Tea Partying Texan

By: Rachel Morgan

Tea Partiers have swept the nation in past months, aggressively and vocally voicing their opposition to many of the government’s actions – especially that of big government spending and heavy-handed involvement. They are disgruntled Republicans, right of center Democrats and simply people who just don’t fit in anywhere else politically.

Newly minted Texan Tea Partier Jeremy Jones is no exception.

A former moderate, he is eager to talk about what he believes is the right course of action for the United States. Point and case, after searching for a Tea Partier who would be willing to talk, I found Jones, 27, on the social networking site Facebook. After seeing that he was a member of the group “Tea Party Patriots” and other groups centered on the movement, I eagerly sent him a message. He immediately responded with a phone number and a hearty ‘yes’ to my proposal.
Jones said he first began questioning government when he was in high school more a decade ago.

“I would say it started for me, [fiscal] conservatism, in high school, when I had to take a government class my senior year,” said the Cedar Park, Texas native. “My instructor was extremely liberal; I disagreed with everything he said.”

That was the spark that ignited Jones’ political pilgrimage, if you will, that led him to the Tea Party, becoming one of the thousands of new Tea Baggers who joined the movement because of both shared policy beliefs and simply not fitting in anywhere else.

Jones is more certainly not a Democrat – he calls President Barack Obama a Socialist - but he’s not a conservative either. Moderate is too noncommittal. Then the Team Party movement came along, and Jones finally found his political niche.
Like many Tea Party members, Jones is disenchanted with the way things are going in Washington. For one, the faltering economy has hit him hard. Jeremy and his wife of ten months, Megan Jones, are living with Megan’s grandmother and parents while they are both unemployed - he goes to school and she’s looking for a teaching job, which are scarce in Austin, Texas.

He hates overseas outsourcing of jobs and goods and is anti-welfare and Medicaid, or at least abuses of it. Immigration is also high on his list of grievances with Uncle Sam.

He’s also staunchly opposed to government involvement in everyday life and openly refers to President Barack Obama as a “socialist.”

But Jones said that the Tea Party members aren’t as extreme as the mainstream media makes them out to be.

“[The media] paints a real unfavorable picture of us,” he said, his voice tinged with a thick Southern twang and elongated syllables. “ I saw one picture of us, of the Tea Party movement and it was a guy in camouflage praying next to a coffin with a Confederate flag draped over it.”

This photo is only one of many of the radical movement that have cropped up all over the mainstream media.

“That’s not who we are,” Jones said. “We’re not a bunch of hicks… I don’t know why they’re trying to portray us like that. I guess everybody has their own agenda and are trying to make us out to be a bunch of ignorant hicks that are racist.”

Jones is a tall, about 6’3, standing a full foot taller than his wife. He’s a good-looking by most standards, with spiky gelled hair, a toothy grin and a Jay Leno-esque chin, sometimes accented by a neatly trimmed goatee. He has a penchant for Abercrombie & Fitch t-shirts paired with worn khaki cargo shorts and puka shell necklaces. In the winter, his uniform shifts to worn jeans and athletic shoes.

Born in Cedar Park Texas, he comes from a moderate family, traditional Catholic family with deep Southern roots. He graduated from Lone Star College in 2009. Now, he attends Austin Community College to earn his nurse practitioner’s license.

A karaoke lover, he once won a karaoke contest on a cruise and got to perform as a Garth Brooks impersonator in the cruise’s final show on stage the last day of his vacation. He wore a black cowboy hate and a black and white block-patterned, silky shirt, reminiscent of the one Brooks wore on the cover of his 1992 album “The Chase.”

In fact, his karaoke skills are what landed him the girl.

“He sounds like Randy Travis,” Megan, his wife, said. “He’s a very good singer, that’s one of the first things I noticed about him”

While Megan and Jones seem every bit the picture of two newlyweds still infatuated with each other – and relatively oblivious of one another’s flaws – although Megan does mention that Jones has a past with drug abuse, something he stopped long before they met.

“When he was younger, [he] experimented with drugs and such,” she said. “He talks about it with me very openly but not with people he doesn’t know. I think he’s maybe a little bit ashamed.”

It seems the couple doesn’t share everything. Like Tea Party membership, for one.

“I agree with it actually,” Megan said. “I think we need to go back to basics. I think that things are getting a little out of control with a little too much governmental control and I think we need to go back to a time where people had the power.”

But Megan doesn’t consider herself a member since she hasn’t been to any events. But she says it wasn’t her husband who led her to the Tea Party, rather, talk radio.

“I actually listen to a lot of talk radio, it’s 1370 around here,” she said. “People like Sean Hannity… and not Glenn Beck…what’s that guy’s name? Michael Savage? And I listen to a lot of Dr. Laura.”

But she’s not as conservative as her husband.

“I do see myself as conservative in most of my views,” she said. “I’m not conservative in things that Jeremy would kick me for, like gay marriage.”

And her husband has a stubborn streak, she said.

“If we’re arguing about something, he will defend his side until kingdom come,” she said.

When it comes to the path that led him to the Tea Party, Jones said he did his own research regarding his decision to join.

“I’m always the type of person to question anything anyone tells me,” he said. “So I started researching government, I found myself to be conservative. It was just growth I guess that [led me to joining the Tea Party.]” Growing up, Jones said he and his family got their political information from local television stations. Now, he gets his information from all different outlets – Glenn Beck, Tea Party blogs and websites and even Facebook.

He said most members of the Tea Party – like himself – are well educated.

“We know something’s going on in the government, that it’s going on a downward spiral,” he said.

Jones seems proud to be a part of the surprising movement that has swept the nation over the past year, upsetting Democrats and Republicans alike. The movement, sparked by Obama’s proposed healthcare reform, takes credit for Republican - and relatively unknown - Scott Brown’s surprising victory for the Massachusetts Senate seat.

And he has eagerly jumped to support the Patriots.

“I consider myself a major supporter of the whole movement,” he said. “I agree with what they’re aiming for – just smaller government, less government involvement into daily life, less taxes.”
Jones’ Facebook page, his online thumbprint, boasts memberships to groups such as “Tea Party Patriots,” “Tea Party Day” and “I Bet I Can Find 1,000,000 People that Want to Stop Barack O’Bama.” The latter features a thumbnail caricature of the president’s head with a thick red circle and slash through it, reminiscent of No Smoking signs.

Like a lot of Tea Party members, Jones is not employed full-time. He works in the emergency room one day a week at Seton Medical Center in Austin. The rest of his time, he says, is spent studying or doing schoolwork. He also enjoys playing World of Warcraft, an online videogame in which players select an avatar and engage in online combat with other players in various locations around the world.

He also has a deep-rooted fear for the political future of the country.

“I believe something needs to be done with politics today. We’re trying to get something done with the Tea Party so I’m totally down for it. I think … democracy cannot exist in the current form of the government because of that fact that as soon as people figure out they can vote somebody in that will give them more, continually, they will vote in someone who can give them more and more and more.”

He pauses.

“Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country,” he said, ironically quoting former President and Democrat John F. Kennedy.

But it’s not the Democrats Jones seems worried about.

“Eventually the country [will] fall into a weak position politically and then a dictatorship will take over,” he said. “It’s proven.”
Jones attended a Tea Party rally in Austin on Sept. 5 of last year.

“It was a lot of people, a lot of people out there, Glenn Beck was out there, he was talking, he’s pretty intense, a pretty emotional guy,” he said, mentioning Beck for the second time during the interview. “I actually got my mom to come out there with me, to conservative herself. She liked it. She’s starting to see, yeah, you’re right.”

The Tea Party Patriots cite their main objective as gathering and organizing citizens to lobby for fiscal responsibility, constitutionally limited government and free markets.

But Jones seems to take a different take on the movement’s objectives.

“We’re doing so many things, attracting illegal immigrants, supporting big business,” he said. “We’re just throwing money at everybody instead of working hard to keep this country ours. Every dollar we spend at Wal-Mart is going over to China.”
Jones said he does not shop at Wal-Mart. And in true Tea Party form, tries to recruit his friends and family members to do the same.

Despite their emphasis on organizing like-minded citizens, the Tea Party Movement is surprisingly unorganized, with various bureaus and organizations nation-wide that have failed to unite. There was also scandal surrounding funds raised by the Tea Party Conference last year– where famed Alaskan and vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin was paid $100,000 for her keynote address, a seemingly ironic action for a movement that is almost entirely dedicated to fiscal responsibility and the effort to slash the national deficit and curb government spending.

Not surprisingly, Jones has some strong adjectives to describe President Obama.

“I think he’s a socialist,” he said. “I’m hoping more than anything that we take control of House and Senate. His policies scare me.”

At first, Jones seems to hold back a little on what he says. But the more he talks, the more agitated and passionate he becomes, until the words simply tumble out.

“One thing that’s very profound to me is that everybody in America is supposed to be on this healthcare plan except politicians and their families,” he said. “It says so much – it’s good enough for everybody but [politicians.] If you don’t buy into healthcare plan, you get fined by the IRS, you get major fines from the IRS.”

Jones also seems to have taken to the Tea Party’s strong opposition of government involvement, especially when it comes to education.

“Before the [Department of Education] was created, education was striving, everyone was moving further,” he said. “Now you look at the public school system, 30-40 years later, and they teach kids not for a specific learning goal, but to pass a test… that’s just one example of the government getting involved and screwing up the system.”

But it seems that Jones’ disdain for governmental involvement stems from personal experience.

“[My wife and I] came to Austin, she’s planning to get a job really, really easily, but no, all the teachers are tenured, they can’t get rid of them,” he said. “I heard a story about a tenured teacher, I can’t remember where it was, who the school district wanted to get rid of but couldn’t because of his tenured status. He kept marijuana and cocaine vials in his desk drawer and they knew about it but couldn’t get rid of him.”

And one of the most hot button issues for Jones, as well as most other Tea Partiers, is the loss of personal freedom.
“If things don’t change, we’re going to lose our current form of government, we’re going to lose our freedoms,” he said. “We’re giving our freedoms away. It starts off small, like seatbelts. Here in Texas, I know a cop can stop you for no other reason besides you aren’t wearing your seatbelt. I’m a paramedic - I know seatbelts are a good thing. But for somebody to tell you have to… it’s hugely important for us as paramedics, because we pull up to a scene and see how people have been mutilated and if they woulda worn a seatbelt, they would’ve been ok.”

But for Jones, the risk of bodily harm is a small price to pay for personal freedom.

“It’s like, when do we stop? We let them tell us we have to wear seatbelts, so many things that the state just tells us,” he said. “Little things pile up. We have to put a stop to it at some point.”

Those close to Jones seem to have little knowledge of his political views.

“I’m not really into politics,” said Patty Oeltjendiers, 63, Megan’s grandmother. “I didn’t even know what the Tea Party was until he told me. I mean, I’ve seen the Tea Party and even said to him, ‘What is that?’ and he said it’s like people that get together with their like views and stuff like that.”

Jones, Megan, and their dog, Rocky, a mutt, currently reside with Oeltjendiers in her five-bedroom house in Austin. They are joined by Megan’s parents, three more dogs and one cat. But Oeltjendiers doesn’t seem to mind the crowd.

“We have a full house,” she said. “Jeremy, he’s very sociable, a lot of fun. He’ll bend over backwards for you.” She was nothing less than thrilled with the match between Jones and her granddaughter, who was 21 when the couple met on a cruise.
Jones even takes on the job of cooking for the group.

“He’s always trying to get me to try stuff I don’t want to try, strange stuff like lamb and some kind of fish,” Oeltjendiers said. “But I’m more of a steak and potatoes person.”

New York government faces scandals in trio this week

By: Rachel Morgan & Sophia Soloway
Additional reporting by Lauren Gerber

MANHATTAN - New York’s capital was rocked with a trio of scandals in recent weeks.

Constituents, elected officials and The New York Times are openly calling for the resignation of New York Gov. David Paterson (D-NY) in wake of accusations that he used state police to cover for his top aide, David Johnson, in a domestic abuse case in February.

On March 6, New York Representative Eric Massa (D-NY) resigned as a result of sexual harassment charges filed by a staff member. Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY) was accused of tax fraud and other financial instances of misconduct spanning over his entire term, also exposed in the past two weeks.

But most New Yorkers aren’t surprised that these scandals involving leaders in Albany have been exposed.

“It seems that everyone has skeletons in their closet that eventually make their way to the front door” said Jaminna Thomas, 33, a homemaker from the Bronx. “I think because these people are politicians, it tends to come out.”

As the media coverage exploded with allegations of Paterson’s misdeeds, he ended his campaign for re-election on Feb. 26.

For some New Yorkers, corruption of elected officials has become the norm. They cite the power that comes with being a politician as a major factor in unethical behavior.

“Basically, it doesn’t surprise me that there would be so much government infringement of the rules and a sense [that] politicians are powerful and cannot be caught and they can do anything they want,” said Miguel Yanez, 29, a Ph.D. student of the Upper East Side. “I think it’s a lesson in democracy.”

Paterson has yet to admit any wrongdoing and hasn’t discussed the allegations with the attorney general’s office as of yet. The New York Times reported that the governor was actually more involved in the scandal than he’s admitted publically.

And New Yorkers are angry.

“It’s really fucked up because then everyone else has to suffer for [their] mistakes,” said Melinda Griffith, 18, from Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn.

Paterson struggled to address the budget at a town hall meeting Monday, after days of fielding questions regarding the allegations and his bid for re-election. The deadline for the budget is April 1.

But the African-American community has stood behind Paterson - New York’s first black governor - in the wake of the accusations.

Some say Paterson is being unfairly targeted.

“I think they’re picking on Paterson,” said Kevin O’Neill, 54, a consultant for an audio-visual company from Union Square. “It’s like blood in the water and all the sharks coming after him. He’s a weak candidate. They want to kill him.”

And when it comes to Congress’ everyday operations, some citizens are disenchanted about their overall performance and ability to fulfill their governmental duties.

“No, they’re not doing any job,” O’Neill said. “They’re doing well for themselves. It’s become a group of individuals each looking out for their own self-interest. Each one is like their own corporation trying to make a profit.”

Others believe that the leadership in Albany should simply do the job they were elected to do.

“I think everybody needs to put the b.s. aside and start doing real government work,” Thomas said.

Is the BBC doomed, too?

By Rachel Morgan

The world of well-reported, sustainable and unbiased media outlets has begun rapidly shrinking in recent years, and now the British Broadcasting Company may join in on the trend.

In February, the BBC announced a proposed plan for budget cuts that is will eliminate half its website, 6Music and Asian Network, two radio stations and two magazines by 2013. These cuts, if successful, will axe 25 percent of the BBC corporation, are a result a proposed strategic plan to cut costs enacted by BBC Director of Policy and Strategy John Tate.

Tate also proposed reducing foreign import spending from its current toehold at £100m and putting a £300m limit on sports spending.

These cuts would be a staggering defeat for the BBC, who has long tried to serve its viewers and listeners first instead of catering to media giants News Corp and the Murdochs.

The upcoming general election will also be a deciding factor in the BBC’s fate. The Guardian predicts that if the Labour party wins the spring general election, the proposed cuts would be enough. But if the Conservative party wins the election, the amount of cuts enacted will be harder to prophesize.

The BBC has long sat in a precarious situation, being a liberal model that is publicly funded. In addition, it has also been openly criticized by News Corp and the New York Times for its bloated spending and failing programs that bring in little or no revenue. The network may also face a cut in licensing fees – a prominent source of its revenue. Licensing fees in 2009 were set at £142.50 for color and £48.00 for black and white. In 2008-09, a majority of the £3.49 billion collected in licensing fees was used to fund the BBC.

And it’s no surprise that the corporation is blaming digital technology on the need for such expansive cuts. The lack of effective charging for online content has been the Achilles’ Heel for thousands of failing newspapers and new media outlets worldwide. And the BBC is no exception to this alarming trend.

Currently the BBC does not charge for its online content and refuses to negotiate on that fact. The company cites the free and impartial content as key to its mission of service to the public through providing accessible, impartial news. But this admirable intent may harm them in the long run.

According to a study conducted by the BBC, leading opinion writers and television personalities were polled regarding which aspect of the BBC they most often accessed for information – 32 percent cited the BBC website as their first choice, followed by 15 percent who said they relied on News 24. Interesting data for a network that provides its website free of charge - one would think the BBC would catch wind of this and begin charging for their most popular entity.

Teaching a new dog old tricks

By: Rachel Morgan

In a world of constantly changing, technology-infused news media, Washington Post reporter Eli Saslow is ferociously holding onto the rapidly disappearing tradition of print media.

Saslow, 27, has been a staff reporter at the Post for five years. At only 27, he is young by Post standards. He’s also had the unlikely success and editorial freedom most reporters can only dream of.

“We’re sort of the antithesis of new media people,” Saslow said of he and editor and mentor David Finkle’s partnership.

Saslow, with a mop of ruffled brown hair, easily reddening cheeks and a gold wedding ring he seems too young to wear, works on a unique beat. Working closely with Finkle, he tackles larger, investigative and in depth pieces that run roughly every ten days – a lifetime by journalistic standards.

“My situation is unique – I’ve got an editor who spends a lot of time on my stories,” he said. “That’s rare.”

Most of Saslow’s stories run front page, Finkle said – only because Saslow won’t say so himself.

Saslow’s newest project is a year-long series focusing on the “enigma” of President Barack Obama. This has not been an easy task, he admits.

“[President Obama’s] access is so unbelievably limited,” Saslow said, as he leans back in his rolling chair. “The challenge of this job is to get close and write about his life without actually getting that close. Half of the job is actually doing the stories and the other half is getting people to let you write the story.”

Covering a president’s every move is an entirely different game than it was 40 years ago, Saslow said.

“Writing about people gets harder the more prominent they are,” he said. “In this case, that’s metasticized ten times.”

Saslow graduated from Syracuse University in 2004 and got his foot in the door at the Post by interning in the summer of 2003. He covered high school volleyball.

“[Interning] has been a major vehicle into jobs at this place for a long time,” he said of the Post. But he’s hesitant to say his internship at the Post was his big break.

“You need breaks, but you have to make your own breaks, as well,” he said. “You have to have your vision be bigger than the vision of the people you work for. People are desperate for good ideas and good content.”

And Saslow’s vision has proven to stretch further than high school athletics. Just two years later, he’s writing about the most influential man in the world with one of the most influential newspapers in the country as his byline.

And that byline can be a powerful thing, he said.

“It definitely makes a big difference,” he said. “There’s no way I could get some people on the phone if I didn’t work at the Washington Post. It still has some great gravitas that comes with it, there’s some sense of immediate respect.”

But the Post enjoys less respect and dominance of the industry than it did pre-internet, he said.

“The media landscape has changed so dramatically,” he said. “[Back then,] I don’t think it was as hard to get access as it is now. I would be talking directly to the President, if not his chief of staff.”