Yesterday, Time Magazine named the "Protester" its person of the year. Lumped in this category were sundry Tunisians, Libyans, Greeks, Russians, and -- the without which not of Time's interest -- those Americans "who occupy public spaces to protest income inequality." Not surprisingly, Time championed this protest: "Everywhere, it seems, people said they'd had enough."
At Time Inc., not all protesters are created equal. Last year, when it had a chance to give that "diffuse collection of furies and frustrations that calls itself the Tea Party" its due, Time named Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg "Person of the Year." It was an obvious slight, especially since the Tea Party protesters actually knew what they had "had enough" of. In November of 2010, their efforts led to something tangible -- namely, the gain of 63 Republican seats in the House and the loss of Democratic control. That obviously did not impress Time in the way Time would hope to be impressed.
Equally troublesome, but less obvious, is Time's disregard for the individual protester whose cause does not hew to the progressive party line. I have gotten to know several of these people well. Up close, through their travails, I have been able to see just how media bias shapes not only the fate of the protesters, but also the flow of history.
As might be expected, Time Magazine did not choose to cite the one serious protester who served real jail time in 2011. That would be Lt. Col. Terry Lakin. Unknown to Time readers, Lakin spent five months in prison at Fort Leavenworth before his release in May of this year. His crime -- his real crime, that is -- was to challenge Barack Obama's constitutional eligibility to be president.
Lakin never claimed to know where President Obama was born or whether he was eligible. The problem, as Lakin saw it, was that no one knew. As an Army officer, one sworn "to support and defend the Constitution," he felt an obligation to pursue the truth. ...
Cashill is absolutely right. How dare Time equate Tunisians, Libyans, as well as Syrians, Iranians, and Egyptians -- people who have been literally oppressed and who have actually lost lives -- with the spoiled bratty entitled pieces of excrement of the Occupy movements. Makes one's blood boil. Seriously.
Also infuriating is, as Cashill documents, Time's dismissal of the Tea Party two years ago. Just another liberal rag pushing a liberal agenda.
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