A Tea Party PSA (2010)
“If I can save just one person from doing what I did, then I will feel it was all worth it.” – D.C. Douglas L. Baxterstein, Jr.
Read more: GEICO, FreedomWorks and Tortious Interference
Controversial former GEICO voice over announcer releases emotional public service announcement “Don’t Drunk Dial FreedomWorks,” warning other FreedomWorks/Tea Party critics not to make the same mistake he did.
Dedicated to Matt Kibbe, Dick Armey, Andrew Breitbart, FreedomWorks – and all the Tea Party folk who grant interviews to the New Left Media on YouTube.
Many Thanks to:
Susan Sarandon, Alec Baldwin, Bill Maher, Vivian Oxford, Robert C. Webb, George Clooney, Sarah Lilly, Reena Dutt, Lawrence O’Donnell, Countdown with Keith Olbermann, Rommel Manalo, Shell Goldfarb, Charles Martinez, Al Franken, Tom Wilson, Itzik Noah, Adam Edgar, Anderson Cooper, Nikki Brown, Robin Daléa, Barbara Streisand, Jon Stewart, Thom Hartmann, Rachel Maddow, Geraldo Rivera, Bryan Cuprill, and Lance Baxter.
Matt Kibbe, Dick Armey, FreedomWorks
It seems to me that [FreedomWorks is] more about the politics of destruction than they are about affecting positive change for the country.
Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) April 21, 2010 Los Angeles actor, D.C. Douglas, says he was dropped from the upcoming GEICO “Shocking News” campaign after a group of Tea Party members harassed him and the insurance giant over a private voicemail the actor left for FreedomWorks. Matt Kibbe, President and CEO of FreedomWorks, posted Mr. Douglas’ cell phone number in a blog post on biggovernment.com, instructing readers to “Feel free to contact (him)… call his employer too. Let them know that you…are now in the market for car insurance.” The next day, GEICO held auditions to replace Mr. Douglas’ voice on the campaign.
Mr. Douglas’ message hardly warranted the mobilization of the Tea Party Movement. Upset by the recent gay and racial slurs slung by Tea Party members at Congressman Barney Frank and Representative John Lewis during the Health Care Reform Weekend, Mr. Douglas left his opinion of FreedomWorks’ staff and followers on their company voicemail and included his phone number.
“I called as a private citizen to make a complaint,” explains Mr. Douglas. “Racism and homophobia are my Achilles heal, but unfortunately my message included inappropriate words and I am sorry for that. However, telling their members to harass my employer to get me fired is an egregiously disproportionate response to my actions.”
Mr. Douglas believes his connection to GEICO, a company already on FreedomWorks’ boycott list for pulling their ads from Glenn Beck’s show, is the main reason he was targeted so forcefully. “Even though I left the message during the week of March 23, the harassing calls didn’t hit until April 14, the morning after I posted about my GEICO campaign on my Facebook page.”
However, how the firing of a voice over actor constitutes a Tea Party success remains a mystery, as Mr. Douglas points out. “It seems to me that they’re more about the politics of destruction than they are about affecting positive change for the country.”
“I do want to make one thing clear,” Mr. Douglas adds, “I don’t blame GEICO for protecting themselves. They have a business to run and can’t waste time getting caught up in FreedomWorks’ circus. And they’ve been very good to me in the past.”
Mr. Douglas consulted with several Los Angeles attorneys and has been advised that FreedomWorks’ actions were questionable. Though he’s not planning on spending money to sue the organization, he’s open to any attorneys taking on this case pro bono. “We can’t let these kinds of tactics become the norm in our country. If we do, then anybody can lose their job just for voicing an opinion.” And Mr. Douglas won’t be silenced; he has posted his personal take on the events on his blog: http://www.DCDouglasBlog.com.
Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) April 24, 2010 D.C. Douglas, who announced earlier this week that FreedomWorks bullied GEICO into dropping him from a new campaign yet to air, will appear on “Geraldo At Large” at 10:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time to discuss FreedomWorks’ bullying tactics in depth.
Mr. Douglas is concerned about where blame for the incident has been directed. While he’s received much support, many of his defenders have pointed their fingers at GEICO, a position he does not stand behind.“GEICO is not to blame here,” Mr. Douglas explains. “They made a strict business decision. I do not advocate people calling or harassing GEICO or canceling policies based on my recent misadventure. The economy is hard enough without additional bullying of any business, let alone one already targeted by FreedomWorks.”
Mr. Douglas’ original statement argued that FreedomWorks already had its crosshairs set on GEICO, looking for additional ways to target the insurance company for pulling its ads from Glenn Beck’s show in 2009. “The only reason GEICO was put in a position of having to replace me is because of the egregious actions of Matt Kibbe, Dick Armey, Adam Brandon and FreedomWorks,” he continues. “They are the ones who posted my private voicemail message without editing out my phone number. They posted a possibly illegal recording of a follow-up call. They printed my phone number and GEICO’s and told their readers to call us. Their unethical tactics are what should be looked at in depth by both the media and Tea Party members.”
As stated in Mr. Douglas’ original press release, voice over blog and every radio interview he’s done this week, he accepts of full responsibility for the call he made to FreedomWorks and the inappropriate language he used. But he still stresses the second question in his message as the relevant one that deserves an answer: how will they handle it when one of their more radical members crosses the line and hurts someone?
In a statement to FOX News, he posed these questions to Tea Party members: “If you believe in what the Tea Party stands for, ask FreedomWorks executives Matt Kibbe and Dick Armey how launching a blacklisting campaign against an anonymous voice over actor serves the goals of ‘lower taxes, less government, more freedom’. Ask Matt and Dick if this is a good use of the movement’s time, energy and resources. Ask them if it’s okay to engage in unethical acts in the pursuit of press. But most importantly, ask them if this is what their many Christian followers would want them doing. FreedomWorks says it wants to ‘Stop The Haters – as they posted on their website today. Do you know what tactics they’re about to use to accomplish this?”
When asked about the “Tea Bagger Boogie” video that has garnered over 100,000 hits in three days, Mr. Douglas responds, “That was my response to the Tea Baggers of the movement, not the original Tea Party members. Tea Baggers are the dangerous fringe elements that Matt Kibbe and FreedomWorks have been attracting and inciting. They drown out the rational voices of the movement.”
Mr. Douglas was the tag announcer on GEICO’s 2007 and 2008 celebrity campaign (“Real service, real savings.”), but never the voice of the trademark gecko or their GEICO’s brand announcer. At the time of his initial call to FreedomWorks, he was not hired to voice any GEICO campaigns. He was only later hired for a single campaign that has yet to air. One day after Mr. Douglas recorded the campaign, Matt Kibbe and FreedomWorks posted his contact information.
Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) May 3, 2010 Actor and voice over talent, D.C. Douglas, reports a spike in voice over work due to his public shaming of Matt Kibbe and FreedomWorks last week. The controversy began on Apirl 14 when Matt Kibbe, president of FreedomWorks, posted the following information on BigGovernment.com: Mr. Douglas’ private voicemail message to the organization, Mr. Douglas’ phone number and GEICO’s phone number. Mr. Kibbe encouraged readers to call both phone numbers to harass Mr. Douglas and the insurance giant. A few hundred of FreedomWorks supporters followed Mr. Kibbe’s instructions. After GEICO relented and removed Mr. Douglas from a new campaign he had just recorded, the voice over actor went public on April 20 to reveal the unethical tactics of Matt Kibbe and FreedomWorks. The media quickly picked up the story.
The Huffington Post reported the story that same day and received over 4000 comments in 24 hours. Many posters were outraged by FreedomWorks’ blacklisting tactics. MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell chastised GEICO in the Countdown #2 story for caving in to FreedomWorks (youtube.com/watch?v=Z0aK5GyJrpI). In interviews with Mr. Douglas, both “The Thomm Hartmann Show” and “Nicole Sandler Show” highlighted the dangerous behavior of FreedomWorks.
A backlash against GEICO seemed to be brewing among The Huffington Post readers, so Mr. Douglas put out a second press release asking people to blame FreedomWorks, not GEICO (prweb.com/releases/Freedomworks/Geico/prweb3921284.htm).
Realizing he was not addressing the people who needed to hear his message, Mr. Douglas agreed to go on FOX’s “Geraldo At Large” to address the controversy, appearing after Matt Kibbe. Mr. Rivera allotted the majority of the segment to Mr. Douglas (youtube.com/watch?v=uwZn8-gsTUY).
“I think what FreedomWorks did sparked outrage in folks,” explains Mr. Douglas. “I have had a surge of voice over work come my way since I put the story out there. Many of my new clients are disgusted with the obvious unethical and un-Christian behavior of Matt Kibbe and FreedomWorks. I hope reasonable Tea Party members will follow suit soon, especially when they realize who is actually funding this organization.”
Though the work increase doesn’t replace the potentially significant income Mr. Douglas may have received from the GEICO campaign, he believes it does send a strong message. “…That everyone in America — from Tea Party members to FreedomWorks critics — has a right to speak their mind without anybody getting the other fired for their opinion. Decent Americans know this and have decided not only to ignore Matt Kibbe’s blacklisting, but to actually send me more work.”
Mr. Douglas dismissed any rumors that Progressive Insurance is picking him up as a tag announcer. “No, no. We’re not in talks with ANY insurance company at the moment.”
Despite the numerous racist and homophobic emails Mr. Douglas received from detractors, he reports receiving twice as many supportive emails. In three days, he gained hundreds of new fans on FaceBook, racked up 240,000 hits on his comedic YouTube video response, “The Tea Bagger Boogie (youtube.com/watch?v=FAB0-0Vbff0),” and was offered a supporting role in a film. Mr. Douglas has posted a sampling of supportive emails on his blog, specifically noting the importance of two emails from disheartened Tea Party members.
“I actually feel bad for the real Tea Party,” he explains. “The folks who were Ron Paul supporters and the ones who joined forces with them throughout 2008. They had a clear message and understanding of the issues. But then FreedomWorks hijacked it in February 2009, with an assist from a scripted Rick Santelli. They propagated misinformation upon misinformation, then actually circulated a handbook on how to derail democracy at town hall meetings! They stoked the Birther movement, the xenophobes and attracted dangerous fringe elements — what I refer to as the Tea Baggers, since that was the name FreedomWorks initially dubbed them. The real Tea Party was drowned out. Hopefully those members can take their Tea Party back by distancing themselves from this disingenuous McCarthy-like organization.”
In the aftermath of a media whirlwind that subsided just as fast as it materialized, Mr. Douglas posted a follow-up blog entry that cleared up a few inaccuracies (including his name) while poking fun at the seemingly cursory research the big media outlets performed throughout the controversy.
Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) May 17, 2010 After several weeks of reflection, voice over artist and on-camera actor D.C. Douglas has produced a public service announcement for other FreedomWorks and Tea Party critics who might be tempted to follow in his footsteps. Mr. Douglas says, “What I did may have been entertaining, but it was also impetuous and not well thought out. If I were to make that call today, I would use a more diaphram-supported voice and ask very different questions.”
Mr. Douglas quickly assembled a cast of respected Los Angeles actors and close friends on May 12th and produced a provocative and hopeful five minute PSA. “I thought it was important to clear the air with Matt Kibbe and FreedomWorks as soon as possible and to prevent The Huffington Post readers and other liberals from crossing Matt Kibbe’s line in the sand.” On a personal note, Mr. Douglas admits to being fond of FreedomWorks president, Matt Kibbe. “I think Matt and I could’ve be good friends, had he not hooked up with Dick Armey, Koch Industries and the GOP. I think we have a similar sense of humor and share a penchant for Buddy Holly glasses,” admits Mr. Douglas.
Last March, Mr. Douglas was angered by the racist and homophobic slurs allegedly shouted by Tea Party protesters during the final health care debate weekend. In response, he made a call to FreedomWorks, an alleged grassroots Tea Party organization chaired by ex-lobbyist Dick Armey. In his voicemail, Mr. Douglas inquired about the IQ level of FreedomWorks and whether the organization had a PR plan in place for when one of their fringe followers crossed a line and became violent. He also left his number in hopes of actually getting an answer. FreedomWorks retuned his call weeks later, but Mr. Douglas declined to engage them since “…health care reform had passed and, honestly, I would’ve thought they had more important Tea Party business to attend to.”
After doing some research, FreedomWorks discovered Mr. Douglas’ connection to certain GEICO commercials (GEICO is on FreedomWorks’ boycott list) and decided to post Mr. Douglas’ voicemail and phone number along with GEICO’s phone number on BigGovernment.com. Mr. Kibbe encouraged his readers to call Mr. Douglas and GEICO, ultimately costing Mr. Douglas a recently recorded new campaign.
The events received media attention that was swift and, according to Mr. Douglas, “…about 75% erroneous, including what I actually did for GEICO, my name, the timeline of events and the reason anyone even knew about it in the first place!” Mr. Douglas posted a follow-up blog entry on The D.C. Douglas Blog and issued two additional press releases correcting these errors, but “…no one seemed to be interested in the facts. That’s when I started to think about what I had done. And then it hit me, I needed to apologize to FreedomWorks for asking reckless and vague questions. That’s how this PSA was born.”
Mr. Douglas hopes people will take his message to heart and be inspired to pass his PSA around the internet so that he can reach as many FreedomWorks critics and anti-Tea Party people as he can. “FreedomWorks and all their angry callers and emailers made their point. They changed me. And now I hope I can inspire others like me to take a much more open-mined look at FreedomWorks and the Tea Party. If I can save just one person from doing what I did, then I will feel it was all worth it.” Mr. Douglas’ PSA can be viewed on YouTube or on his blog.
