SPOILING THE PARTY

*
This morning's Today programme discussed America's Tea Party movement with "Christine Todd Whitman, former Republican Governor of New Jersey and co-chair of the moderate Republican group the Republican Leadership Council". That was a little surprising.
*
Not remotely surprising however was The World Tonight's treatment of the same subject on Thursday night's edition of the programme.
*
This consisted of a discussion between Robin Lustig and Professor Stephen Wayne of Georgetown University. Prof. Wayne was extremely sniffy about the Tea Partygoers, downplaying the numbers who attend their meetings as well as questioning how representative they are of the public mood. Financed by "wealthy backers", they show, he said, that "we are still in the era of Ronald Reagan" (and he didn't mean that in a good way). Then came the inevitable: "There may be an element in this that's racial in character" with people who are "angry that there is a black man who they view in a very suspicious way" and about whom they have "some fantastic ideas".
*
You can always rely on The World Tonight to dig out some liberal American academic to back the Democrats and reinforce the programme's left-wing world view.
*
*
*
This same edition of the programme ended with a report from Southern Italy on the problems facing illegal immigrants in the wake of violent clashes with local people. BBC reporter Emma Wallis made no secret about whose side she was on, talking to a Catholic missionary who works with the illegal immigrants, three of the illegals and a sympathetic centre-left regional councillor, with only the local police chief standing out (very briefly) from the crowd. Emma referred to the 'hardline' Italian interior minister and how the 'centre right government', in the wake of the riots, is now 'paying lip service' to the 'centre left' policies of the regional council (of whom she so clearly approves).
*