WP Supplemental: Teabaggers

"Astroturf" is a term being used to describe an imitation grassroots movement that's actually organized, directed, and financed by political and corporate interests and their lobbyists. There are a number of demonstrations around the country today going under the title of Tax Day Tea Party. I went to one in the small western Connecticut town of New Milford this morning.





This is an Astroturf movement at the national level, but I was interested to find that it had at least some genuine grassroots features on this New England Town Green. There were no "official" speakers with prepared texts. Anyone attending was welcome to climb the steps of the gazebo on the green and have their say. Some repeated talking points found at the Teabag websites, others repeated more common political memes like the false claim that the current administration proposes to cut defense spending, when in fact the budget proposal increases defense spending by a whopping 4%. This is the sort of thing that's repeated tirelessly on talk radio.




I heard a woman in the crowd tell a companion that she didn't trust the news media anymore (a good start) and that she wouldn't have any idea what was really happening in the world without listening to Glen Beck (oh well). My favorite speaker may have been the one who claimed that Bill Clinton never worked a day in his life at a real job, Barak Obama never worked a day in his life at a real job, but George W. Bush worked in the Texas oilfields and made his way up to be a successful businessman before entering politics. Facts were in short supply compared to myths, but there was quite a bit of passion. However, nearly all the signs and placards were handmade and I had the impression that just about everyone there believed themselves to be involved in a local, spontaneous, grassroots movement.





For more on the Teabag movement's self presentation, see this site.
For more on its Astroturf roots, see this site.