MSNBC "The Rachel Maddox Show" on the Tea Party Movement

From "The Rachel Maddox Show" on MSNBC-- concerning the Tea Party Movement

But first a couple of holy mackerel stories. The tea party protesters are launching a brand new bus tour, one which they appeared to have named after the second Terminator movie, the Tea Party Express II, countdown to judgment day! Yes, that's actually what it's called. It's now making stops in California. For those of you keeping track at home, there are now essentially two competing Tea Party Movements.

Washington independent reporter Dave Wigel has been covering the widening rift between the Tea Party Patriots and the Tea Party Express. The Tea Party Express Terminator bus tour tea partiers are affiliated with a Republican political action committee and they're considered by the Tea Party Patriots to be too partisan, by which they mean too supportive of the Republican Party.

Here's the fascinating part. It appears that in the divorce between the Patriots and the Express, it was the Tea Party Express people, the people on the bus, the people affiliated with the pac, those are the ones that got Fox News. Back when the tea parties were billed as protests before there was a rift, Fox News ran promos, not reports but promotional announcements for these planned protests.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: April 15th, all across the country, Americans are making their voices heard. In California, Texas, Georgia, Washington, D.C. Citizens are standing up, saying no to more taxes and demanding real economic solutions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MADDOW: We report, you decide. Then over the summer, the Tea Party Express launched its first bus tour and Fox News accepted the invitation. Here's a dispatch, a typical dispatch from Fox embedded Tea Party Express correspondent, Griff Jenkins.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GRIFJENKINS, FOX CORRESPONDENT: Welcome to Reno, Nevada. This is stop number two on the Tea Party Express. They're taking their message, it's a group called our country deserves better. They're taking their message from Sacramento, California, where this all started today, all the way to Washington, D.C. And by the way, I haven't found an angry mob. Found a lot of viewers of Fox News who are glad that we're out here covering them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MADDOW: Right on, Griff. That was an example not of covering a protest but participating in one and helping to organize it. And when people describe Fox News as a political operation and not a news network, that's what they're talking about. The Tea Party Express's second bus tour starts this week. We will not be embedding on the bus.

Prep for Field Trip

In preparation for our field trip to the State Capitol building and to witness the Tea Party Express Rally at the Capitol, you need to read up on some background information to the Tea Party Movement. Follow the link below and read about the origins of the Tea Party Movement.

http://michellemalkin.com/2009/04/15/a-tax-day-tea-party-cheat-sheet-how-it-all-started/