Working Families

UPDATE: I’m putting the clip about us at the top of this post. Article below was written before we had it up.

A right wing crank by the name of Rus Thompson is on the warpath against us by way of Glenn Beck and Fox (*cough*) News. [Tonight at 5pm EST, on Fox News.]

That’s my way of letting you know that the largest right wing echo chamber in the country has decided to pick on the Working Families Party because of our role in making sure that the Democrats don’t go back to being the minority in the NY State Senate.

What you should know about Thompson is that he’s one of those ‘tea-baggers’ who dress up like Mel Gibson in The Patriot to denounce taxes. This helps to explain why he’s on Fox News: the whole tea-bagging experience was underwritten as a project of Fox News.

Regarding Glenn Beck, well, there isn’t much we can say that Jon Stewart hasn’t already said:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c
Moment of Zen – Glenn Beck Cries
thedailyshow.com
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Rus ‘Tea-bagger’ Thompson will probably say something similar to what he wrote on his website:

“ACORN and the WFP not only protested the senate take over, they became violent inside the Senate bldg. People were injured, spit on and intimidated by these thugs.”

So here’s a point by point rebuttal:

• WFP did not organize the protest in Albany.
• There was no violence or intimidation.

My opinion: The far right is doing its best to connect people of color and the poor with corruption and violence. Call it ‘the ACORN gambit.’ It wouldn’t survive without the undercurrent of racism and desperation floating out there among those who fear the change we voted for last November.

Watch this space for some post tempest-in-a-teapot coverage. Will Thompson get cried on by Beck? Will tri-corner hats be worn? Will Fox News lie and lie again?

Addenda:

Liz Benjamin’s clip of the protest in question:

Dueling Protests from Elizabeth Benjamin on Vimeo.

And a link to the Daily News article on the protest. Note the absence of the WFP in the story….

UPDATE:

As far as I can tell, Beck nixed the Rus Thompson segment. Which makes this entirely post somewhat irrelevant. Not entirely though, so we’ll keep it up.