Bad Deed Special: Tea Parties Falsely Passed Off as Grassroots Movement

What is a grassroots movement?
From Wikipedia:

A grassroots movement (often referenced in the context of a political movement) is one driven by the constituents of a community. The term implies that the creation of the movement and the group supporting it is natural and spontaneous, highlighting the differences between this and a movement that is orchestrated by traditional power structures.

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From The Alvin Sun:

The Alvin Area Republican Women, PAC, will host a Tax Tea Party on Wednesday, April 15. …

The Tea Party effort is just a small piece of a much larger movement aimed at restoring the basic free-market principles that the United States was built on. Members of the Alvin Area Republican Women believe that the Constitution, for the most part, is being ignored by the current government. The group hopes to work together to correct the problem.

The Tea Party effort is a grassroots, collaborative volunteer organization made up of every day American citizens from across the country. The group takes pride in the fact that a 50 state network of leaders and activists has been built using nothing more than the internet, a few websites and a burning desire to restore freedom.

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If you visit the Tax Day Tea Party web site, you will find the exact same words as in the last two paragraphs of the above local newspaper article, showing that this is a top-down, orchestrated national effort.

Also, the Tax Day Tea Party web site lists the following official sponsors (Explanations from Wikipedia):

GOPUSA – A virtual organization with no physical office space or newsroom, Talon News was owned by a conservative activist group called GOPUSA. Robert Eberle, the president and CEO of GOPUSA, held both titles for Talon News as well. Talon News became newsworthy in January 2005 because alleged irregularities in the background of its chief correspondent, known as Jeff Gannon.

Smart Girl Politics – Juliana Johnson is the Communications Director for the National DontGo Movement, the National Communications Director for the Nationwide Tax Day Tea Parties, and the Communications Director for the Lake County Young Republicans. The DontGo Movement, Top Conservatives on Twitter, and Smart Girl Politics teamed together to throw the numerous rallies.

DontGo Movement – DontGo founders Odom and Ruffini intended for their website to work as a clearinghouse of information for the Republicans. The name came from conservatives who had asked the House not to shut down for their annual summer break in 2008.

Michelle Malkin – In June 2004 she launched a political blog which quickly became a popular conservative blog.

American Solutions for Winning the Future – created by former Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Newt Gingrich. (That’s funny because Gingrich said on Fox News that these parties “sprang up almost unexpectedly over the last two months, as a spontaneous effort across the country”, but now we see that his group is a listed sponsor.)

PajamasTV – In January 2009, Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher (commonly referred to by the moniker “Joe the Plumber” during the 2008 Presidential election in which he became a minor celebrity) became a “war correspondent” for Pajamas Media.

FreedomWorks – a conservative non-profit organization based in Washington D.C that trains volunteer activists and wages campaigns to encourage them to mobilize, engage fellow citizens, and influence their political representatives. Several of Freedomworks’ campaigns have been described as “astroturfing,” a controversial political tactic. It is chaired by former House Majority Leader Dick Armey. Publisher Steve Forbes serves as Vice Chairman of the FreedomWorks Foundation.

Americans for Limited Government – a conservative, libertarian think tank.

Tammy Bruce – an on-air contributor to Fox News Channel.

Jim Demint – a Republican U. S. Senator

RFC Radio (Radio for Conservatives)

On the website’s Contact page:

National Organizers
Eric Odom (Director of the DontGo Movement)
Michael Leahy (Founder & Director of â€œTop Conservatives on Twitterâ€)
Stacy Mott (Co-Founder & Director of Smart Girl Politics)

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And Fox News labels the Tax Tea Parties as “”FNC Tax Day Tea Parties”, where FNC stands for Fox News Channel.