ABC Sanitizes Left Wing Rally, Excludes Communist and Socialist Signs
Good
Morning America on Sunday recapped the liberal One Nation rally held on
the nation's capital, Saturday, but skipped any mention of the
socialist and Communist themed signs seen during the march.
These are some of the signs that were featured during
reporter Tahman Bradley's segment: ""Peace, justice, equality, hope,
change," "Fair trade, not free trade," "Educate every child," "Full and
fair employment" and "Silence GOP lies." However, signs with the
Communist Party USA logo, posters reading "Capitalism is failing,
socialism is the alternative" and "Build a socialist alternative" were
not. [Pictures can be found here. Video, here.]
Instead, Bradley repeated Democratic talking points: "Several
speakers and people in the crowd noted the diversity at the rally. Their
insinuation, the Tea Party movement has attracted only a narrow slice
of Americans."
Individuals with
books such as the Communist Manifesto and The Jewish Question were also
avoided. Interestingly, on Saturday, GMA's Deborah Roberts actually
asked Ben Jealous of the NAACP about communist infiltration of the
rally: "Now, Glenn Beck has said to some of his viewers and listeners on
the radio, that among your organizers are Communist Party members and
the New York City Democratic Socialists of America. What do you say to
that?"
Roberts also had no follow up to Jealous' odd answer: "This is a big
tent...You'll see Jews, Christians and Muslims. You'll see black, brown,
Asians. You'll see everybody here from both parties who believe that
tax cuts for the richest one percent at this time is crazy."
Considering how eager members of the media were to tout extremist
signs at Tea Party rallies, Good Morning America should at least have
shown a few of the socialist and communist signs, especially since
Roberts raised the subject on Saturday.
More on Tahman Bradley (see file photo at right): He interned for the left-wing People for the American Way. Reporting on the Glenn Beck rally for the August 29 GMA, he complained that the "crowd was almost all white, giving critics an open door."
A transcript of Sunday's segment, which aired at 8:10am EDT, follows:
DEBORAH ROBERTS: Liberals rally. Tens of thousands of people gather at the Lincoln Memorial to make their voices heard. But, will it be enough to energize voters and help the Democrats retain control of Congress?
RON CLAIBORNE: And with election day less than a month away and Democrats struggling now to hold power on Capitol Hill, the left is trying to fire up its base, tens of thousands of people turned out for the One Nation Working Together rally in Washington, D.C. yesterday. Tahman Bradley has the story.
PROTESTERS: USA! USA!
TAHMAN BRADLEY: In a campaign that seems dominated by the Tea Party liberals put on their own strong show of support at the Lincoln Memorial. Their message, they too plan to show up on Election D ay.
ED SCHULTZ: One nation. We are together.
BRADLEY: The One Nation rally came almost one month after Glenn Beck energized conservatives at the same location.
GLENN BECK: For too long this country has wandered in darkness.
BRADLEY: This time hundreds of progressive groups, organizations from labor unions to the NAACP let their voice be heard.
AL SHARPTON: They say that we're apathetic. They say we're not energized. We got to go home and we've got to hit the pavement.
BRADLEY: Several speakers and people in the crowd noted the diversity at the rally. Their insinuation, the tea party movement has attracted only a narrow slice of Americans.
GERALD HUDSON (Service Employees International Union): I think the Tea Party does not represent America. I think this is America. Asians, African-Americans, Latinos, whites, we're all coming here saying, give us the politics that matter.
JESSE JACKSON: Don't you give up now.
BRADLEY: The issues they say matter, jobs, education and social justice. issues that help Democrats win big in 2008, issues that liberals hope can once again motivate progressives to stem what polls show could be a large Republican tide. For Good Morning America, Tahman Bradley, ABC News, Washington.
Signs seen in the segment: "Peace, Justice, Equality, Hope, Change," "Fair Trade, Not Free Trade," "Educate Every Child," "Full and Fair Employment," "Silence GOP Lies."
-Scott Whitlock is a news analyst for the Media Research Center. Click here to follow him on Twitter.
