Mow That Astroturf for You, Mister?

Paul Waldman on the tea bag rallies and right Republican hysteria:

"They cried "socialism!" and no one seemed to care. Now they cry "fascism!" and still their words do not cause the whole nation to rise up. It must be terribly frustrating. But that's the thing about democracy -- it can be pretty frustrating, particularly when you lose. What the right doesn't seem to get is that the more extreme and shrill their rhetoric grows, the less convincing they become to the broader public. And the more ridiculous they seem."

Waldman usefully traces the astroturf origins of the tea parties.

Paul Waldman, "It's the End of the World as They Know It," The American Prospect, 21 April 2009.

What's in YOUR tea bag?

Granted it is probably all too easy to portray a whole movement by reference to its associations, its funding, or its fringe. No doubt a lot of the tea bag protesters yesterday suppose they are joining a good old fashioned grass-roots populist movement.

Still.

Have a look at this slide show at Huffington Post.

See also Paul Krugman, "Tea Parties Forever," New York Times, 12 April 2009.

photo: "Barack Hussein Obama The New face Of Hitler"-- T. Romao, Chicago.