Firing Back

The Tea Party is shaping up to be 2010's first major media darling. First came the storm of coverage that surrounded the Tea Party convention in Nashville two weeks ago. Then, they stole the show at last weekend's CPAC conference in DC. Now, they're gearing up for a new month-long road show that starts at the end of March -- a repeat of last fall's national tour, this time with more busses and, no doubt, more media coverage.

It's obvious that the movement's organizers have a professional touch for getting the corporate media's attention. What's less obvious is how much of this attention is deserved. The reporters following in their wake are devouring the narrative of scrappy Americans rising up in populist rage; but beyond that, they're not asking many real questions about what this movement means, or whether it actually has the kind of clout that gets things done.

It's high time to ask the questions that challenge some of the surface myths that the Tea Party has been feeding to the media. So this week, I'm firing back on eleven pieces of conventional wisdom about the tea party movement.

More »»

It is that time again: Thanksgiving, the official kickoff of the 2008 holiday season. As you prepare to head once again into the family fray to spend quality time with your conservative relatives, it helps to note that most of the right wing's favorite anti-liberal slanders are rooted in some deeply-held—and deeply wrong—assumptions about who liberals are, and what we believe. Your best defense is to listen closely for these underlying myths and fables at work—and be prepared to challenge them head-on. Here's how.

More »»

In the seven years since the U.S. was hit by a terrorist attack, a few of the myths promulgated in those first few years have hardened firmly into a new conventional wisdom—some so stubbornly that you often won't even find progressives questioning them any more. The time has come to call out a few of these persistent myths that are still being taken as fact and start firing back on them.

More »»