Lest you think it's a bottom-up (ie "grass roots") effort, the whole thing is being coordinated by a group called "Freedomworks." And the group has already claimed in a statement released to Fox "News" yesterday a central role in coordination:
We'd like to say we are one of the main driving forces, but we are not THE driving force behind the protests. We're mainly helping activists get in touch with each other.ThinkProgress has more than enough evidence to show the whole "tea party" movement is astro-turf (ie fake grass):
Today, FreedomWork’s Adam Brandon responded to the criticism that its efforts to organize these anti-Obama protests are ‘astroturf,’ saying that the organization’s work in coordinating and planning the events would be akin to “MoveOn’s model.” However, MoveOn is not run by corporate lobbyists and is funded by actual grassroots activists. On the other hand, the leader of FreedomWorks, Dick Armey, who is ranked as one of DC’s top “hired guns,” is a corporate lobbyist with a history of directing FreedomWorks to support the goals of his lobbying clients.No matter what the individuals involved may be thinking, that's what's going on today.
1 comment:
Astroturf indeed. The GOP invented the concept. All those hand-drawn signs that operatives spent all night working on....
On a related note.
It's funny, but I NEVER watch the local news and rarely watch much other news on TV. So, these "tea parties" were totally off my radar. I read about them a bit online, but that was all.
I only mention this to raise the issue of just how media driven our society is. If everyone would turn their freakin' TV's and radios off for a few days, I think we might actually have a chance of returning to a civil society. And I don't say that in jest.
We'd be forced to talk to one another and not march to the clarion call of a bunch of ignorant TV evangelists..
Cylde
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