Keith Olbermann Exposes How GOP Operatives Are Using The "Tea Party Express" To Grift The Teahadists

Run time: 08:11 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmttyJEfvu0   Posted on YouTube: April 15, 2010 By YouTube Member: MoxNewsDotCom Views on YouTube: 313   Posted on DU: April 15, 2010 By DU Member: Turborama Views on DU: 1103

 
I'm confused that the reich wing's propaganda 'blog' Politico is behind this exposé, tbh.

Here's Politico's piece: http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=FA90462A-18FE-70B2-A8C4C7D0CC493FF2">GOP operatives crash the tea party


OLBERMANN: Good evening from New York.


We begin tonight in unprecedented fashion. Liberals, progressives,

Democrats, our top story tonight is not really for you, though you are

encouraged to rubber neck at the train wreck.


Tonight, our fifth story is a genuine and sincerely genuine attempt to

help tea party members around the country. “Politico,” a mainstream

political news Web site, today publishing a secret document it obtained

establishing definitively that some of the nation‘s top tea party leaders

are using you—using you to line their own pockets and propagate the

precise establishment politics that you hate so much.


Here it is. And the reporter who got it is standing by to talk with

us. It was written just days after last year‘s Tax Day tea parties

proposing the creation of the Tea Party Express, the group that launched

1,000 bus tours. The express charter was not written by a tea party

leader, nor even by a grassroots independent, but by a Republican operative

telling “Politico” the Tea Party Express could, quote, “give a boost to his

consulting firm‘s PAC,” political action committee, “and position us as a

growing force.”


The charter is worth quoting at length, bringing established tea party

leaders unto the express, quote, “will be a very, sensitive matter. We

have to be very careful about discussing amongst ourselves anyone we

include outside of the family, because quite frankly, we are not only not

part of the political establishment of conservative establishment, but we

are also sadly not currently part of the tea party establishment, i.e.,

Michelle Malkin, Eric Odom, Smart Girl Politics, TCOP, FreedomWorks, Newt

Gingrich, et cetera. We could probably pull off a phenomenally successful

tour without these big-ego establishment types.”


The document also talks about how to appear authentic. “We‘ve already

discussed doing a casting call among our Nevada supports and donors to

appear in at least one of our TV ads targeting Harry Reid—to buttress

our ‘authenticity,‘ their quote marks, in running ads in the state.”


One goal, electing Republicans, quote, “It is also worth considering

making a return run to Michigan. Former Republican Michigan governor, John

Engler, has recently stated that he believes the Republican Party will do

quite well in Michigan.”


But the big goal of founding firm Russo Marsh? Money—for them.

Sal Russo telling “Politico,” “We‘re hardly making any money at all.”

“Politico” reporting that after its scheme, the PAC quadrupled its

fundraising, paying almost half that money to the Russo Marsh consulting

firm itself and to Russo Marsh‘s sister company King Media Group.

The PAC‘s former political director telling “Politico,” quote, “We

stole the brand name to make money.”


None of which stopped Sarah Palin from shilling for the Tea Party

Express today in Boston.


(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)


PALIN: So, Tea Party Express, we applaud you for uniting and for

putting up with all the B.S. from the lame-stream media with some of the

ginned up controversy with the tea parties, false accusations of being—

this group being racist, being violent. Thank you to the Tea Party Express

for putting up with that and still uniting Americans.


(END VIDEO CLIP)


OLBERMANN: In a whole new way tonight, in the way of the three-card

Monty dealer, this woman is an idiot.


And if tea partiers still doubt they are being played, consider what

Palin said at the Tea Party Express rally about Tax Freedom Day, the day

signifying what portion of the year you work to pay your taxes. The later

it is, the higher your taxes are. This year it fell on April 9th—

meaning you worked 99 days just to pay your taxes. This year and last, as

the Tax Foundation itself shows, the earliest, therefore the lowest tax

days in decades.


Under Bush it was never earlier than April 14th. Meaning, you worked

at least 104 days for the government under Bush.

But here was Palin today—


(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)


PALIN: Folks, we need your voice now more than ever. Americans now

spend 100 days out of the year working for government before we even start

earning money for ourselves, for our families, for our small businesses—

100 days out of the year.


(END VIDEO CLIP)


OLBERMANN: That‘s—whoa!


As promised now, “Politico‘s” senior reporter, Ken Vogel.

Great thanks for your time tonight, Ken.


KENNETH VOGEL, POLITICO.COM: Hey. Great to be with you, Keith.


OLBERMANN: Opinion aside, have I got the factual outline of your

story correct? Is there anything else we should add to get it straight?


VOGEL: Well, the firm, Russo Marsh, and its operatives have really

pushed back hard against this idea that they‘re making a lot of money off

of it. They say, yes, we received $1.9 million in payments from this PAC,

which is now the Tea Party Express, but a lot of that was for overhead. We

passed it through to television stations for ad buys. We passed it through

to e-mail list vendors, to rent lists.


But, of course, a lot of that then comes back to them because they‘re

using these ads and they‘re using these e-mails to direct people back to

the PAC to give them more money. And, in fact, the firm has not made

hardly any money from any other client other than this PAC since they‘ve

sort of unveiled this Tea Party Express branding.


And there‘s no doubt about it, this plan has been a wild success

beyond the sort of most ambitious expectations of these operatives. They

are in the conversation, both within the tea party and beyond, and they

have tapped the tea party for a sustainable revenue stream in a way that

many others have tried but have not succeeded.


OLBERMANN: The Russo Marsh operatives also have been insisting today

that they believe in the cause, but they have dropped some of their

previous policy priorities to fit in with the tea party, correct?


VOGEL: That‘s right. And they make no bones about it—they sort of

search for where the energy is on the right. And in some ways, they kind

of have a chameleon sensibility to them. In 2003, where the energy was,

they‘re out in California, mind you, was in the attempted and successful

recall of then-Democratic Governor Gray Davis. They were behind that.

They talked about after that ended, using the e-mail list and sort of the

status that they built up during that to launch sort of a conservative

MoveOn.org.


Then during the 2008 presidential campaign, they went out and attacked

President Obama, then-candidate Obama, in ways that even John McCain ruled

out of bounds, invoking his controversial preacher—Obama‘s controversial

former pastor, Reverend Wright, and praising Sarah Palin.


And now, the energy‘s with the tea parties. And so, they‘re on that,

and they‘re doing quite well with it.


OLBERMANN: This document that you unearthed also said they were

counting on FOX News—not just to mention or n some journalistic sense,

cover, but to promote the concept, the Tea Party Express. Tonight, there

is a report that the Society of Professional Journalists is calling Sean

Hannity‘s charge or planned charge admission for a taping of his show at a

tea party event, which is going to happen tomorrow tonight, wrong,

incestuous and a clear conflict of interest.


Essentially, this is what the Tea Party Express was counting on?


VOGEL: I mean, they were counting on FOX News commentators to promote

their rallies, their bus tour, to kind of offset their lack of credibility

within the tea party movement, to give them an edge up.


Of course, FOX News has differentiated between its commentators and its news side.


But there‘s no question that this group that became the Tea Party Express saw

this as part of a business model.


OLBERMANN: I actually was being sincere when I said that the story

was for the benefit of the people in the tea party. But even if they don‘t

believe me—are there—are there actually tea party leaders who would

agree with me?


VOGEL: Oh, many of the, sort of, grassroots tea party leaders have

called for distancing themselves and their activists from these tea

parties. But some have even called for boycotts of their rallies.


But what‘s ironic here, Keith, is that this group has used the very

sort of tactics of Republican politics and has benefited from their years

in Republican politics to kind of circumvent the questions about their

credibility and their sort of grassroots standing within the tea party

movement. And they‘ve done so successfully in sort of a slick—slickly-

produced, you know, very well-scouted out bus tour manner that has left

them in kind of a unique position as the one group that has cracked the

code of being able to profit from and advance their own status from the tea

party movement.


OLBERMANN: Ken Vogel, senior reporter for “Politico”—great work.

It‘s an unbelievable story. It‘s a remarkable story. Thanks for bringing

it to us and great thanks for your time tonight, Ken.


VOGEL: Thank you, Keith.