Harry Reid: Conservative talk radio hosts are also astroturfers
posted at 4:27 pm on August 6, 2009 by Allahpundit
The Speaker of the House doesn’t understand what astroturfing is, so why should the Senate majority leader?
Reid, armed with a patch of Astroturf, slammed Republicans for sponsoring town hall attacks on Democrats and accused the party of waging a barricade on Democratic efforts to pass health care reform legislation.
“I just want to show you what Astroturf really is,” Reid said to laughter. “They’re taking their cues from talk show hosts, Internet rumor mongers, and insurance rackets.”…
A senior Republican Senate aide shot back: “Harry Reid will be surprised to learn that not only do the people he routinely insults have opinions, they also vote. Right now the ‘astroturf’ is out-polling Harry Reid 60-40 in Nevada.”
But Democrats seemed to be on a roll with their pushback Thursday.
“These guys don’t care about you,” Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin said of the town hall protesters. “They care about YouTube.”
“We can spot a ringer,” Durbin said.
Help me figure this out. The whole point of “astroturfing” is to generate fake grassroots activity, right? That’s where the name comes from: Astroturf is a type of synthetic grass. Well, how is it “fake” if actual grassroots conservatives hear Rush Limbaugh say “you should go to your local townhall meeting on health care” and decide to go? They’re not being paid or fed or bused in or given pre-made signs. There’s nothing organized about it, or at least no more so than “objective” journalists recycling Democratic talking points about mobs by the dozen. Seriously, am I missing something here or have we now reached the point where conservative opinion is per se illegitimate and tantamount to a political dirty trick?
Blowback
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Many of my former lobbyist colleagues used to refer to him as “Dickless” Durbin.
rockmom on August 6, 2009 at 4:56 PM
Duh. Don’t you get it?
Obama won.
You lost.
Shut up.
guntotinglibertarian on August 6, 2009 at 4:56 PM
Ever had to play a game on it? I had to when I played baseball in high school.
I hate astroturf. One of the best things that’s happened recently is the new baseball parks have gone back to grass.
wildcat84 on August 6, 2009 at 4:56 PM
Re-Run Reid.
Guess he didn’t learn anything the last time he got pwned by Rush.
Someone remind me again please, who’s got the numbers to ram through any half-@ssed program they want to?
Anyone seen Harry’s balls?
fogw on August 6, 2009 at 4:56 PM
That’s about the long and the short of it. We don’t matter anymore, or at least we shouldn’t.
Red Cloud on August 6, 2009 at 4:57 PM
Durbin and Waxman always struck me as the kind of guys who pay middle-aged dominatrixes to dress them up in diapers and call them “naughty boys”.
guntotinglibertarian on August 6, 2009 at 4:57 PM
Reid, Pelosi, et al are examples of why there needs to be term limits (and that goes for GOPers too). They think they are entitled to there in DC & have forgotten that they serve us, not the other way around.
Dark Star on August 6, 2009 at 4:59 PM
By getting into this “this isn’t fake, it’s legitimate!” argument, everyone is falling into the Left’s trap: namely, making the protest themselves the news, rather than what’s being protested.
It’s a classic red herring strategy. The appropriate response is to ignore the red herring and press on with the issue.
Here’s how it’s done:
Simple.
rvastar on August 6, 2009 at 4:59 PM
ROFLMAO!!!
capejasmine on August 6, 2009 at 4:59 PM
Notice how liberals equate profit with something evil.
These companies are taking your money!!!!!! Whereas the government offers services and you choose to pay for them. Right?
gwelf on August 6, 2009 at 5:00 PM
*cough* Um…they also aren’t listening to rush….most of the people I met were libertarians, democrats, and conservatives who read on facebook or thru other websites (like instapundit) where and when a tea party was going to occur.
Sort of like Sept 12th @ D.C., me and mine will be there.
joshlbetts on August 6, 2009 at 5:00 PM
It’s just the way it’s supposed to work.
After all, when Bush won, didn’t the Left sit politely and accept fate?
I mean, except for the “Buck Fush” bumpersticker industry racket.
guntotinglibertarian on August 6, 2009 at 5:00 PM
I don’t know about Durbin (haven’t seen pics of him lately), but Waxman seems like a definite candidate for that.
Ugly bastard looks like Tobias from Arrested Development.
teke184 on August 6, 2009 at 5:01 PM
Lack of term limits was probably the most tragic failure of foresight when the Constitution was written.
guntotinglibertarian on August 6, 2009 at 5:02 PM
Deranged. Demented. Too bad Saturday night live won’t make fun of Reid and his astrotur
fd. Comedy gold.conservativegrandma on August 6, 2009 at 5:03 PM
Agreed. Coming from the free state of R.C. Byrd.
clorensen on August 6, 2009 at 5:04 PM
It’s part of the larger liberal thought pattern. No one is responsible for their own actions – ever. If people are angry about some piece of legislation and showing up at town halls, it is not because they are intelligent beings who formed their own opinions. They were clearly manipulated by someone. Liberals only get pissed about this, though, because they were not the ones doing the manipulating.
bitsy on August 6, 2009 at 5:05 PM
A long, long, time ago, in a capitol far, far, away…..
Limerick on August 6, 2009 at 5:05 PM
Here’s some agitatin’ from the original astroturfer:
The liberties of our country, the freedom of our civil Constitution, are worth defending at all hazards; and it is our duty to defend them against all attacks. We have received them as a fair inheritance from our worthy ancestors: they purchased them for us with toil and danger and expense of treasure and blood, and transmitted them to us with care and diligence. It will bring an everlasting mark of infamy on the present generation, enlightened as it is, if we should suffer them to be wrested from us by violence without a struggle, or to be cheated out of them by the artifices of false and designing men.
Samuel Adams
guntotinglibertarian on August 6, 2009 at 5:06 PM
Ozprey on August 6, 2009 at 5:06 PM
I seem to recall a Presidential candidate and his running-mate scoffing at the idea that a plumber could make $250,000 per year.
I also seem to recall a President(?) managing to insinuate that doctors steal tonsils for profit and cops who answer 911 calls are stupid. And that little twofer happened within an hour of each other, in the same press conference.
jana on August 6, 2009 at 5:07 PM
If the Nevada GOP can’t use Reid’s own words to defeat him……
jukin on August 6, 2009 at 5:07 PM
Chemical burns are so much better than grass stains!
JadeNYU on August 6, 2009 at 5:07 PM
SHUT. UP. KEEBLER. ELF.
GO
MAKE
COOKIES
blatantblue on August 6, 2009 at 5:08 PM
He forgot the Congressional Budget Office.
guntotinglibertarian on August 6, 2009 at 5:08 PM
Harry Reid is to Obama what Goebbels was to Adolf. Minister of Propaganda and chief cheerleader.
sdd on August 6, 2009 at 5:09 PM
Has there ever been a more offensive, slimy weasel in Congress than Harry Reid?
afotia on August 6, 2009 at 5:09 PM
It’s called “The Fundamental Error of Attribution”
When we are trying to understand and explain what happens in social settings, we tend to view behavior as a particularly significant factor. We then tend to explain behavior in terms of internal disposition, such as personality traits, abilities, motives, etc. as opposed to external situational factors.
This can be due to our focus on the person more than their situation, about which we may know very little. We also know little about how they are interpreting the situation.
Western culture exacerbates this error, as we emphasize individual freedom and autonomy and are socialized to prefer dispositional factors to situational ones.
When we are playing the role of observer, which is largely when we look at others, we make this fundamental attribution error. When we are thinking about ourselves, however, we will tend to make situational attributions.
So… when You do something I don’t like, it’s because you are stupid, or violent or somehow less than me.
If I do something you don’t like, you simply don’t understand my perfectly valid situational reasons.
skree on August 6, 2009 at 5:09 PM
I can’t stomach even looking at this haggard little liar
blatantblue on August 6, 2009 at 5:10 PM
“I just want to show you what Astroturf really is,” Reid said to laughter. “They’re taking their cues from talk show hosts, Internet rumor mongers, and insurance rackets.Axelrod!”…
Ozprey on August 6, 2009 at 5:06 PM
Big surprise. Dem’s accuse the right of something they’re experts at…”look! over there…”
Ozprey on August 6, 2009 at 5:10 PM
Waxman is giving him a run for the money.
fogw on August 6, 2009 at 5:12 PM
The MSM and the politicos keep saying the economy is back on the road to recovery, unemployment is ok, insurance is bad, citizens having less is more, and Barry rocks. In other news the folks are lined up at the hardware store buying pitch forks.
Limerick on August 6, 2009 at 5:12 PM
Let them continue insisting on this fallacy. It will be their downfall
blatantblue on August 6, 2009 at 5:13 PM
Yep. Because for every one of us who shows up to protest at some event, there are hundreds who feel the same way but just do not or cannot show up.
guntotinglibertarian on August 6, 2009 at 5:15 PM
This desperate administration is going to do what all desperate administrations do, blow something up. Clinton blew up aspirin factories and with Hillary talking tough in Africa this week I fear for goat herders everywhere.
Limerick on August 6, 2009 at 5:15 PM
“have we now reached the point where conservative opinion is per se illegitimate and tantamount to a political dirty trick”
And soon to be made entirely illegal!
holdfast on August 6, 2009 at 5:18 PM
Well, there are one hell of lot of of weasels way over on his end of the slimy continuum.
My personal picks? Pelosi, of course. Dodd, Fwank, Kennedy, Durbin, Schumer, Boxer, and the entire Congressional Black Caucus.
These guys make Nixon look like Mother Teresa. And Albert Einstein
guntotinglibertarian on August 6, 2009 at 5:18 PM
Limerick, Guntoting
It will hurt them
Because when the circumstances of Americans remain neutral or worsen, while the Badministration and it’s Media Minions continue their campaign of outright lying, they will be seen for the transparent criminals that they are
blatantblue on August 6, 2009 at 5:20 PM
Mike Gravel. True American traitor the likes of which todays left only dreams of.
Limerick on August 6, 2009 at 5:20 PM
How did this idiot ever become a US Senator. I mean really, some of these people are stupid.
Terrye on August 6, 2009 at 5:20 PM
Remember that video that came out a couple months ago where a guy was explaining how all the lefts arguments could be summed up into two words?
“Shut Up”
Who did that video? It’s time to see that recycled, or better yet it’s time for a sequel.
Ampersand on August 6, 2009 at 5:22 PM
Eeeww
That’s an image I didn’t need in my brain.
MarkTheGreat on August 6, 2009 at 5:24 PM
It is amazing that a state with no income tax and the most open gun laws in country would elect this pathetic tool.
Then again, the gaming unions (read SEIU) are in his pocket.
And probably all the legal prostitutes in Nevada recognize one of their own.
Not to mention the large, growing Hispanic and Mormon populations.
And all the transplanted people who flee California’s collapse, but bring their lunatic political views with them.
guntotinglibertarian on August 6, 2009 at 5:26 PM
Klaven, he’s over at pajamasmedia.
daesleeper on August 6, 2009 at 5:26 PM
Unless I can think of a real good reason to vote for the incumbant, I always vote for the challenger.
MarkTheGreat on August 6, 2009 at 5:26 PM
I don’t know Reid’s story, but it’s usually because some Republican screwed up so bad that there were enough sheeple to vote in a Dem.
ddrintn on August 6, 2009 at 5:27 PM
I just LOVE the feel of astroturf between my toes.
CynicalOptimist on August 6, 2009 at 5:29 PM
Can someone please do some digging and find all of the bus records for companies that bussed in democratic voters to polling places? ACORN buses, etc. The evidence has got to be out there somewhere.
cannonball on August 6, 2009 at 5:31 PM
That pathetic wheezing gasbag stopped making any sense years ago.
Cicero43 on August 6, 2009 at 5:33 PM
That picture…
When I see it I hear, “How can you have any pudding if you don’t eat your meat?!!! (Pink Floyd…The Wall)
Army Brat on August 6, 2009 at 5:34 PM
Another way of ridiculing the Communists:
Wear clothing made out of Astroturf!
Pelayo on August 6, 2009 at 5:38 PM
Perhaps Harry Reid should call the DNC and talk to Brad Woodhouse, who back in his “Americans United” days acted as a front for the union bosses working to defeat President Bush’s Social Security reforms. Woodhouse had astroturfing down to a fine art.
GarandFan on August 6, 2009 at 5:47 PM
Reid, Pelosi, and their dog boy obama ARE the astroturf.
Not to knock astroturf, at least it’s the original fake grass. These people are just liars and fakes period.
Spiritk9 on August 6, 2009 at 5:51 PM
thanks!
Ampersand on August 6, 2009 at 6:06 PM
Bingo! We have a winner.
PersonalLiberty on August 6, 2009 at 6:07 PM
Harry Reid. In just one short year, he’ll be selling you chinese pencils.
Key West Reader on August 6, 2009 at 6:08 PM
the astroturf is always greener on the other side.
homesickamerican on August 6, 2009 at 6:08 PM
Sounds “fishy” to me.
ctmom on August 6, 2009 at 6:11 PM
Back then, term limits were only precedents. It was polite to only serve two terms as president… it wasn’t legally enforced.
The same was true back then for senators and congress men.
I’m pretty sure that if we didn’t have term limits for Presidents, Barack Obama, and a few other characters would have run for a third or fourth term (ala FDR).
I’m not sure what kind of effect term limits in congress would have, but if it’s good for the presidency….
Chaz706 on August 6, 2009 at 6:11 PM
And overgrown, infested with weeds, vermin and insects. Kinda like Pelosi’s… uh.
Key West Reader on August 6, 2009 at 6:12 PM
Astroturf can be kinda rough on the knees, but then Nan and Harry already know this.
Kissmygrits on August 6, 2009 at 6:23 PM
I believe that bridge was crossed a looooong time ago. Progressive group-think good; conservative thought = lower than Satan.
alwaysright43 on August 6, 2009 at 6:24 PM
The land swindler Reid speaks.
tarpon on August 6, 2009 at 6:27 PM
Harry Reid is a tired, confused old man. He’s going to be pushing a shopping cart around Wal Mart and bitching about too many carrots in his jello salad before too long.
BigWyo on August 6, 2009 at 6:32 PM
Notice how we’re still bombing the crap out of Taliban strongholds, but nary an Anti-War Rally in sight?
Funny how that goes, almost as if they were ginned up by someone. If only we knew the ANSWER to that question.
Techie on August 6, 2009 at 6:36 PM
This war(against the Public) is lost
TheVer on August 6, 2009 at 6:38 PM
I’m suprised the Vegas Mob allows this fool to represent them since his Pinnochio Presidente is bent on driving away business, or does the Chicago mob run the Vegas Mob?
dhunter on August 6, 2009 at 6:40 PM
GOP quit screwing around with the DEMS.HIt them straight on.Tell them they’ve lied to America regarding the tax payers funding abortion. Hit them with that OVER & OVER.
Jeff from WI on August 6, 2009 at 6:45 PM
That’s EXACTLY what this is. They WON gdammit, they don’t care about silly constituents, especially if they’re conservative constituents. It’s all about the power. And if this fails, which I believe it will, they will have no power. I’ve never seen this type of madness in all my life, the propaganda, the trickery, the lies, the corruption, the arrogrance…the snitchery. They’re going to fall, and they’re going to fall hard. Americans don’t take kindly to this kind of bullying. We won’t have it.
scalleywag on August 6, 2009 at 6:55 PM
Harry ‘Astroturf’ Reid’s War.
All Drama Obama.
I hope they FLAIL!!!!!!!
Please pass the beers!
TN Mom on August 6, 2009 at 7:01 PM
Henry Waxman always makes me think of Golum from The Lord Of The Rings movies.
As far as the anger being “astroturfed” well if the Dems say so it must be true since they are turfing experts (not).
I think 2010 and 2012 are going to be interesting election cycles even IF President Obama is able to win a second term…he will get to discover how hard it is to govern with a hostile congress and a hostile public.
JKotthoff on August 6, 2009 at 7:11 PM
Yes. He lives in the White House now.
jana on August 6, 2009 at 7:16 PM
Why no photos of Harry with his little prop [the astroturf, I mean]?
Claire on August 6, 2009 at 7:42 PM
Hey look, the dead have risen.
Reid reeks of formaldyhdye.
Worst Senate Majority Leader ever.
NoDonkey on August 6, 2009 at 7:50 PM
Hairball Reid is a butt berry. Screw him. How about “Cash for Old Wives” trade-in program? Trade them in for anything. Let’s get this economy moving!
jarhead0311 on August 6, 2009 at 8:01 PM
Recent polls suggest that you did not miss anything. We’ll find out for sure 2010 and 2012. Real debates about cap and crap, and health
careinsurance reform and government acquisitions of private capital, these are not being shut down by the fog machine in DC. The crummy economy, the failed stimulus, and all this Dem social engineering over-reach place attention squarely on government.The last thing Democrats want is for the people to be paying attention as Barry’s coattails whither away. It’s like they climbed way far out on this limb and are just now beginning to realize its flimsiness. A bear definitely has more sense than a donkey.
exdeadhead on August 6, 2009 at 8:03 PM
this should work
grapeknutz on August 6, 2009 at 8:05 PM
http://www.hardwareworld.com/10-Tine-Manure-Fork-p9W7ANE.aspx
grapeknutz on August 6, 2009 at 8:07 PM
You know they claimed Bush tried to stifle speech . He HAD NOTHING on today’s DEMOCRATS. I do question the DEMS patriotism!!!!!!
CWforFreedom on August 6, 2009 at 8:13 PM
OT But this is a very telling vote today by the Senate!!
http://michellemalkin.com/2009/08/06/roll-call-vote-senate-rejects-cash-for-clunkers-aid-to-charities-and-poor/
stacy on August 6, 2009 at 8:37 PM
Hey, did you guys get your checks from the RNC or Rupert Murdoch yet? I’ve been checking the mailbox for days now…
Dr. ZhivBlago on August 7, 2009 at 3:24 AM
Again, sorry if I’m repeating someone but…
Hey, Harry, project much?
SKYFOX on August 7, 2009 at 8:18 AM
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