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So what are liberals to do? How can we channel anger and frustration to protest the Tea Party hijacking of Congress? Personally, I’m not totally sure, but first, liberals need to realize that the original Tea Party master plan did not include protesting the Republican Party. In addition, the powers responsible for media coverage decisions already supported Republican policies, so the coverage that the Tea Party received, although unprecedented, had been deemed a worthwhile cause by the corporate media.
Unfortunately, I do not believe that the same holds true for liberal causes, unless their protest movement is also aimed at President Obama. You see, the media would support, as they did with the Tea Party, any entity (especially if it were liberal) protesting President Obama. In fact, rest assured that this is the only way that a liberal protest group might gain recognition and be provided wall-to-wall coverage. This conclusion sounds rather cynical, but it is still true. If liberals choose to activate protests aimed directly at Barack Obama, and are more than willing to lose the upcoming 2012 elections badly, this is how they could cultivate the same kind of notoriety that the Tea Party was given by the media, as long as liberals don’t mind riding out the long-term result of solid Republican majority rule for the next 10 years minimum.
The other rational alternative is to activate against the Republican Congress and the corporate media, and do as Wisconsin liberals showed us is possible in the last year, that organized, loud and steadfast protests ending in the voting booth is the only way to go, even as the national media would certainly turn the other cheek. We don’t need to support one person in particular, like Pres. Obama. Instead, we need to protest what Tea Party members support, but we first need to understand clearly that if we choose this more difficult route (with the expectation of receiving no corporate media support), then our efforts as activists can only succeed if we wage a patient battle that is extended, unwavering, unified, and in it for the long haul.
Perhaps I will see my liberal brethren at one of these massive anti-Republican protests, but until then, I can only wish us all good luck!
http://www.democratsforprogress.com/2011/08/08/how-we-got-here-and-where-to-go-now/