Searchlight, Nevada: Harry Reid's Hometown, Or What CNN Can't Report

CNN, it is reported, claimed a few dozen protesters showed up in Searchlight, Nevada for a Tea Party event. Since that is Harry Reid's hometown, it would be embarrassing if perhaps 10,000 people were to materialize to express their opinion of the man.

Yesterday's online print story did say the event happened, but never got around to mentioning how many folks showed up.

So, in the spirit of public service, OS found a picture or two of the event. One shows the length of the caravan through the desert to Searchlight, and an overhead shot around the stage is also informative.
Really, it's tough to get one's job done when there is so much fawning over the President to do.
Jes' trahyin' to be neighborly, helpful, and all, ya'll.

No worries, Senator Reid.
No worries, Mr. President.

These people aren't motivated to actually do anything come November.

Honest. Ya'll just go on back to your offices, now. It'll all be all right.

Bob Herbert Leads The Charge: Yoh! If Yoh' Ah Republican, Yoh' Ah Racist/Bigot!

It didn't take long for the drumbeat to begin.

If you oppose ObamaCare, you're a racist or a bigot.

If you oppose Obama, you're a racist or a bigot.

If someone 500 miles away acts badly, and you don't swear on a stack of Bibles that you'll disavow your principles for life, you're a racist.

If you're a Republican, you are a Neanderthal racist/bigot/mouthbreather, and it's high time we silenced you and yours.

Bob Herbert leads the invective charge in the Yew Nork Times. Channel surfing and pausing at MSNBC, two earnest-looking young journalists looking all worried about all those racists and anti-Semites in the crowds. At least they had a viewer for that ten seconds of their day. Next.

The pressure begins in earnest, and will only ratchet up.

Problem is, Herbert has his history backwards--the Republican Party was founded in great part for the cause of the elimination of slavery. The 'Solid South' was solidly Democrat, solidly racist and Jim Crow, until Republicans stepped up to vote for the civil rights measures of the 1960's.

But then again, the Yew Nork Times never let the facts get in the way of their view of the world...

And while this is written, the Senate debate drones on. The Republicans quietly point out that the costs are unsustainable, and Tom Coburn describes his life as a physician treating Medicaid patients, unable to find a specialist to whom he can refer his high-risk patients, because the cost of treating them far outstrips the compensation. All of it quiet, dignified, patient. Democrat Barabara Mikulski then launches into an angry feminist rant. Back to Judd Gregg, followed by another Democrat Senator who accuses him of lying. On it goes.

Of course, the Republicans are racist and hysterical. But it's a good exercise, because it creates a record: on this day, this was said by this Senator. Today could come back to haunt someone.

Moh' latuh, while it's still possible to speak.

Angry White Men: The Economist

On his travels, OS spotted a copy of The Economist lying about, and scanned briefly.  Always a good read, looking at Our Fair Country from a British perspective.

Correspondent Lexington visited a suburb of Memphis earlier this year, and offers this report.

The opening paragraph is pretty salty, but the essay is fair-minded and accurate, in the main. Since his conversations took place in OS's congressional district (TN-8), it seems good to pass it along, to give a 'snapshot' view of where we are here.

Anyone who wishes to paint this part of the world with a tar brush is simply mistaken. The dissatisfaction with the Current Occupant of The White House is not about the color of his skin, but rather about the content of his character, to paraphrase Dr. King.

Bigotry cannot explain, however, why Mr Obama’s approval rating among white Americans has fallen since he took office, from roughly 60% to 40%. As the president pointed out in September: “I was actually black before the election.” White voters have changed their view of Mr Obama not because of his skin colour, but because of what he has done—and what he has failed to do—since he took office. And although he is not on the ballot this year, this matters. The less people admire the president, the less likely they are to vote for his party in the mid-terms.

I Have Seen The Light--Well, Maybe Not

From the Cleveland Plain Dealer:

Ellie Light sure gets around.
In recent weeks, Light has published virtually identical “Letters to the Editor” in support of President Barack Obama in more than a dozen newspapers. Every letter claimed a different residence for Light that happened to be in the newspaper’s circulation area.

“It’s time for Americans to realize that governing is hard work, and that a president can’t just wave a magic wand and fix everything,” said a letter from alleged Philadelphian Ellie Light, that was published in the Jan. 19 edition of The Philadelphia Daily News.

A letter from Light in the Jan. 20 edition of the San Francisco Examiner concluded with an identical sentence, but with an address for Light all the way across the country in Daly City, California.


How DOES she do it? OldSouth certainly is impressed...

Another blogger followed up and located many more nearly identical letters from Ellie Light, from diverse parts of the country.

Let's see...the hundreds of thousands who showed up to town hall meetings, and marched on Washington last summer were all just 'AstroTurf', poor rubes organized by nefarious persons.  All those handmade signs and moms and dads with small kids were simply camouflage.

No big deal, not worthy of coverage by the MSM.

But, Ellie is a different case.  She likes Prez Hopey-Changey, so she gets to be everywhere all the time.
She's the true voice of 'the little people' in the Heartland. No one need check to see if 'Ellie Light' might be an alias.

I wonder how many different states she's registered to vote in?  How many absentee ballots does she return every year?

How many Ellies are out there?

And, from the UK Daily Mail

Estimates of 1 to 2 million people showing up today.

Don't know how accurate their count is, but the picture is impressive.

How does Obama explain this away?