Hey, what's a little oral sex joke on the news? Surely no one thought Anderson Cooper was trying to "disparage" the protesters!
"I think it's an incorrect statement to say I was, in any way, trying to disparage legitimate protests," said Cooper. "I don't think it's my job to disparage, or encourage, which oddly other networks seemed to be doing. Protest is the great right of all Americans, and it's not my job in any way to make fun of people or disparage what they're doing."
Written out, it's actually far more conciliatory than it is on video. His tone was somewhat Jon Stewart-esque, conceding "sure, I was dumb," but noting the people he was covering were really dumb for using tea bags in the first place, which relieved him of his obligation to treat them with professional courtesy, you see. He also prefaces his non-apology with a couple minutes of pseudo stand-up about-what else?-"teabagging," much to the delight of the giggling attendees of the formerly serious Daniel Pearl Lecture Series. Not that he meant to disparage anyone... Is it so much to ask that grown newscasters feel a bit of shame at repeatedly making a joke that would be deemed hackneyed even in a middle-school baseball locker room at this point? Further, is it so much to ask that Anderson Cooper feel the right amount of shame for making a dirty joke to David Gergen, no less, thereby treating his entire audience to a future of awkward shudders each time the veteran pundit appears? It's unfortunate that the movement became so closely associated with a term with an alternate, sexual meaning, and it is important for organizers to recognize such pitfalls. Michael Steele's speech today, for instance, would have been well-served if someone had taken out the "teabag" line in favor of a "tea party" reference. On the other hand, we should be able to count on newscasters not to indulge in the lamest of word play while delivering their non-disparaging reports. You don't see me running around making obvious Code Pink jokes, do you?