Politics

CBS show CSI jumps in on Tea Party smearing

Matthew Boyle Investigative Reporter
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The Sept. 23 season premiere plot of CBS’s hit drama “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” involved guest star Justin Bieber attending “right-wing” political events before being targeted as a suspect in bombings of a Las Vegas Police Department funeral.

Alessandra Stanley of The New York Times wrote on Sept. 24 that Bieber played a “domestic terrorist with Tea Party leanings.” Even though the episode made no direct reference to the Tea Party, the “right-wing” protest depicted resembled a Tea Party protest, at least according to some viewers who have commented on FreeRepublic.com, a conservative blog.

BigHollywood and BigGovernment publisher Andrew Breitbart said the show’s producers are undoubtedly using the program as a propaganda mechanism and he finds it particularly disturbing that an episode like this popped up so close to the upcoming midterm elections.

“This is predictable behavior from Hollywood,” Breitbart told The Daily Caller in a phone interview. “Over the past year and a half, the Democratic Party, left-wing media and, now, Hollywood, have done anything they can to portray the Tea Party movement as a violent Timothy McVeigh-esque or as a racist movement.”

Bieber’s casting was an attempt to draw in a big audience for the season opener and to connect different elements of popular culture, the show’s creator, Anthony Zuiker, has said in statements.

Breitbart said the Tea Party movement has consistently proven left-wing claims wrong and that Tea Partiers have found alternative media outlets to fight back against what they see as their inaccurate portrayal in the traditional mainstream media. Breitbart further added that he wouldn’t be surprised if Hollywood continues to add what he sees as subliminal propagandist messages to their productions.

“This is the reason so many people don’t watch these shows anymore,” Breitbart said.

CBS declined TheDC’s request for comment.