Inside the Beltway

NEWS AND OPINION:

GETTING NERVOUS

Disdain for the “tea party” is emerging among some skittish Republican lawmakers, suggests Redstate.com editor Erick Erickson. The Washington Post’s Shailagh Murray, meanwhile, observes that Republicans typically “gird for the rowdy tea party” - a force embraced by Rand Paul, who won the nomination for the U.S. Senate seat in Kentucky by virtue of tea party power. Scorn or nervous tittering over the tea party and bloggers who support it could be imprudent, however.

“I’ve had off-the-record conversations on the topic with Hill Republicans. It’s not surprising to hear one say something akin to, ’Well, you know those bloggers, they’re not very bright people, a bit crazy, with too much time on their hands.’ ” says conservative blogger Dan Riehl.

“In a recent conversation with a GOP ’new media type’, I learned that new media to the GOP simply means taking the same old top down messaging and creating it on websites, or for digital distribution. With some few exceptions, Todd Herman at the Republican National Committee being one, the establishment GOP has no real conception of new media as bloggers understand it,” Mr. Riehl says. “Nor do they have much desire to engage with it.”

He adds, “If the tea party and blogs continue to become increasingly powerful, this will begin to change. Electing grass-roots candidates will certainly help. But it won’t be because the GOP establishment wants it to change. Why should they, when their standard operating procedure is message control? Unfortunately for them, you cannot control the message in the era of new media. For now, this disconnect is going to breed plenty of problems for the Right and Republicans.”

TRASHING THE MISSION

Left-leaning Hollywood does little to enhance the image of CIA officers. They get short shrift in blockbuster movies, says new research revealing that 68 percent of CIA-based characters on the silver screen “appear in films that depict government negatively.”

Political science professors Michelle Pautz from the University of Dayton and Laura Roselle of Elon University based their conclusions on analysis of 150 top-grossing hits. Sixty percent “depicted government as inefficient, incompetent and/or bad,” with six out of 10 film plots framing the government “system” as evil.

Stereotypes prevailed. Compared to the actual civil service, characters in movies were more often male - 84 percent vs. 56 percent in real life - and white - 80 percent vs. 69 percent, respectively.

“We should think about the images and portrayals of government and civil servants we take in, often even subliminally, and take a step back and ask, ’Are these perceptions justified?’” Ms. Pautz adds.

Not all civil servants got bashed. More than two-thirds of teacher characters and 100 percent of astronauts were in the hero category, she says.

RECOMMENDED READING

“As frequent speaker at tea party rallies around the country, I can assure the NAACP that the tea party movements concerns are about President Obamas policies and not his race,” says Deneen Borelli, a full-time fellow with the Project 21 black leadership network, a nonpartisan organization sponsored by the National Center for Public Policy Research.

“Im deeply concerned that the NAACP is being used as a political tool to do the dirty work of the progressive movement. I urge blacks concerned about the tea parties to read the ’Contract From America’ - a list of policy objectives for Congress that was developed by tea party members nationwide. These objectives are clearly about limited government and liberty.”

RICH GUY BOWS OUT

New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg is a political hybrid whose aspirations for the White House have waned.

“Every one of my positions cuts out half the country. I’m pro-choice. I’m pro-gay rights. I’m pro-immigration. I’m against guns. I believe in Darwin,” Mr. Bloomberg says.

Does he pine for the 2012 presidential ballot? Guess not.

“If drafted I won’t run unless I really thought you had a chance to win. No. No is the answer. I’m not running. Make that clear,” he says.

Mr. Bloomberg is still backing the proposed $100 million “ground zero mosque” that would be built two blocks from the site of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

“I happen to think this is a very appropriate place for somebody to build a mosque because it tells the world that America and New York City really believe in what we preach,” the mayor insists. “We all say freedom of religion. Well, it’s not just freedom of your religion, it’s freedom of everyone’s religion.”

MOSQUE-FREE ZONE

“Peace-seeking Muslims, pls understand, Ground Zero mosque is UNNECESSARY provocation; it stabs hearts. Pls reject it in interest of healing,” Tweeted Sarah Palin on Sunday. “Peaceful New Yorkers, pls refute the Ground Zero mosque plan if you believe catastrophic pain caused @ Twin Towers site is too raw, too real.”

And part two, from another female politician.

“I do not want a mosque built near the 9/11 site. I think it is wrong and would be held up as an important propaganda victory by radical extremist Islamics. The people of New York, the families of those murdered oppose this monument to the attack on this country,” says Kristin Davis, the former “Manhattan Madame” now running as a Libertarian for New York governor.

POLL DU JOUR

5 percent of Democrats and 18 percent of Republicans say they are “very conservative.”

19 percent of Democrats and 47 percent of Republicans say they are “conservative.”

32 percent of Democrats and 29 percent of Republicans say they are “moderate.”

32 percent of Democrats and 3 percent of Republicans say they are “liberal.”

10 percent of Democrats and 3 percent of Republicans say they are “very liberal.”

Source: A Pew Research Center for the People & the Press survey of 1,802 adults conducted June 16 to 20 and released Friday.

Tipline always available at jharper@washingtontimes.com.