Somebody seems to be playing an elaborate hoax on the Tea Party and the media alike today. At least I hope they are. Press releases sent to liberal blogs today made it seem like the Tea Party is completely unaware print is dead with the upcoming Tea Party Review Magazine to drop on Friday at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). And true to their grassroots folksiness, it's supposed to be printed on actual paper.
Yes, in 2011. And yes, the Tea Party Review site makes it seem like they even expect (excuse me while I giggle) to have subscribers pay $34.95 a year to get the physical magazine delivered to their doors by none other than postal employees. Nothing says American spirit like killing some trees and wasting extra money on postage!
It sounds like something that would be age-appropriate for my grandpa when he turns 91 this summer. It would look just right on his coffee table next to the remote control he uses to turn up the volume on Fox News so he can finally hear it (and drown me out, I expect). Heck, if I bought what they were selling, I could see a subscription for everyone on my Christmas list. Imagine the drinking games that could result from taking a shot of tequila every time we read the words "death panel" or a shot of vodka for every comparison of Obama to Hitler. I'd be drunk by page 2, and a good time would be had by all.
So why am I not making the call to buy my gramps a subscription? I smell a hoax.
A few things stand out. The Tea site has this big picture on the edge, a logo if you will, that we screenshot for you:
See that Tea Bag? The Tea Party is full of people who walked around calling themselves teabaggers a few years ago ... only to freak out when the media kindly pointed out exactly what "teabagging" was. Moron members they have many, but there are enough people IN the party now who have distanced themselves from the reference that this should be your first clue.
Now moving on. Let's take a gander at the Facebook page, which is fanned by only 184 people, none of them among the Tea Party elite. Where is Sarah Palin? Michelle Malkin?
Not to mention, the page promises a host of fun articles that seem to fit. Stuff like:
Complete coverage of the 2012 presidential campaign. How are leading candidates reaching out to Tea Partiers? Who deserves Tea Party support? The ultimate rundown on political corruption in America. If you didn’t see it all in one place, you’d never believe it! Washington’s War on the American Family.But methinks someone's counting on us not reading down to other proposed titles like this one:
How the Top Colleges Turn Kids Into Stupid LeftistsThey might think it, but come on, would they really say it? Really? The fact is, everything about this "magazine" is just a tad too close to what a liberal wants to read in a Tea Party magazine. The cover lines on the inaugural issue (top photo) promise -- among other gems -- to tell us "What the Left Will Never Understand About the Tea Party." Sounds like a manifesto to us! Just the sort of thing that will make those folks with the rifle peeking out the blinds at the mailbox go "squeeee." And just the sort of thing that will make a liberal poke fun at the Tea Party. Don't believe me? I just did.
Then again, if it's real, sign me up and pass the bottle of tequila. This could be fun!
So far big sites like Wonkette and the Huffington Post seem to think it's real. What do you think?
Images via Tea Party Review