Breaking the Obama astroturfing story

By Phil Boehmke

Sabrina Eaton at The Cleveland Plain Dealer broke the Ellie Light story on Friday, revealing that more than a dozen different newspapers featured strikingly similar letters to the editor in support of President Obama.. Each of the pro-Obama letters was written by an area resident named Ellie Light. Having noticed this anomaly Ms. Eaton started digging and in the course of her investigation she tracked down the person known as Ellie Light. Ms... Eaton and Ellie exchanged a number of emails and eventually Ellie confessed.

So the reason why I expanded my submission was because I found that editors were eager to present a point of view on the topic that wasn't so overheated and angry. Indeed, I think the viewpoint that my letter expressed was less important to the editors than the even and non-emotional tone.

No explanation was offered for the subterfuge in using multiple false addresses in shot-gunning her Obamaganda across the country.

In the days since the article first appeared, the news has spread at light speed across the Internet. Bloggers and tweeters have uncovered 64 letters to the editor (so far) from Ellie Light. From Philadelphia to San Francisco and all across the fruited plain Ellie's letters have been uncovered.

I can only wonder how many Ellie Lights are out there? Have others been more clever in using different names as well as addresses? How wide spread is this propaganda war? Clarice Feldman brought a similar plot to our attention Sunday morning in American Thinker by highlighting an NRO blog by Hans von Spakovsky from October 6, 2009 which revealed a similar propaganda plot at the DOJ.

In reflecting upon this covert AstroTurf operation I recalled a posting by Caleb Howe that appeared in Red State on August 9, 2009. Mr. Howe shined the light of truth on hundreds of employment postings seeking activists to spread the word in support of Obamacare. Red State listed quite a number of these employment opportunities, my personal favorite was posted on newyork craigslist on August 3, 2009 (www.JobsThatMatter.org). These paid positions to work on grassroots campaigns included.

Campaign Coordinators work closely with the directors to develop and implement winning campaign tactics, such as organizing the media, building coalitions, and writing letters to the editor.

Hmmmm, imagine getting paid to write letters to the editor. Not a bad gig in this economy, does it pay by the letter? That certainly sheds some light on the subject.

Many of us, myself included have been highly critical of the MSM and their pandering to the left, but let me take this opportunity to thank Sabrina Eaton for her persistence and professionalism in investigating the Ellie Light letters.

January 24th 2009

Phil Boehmke/philbepreston@yahoo.com