Faking the Grassroots movements, emails, letters, phone calls.

[madfloridian]

Meaning of astroturfing.
http://info.astrian.net/jargon/terms/a/astroturfing.html

Astroturfing, Fake Grassroots Media Outreach
http://www.greenmediatoolshed.org/training/MediaTrends/AstroTurfing.html

Faking the voice of the people.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0131/p11s01-coop.html?mostViewed

Astroturfing Bush's Healthy Forest Initiative.
http://wampum.wabanaki.net/archives/000660.html

Demonstrating Genuine Leadership
http://www.benhammersley.com/archives/003872.html

I think this even extends to phone-ins now. Listening to some after the debate we put on our little tinfoil hats.
:D

[Clark4VotingRights]

1. Oh, this is disgusting.

Thanks for alerting us madfloridian.

[madfloridian]

4. We found a letter from a "soldier in Iraq" in a local paper.

It sounded suspicious, so we searched on phrases in google. Then we called the paper and told them. They had verified that there was a name like that locally, but that is all they did.

It is something we all need to watch out for. I don't like any sites using pre-written letters, really, but I do use them for writing my congressmen if it is a legit site.

I think it has been going on in some calls to radio shows. Like the one to Limbaugh where the person said he was a Democrat turning Republican, or to C-Span where they pretend to be what they are not.

[janx]

2. Thanks MF!

I'd heard the term and surmised that it meant something phoney, but I didn't know exactly what it was.

Nice dictionary.

[Clark4Prez]

3. Bush is doing this too

His website lets you write letters to the editor to your local paper using a point and click pre-written pro-Bush drivel on everything from the economy to the enviroment.

I posted on this under Media. If you want to read it, it's at

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=109&topic_id=3996

Thanks for the posting, even though we have a fake president, we shouldn't have fake grassroots.

[reprehensor]

5. Nice post!

Those bastards! They killed Kenny!

[LatteLib]

6. Thanks for the heads up

It is truly amazing at the depths these people will sink.
It indicates to me how much is at stake for them. This has probably been going on for longer than any of us would care to imagine but, it's nice to have it out in the open now. Fore warned is fore armed. Again, thanks, madfloridian.

[madfloridian]

7. You are welcome.

It goes on more than we realize.
:hi:

[anti-bush]

8. The most irksome thing about this

is that Bush's form letter never tells you what the Healthy Forest Initiative is. I'll sum it up for everybody. If you let loggers cut down all the trees, then there won't be any forest fires.

I always knew George Bush was real smart.

[brainshrub]

9. I'm not worried in the slightest.

We knew the AstroTurf campaign was coming. We all know what 200 million dollars would do for Bu$h. We all see the coming storm.

But I'm not worried.

Where Bush is AstroTurf, Democrats are a forest. For ever paid mercenary Rove will have to hire, there is an army of free volunteer campaigners who are going to write letters, raise small donations, call friends and get out the vote.

This campaign is the bigging of the end of corporate control over elections. The Democracy wave is coming! Get out your surfboards kids!!!

[madfloridian]

10. Hey, Brainshrub, like your news page.

:hi:

[madfloridian]

11. Astroturfing ,...more

More on astroturfing from the Prospect, by Josh Marshall.
http://www.prospect.org/print-friendly/print/V11/16/marshall-j.html

And from Failure is Impossible
http://www.failureisimpossible.com/dosomething/sod.htm
SNIP..."Blame the Democrats
(Note: This letter has also been reported as coming from gopteamleader.com. It is also on the web site of the Vermont Republican Party. If you spot it, please report it to me, and alert the newspaper editor who published it of its unoriginality.)
Senate Democrats didn't listen to the American people in November. Seeking to maintain power and continue partisan politics, Democrats have again put special interests and partisanship ahead of our nation's interests and progress. One senator said the Democrats' tactics were "tantamount to an attempted coup." The Democrat's week-long refusal to turn over the leadership, because of a dispute over how to organize the new Senate, has delayed President Bush's efforts to create jobs and grow our economy by preventing the Senate from taking up his jobs and growth plan, as well as his nominee to lead his economic team.

The Democrats' activities have received little media attention. These tactics will only succeed if the American people who voted them out of the majority don't know about it.

Please report this outrageous behavior by the Democrats. People here deserve to know how their elected officials in Washington are acting.
(Long list of newspaper to contact is then posted)
Getcher Gen-u-ine Leadership Here!
(Note: This letter has been traced to the Republican Party's web site, gopteamleader.com. Note in this screenshot of the web page that "GOP team leaders" are encouraged to submit identically worded letters to several newspapers at the same time — in violation of nearly every newspaper's editorial policy against publishing letters that have been published elsewhere.)
When it comes to the economy, President Bush is demonstrating genuine leadership. The economic growth package he recently proposed takes us in the right direction by accelerating the successful tax cuts of 2001, providing marriage penalty relief and providing incentives for individuals and small businesses to save and invest...."