One Nation: The left tries to mimic the Tea Party again

First there was the Coffee Party which was suppose to be this great grassroots movement based on coffee, civility and the end to gridlock, that was suppose to act as a counterweight to the Tea Party movement. You haven’t heard a peep from that bunch of astrotrufers after the glowing and fawning media reports ended.

Now the left is trying again to counter the Tea Party movement by bringing all their radical cabals together under the title of One Nation. 

Washington Post: In an effort to replicate the tea party's success, 170 liberal and civil rights groups are forming a coalition that they hope will match the movement's political energy and influence. They promise to "counter the tea party narrative" and help the progressive movement find its voice again after 18 months of floundering.

The large-scale attempt at liberal unity, dubbed "One Nation," will try to revive themes that energized the progressive grassroots two years ago. In a repurposing of Barack Obama's old campaign slogan, organizers are demanding "all the change" they voted for -- a poke at the White House.[…]

The groups involved represent the core of the first-time voters who backed President Obama -- including the National Council of La Raza, NAACP, AFL-CIO, SEIU and the United States Student Association. (The effort is separate from the Democratic Party'splan to spend $50 million trying to reach those same voters.) 

I don’t know about you, but I smell another epic fail in the making. The problem for the left is that there is no over arching theme to tie all their victim groups together. The Tea Party has an over arching theme of opposing Washington Gone Wild, but what does the left have?

To complicate matter for the left, they had the power for two years to execute the kind of Hope and Change they wanted.  In their attempt to do so, the opposition to their plans is what helps fuels the Tea Party to this day. So the harder they try with One Nation, the more passionate the Tea Party will become.

I suspect that One Nation will follow in the footsteps of the Coffee Party. The media will dole out tremendous fanfare and praise only to see One National fail to live up to the hype (much like the current White House occupant).

Via: Memeorandum

Via: The Washington Post 

So much for civility, Newsweek looks at the Coffee Party

One month after the much-ballyhooed Coffee Party gatherings, Newsweek interviews Annabelle Park, leader of the Astroturf Coffee Party.  What we learn is that Coffee Party members are, surprise, surprise, hardcore lefties who do not want civility but payback. 

Newsweek: When Annabel Park imagined what it would be like to head a new national political movement, here is what she had in mind: a coming together of engaged, intelligent citizens who had tired of the angry rhetoric and accusations of the Tea Partiers; Americans of all political persuasions joining in a spirit of equanimity to discuss the nation's problems, and maybe even share a laugh. It was this beautiful vision that danced in Park's head on a recent Saturday as she made her way to Busboys and Poets, a cafe in Washington, D.C., for one of nearly 500 Coffee Party meetings taking place nationwide that day. She knew the house would be full—word had spread quickly on the group's swelling Facebook page. Park, a documentary filmmaker, was especially pleased that C-Span had arranged to broadcast the meeting.

But from the moment folks in the crowd stood up to speak their minds, Park knew these people had not come to sip cappuccinos and set an example of civility for an overheated nation. They were angry. They hated the Tea Party, and the Republican Party. They wanted to get even. One audience member said America was under the thumb of oligarchs and denounced "moneyed interests." A few people hissed when Sarah Palin's name was mentioned. Also on hand were the usual suspects drawn to the C-Span bat signal. A man representing Code Pink, the left-wing protest group, said that "racism was the basis for everything that's going on right now." He also seemed to have a real problem with "fear-based rhetoric" and Northrop Grumman.

Park, a 42-year-old Korean-American with a smile that can only be described as "kind," regularly tried to steer the talk back to the group's more centrist principles. But when someone asked how many people in the room were Republicans, all 80 hands remained down. "I like the civility idea, but I hate the Tea Party people," said attendee Karen Anderson. By the end of the event, some in the crowd had decided the movement, barely two months old at the time, needed a new leader. China Dickerson, a 26-year-old community organizer, said the Coffee Party wouldn't last "unless we get someone a little more powerful to head it." She wanted a rabble-rouser, "not someone that says we can all work together." Park seemed a little rattled after the meeting. "If they want to fire me, this may not be the group for them," she said later. "We don't want conflict and confrontation."

Well so much for that bi-partisan civility nonsense. The media has made much noise about the “anger” of the Tea Parties. This so called anger is really passion. Passion against what many see as an illogical direction the nation has taken, large deficits, wild spending and a congress that is interested in issues best suited for its immediate needs rather than the people’s immediate needs.

To think one could counter the Tea Party’s passion with quietly sipping coffee and making signs is pretty ridiculous.  Of course, most of the folks who showed up for the Coffee Party kick off would be hardcore lefties looking to combat the coffee party.  Given the Coffee Party’s Astroturf roots, aren’t angry lefties what they were going for from the start?

I don’t see the Coffee Party growing into anything more than numbers on a Facebook page. Unless they rip the mask off and come out as angry leftist looking to support Obama’s hard left agenda and challenge the Tea Parties, many will simply lose interest in it and move on.

Via: Memeorandum

Via: Newsweek

Video: The Coffee Party infiltrated

Lee Doren from the very popular YouTube channel How The World Works, joined one of the Coffee Party meetings on Saturday and this is what he found.

The Tea Party has nothing to fear from the Coffee Party. These guys are lethargic as all get out! They look bored silly. How many do you think will bother to show up to the next meeting? 

Did you notice how these leftists couldn’t even come up with a their own signs without using collectivism?  They have to vote on a message!  By the time they collectively vote on what to be “civilly” outraged over, the Tea Parties would have bounced Obama’s butt all the way back to Chicago!

Notice how these Coffee flavored Kool Aid drinkers are not very well informed. They all talk in generalities and are clueless that they live in a republic and not a democracy. So many of the Tea Partiers I have met can cite actual legislation they oppose, the true amount of the national debt, what the current unemployment and underemployment rates are and so on. I doubt any of those Coffee drinkers know half that.

Also notice how few hands went up when the black woman leading the group asked about supporting the president. For a leftwing Astroturf movement, this does not bode well.

When I first found out the Coffee Party was Astroturf, my first reaction was that it was designed to cultivate a new batch of Hope Dopes.  Judging from the clueless folks gathered here, I would say the Coffee Party have plenty of raw material to work with.

Video h/t: American Power

The Coffee Party: Even the diversity is Astroturf!

As you read the glowing reviews of the Coffee Party in the Washington Post, the New York Times, CNN or CBS, a single word keeps popping up and that word is “diversity”.  The word is used as a slap, if you will, towards the Tea Parties and to reinforce the media’s theme that Tea Parties are driven by racism.

Well, the folks over at The Powers That Be took the time to go over all the photos from yesterday’s Coffee Party kickoff and guess what they did not find much of? You got it, diversity!

From The Powers That Be: 

The likes of Keith Olbermann, Bill Maher, Janeane Garofalo and other pasty, whiffle-brained dingbats castigate the Tea Party movement as being nothing more than an all-white racist whine-fest featuring a bunch of crackers who just can’t stand the fact that a black guy has been elected president. There are actually many minorities involved in the Tea Party movement, but why bother the left with the facts?

Go through the large photo album from yesterday’s Coffee Parties. Say what you want, libs, but there’s an awful lot of cream in that coffee. [MORE] 

Here are some sample images The Powers That Be collected from the Coffee Party's website. They are from three blue states. In decending order we have my home state of New Jersey, blue state Meca California and lastly Obama’s own home state of Illinois.

There sure seems like there is a lot of cream in those cups of coffee! If you watch any video of the Coffee Party, from either the media or the Coffee Party itself, there always seems to be a black person prominently shown in one of the shots. Yet, when real pictures are used, there are hardly any blacks and in these cases none. Since the Coffee Party is pure Astroturf, should any of us be surprised they Astrotufed the diversity as well?

The Raaaaacism Industrial Complex could not be reached for comment.

Via: The Powers That Be

Thousands show for Kill The Bill rally, not so much for Coffee Party kickoff

Passion breeds momentum and in Minnesota they have the passion to see ObamaCare dead and buried. The Star Tribune reports that a rally held at the State Capitol grounds, headline by Rep. Michele Bachmann drew 2,000 to 4,000 (depending who you ask) protesters.

Ed Morrissey from Hot Air was also in attendance and he says there were more like 3,000 – 4,000 and he has the pictures and video to prove it. 

From Morrissey: I’m not a crowd-estimate expert, but clearly we had more than 2,000 people at the rally.  I spoke about halfway through the event and people were still walking up to the crowd after I finished.  I’ve taken images from video shot immediately after I left the stage, and I’ll let people guess for themselves.  These are taken from left to right of the crowd directly in front of the dais, which doesn’t capture at least a few hundred more on the wings and behind us: 

I’d have put the crowd somewhere between three and four thousand.  They were not just numerous — the largest rally I’ve personally attended at this venue — but also enthusiastic.  Some got a little overly enthusiastic, such as the few who brought actual pitchforks.  (They were asked to step to the back of the crowd.)  Almost every sign carried to the rally was homemade, as you can see from the pictures.  They all came out to the capital on a day where the temperature didn’t get above 40 degrees during the entire rally, and where a cold wind blew across the mall. 

More photos from the event can be found here.

Meanwhile yesterday also marked the national launch of the Coffee Party movement, which was lavished with praise by the media. Coffee Party coffee clutches sprang up all across America. The turn out was... eh. How about I let The Lonely Conservative tell you: 

A few dozen people are showing up at “coffee parties” and the main stream media acts like it’s news. In St. Louis 2300 people showed up to protest Obama, yet only 30 attended the first official coffee party in the same city. (Via Instapundit) Tampa’s coffee party didn’t attract many more, with only about 40 showing up. In Manhattan, they had to change venuesbecause of the large crowd – a whopping 20 people! I guess that’s nothing compared to the thousands who turned out for a Tea Party in Minnesota. 

Here is the video from the New York Coffee Party:

Only 20 people in New York City showed up? The first Tea Party in NYC last year drew 13,000! 13,000 Tea Partiers in a hardcore leftwing town like NYC and only 20 people bothered to attend the NYC Coffee Clutch. I guess even leftwing New Yorkers know Astroturf when they see it.

Via: Memeorandum

Via: The Star Tribune

Via: Hot Air

Via: The Lonely Conservative

Via: AOL News

Via: NewsBusters 

How come CNN cannot find the Astroturf behind the Coffee Party like Left Coast Rebel can?

Today CNN takes a crack at promoting the heavily Astroturf Coffee Party. CNN gives a glowing review of the party and glowing profiles of some of the members. CNN, a massive international news organization, with staff in the thousands cannot run a simple Google search like my buddy Left Coast Rebel.

Left Coast Rebel, a guy sitting in his house just like the rest of use can spend an hour or two of his free time and find the following:

• Stacy Hopkins is a black leftist radical.
• Alex Oxford is a big time gay rights activist.
• Tony Anderson has ties to Van Jones. 

Just imagine what Left Coast Rebel could find if CNN gave him an expense account!

CNN’s Coffee Party review equals an Epic Fail at best and collusion to left wing Astrotrufing as worst. Shame on you CNN!

Via: Memeorandum

Via: CNN

Via: Left Coast Rebel

UPDATED: The New York Times picks up on the Coffee Party

How is it that the New York Times can find the Coffee Party in its infancy and devote as much space to it as it did to the 750 Tea Parties that took place on April 15? There were much more people present at those Tea Parties than there are Coffee Party members. Heck, in NYC alone there were 13,000 protestors.

As I said in my last post on the Coffee Party, it is all Astroturf. All this synergy between the New York Times and the Washington Post reminds me of Yosi Sargent and his scheme to use the NEA.

Click here if you want to read the glowing review The New York Times gives to the Coffee Party.


UPDATE I: More proof of Astroturf


William Jacobson from Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion finds some very interesting Tweets from Coffee Party founder Annabel Park.  The Tweets indicate that Ms. Park is interested in undermining the Tea Party movement not fighting along side it.  Jacobson also discovers that Park has a New York Times connection. Click over to Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion and check out his discovery.


UPDATE II: Connections to the Obama Administration


Left Coast Rebel and Conservative Generation have stumbled upon Annabel Park's connection to the Obama administration via an individual named Kalpen Modi (stagename Kal Penn)

From Left Coast Rebel:

When last we saw Kalpen, he was sailing off into the rising Obama sun and leaving his acting job as Kutner on Fox’s TV show House to take a position in theObama administration. Kalpen Modi is now the associate director for the Office of Public Engagement. The purpose of Kalpen’s job is to coordinate with organizations associated with Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. An itinerary for a conference call sent by Kalpen to Asian Pacific Americans for Progress gives you an idea of how Obama is coordinating with these organizations. Kalpen's job in the Obama administration put him directly in contact with the same groups, organizations, and personal contacts as Annabel.

We broke the story last week that Annabel Park and Eric Byler had interviewed Kal Penn Modi for Obama propaganda during the 2008 campaign. However, Annabel’s friend Eric Byler may have known Kalpen previously (Perhaps while they were both speaking at an APA Five conference together). 

This Annabel-Kalpen connection creates a series of conundrums for the salivating MSMs, like the Washington Post and NY Times, who want to spin this AstroTurf group, the Coffee Party, as grassroots. How could the MSMs have known? Annabel said herself that the Coffee Party was grassroots, why do any investigative journalism? 

Read the full post at Left Coast Rebel.

Via: Memeorandum

Via: The New York Times
Via: Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion
Via: Left Coast Rebel

The Coffee Party: A Steaming Cup of Astroturf

The Washington Post has a big write up about a new and growing “grassroots” [more on this word in a minute] movement, The Coffee Party. Supposedly the Coffee Party is for all those disenfranchised citizens who are unhappy with government but do not subscribe to Tea Party tenets of small and limited government.

From the Coffee Party’s Facebook page, they state who they are: 

We are diverse--ethnically, geographically, politically, in age and in experience. 

We are 100% grassroots. No lobbyists here. No pundits. And no hyper-partisan strategists calling the shots in this movement. We are a spontaneous and collective expression of our desire to forge a political culture that is solution-oriented, not blame-oriented. 

We demand a government that responds to the needs of the majority of its citizens as expressed by our votes and by our voices; NOT corporate interests as expressed by misleading advertisements and campaign contributions.

We want a society in which democracy is treated as sacrosanct and ordinary citizens participate out of a sense of civic duty, civic pride, and a desire to contribute to society. The Coffee Party is a call to action. Our Founding Fathers and Mothers gave us an enduring gift --Democracy-- and we must use it to meet the challenges that we face as a nation.

The only real thing you have to know about the Coffee Party is that it isn’t 100% grassroots. As Left Coast Rebel easily found out, it is just another left wing Astroturf effort.  The Founder of the Coffee Party movement is Annabel Park and as Left Coast Rebel discovers: 

According to the article, the founder is Annabel Park. Of course it took only five minutes of google searching to expose the Astroturfhere. According to a youtube account, Park is also associated with Asian Americans for Obama. Below is a video of Parks interviewing Kal Penn, an actor who left the TV show House to work for Obama. 

Dig a little further and you find that Left Coast Rebel is correct. I went to The Coffee Party’s website and sure enough it is a snappy looking social network site, but the thing that immediately caught my eye was a poll they have there. The poll asks “in your opinion what is the most urgent issue”.  What do you think the majority of them picked?  Health care, of course!

The poll isn’t the only place where you find them pushing hard for health care reform.  A look at the comments on their Facebook page and you find heath care all over the place. Even this polished video by their LA chapter has all these folks talking about health care

How is it that all the major polls show the vast majority of Americans are concerned about jobs, the economy and the deficit, yet this so-called grassroots movement has health care as its number one concern? It is also very convenient that health care is also Obama’s number one concern.

If I had to guess, The Coffee Party is nothing more than another Astroturf effort designed to cultivate a new breed of Hope Dopes for 2012.

Via: Memeorandum

Via: The Washington Post

Via: Left Coast Rebel