Astroturf Dissonance



I remember reading Godfrey Hodgson's, "America in Our Times: From World War II to Nixon" (New York: Doubleday, 1978), where he described how well the sixties radicals used the media, and how, if one approach seemed to fail, they quickly tried something else. They never kept pushing a failing meme.

The Republican radicals of the 80's and 90's were pretty good at this too. Failures were quickly and quietly dropped.

Since 2004, though, the Republican radicals have lost their touch. Granted, it's hard to carry these things out on the very big national stage. But still, times change, and even though they initially sound great when sitting around the living room coffee table, certain ideas are hard to push. These astroturf 'tea parties' are a failing meme and should be abandoned.