The "official" Family Feud Twitter account bashed the Tea Party yesterday, and received quite a strong response from people who did not appreciate the game show wading into the political arena. Today, they apologized and tweeted that they were "hacked," leading Twitter to react with strong skepticism.
The original tweet urged House Speaker John Boehner to "stop letting extremists sabotage our economy. End the #TeaPartyShutdown now. Speaker Boehner don't let Cruz run the US." It was a template sent from President Obama's personal advocacy group, Organizing for Action, a "non-profit" which is "committed to identifying and working progressive change on a range of issues at the state and local level."
The responses to the tweet were swift and harsh.
@FamilyFeud @SpeakerBoehner IF Family Feud is going to enter the political arena, I know how to change the channel. #KEEPPOLITICSOUTOFIT
— Linda Coleman (@lin0729) October 5, 2013
Why the hell is @FamilyFeud twitter attacking the Tea Party?
— Ξ BLACK REPUBLICAN Ξ (@blackrepublican) October 5, 2013
@FamilyFeud must be a 20 year old community college drop out. #SoSad @SpeakerBoehner
— Chris (@DCHokiefan) October 5, 2013
@blackrepublican Fantastic question. You would think @FamilyFeud would be about light entertainment, not pissing off 1/2 their audience.
— Kelly Marie (@flyoverangel) October 5, 2013
@FamilyFeud I'll ask your opinion about politics when you ask me how many out of 100 people think you're a douche.
— Razor (@hale_razor) October 5, 2013
@FamilyFeud Wow. One more reason not to watch a crappy TV show. @SpeakerBoehner
— Leah (@gopfirecracker) October 5, 2013
I asked 3 family members if they cared if we ever watched @FamilyFeud again...Survey says? XXX @PatandStu #teaparty @Rockprincess818
— Chris (@CON_vert) October 5, 2013
@lheal @FamilyFeud how to kill half your audience or more, in 140 characters or less. @FremantleMedia
— anarchoDeETZfundista (@tahDeetz) October 5, 2013
@CON_vert you know the host Steve Harvey tweeted me during the Rand Paul filibuster asking me why??? #HeadDesk Get current @FamilyFeud
— RockPrincess (@Rockprincess818) October 5, 2013
game show makes political attack ... loses 1/2 of it's viewers @FamilyFeud *click* then loses sponsors #Merica
— ComfyPaws™ (@ComfyPaws) October 5, 2013
Today, the game show account tweeted, "Our account was hacked. Earlier post was not from the show. We apologize for it and took it down." The reactions were mostly all skeptical.
.@FamilyFeud Survey SAYS: BULLSH*T
— ★♥ Harriet Baldwin (@HarrietBaldwin) October 6, 2013
Twitchy compiled some of the responses.
As reported by the Examiner, many of these tweets are sent out by fake users, presumably to get a particular hashtag, such as "TeaPartyShutdown, trending in the desperate effort to sway public opinion.
If the argument was substantive, why would fake tweets and name-calling be necessary?
And the rhetoric is dangerous. President Obama and his allies have been repeatedly using particularly harsh language to describe the Tea Party, whose belief in self-government as advocated by the founding fathers of America contradicts big-government ideology.
Here are some examples:
- President Obama tweeted on more than one occasion that the Tea Party were "extremists," as reported by the Examiner.
- House Minority Speaker Nancy Pelosi called the Tea Party “anti-government ideologues” and "legislative arsonists," as reported by Liberty Unyielding.
- Rep. Peter DeFazio said that the GOP has been made “hostage by extremist elements in their party” and used the terms “radical” and “anarchists” to describe these members.
- Rep. George Miller said today that Republicans were committing “Jihad against American citizens.”
- DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz called the Tea Party "extremists," as reported by RealClearPolitics, and on another occasion as reported by the Examiner.
- Rep. Jim McDermott quoted the Bible and said that the GOP “doesn’t care about poor people.”
- Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said, "...the modern day anarchists, known as the tea party, they believe in no government." He also said the Tea Party was “committing extortion,” and “holding a gun to the head of Americans.”
- White House senior adviser Dan Pfeiffer compared the Tea Party to terrorists, kidnappers, and arsonists, as reported by CNN.
- Jim Wallis, President Obama’s “spiritual advisor,” said, "...those political extremists and I'll call them that, who want to shut down the government are unbiblical..."
Hopefully, intelligent people of all political persuasions will stand up against demonizing American citizens as extremists. It is a dangerous trend, which is likely to incite malleable minds, like those apparently in charge of the Family Feud Twitter account.
Follow Renee Nal on Twitter @ReneeNal and Facebook.
Check out her news and political commentary on Liberty Unyielding, Gather and TavernKeepers.com for news you won't find in the mainstream media. Renee is also a guest blogger for the Shire Blog.
