Despicable and Shameful

           On the day of the Tea Party protests, I read that Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill), a noted liberal, called the participants despicable and the event a shameful stunt. As a blogger I read a lot of news and I’ve heard politicians on both the right and left say things that I just know they instantly regret. These gaffes may be Freudian glimpses of their soul, but are usually quickly “clarified,” and rarely newsworthy.

            I read about Schakowsky’s remark in another conservative blog and, I’ve got to admit, I smiled. However, after two days I had not seen a mention of it in the regular media. I wanted to know what exactly she said. So I did a search. It seemed that every conservative blogger, except me, had reported her ridiculous statement, but the big media had buried the story. As I read the various accounts they all appeared to quote the same lines. Again, I wondered what exactly she had said.

Then I thought, I’ll go to her website, she probably has a statement there about how it was all taken out of context and she was simply misunderstood. But, when I got there, I found no such clarification. Two days after the statement was released she still has it scrolling on her web home page. I think every American should know exactly what Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill) thought of Americans engaged in peaceful protest. Here is the full statement copied from her website.

“The ‘tea parties’ being held today by groups of right-wing activists, and fueled by FOX News Channel, are an effort to mislead the public about the Obama economic plan that cuts taxes for 95 percent of Americans and creates 3.5 million jobs. It’s despicable that right-wing Republicans would attempt to cheapen a significant, honorable moment of American history with a shameful political stunt. Not a single American household or business will be taxed at a higher rate this year. Made to look like a grassroots uprising, this is an Obama bashing party promoted by corporate interests, as well as Republican lobbyists and politicians.”

Folks, she meant exactly what she said. She is proud of her statement and I think that makes it very newsworthy.

Representative Schakowsky’s disparagement of the peaceful Tea Party protests is shameful and despicable. The greatness of America does not rest in one man or one party, but in an ideal she will never understand. She has said what she meant and I have said what I mean and the nation moves peacefully forward. That is one facet of the greatness of America.