White House charges “astroturf”
I’ve written over the last few days about how the Democrats aren’t very happy with folks using the same tactics that they used against Republicans for eight years in regards to the healthcare debate. The White House jumped into the fight yesterday when Naked Emperor released a video which had the President in his own words describing this healthcare as the impetus for single-payer, government-run healthcare. Somehow, the White House got away with calling the President a liar.
The Washington Times writes this morning that now the White House is accusing Republicans of “astroturfing” the discussion with organized groups of professional protesters funded by well-heeled lobbyists. Really? Have they seen the RNC’s website lately? here’s a screen shot for you;
The RNC couldn’t organize online activism if it wanted to – there’s a four month old note updated three months ago about a new website that’s right around the next corner. On the other hand, here’s the DNC’s website;
It says the healthcare plan is under attack, but it looks like they’re portraying it as an attack on Obama, doesn’t it? The Washington Times quotes Democrats;
The Democratic National Committee called the protesters a “mob” and said they believed people were being bused to events by “well-funded, highly organized groups run by Republican operatives and funded by the special interests.”
“I hope people will take a jaundiced eye to what is clearly the astroturf nature of so-called grass-roots lobbying,” Mr. Gibbs said. “This is manufactured anger.”
Mr. Gibbs did not rule out speculation that the conservative groups were tapping into some public distress with the president’s plan, but Democratic Party activists said protests at town hall events across the country were more likely a charade organized entirely by vested interests in Washington.
Then they quote a lobbyist;
John Goodman, president of the conservative-leaning National Center for Policy Analysis, said he thinks the protests are real.
“There is no organized Republican resistance to what the Democrats in Congress are doing,” he said. “The Republicans are in disarray.”
Exactly. At this point, the RNC couldn’t organize a child’s tea party let alone a grown up one. The White House is trying to make this look like something it’s not – judging by my bulging email inbox, these protests are exactly how they appear – a bunch of pissed off people who tired of being steamrollered into something they don’t like.
Category: Barack Obama/Joe Biden, Bloggers
And they’re really pissing people off with their accusation of astro-turfing and calling them mobs.
These aren’t acorn drones, these are the people who work for a living and who make America work. And who vote.
You were at the DC tea party in April, the way I saw it was a lunch-time crowd.
Whatever numbers they had were deflated because people were constantly coming and going as they took their lunch hour for it.
And now they’re going after people who are already mad.
Too bad the GOP isn’t intelligent enough for it to any good.
“I hope people will take a jaundiced eye to what is clearly the astroturf nature of so-called grass-roots lobbying,” Mr. Gibbs said. “This is manufactured anger.”
OF COURSE IT’S MANUFACTURED ANGER, YOU IDIOT. “YOU” MANUFACTURED IT. With your insistance on fixing something that’s bent but not broken. On using the wrong tools (big gov’t) for the job. On insisting that any protest against “your” policies can’t be a real grass-roots opinion (gives one insight into the SocDemLibs, doesn’t it?).
How the DNC & the SocDemLibs behave (and organize, and organize protests, and buy votes, etc), is how they assume everyone else behaves the exact same way. They have no clue as to the feelings and pulse of the rest of the real America.
“Only the guilty flee when no man pursues.”
“Methinks thou dost protest too much.”
When they can’t back up the facts with a rational argument, they offer lame insults to discredit the opposition. Sounds like the Dems haven’t gotten used to being the party in power. And at the rate things are going, they won’t be for very long.
Heh, the DNC released a video calling all Tea Party Patriots, regardless whether they are Republicans or Demncrats, a “mob”.
This is going to come back and bite them in the a$$ for years.
http://nygoe.wordpress.com/2009/08/05/barack-obama-whay-cant-they-just-obey/
Scared is as scared does.
Pass laws against the people,
Silence the opposition,
Inform on your citizens,
Close yourself off from the people,
Control the media, healthcare, manufacturing, etc etc etc…
Seig Heil, mein Fuhrer!
Ya know, the folks in the videos that I’ve seen are a tad bit long in the tooth to be astroturfers. Certainly better dressed and more coherent speakers than the statist protesters and plants.
This is would be funny if it weren’t so disgraceful. First, they change the topic to “Health Insurance Reform” because some internal DNC polling found that demonizing the Insurance companies was good for business. Now they play down, disrespect, and ignore all of us exercising our First Amendment Rights. Remember on April 15th when the One said he hadn’t heard of any such Tea Party protests……