcement officials about the rise in right-wing extremist activity. Now, some of -- for example, they would define it as people that maybe think we're not controlling our borders, people that have pro-life bumper stickers -- I'm not Ron Paul's biggest fan, but if you have a Ron Paul bumper sticker, you might be viewed as a radical by the government.

And I'm thinking -- what do you think of that interpretation, especially coming from a guy that started his political career in the home of an unrepentant terrorist who bombed our Pentagon and Capitol, and sat in Reverend Wright's church for 20 years?

JAMES DOBSON (founder, Focus on the Family): Isn't it interesting that the media has jumped all over this when there aren't any examples of it. There are no Timothy McVeighs out there right now. They're making a big deal out of something that hasn't happened and may not happen.

They were also saying today that when the troops come back from Iraq or Afghanistan, that they're going to be a big problem because they have military training. Well, you know, the war didn't just start. It's been going on for eight years.

And they're trying to create an issue out of what, to this point, is a non-issue. And I think for political purposes.

[...]

HANNITY: Now if you disagree with that liberal path that President Obama's taken the country down, you may soon catch the attention of the Department of Homeland Security. Now the DHS Office of Intelligence and Analysis has issued an intel assessment that warns of a rise of what they're calling right-wing extremism. But critics of the report say their definition of a right-wing extremist sounds awfully close to somebody who might simply just disagree with the Obama administration.

Now the report lists the following issues as possible recruiting tools for right-wing groups: the economic downturn, illegal immigration, legislative and judicial drivers, perceived threats from other countries, and disgruntled military veterans.

Now regarding those threats from other countries, DHS says right-wing groups, quote, "bemoan the decline of U.S. stature." And on illegal immigration, DHS points out that there is a "frustration over a perceived lack of government action on illegal immigration."

Well, I wonder what the DHS is going to call those thousands of great Americans who take to the streets tomorrow to have their voices heard at tax day tea parties across the country. And I wonder if they have a report on left-wing fanatics, you know, like Bill Ayers and Jeremiah Wright?

From the April 14 edition of Fox News' Your World with Neil Cavuto:

ASMAN: I'm David Asman. I'm in for Neil Cavuto, and this is Your World. Neil is back tomorrow, broadcasting live from the Sacramento tea party. But, today, a new report by the Department of Homeland Security creating quite a stir -- it's entitled, quote, "Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment." Here it is.

While it takes aim at conservatives, it ignores liberal groups, like ACORN breaking into foreclosed homes; housing activists storming Bear Sterns; violent anti-capitalist protests at the G20; and Codepink targeting public officials. So, what gives?

GOP strategist Andrea Tantaros calling it an attempt to silence the right -- Andrea, good to see you. Thanks for being here.

TANTAROS: Thanks, David.

ASMAN: So, we should mention that they did -- the DHS did come out with a report in February on left-wing radicalism, but it didn't really suggest that there was anything violent about it. This one is all about the violent nature of right-wing extremism.

TANTAROS: Right. And that report that was about the left-wing group was actually a group that was setting cars on fire and forests on fire -- this radical environmental group. This is apples and oranges, David. You know, it's no coincidence that it's happening right before these tea parties, which are proving to be extremely effective in getting attention.

But, look, this is an administration that does not like any kind of dissent. They're essentially saying, "Attention, first responders! People are actually exercising their First Amendment rights of free speech." What they should be doing is putting out a report to our first responders saying, people are exercising their First Amendment rights, nobody interfere.

ASMAN: Well, Andrea, I'm looking at the report, and it says, among other things, that the federal government is going to begin gathering information on right-wing extremists' activities in the United States. Does that mean they're going to be spending -- sending spies to these tea parties?

TANTAROS: I'm not sure about that, but all I know is that it's taxpayer money, so that Obama and his administration can define an unreasonable enemy. I mean, think about it, David. Obama does not have an unreasonable enemy, and he would love for nothing more. I mean, the Clintons, they always had an unreasonable enemy and that was the vast, right-wing conspiracy.

ASMAN: Right.

You see Obama going overseas, you know, apologizing for the United States, making concessions. You have Hillary Clinton apologizing or making excuses for Americans' behavior. It seems like they're more concerned with the threat here at home than they are the threat abroad.

ASMAN: Well, and here's another quote from it. It says the joint federal-state activities will, quote, "have a particular emphasis on the causes of rightwing extremist radicalization." I'm just wondering if this is just an effort to shut up their critics.

TANTAROS: Well, it's certainly a growing concern, and I think it's lurching in that direction. I mean, this is American people across all political parties who are voicing their concern. They're concerned about the future of their kids. They're concerned about the economy. They're concerned about under-employment and not enough jobs.

It's free speech and the Obama administration is trying to shut it down, because, as I pointed out before, they don't like any kind of disagreement or dissent when it's against their policies.

ASMAN: Well, Andrea, another problem is that the power of the federal government is growing so extreme. I'm wondering if Janet Napolitano --

TANTAROS: That's right.

ASMAN: -- the head of the Department of Homeland Security, is going to ask for the same kind of extraordinary power that, for example, Treasury Secretary [Timothy] Geithner is asking for.

TANTAROS: Well, that would be very, very scary, and you know what? If they're going to issue these reports for this made-up threat of people exercising their right to free speech, they need to start thinking about exercising reports for groups like ACORN.

I mean, think about this, David. ACORN was in the lobby of banks, pressuring people to -- you know, to give loans to people who couldn't afford to pay them. What about Codepink? How about all the protestors at the 2004 convention that ran up and down 8th Avenue naked, screaming save the children?

ASMAN: Right.

TANTAROS: How about a report about them?

ASMAN: Well, or the G20 protesters?

TANTAROS: The hypocrisy is just astounding.

ASMAN: The G-20 protesters, and which -- it did become a deadly protest over in Europe. The same thing could happen here.

TANTAROS: That's right. That's absolutely right. And this is nothing more than concerned Americans exercising their First Amendment rights. It's constitutional. And the left and the Obama administration is clearly trying to take it away because they see it as deeply, deeply threatening -- and that should tell you something.

ASMAN: All right, Andrea Tantaros. Andrea, good to see you again. Thank you very much.

From Michelle Malkin's April 14 blog post:

They were very defensive - preemptively so - in asserting that it was not a politicized document and that DHS had done reports on "leftwing extremism" in the past. I have covered DHS for many years and am quite familiar with past assessments they and the FBI have done on animal rights terrorists and environmental terrorists. But those past reports have always been very specific in identifying the exact groups, causes, and targets of domestic terrorism, i.e., the ALF, ELF, and Stop Huntingdon wackos who have engaged in physical harassment, arson, vandalism, and worse against pharmaceutical companies, farms, labs, and university researchers.

By contrast, the piece of crap report issued on April 7 is a sweeping indictment of conservatives. And the intent is clear. As the two spokespeople I talked with on the phone today made clear: They both pinpointed the recent "economic downturn" and the "general state of the economy" for stoking "rightwing extremism." One of the spokespeople said he was told that the report has been in the works for a year. My b.s. detector went off the chart, and yours will, too, if you read through the entire report - which asserts with no evidence that an unquantified "resurgence in rightwing extremist recruitment and radicalizations activity" is due to home foreclosures, job losses, and...the historical presidential election.

In Obama land, there are no coincidences. It is no coincidence that this report echoes Tea Party-bashing left-wing blogs (check this one out comparing the Tea Party movement to the Weather Underground!) and demonizes the very Americans who will be protesting in the thousands on Wednesday for the nationwide Tax Day Tea Party.

Gov. Rick Perry: Texas Could Secede, Leave Union

From Huffy Post/ AP

AUSTIN, Texas -- Texas Gov. Rick Perry fired up an anti-tax "tea party" Wednesday with his stance against the federal government and for states' rights as some in his U.S. flag-waving audience shouted, "Secede!"

An animated Perry told the crowd at Austin City Hall -- one of three tea parties he was attending across the state -- that officials in Washington have abandoned the country's founding principles of limited government. He said the federal government is strangling Americans with taxation, spending and debt.

Perry repeated his running theme that Texas' economy is in relatively good shape compared with other states and with the "federal budget mess." Many in the crowd held signs deriding President Barack Obama and the $786 billion federal economic stimulus package.

Perry called his supporters patriots. Later, answering news reporters' questions, Perry suggested Texans might at some point get so fed up they would want to secede from the union, though he said he sees no reason why Texas should do that.

"There's a lot of different scenarios," Perry said. "We've got a great union. There's absolutely no reason to dissolve it. But if Washington continues to thumb their nose at the American people, you know, who knows what might come out of that. But Texas is a very unique place, and we're a pretty independent lot to boot."

He said when Texas entered the union in 1845 it was with the understanding it could pull out. However, according to the Texas State Library and Archives Commission, Texas negotiated the power to divide into four additional states at some point if it wanted to but not the right to secede.

Story continues below

Texas did secede in 1861, but the North's victory in the Civil War put an end to that.

Perry is running for re-election against U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, a fellow Republican. His anti-Washington remarks have become more strident the past few weeks as that 2010 race gets going and since Perry rejected $550 million in federal economic stimulus money slated to help Texas' unemployment trust fund.

Perry said the stimulus money would come with strings attached that would leave Texas paying the bill once the federal money ran out.

South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, also Republicans, have been outspoken against the federal economic stimulus spending and were supportive of tea parties in their states. The protests were being held throughout the country on federal income tax deadline day to imitate the original Boston Tea Party of American revolutionary times.

In an appearance at the Texas Capitol last week, Perry joined state lawmakers in pushing a resolution that supports states' rights protected in the 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. He said the federal government has become oppressive in its size and interference with states.

Since then, Perry has been featured on the online Drudge Report, and other conservative commentators and citizens have latched on to his words.

After praising veterans in the cheering crowd Wednesday, he said: "I'm just not real sure you're a bunch of right-wing extremists. But if you are, we're with you."

Perry said he believes he could be at the center of a national movement that is coordinated and focused in its opposition to the actions of the federal government.

"It's a very organic thing," he said. "It is a very powerful moment, I think, in American history."

For her part, Hutchison issued a newspaper opinion piece Wednesday criticizing the Democratic-led Congress for spending on the stimulus bill and the $1 trillion appropriations bill.

"On April 15 -- Tax Day -- some in Congress may need a reminder of just who is underwriting this spending: the American taxpayer. I am deeply concerned over the swelling tax burden that will be imposed on all Texas families," she wrote.

The crowd at the Austin tea party appeared to be decidedly anti-Democrat. Many of the speakers were Republicans and Libertarians.

One placard said, "Stop Obama's Socialism." Another read, "Some Pirates Are in America," and it showed photographs of Obama, U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid wearing pirate hats.

Rebecca Knowlton, 45, of Smithville, said she took the day off of home-schooling her three children and brought them to the rally to teach them about civic duty. Knowlton, a critic of the Social Security system and the United Nations, said she felt camaraderie at the demonstration.

"The movement is growing stronger," she said. "You're not alone."

MCL comment: Can we start a fund to help Rick Perry and these psychos in Texas break apart from the United States? Better yet let's start a fund to help the remaining red states break away from the United States, we stay the United States of America and those states can be the United States of the mentally insane.

‘Grassroots’ Chicago tea party organized with the help of the right-wing Heartland Institute.

By Ryan Powers

This afternoon on MSNBC’s Hardball, host Mike Barnacle had Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) and Chicago tea party organizer John O’Hara on to discuss the tea party protests. Throughout their discussion, both Pence and O’Hara repeatedly claimed that today’s protests were nothing more than a “grassroots” movement that had finally reached a boiling point. It wasn’t until Barnacle pressed O’Hara on how he got involved with the protests that O’Hara explained that he worked for the right-wing think tank, the Heartland Institute. Still, O’Hara claimed he only worked on the tea party project in his “spare time — on weekends and nights“:

BARNACLE: Why are you involved in this?

O’HARA: I work at a free-market think tank, the Heartland Institute here in Chicago. In my spare time, on weekends and nights, leading up to the Feburary 27 tea parties, my good friend J. P. Freire…at the American Spectator invited me and asked me if I could help get some momentum behind a tea party in front of the White House. I did and we had over 300 people show up. … Ever since then you’ve had thousands come out.

Watch it:

Like his fellow astroturfers at Americans for Prosperity, American Solutions, and FreedomWorks, O’Hara is misrepresenting the extent to which his employer, the Heartland Institute, has been involved in helping organize today’s protests. Earlier this week, O’Hara himself issued a press release bragging about how Heartland was “the first organization on board for the first tea parties” and has been “integrally involved in the April 15th Tax Day Tea Party here in Chicago.” Heartland promoted the protests on their homepage today.

Tea baggers joke about Obama being waterboarded, shining the shoes of the Saudi king.

By Amanda Terkel

Tea party organizers and participants have repeatedly insisted that their nationwide protests today are completely non-partisan and not meant to be anti-Obama. However, there didn’t seem to be any anti-Republican or anti-Bush signs at the protests. Instead, not only were there signs/clothing protest Obama’s policies, but some had violent or racist rhetoric. One participant even asked Joe the Plumber about waterboarding Obama:

Q: If you could waterboard Obama this weekend, what would you try to get out of him? What would you ask him?

WURZELBACHER: (LAUGHTER) Well, I don’t want to waterboard Obama.

Watch it:

Blogger Oliver Willis also saw a sign at the DC protest referencing Obama’s alleged bow to Saudi King Abdullah, saying that if he wasn’t bowing, “then he must have been polishing his shoes.” Dave Weigel from the Washington Independent saw another sign reading, “homey don’t play dat“:

Ironically, the AP reports that Greg Budell — a talk radio host in Montgomery, AL — said that the tea parties could “have the same impact that Montgomerian Rosa Parks had when she refused to move to the back of a city bus during segregation.”

UpdateMatt Yglesias writes, "[O]ne of the hallmarks of contemporary American conservatism is that while it’s no longer a white supremacist movement, it is a movement marked by a combination of tolerance for racism with massive oversensitivity about the idea that 'PC' forces are stifling freedom."

Calling out the tea party nuts

I'm in the majority that thinks these "T.E.A" protesters are wing nut losers who can't come up with a thought on their own. Tell me what are you protesting exactly? When I post stories about these well funded right wing protest I see clowns holding up signs saying "tax enough?" um can I ask you guys lurking around out there on the net a question? Do you or anyone you know make over 250,000 dollars a year? Better yet do you or anyone you know make over 92,000 dollars a year? And if you answer no to both questions, please explain to me how raising the taxes on the top two percent of American wage earners impact you? Now if you want to claim government spending and not because you're a upset right winger who's main motivation to support these protest is because name your favorite right wing talk show host or website here told you so, where were you at for the last eight years of the Bush White House where President Bush spent more than the previous 42 presidents combine?

Americans for Prosperity writes Facebook message offering financial rewards for publicizing tea parties.

From Think Progress and By Satyam Khanna

The right wing and Fox News are trying to paint tomorrow’s tea party protests as an organic uprising, when they are in fact being spearheaded by high-powered business interests. Now, organizers are doling out generous financial incentives to publicize the tea parties. In a Facebook message today, Erik Telford of Americans For Prosperity told supporters, “I wanted to make you aware of an opportunity. Americans for Prosperity Foundation and Heritage Foundation have teamed up to launch the Stop Spending Our Future project, which offers four contests and $5,000 in prizes“:

1) Spread the Word| Capture the stories of five people at one of the Taxpayer Tea Parties happening all over the nation on Tax Day, April 15. The person that captures the best testimonial will receive $1,000.

2) Make a Video| What’s your biggest frustration about the government’s appetite for more spending in the midst of the tough economic climate? The top 5 submissions will each receive a prize in the amount of $500.

3) Write a Letter | Explain how you feel about the debt via a letter that your child, grandchild, or great-grandchild will open 30 years from now? The top 5 submissions will each receive a prize in the amount of $250.

4) Give It a Name| Convey the threat of government over-spending and/or excessive debt using 10 words or less. The single best idea-as voted on by visitors to this website-will receive $250 and be the basis for a new video.

“Stop Spending Our Future” has also launched a promotional video using young children decrying the “Troubled Assets Relief Programs” and other “bailouts.”

UpdateThe Republican National Committee and the National Republican Congressional Committee are fundraising off the tea parties.

In reporting on tea parties, CNN, MSNBC hosts target Fox News

In recent days, MSNBC and CNN hosts have criticized Fox News' aggressive promotion of April 15 tea party protests -- in some instances questioning the journalistic credibility of the network for its coverage of the protests. As Media Matters for America has documented, Fox News has frequently aired segments encouraging viewers to get involved with tea party protests across the country, which the channel has often described as primarily a response to President Obama's fiscal policies. Indeed, Fox News has gone so far as to take ownership of the tea party events by repeatedly describing them as "FNC Tax Day Tea Parties." On April 15, four of the network's hosts will be broadcasting live from various tea party protests across the country. While Fox News has asked whether the media will give "positive coverage" to the tea parties, others in the media are now questioning Fox News' involvement with those protests.

For instance:

• During the April 13 edition of CNN's The Situation Room, media critic and Reliable Sources host Howard Kurtz asserted that Fox News "practically seems to be a co-sponsor" of the tea party protests. Kurtz pointed out that Fox News contributors Newt Gingrich and Michelle Malkin are supporting the protests and noted that "Fox News, whose new online slogan is 'Just say no to biased media,' began publicizing the protests. And, soon, some hosts were signing on." Kurtz later added that "[t]hese hosts said little or nothing about the huge deficits run up by President Bush, but Barack Obama's budget and tax plans have driven them to tea," and said that, while Fox News hosts Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity "and the gang" are "paid for their opinions," "[t]he question is whether Rupert Murdoch's network wants to be so closely identified with what has become an anti-Obama protest movement."

• After airing a Fox News promotion of its upcoming "fair and balanced" coverage of the tea parties, Chris Matthews stated during the April 13 edition of MSNBC's Hardball: "I have got to believe that [Fox News president] Roger Ailes has the biggest tongue in his cheek when he does these ads. 'We report. You decide.' I mean, what are you -- balanced coverage of an anti-government rally, an anti-tax rally -- balanced coverage of that, it's so amazing."

• On the April 13 edition of MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann, guest host David Shuster described the tea parties as a "movement that's short on outrage and long on Republican manufacturing" and reported: "Then there is the media, specifically the Fox News Channel, including Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity. Both are looking forward to an up-close-and-personal taste" of the tea parties "at events this Wednesday." Shuster also noted that Fox News host Neil Cavuto had been "defending his network's promotion" of the events. Later in the segment, MSNBC political analyst Lawrence O'Donnell said of Fox News' involvement with the event: "What they're trying to do is create gigantic television events for their shows on that day. They have to pretend that they are covering a news event rather than trying to create one, which they've very clearly done when you look at the history of -- in the last month of the Fox News discussion of this, and how they've built it up."

• On the April 9 edition of her MSNBC show, Rachel Maddow stated that "our colleagues at Fox News are not just reporting on" the tea party protests, "they are officially promoting" them. After airing a clip of Beck asserting that you can "celebrate with Fox News" at the tea parties its hosts will be attending, Maddow noted that "Fox News Channel has described the Tax Day events on-screen as 'FNC Tax Day Tea Parties,' and they are dispatching some of their hosts to take part in" the events.

—J.M

Homeland Security Report Warns Of Rising Right-Wing Extremism

From Huffington Post

If you think the conservative "Tea Party" movement is daunting, take a look at a new report issued by the Department of Homeland Security that says right-wing extremism is on the rise throughout the country.

Reuters sums up some of the information in the report (scroll to the bottom of the entry to read the entire report):

DHS had no specific information about pending violence and said threats had so far been "largely rhetorical."

But it warned that home foreclosures, unemployment and other consequences of the economic recession "could create a fertile recruiting environment for right-wing extremists"...

ThinkProgress notes some key take-aways from the report:

Anti-immigration: “Rightwing extremist groups’ frustration over a perceived lack of government action on illegal immigration has the potential to incite individuals or small groups toward violence. If such violence were to occur, it likely would be isolated, small-scale, and directed at specific immigration-related targets.”

Recruiting returning vets: “Rightwing extremists will attempt to recruit and radicalize returning veterans in order to exploit their skills and knowledge derived from military training and combat.”

Gun-related violence: “Heightened interest in legislation for tighter firearms...may be invigorating rightwing extremist activity, specifically the white supremacist and militia movements.”

The report is getting a lot of push back from angry conservative bloggers like Michelle Malkin:

By contrast, the piece of crap report issued on April 7 is a sweeping indictment of conservatives. And the intent is clear. As the two spokespeople I talked with on the phone today made clear: They both pinpointed the recent "economic downturn" and the "general state of the economy" for stoking "rightwing extremism." One of the spokespeople said he was told that the report has been in the works for a year. My b.s. detector went off the chart, and yours will, too, if you read through the entire report -- which asserts with no evidence that an unquantified "resurgence in rightwing extremist recruitment and radicalizations activity" is due to home foreclosures, job losses, and...the historical presidential election.

Moe Lane from RedState.com asks "Are you a Rightwing Extremist, too?":

Why? Well, it's a document that discusses the potential threats that we can expect from "rightwing extremists" (no hyphen, for some reason) in the coming months; there's the usual stuff about guns, illegal immigration, and disgruntled war veterans, plus the new wrinkle of our having elected an African-American President. The report concludes, unsurprisingly, that we have to worry more about "lone wolves and small terrorist cells" than anything else.

Read the whole report here:

Rightwing Extremism - Free Legal Forms

Entry compiled by Katharine Zaleski

Krugman: 'Right-wing billionaires...manufactured' tea parties

David Edwards and Stephen C. Webster In spite of President Barack Obama's middle-class tax cuts -- swooping rates to well below those of President Ronald Reagan -- some persist in the belief that Obama is "the taxingist taxing taxer in all the taxing history of taxes," joked MSNBC's Rachel Maddow on Monday night. Playing off a Sunday op-ed by New York Times economist Paul Krugman, Maddow touched on the issue of "AstroTurf" in the tea parties, which Krugman suggested are in-part "manufactured" by "right-wing billionaires." "Interestingly, the actual folks turning up at these events seem a little bit Ron Paul-ish," she noted. "Folks at protests arguing against the legitimacy of the Federal Reserve? Folks arguing for a return to the gold standard? I feel like I'm back outside the Republican primary debates with the exuberant Ron Paul supporters showing up all of the other Republican candidates." Maddow, who was once a host for liberal talk radio, told the Times in 2008 that Ron Paul is her favorite Republican. "I like the congressman and presidential candidate Ron Paul, because I understand what he believes, and he is fearless and civic-minded in his beliefs, rather than personally zealous," she said. "Remember how the Ron Paul campaign raised $6 million in one day?" asked Maddow on Monday night. "In a drive that coincided with the anniversary of the Boston Tea Party? Ron Paul supporters never called that fundraiser a 'teabagging.' Perhaps because they knew how to use UrbanDictionary.com." Maddow's guest, Air America correspondent Ana Marie Cox, noted that the "teabagging" is seen as "somewhat perverted" by at least some of Ron Paul's supporters, even though Paul himself expressed enthusiasm for the events. "[Dr. Paul] may not know how to use Urban Dictionary," said Cox. On a related point, as noted by Paul Krugman in Sunday's New York Times, the tea parties are at least in-part "AstroTurf," or a fake grassroots movement, manufactured by "right-wing billionaires." "In particular, a key role is being played by FreedomWorks, an organization run by Richard Armey, the former House majority leader, and supported by the usual group of right-wing billionaires," he wrote. "And the parties are, of course, being promoted heavily by Fox News." On the board of directors at FreedomWorks are none other than former Speaker of the House Dick Armey, former Secretary of Transportation James H. Burnley and billionaire Steve Forbes, among others. "I want to point out that some of the Ron Paul people that are going to these rallies, and even Dr. Paul himself, I think, do genuinely believe in whatever wacky idea is being supported here," said Cox. "I mean, it's hard to say what the idea is; as you point out, it's sort-of amorphous outrage. But the Ron Paul people are very anti-tax of any kind ... So, there you go." "But that’s nothing new, and AstroTurf has worked well for Republicans in the past. The most notable example was the 'spontaneous' riot back in 2000 — actually orchestrated by G.O.P. strategists — that shut down the presidential vote recount in Florida’s Miami-Dade County," wrote Krugman. "So what's the implication of the fact that Republicans are refusing to grow up, the fact that they are still behaving the same way they did when history seemed to be on their side? I'd say that it’s good for Democrats, at least in the short run — but it’s bad for the country." This video is from MSNBC's The Rachel Maddow Show, broadcast Apr. 13, 2009.

FreedomWorks Orchestrates ‘Grassroots’ Movements To Serve Dick Armey’s Corporate Clients

By Lee Fang ThinkProgress reported last week that corporate lobbyists are helping to orchestrate the anti-Obama tea party protests. These lobbying run front groups, along with promotion help from Fox News, are organizing the tea parties by calling right-wing activists and asking them to organize. They are also coordinating conference calls among activists, writing press releases, providing sign ideas, building websites supporting the protests, and distributing talking points so that the protesters can stay on message.

Today, FreedomWork’s Adam Brandon responded to the criticism that their efforts to organize these anti-Obama protests are ‘astroturf,’ saying that his organization’s work in coordinating and planning the events would be akin to “MoveOn’s model.” However, MoveOn is not run by corporate lobbyists and is funded by actual grassroots activists. On the other hand, the leader of FreedomWorks, Dick Armey, who is ranked as one of DC’s top “hired guns” lobbyists, is a corporate lobbyist with a history of directing FreedomWorks to support the goals of Armey’s lobbying clients. For example:

– Armey’s FreedomWorks is actively organizing against health care reform. Indeed, Armey’s lobbying firm represents pharmaceutical companies, such as Bristol-Myers Squibb, that oppose comparative effectiveness research in the health reform plan because such a program may cut into revenue for branded drugs.

– Armey’s lobbying firm represents the trade group for the life insurance industry. Indeed, FreedomWorks mobilizes its members for deregulated life insurance reform.

– Currently, FreedomWorks is focusing their energy activism on supporting the status quo reliance on fossil fuels. In addition to working for various domestic oil companies with a vested interest in opposing change, Armey’s lobbying firm represents Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Prime Minister of the UAE, on energy related issues such as maintaining the U.S.-UAE relationship where “U.S companies have played major roles in the development of UAE energy resources, which represent about 10 percent of global oil reserves.”

– In 2006, Armey’s lobbying firm represented the Senado de Republica (Mexican Senate) on “enhancing U.S.-Mexico relations,” and specifically on immigration policy. Curiously, during the same period, Armey’s Freedom Works stood out as one of the few right wing organizations to boldly support comprehensive immigration reform.

Last year, the Wall Street Journal exposed FreedomWorks for building “amateur-looking” websites to promote the lobbying interests of Armey.

FreedomWorks represents a top-down, corporate-friendly approach that has been the norm for conservative organizations for years. As Obama prepares to push to close corporate tax loopholes, reform health care, and transition to a clean energy economy, we can expect more corporate lobbyists to create astroturf protests to oppose change.

Fox host: ‘It’s now my great duty to promote the tea parties. Here we go!’

Fox News host Neil Cavuto regularly claims that when he aggressively advocates for the anti-Obama “tea party” protests on air, he is simply covering them as a journalist. But Stuart Varney, Cavuto’s fill-in host, admitted this afternoon that the the network is actually promoting the right-wing protests. After telling a guest that the tea parties were in protest to President Obama’s policies, Varney closed a segment by saying, “It’s now my great duty to promote the tea parties. Here we go!” Watch it:

In a Washington Post online chat today, media critic Howard Kurtz said that “it makes me a bit uncomfortable the way the channel has turned these April 15 protests into something of a crusade, complete with the drumbeat of advance publicity and the above-named hosts planning to attend various tea parties. But it’s not fair to say that Fox’s reporters are jumping on this bandwagon.” Fox News bills Varney as a “business journalist.”

Tea Party Video: Right-Wing Tax Protests Caught On Tape

Hundreds of tea party protests are scheduled in cities and towns across the country for tax day (help us report on them!). But the curious don't need to wait till April 15 to get a sense of what these protests might be like. Several events happened on Feb. 27, less than two weeks after CNBC's Rick Santelli howled about irresponsible government spending and called for a Chicago tea party in an impromptu rant. And several people brought video cameras to those events. Herewith, a roundup of some of the best vids, which hopefully provide clues for what to expect on tax day:

GIANT TEABAGS: A big crowd came out in Dallas, with some protesters dressed up in medieval stocks costumes (attached signs said the protesters were "shackled to the stimulus"). The whole tea party meme presents countless opportunities for fun costumes. These particular getups have the added bonus of a remarkable resemblance to giant teabags:

CONSPIRACY THEORIES: A video by bloggerinterrupted showcases a string of protesters from a Feb. 27 event in Cleveland who don't believe President Obama was born in the United States. Any good protest will have its fringe weirdos, but the birth certificate deniers may be emerging as an undercurrent in the tea party movement -- D.C. tea party organizers booked Obama-birth-certificate-skeptic Alan Keyes to speak at the tax day event outside the Treasury Department.

MICHELLE MALKIN: This video, from a tea party event in Washington, D.C., does a great job transitioning from the Santelli rant to a small protest outside the White House, and with some sweet background music. The crowd might be weak, but it's peppered with conservative celebrities like Michelle Malkin, who is prepared to defend earnest tea partiers from saboteurs:

ANGER: This video from a tea party in Chicago (which Santelli did not attend) shows Dan Proft, a political commentator for a local TV station, stirring up an enthusiastic crowd. He starts to lose them (around 2:45) after insisting that the Republican party ought to get with the program and start speaking up for small business. An angry guy off camera starts cussing up a storm. It gets even worse when Proft talks about reviving the Republican party in Chicago, and the angry guy really flips his wig and a few others start booing. "I don't represent the Republican party," Proft pleads at the end.

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MOTORIZED PIGS: Protesters in Fort Worth take the prize for protest flair by riding around on motorized pigs next to a highway. The cowboy hats, boots, and the PORK DC sign make an awesome visual.

MCL comment: So they're protesting what again? I might be going out on a limb here I think a vast majority of these folks are only protesting because their favorite radio right wing hack told them they should. And protesting pork I also bet a vast majority of these losers couldn't name one item of pork unless it's those already cut out of the bill but their Republican overlords still tell them it's there. What's amazing about this is that Michelle Malkin is trying to take a lead role in this faux protest of right wing numb nuts, Malkin was the same media whore that attack people if they voice of legitimate criticism of George Bush. And when only 36% of Fox News viewers say they're going to take part you know this is going to be a flop

The Chilling Rise of Right-Wing Hate in America

From Library Grape: Posted by Metavirus Crooks and Liars posted new details about the right-wing psychopath who gunned down three police officers in Pittsburgh:

Thanks to some sleuth work on the Internet, we're starting to learn more about Richard Poplawski, the 23-year-old who killed three police officers yesterday in Pittsburgh, evidently out of fear that his guns were going to be taken away.

It appears that what police may be looking at is a budding white supremacist who frequented one of the most popular neo-Nazi websites and harbored an apocalyptic dread of the federal government...

[T]he Pittsburgh Tribune-Review has some corroboration from other sources that indicates he fits this profile:

Richard Andrew "Pop" Poplawski's ex-girlfriend said he dragged her by the hair and threatened to shoot her.

He slept with a gun under his pillow in a basement room filled with firearms and ammunition, convinced that Jews controlled the media and President Obama was scheming to take away his arsenal, friends and relatives said Saturday.

"He was a violent, abusive man. He dragged me by the hair, pulling me across the floor. I saw him choke his own mother. He was controlling," said Melissa Gladish, 23, of Verona, his former girlfriend who received a protection from abuse order against him in 2005. She said she had no doubt he would kill someone.

I can't begin to tell you how frightened this makes me. The radical right wingers that were so prevalent during the Clinton administration went dormant during the Bush years. Now that Obama is in office, and irresponsible sociopaths like Michelle Malkin, Glenn Beck and Rep. Michele Bachmann are recklessly stoking the fires of paranoid rightwing victimization, I fear we will face countless tragedies like what just went on in Pittsburgh. When liberal radicals get upset, they engage in protests and damage property, like the nonsense you saw outside the G-20 summit. When right wing radicals get upset, they either shoot lots of people and or blow up a building with lots of people in it (see, e.g., the FBI building in Oklahoma City). As Tim F. at Balloon Juice opines:

How is that “orderly revolution” going, Michelle? How about that laundry soap rebellion, Erick? This is what Glenn Beck’s citizen army looks like. People like Michelle Malkin fantasize about citizens rising up against the (Democratic) state. They stoke their followers’ paranoia with bullshit that, mostly, they know is bullshit, for ratings and a shot at political traction. Did they expect the American revolution? In response to John’s famous Peak Wingnut post I pointed out that political irrelevance will hardly stifle rightwing victimology but feed it like CO2, manure and sunlight. I tend to call the relevant phenomenon ‘toxic victim syndrome’, or TVS. The feeling that one is a powerless victim has a corrosive psychological effect. It exempts self-appointed victims from normal moral standards. It justifies (in one’s own mind) an endless list of behaviors that an ordinary person would never consider.

How many people have to die before the right-wing media acknowledges their complicity in these kinds of attacks and voluntarily dials back their inflammatory rhetoric and incitements to violence?

Sadly, I think it's going to take a long time for that to happen -- and a lot more innocent people are going to die in the interim. I guess this is what "America First" means for the radical right under an Obama presidency.

For the final word, here's John Cole:

And, of course, when you point out that certain individuals with all their talk about “revolution” and “armed insurrection” are inciting this kind of behavior in unstable people, you will get howls of protest about the 1st Amendment and what not. Sure, crazy people do crazy things. But that doesn’t make it responsible to encourage them, which is what a lot of really foolish people are doing right now for purely political reasons.

Update: One more final word from Andrew Sullivan:

Many of us have worried that the heated, apocalyptic rhetoric of the anti-Obama forces might spill over at some point into violence in the hands of individuals prone to lashing out. We now have what seems to be a clear instance of that and three dead police officers. One wonders whether Fox News or the Second Amendment fanatics will chill it out a little. And then one realizes who we're talking about.

Rick Sanchez: Fox News Contributing To Gun Violence (VIDEO) (UPDATED)

From Huffy Post by Jason Linkins

So, in case you haven't noticed, people have lately been going around killing people, indiscriminately. Is this because Fox News is sending their hypnobeams into America's brainpan through the lunatic ravings of Glenn Beck and the Michele Bachmann-boosting tyranny pillow-talk of Sean Hannity? I don't know! Maybe. That stuff mostly fills me with either humor or pity. Then I make some tacos, drink some Jim Beam, everything's OK again.

But CNN's Rick Sanchez notes the rise of Fox style crazyfaced paranoia and the uptick in gun violence, and feels that there's a connection worth exploring. Which he does by...SCARING THE BEJEEZUS OUT OF EVERYONE! Terrifying music! Scary YouTubes! Breathless, unproveable pronouncements! A cop-killer was "convinced, no doubt because of Fox News...that our rights were being infringed upon. That's according to a friend" of the killer. LOTS OF GREAT SOURCING AND CERTAINTY, THERE! Is there any truth to the notion that Fox is inexorably driving people crazy? It's an "apparent result," Sanchez says. Sounds ironclad!

Ugh. Look, I'd the first to suggest that children shouldn't play with Fox news, but if you're going to make the earnest case that Glenn Beck is literally killing America, you need more than second hand observations of spree-killers and "apparent results." You need, I'd posit, some sort of "evidence." Data points, anecdotal accounts, proof that the suits at Fox News were aware of potential harm and were negligent in allowing a specific danger to be exacerbated. Short of that, if you want to combat the pernicious effect of misinformation you deem dangerous, you got no other choice that to buckle down and do the work of a reporter. Debunk claims, research policies, stack up contrary evidence. And double down on the sobriety and the seriousness.

What Sanchez does here is lead with alarm, accusations, terrifying images, more alarm, melodrama. At about four minutes in, Sanchez finally offers a counterpoint - a statement from Eric Holder from his confirmation hearings. Unfortunately, Sanchez's first attempt at debunkery was well countered. That left Eric Boehlert of Media Matters to "help Sanchez out," but all he did was point out that there's a "media narrative" at work - which is where all of this began. From there, it became an internecine argument over what the media was doing as opposed to what the Obama administration was doing.

The end result, Fox is making people scared of Obama, CNN is making people scared of Fox viewers, and soon we'll all be peeing our pants at the drop of a hat.

Eight minutes, and Sanchez brings one solitary piece of substantive evidence was brought to the table, to support his argument. Better luck next time! Please?

[WATCH.]

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[UPDATE]

Media Monitor Jon comes through with proof that CNN can, in fact, discuss the issue - and present evidence that counters the contention that a plan to curb gun owners is afoot - without resorting to histrionics, accusations, fearmongering, or "meta" media discussions.

[WATCH.]

MCL comment: I know I'm repeating myself on this one, but how in the hell can these guys get away with this? Fox News and their knuckle dragging allies in the right wing media made it their mission to stop all sorts of descent when George W. Bush was president but now, not only they pushing misinformation regarding President Barack Obama they bordering on inciting their viewers or listeners to violence. Since the up tick of gun violence many of these right wing hacks like former booze hound Glenn Beck are trying distance themselves from their dangerous rhetoric. These right wingers are not only hypocrites and their dangerous.

Ignoring Fox News polling, Fox News’ Neil Cavuto claims ‘tea party’ protests are ‘a popular wave.’

By Matt Corley

On his Fox News show today, Neil Cavuto joined the rest of Fox News in promoting the radical anti-Obama “tea party” protests, one of which he will be attending and broadcasting from next week. Arguing with radio show host Leslie Marshall, Cavuto claimed that the protests were “a popular wave” sweeping across the country. Watch it:

But Cavuto’s claim ignores a Fox News poll released last week, which found that only 36 percent of Americans said they would “be willing to join” a “tea party” protest.

MCL comment: I don't mind people voicing displeasure about President Obama but here's the thing the people who are now screaming about President Obama and his policies are the same ones who only a mere five years ago were claiming those who didn't support then President George W. Bush were anti American, they wanted the country to fail etc. Not only they want President Obama to fail they enciting violence towards that president. Could you image if liberals and a hand full of Democratic senators or congressmen formed a group that was this hostile to President Bush in this matter as they are to president Obama, you think anyone on Fox News or in the right wing sludge machine defend this group?

Republican Members Of Congress Embrace Radical Anti-Obama Tea Party Protests

By Lee Fang Next week on Tax Day (April 15), right wing activists will converge in cities across the country to protest President Obama. The primary figures organizing the protests, the lobbyist-run think tank Freedom Works and bloggers such as Michelle Malkin, say they are reacting to taxes that are “too high.” However, previous tea party protests have attracted protesters who called for impeaching Obama while slurring the President’s name as “Obama Bin Lyin.”

Congressional Republicans have enthusiastically embraced the movement, with Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) sponsoring a bill to honor the protests. So far, at least 12 Republican lawmakers and governors have signed on to speak at local events:

– Rep. David Davis (R-TN) and representatives from Sen. Bob Corker’s (R-TN) office will be speaking at the Kingsport protest.

– Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) and Rep. Rob Bishop (R-UT) will be speaking at the Salt Lake City protest.

– Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-KS) and a representative from Rep. Sam Graves’ (R-MO) office will be speaking at the Overland Park protest.

– Rep. John Fleming (R-LA) will be speaking at the Shreveport protest.

– Rep. Ander Crenshaw (R-FL) will be speaking at the Jacksonville protest.

– Rep. Bob Latta (R-OH) will be speaking at the Wauseon protest.

– Rep. John Shadegg (R-AZ) and former Rep. J.D. Hayworth (R-AZ) will be speaking at the Phoenix protest.

– Rep. Sue Myrick (R-NC) will be speaking at the Charlotte protest.

– Rep. Bill Posey (R-FL) will be speaking at the Brevard protest.

– Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) will be speaking at the Longview protest.

– Gov. Mark Sanford (R-SC) will be speaking at the protest in Columbia.

In addition, Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-MT), Rep. Jack Kingston (R-GA), and Rep. Tom Rooney (R-FL) have been urging their constituents to attend tea party protests.

The events are also being embraced by a smorgasbord of far-right causes. Gun rights militias, secessionists, and neo-Nazi groups are currently working to contribute to the organizing effort.

Poll Finds New Optimism on Economy Since Inauguration

By ADAM NAGOURNEY and MEGAN THEE-BRENAN

Americans have grown more optimistic about the economy and the direction of the country in the 11 weeks since President Obama was inaugurated, suggesting that Mr. Obama is enjoying some success in his critical task of rebuilding the nation’s confidence, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll.

These sometimes turbulent weeks — marked by new initiatives by Mr. Obama, attacks by Republicans and more than a few missteps by the White House — do not appear to have hurt the president. Americans said they approve of Mr. Obama’s handling of the economy, foreign policy, Iraq and Afghanistan; fully two-thirds said they approve of his overall job performance.

By contrast, Republican fortunes have dropped in the first weeks of the Obama presidency; just 31 percent of respondents said they had a favorable view of the Republican Party, the lowest in the 25 years the question has been asked in New York Times/CBS News polls.

It is not unusual for new presidents to enjoy a period of public support. Still, the durability of Mr. Obama’s support contrasts with that of some other new presidents, and is striking at a time when anxiety has gripped households across the country and Mr. Obama has alternately sought to rally Americans’ spirits and warn against economic collapse as he seeks Congressional support for his programs. The poll found that 70 percent of respondents are very or somewhat concerned that someone in their household will be out of work and looking for a job over the next 12 months; 40 percent said they had cut back spending on luxuries, and 10 percent on necessities; 31 percent said they had cut both.

For all that, the number of people who think the country is heading in the right direction has jumped from 15 percent in mid-January, just before Mr. Obama took office, to 39 percent today, while the number who think it is heading in the wrong direction has dropped from 79 to 53 percent. That is the highest percentage of Americans who said the country is heading in the right direction since February of 2005, the second month of the second term of former President George W. Bush.

The percentage of people who think the economy is getting worse has declined from 54 percent just before Mr. Obama took office to 34 percent today. At the same time, 20 percent now think the economy is getting better, compared with 7 percent in mid-January. “It’s psychology more than anything else,” Arthur Gilman, a Republican from Ridgewood, N.J., said in a follow-up interview after participating in the Times/CBS News Poll. “President Obama has turned around the negative feeling in this country. He’s given everything an impetus because he’s very upbeat, like Roosevelt was. It’s too soon to tell if the spending stuff works but some things have improved.”

Frank Henwood, an independent from Amarillo, Texas, said: “Hopefully, the stock market has bottomed out and is on the rise. Once the stock market shapes up, I think the economy will come back and then jobs will come back and people will start buying automobiles made in America.”

With the poll finding that an overwhelming number think the recession will last a year or more, Mr. Obama may find he has an unusually deep well of patience to draw on. The poll found that Mr. Obama shoulders virtually none of the public blame for the economic crisis: 33 percent blame Mr. Bush, 21 percent blame financial institutions, and 11 percent blame Congress.

By a margin of 63 to 20, voters said they trusted Mr. Obama more than they trust Congressional Republicans to make the right decision about the nation’s economy.And by a margin 61 to 27, they said they trusted Mr. Obama to keep the nation safe, typically a Republican strong-suit, the poll found. Nearly one-quarter of Republicans said that they trusted Mr. Obama more than Congressional Republicans to make the right decisions about the economy.

“As far as acting like adults and getting things done, the Democrat Party has done better,” said Rachel Beeson, an independent voter from Hawaii. “The Republican Party seems to have decided that they are going to turn down anything that comes out of the White House and nothing will get done that way. “

The poll suggested evidence of continued political division: 57 percent of people who said they voted for John McCainlast November said they disapproved of Mr. Obama’s performance. While Mr. Obama’s budget proposal enjoys the support of 56 percent of Americans overall, sentiments splinter along party lines: 79 percent of Democrats said Mr. Obama’s budget had the right priorities, compared with 27 percent of Republicans.

The survey was conducted Wednesday through Sunday, while Mr. Obama was traveling through Europe to attend the Group of 20 summit of the world’s largest economies. Two-thirds of respondents said that leaders of other countries around the world have respect for Mr. Obama; when a similar question was asked in July 2006, 30 percent of respondents said foreign leaders had respect for Mr. Bush.

The national telephone poll was conducted with 998 adults. It has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points.

Even as Americans strongly support their new president, they do not necessarily support all of his initiatives. In one example of that, 58 percent disapprove of Mr. Obama’s proposal to bail-out banks. But the percentage of respondents who think that it will benefit all Americans, rather than only bankers, has jumped from 29 percent in February to 47 percent now, signaling that the White House might be making some progress in changing perceptions of the plan.

And at a time when Mr. Obama has proposed a vast expansion in government spending and programs, 48 percent of all Americans said they prefer a smaller government providing fewer services, while 41 percent prefer a bigger government providing more services.

Americans remain concerned about the growing national debt that is being passed on to future generations, but in the face of the current economic troubles, they are divided over whether it is necessary to increase debt. Forty-six percent said the government should not incur further debt, but 45 percent of those surveyed said the government should spend money to stimulate the economy even though it will increase the budget deficit.

At a time where there is evidence of a surge of populism among many Americans in response to abuses on Wall Street, respondents by more than a two-to-one margin said that Democrats care more about the needs of people like themselves than Republicans do. Seventy-one percent of Americans said Mr. Obama cared more about the interests of ordinary people than about large corporations.

Mr. Obama’s push to increase income taxes on people making over $250,000 a year is supported by 74 percent of respondents. When presented with the possibility that taxing those in the higher income bracket might hurt the economy, 39 percent of those polled still support the plan.

Lincoln announces opposition to Employee Free Choice.

From Think Progress:

Earlier today, Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) announced that she would oppose the Employee Free Choice Act — which would make it easier for workers to organize unions — should it come up for vote in the Senate in its current form. Lincoln, who is running for reelection in 2010, is the first Democratic Senator to openly oppose the legislation. The AP reports:

“I cannot support that bill. I cannot support it in its current form,” Lincoln told those gathered for the luncheon at the governor’s mansion. “I may not have said that as clearly before, but I’m saying it now.” … “It is one of those issues that creates great division, as well as distraction, at a time when we need all hands on deck,” Lincoln said. […]

“We need workers and we need business at the table, if we’re going to put this economy back on track, and I don’t think the discussion on the Employee Free Choice Act has helped us do that.”

The Arkansas-based Wal-Mart corporation had hired a former Blanche Lincoln staffer to lobby against the Employee Free Choice Act. Notably, Lincoln waited until after Vice President Biden helped her raise $800,000 before announcing her opposition to a piece of legislation that both Biden and Obama strongly support.

MCL comment: Oh will someone please think of the CEOs. I guess Blanche Lincoln is hegding her bets that Wal-Mart is going to save her in 2010 if she comes out and say she's against Employee Free Choice Act openly.