Celebrity-In-Chief

Candidate Obama developed his incredible star power into a valuable tool during his campaign, and now that President Obama's hundredth day in office is approaching, it is clearly serving a new purpose: earning him political capital. The mainstream media is more valuable to him than ever; the recent AP poll showed upwards of 60% in agreement that the country is on the "right track." Every news article references statistics about the percentage spread of his approval rating versus the last 6 presidents or the size of the spread between right and left like contributors on Sportscenter. Likewise, we all know who they're rooting for, and the "facts" they report can be made to say almost anything.

Did the Tea Parties Hurt or Help?

The Tax Day Tea Parties were surprising on many levels. Our members that went to the Seattle Tea Party agreed on at least one thing: this was not at all the crowd, or even the event we had expected. Our expectation was based on our idea of a Tea Party as a Ron Paul fundraiser minus the Ron Paul part; granted, plenty of crazies, but at least people of the libertarian persuasion.

More often, however, we instead heard slurs about liberals, Christian nationalism, and even an original country jingle. I am still impressed that so many people attended, and I hope the movement continues to grow. That being said, the media had a field day with these "teabaggers." Every major news source ridiculedLikewise, the AP's photos of these events, or at least those published in popular places, were of people in good old 'merican flag attire, holding signs with painfully original slogans like "LET ME HAVE MY KIDS BEFORE YOU TAX THEM!" In our case, being in Seattle, the "unexpecteds" came in the form of frustrated opponents of Obama chanting "USA!" and booing Obama's merciless socialist tyranny as if John McCain himself were on stage.

Our crowd was there, of course, but the only person who gave us any coverage was Janet Napolitano, who consequently described protesters (especially veterans) as potential right-wing militia members, later apologizing that it was probably just a departmental Freudian slip).

I am glad so many people are persuaded by the libertarian economic agenda, but I am not impressed with the caliber of advocacy they are presenting to public on our behalf.