Astroturfing for the One

A retired grandmother named Ellie Light writes to the papers about how wonderful Obama is.  At least 62 newspapers in 29 states, from the Washington Times and USA Today to local papers in places as far apart as Danbury and Los Banos.  At least one email from "Ellie Light" was routed from or through Saudi Arabla.  Kinda suspicious, that, for a retired grandmother living in Danbury.  ...er, in Los Banos.  ...Or maybe Washington DC?

That guy Mark Spivey sure gets around, too.  He claims to be from San Diego, California; Naples, Florida; and a variety of other places.

But wait! There's more.  Jan Chen of Seattle, Gloria Elle of Baltimore, and Cherry Jiminez of Bloomington appear to all be the same person, or at least all mailed in identical form letters.  So are Janet Leigh and Earnest Gardner; Jen Park, Lars Deerman, and John F. Stott; and Gordon Adams and Joe Rodriguez.  They all have an odd tendency to show up on the same Letters pages, at the same time, as Ellie Light and Mark Spivey.  Funny about that.

Guess what?  It turns out the Democratic Party has a pre-built, ready-to-use astroturfing engine on the Web.  You fill in a form, and it blasts newspapers all over the country with your letter under a swarm of false "local" identities.  This doesn't appear to be the source of "Ellie Light", but is the apparent origin of many of those cloned letter-writers.

"I love the smell of astroturf in the morning.  It smells like ..." uh ... maybe "something really strong that will make our product grow"?

Economic Stimulus Q&A

(This was sent to me forwarded off a Harley mailing list.  I've taken the liberty of eliding the Harley-specific material at the end and just forwarding the commentary on the stimulus payments.)

Sometime this year, we taxpayers will again receive another 'Economic Stimulus' payment.  This is indeed a very exciting program, and I'll explain it by using a Q&A format:

• Q:  What is an 'Economic Stimulus' payment?

  A:  It is money that the Federal government will send to taxpayers.

• Q:  Where will the government get this money?

  A:  From taxpayers.

• Q:  So the government is giving me back my own money?

  A:  A little of it, yes.

• Q:  What is the purpose of this payment?

  A:  The plan is for you to use the money to purchase a high-definition TV, thus stimulating the economy.

• Q:  But won't that stimulate the economy of China, not the US?

  A:  Ignore that.

Below is some helpful advice on how to best help the U.S. economy by spending your stimulus check wisely:

• If you spend your stimulus payment at Wal-Mart, the money will go to Sri Lanka.
• If you spend it on gasoline, your money will go to the Arabs.
• If you purchase a computer, it will go to India, Taiwan, or China.
• If you purchase fruit and vegetables, it will go to Mexico, Hunduras, and Guatemala.
• If you buy a fuel-efficient car, it will go to Japan, Germany, or Korea.
• If you purchase useless junk, it will go to Taiwan or China.
• If you buy stock or pay off credit cards, it will go to executive bonuses and be hidden offshore.

The original then goes on to exhort you to spend it on Harleys, hookers, beer and weed, because "these are the only American businesses still operating in the US".  It's not quite that bad yet.  But the first five points about "economic stimulus payments" are right on the money.