How D.C. Douglas helps Freedomworks and Teaparty
One of the reasons why there's still a tea parties movement is because their loudest opposition is a match for them when it comes to incompetence. The latest example of that opposition's incompetence comes from D.C. Douglas ("DCD"), the voiceover actor who was fired by GEICO Insurance after he left a voicemail for FreedomWorks ("FW").
If I had my way, Douglas would have filed a nice juicy lawsuit over FW's actions (do a search if you want to know the details). On his site he even mentioned two possible areas where he could go after them: for possibly interfering with his contract with GEICO, and for apparently recording a phone conversation without his consent. FreedomWorks might have even broken California law; I tweeted this link to him weeks ago. I don't know whether he's pursuing legal action, but I'd hope that if he's getting legal advice he wouldn't do things like his latest stunt, the video at peekURL.com/vxcs2dm
1. It plays the Nazi card on the new Arizona immigration law, the one that 60% to 70% of Americans support. He isn't taking on the mainstream media for lying about that law, he's helping them and alienating a good percent of Americans. He's not going to change anyone's mind, except to drive people who might be on the fence into taking FW's side of things.
2. The video is bigoted against Christians, using Jesus as something akin to a slur. If the first wasn't bad enough, he's winnowing down his possible supporters to anti-Christian bigots who support illegal activity.
3. The video falsely states that FW supports the new Arizona immigration law, when in fact Dick Armey is a strong supporter of massive/illegal immigration. Their sources for that claim are listed as "NumbersUSA (April 30)" and a URL at FW's site. Yet, on that date, NumbersUSA posted this which states "Tea Party leaders have decided to use their activists to fight the Senate Amnesty bill unveiled yesterday afternoon by Majority Leader Harry Reid, Sen. Chuck Schumer, and four other Democratic Senators. The move contradicts the position of Dick Armey whose FreedomWorks organization helped spur the Tea Party movement." The URL at FW's site is to a forum posting by one Wayne Klinger, identified as part of the "Philadelphia Tea Party Patriots" (teaparty.freedomworks.org/forum/topics/sign-the-petition-for-arizona). That forum posting - one of over 500 in their "General Discussion" category - received zero replies. It also appears to be a forum where anyone can post. And, even a momentary glance will show that the forum posting isn't an official FW statement.
4. The video confuses the word "populist" - something with very broad application - with the People's Party ("Populists") of the late 1800s in the U.S. That's like confusing the Democratic Party with the concept of democracy.
5. The video seems to think that Freedomworks are socially conservative, when they're all just about the money. While many tea partiers might be socially conservative, their leaders are not: they're all about the money. An argument that smears social conservatives is just going to make them more likely to support FW.
6. The wimpy attempt to epater la bourgeoisie isn't going to shock anyone, it's only going to make those on the fence more likely to support Freedomworks.
Freedomworks and the tea parties are extremely vulnerable on a range of issues, but videos like this just help them.