The rick santelli rant has been greeted as a spontaneous criticism of the stimulus package, but it is more likely a politically-run ‘astroturf’ (fake grassroots) campaign designed by far-right wing groups linked with the Koch family.
“What hasn’t been reported until now is evidence linking Santelli’s “tea party” rant with some very familiar names in the Republican rightwing machine, from PR operatives who specialize in imitation-grassroots PR campaigns (called “astroturfing”) to bigwig politicians and notorious billionaire funders. As veteran Russia reporters, both of us spent years watching the Kremlin use fake grassroots movements to influence and control the political landscape. To us, the uncanny speed and direction the movement took and the players involved in promoting it had a strangely forced quality to it. If it seemed scripted, that’s because it was.”
The full article is over at the Playboy blog.
