The Body Snatchers is a 1955 science fiction novel by Jack Finney, originally serialized in Colliers Magazine in 1954, which describes the town of Mill Valley being invaded by seeds that have drifted to Earth from space. The seeds replace sleeping people with perfect physical duplicates grown from plantlike pods, while their human victims turn to dust.

The novel has been adapted for the screen four times; the first film in 1956, the second in 1978, the third in 1993, and the most recent in 2007. Unlike two of the film adaptations, the novel contains an optimistic ending, with the aliens voluntarily vacating after deciding that they cannot tolerate the type of resistance they see in the main characters.

The so-called October 2 Progressives rally  to counter the Tea Party appears to be an attempt to remake the movie in 2010. The cast of those whose bodies have already been snatched were bused in (and reportedly) paid to create a crowd.  This video reveals both the size of the crowd (tiny) and their enthusiasm (none).

John Clute, from The Science Fiction Encyclopedia, was quoted by Wikipedia. His evaluation seems eerily appropriate as a description of the participants in the rally.

Horrifyingly depicts the invasion of a small town by interstellar spores that duplicate human beings, reducing them to dust in the process; the menacing spore-people who remain symbolize, it has been argued, the loss of freedom in contemporary society.

Even the speakers appear to have had their bodies snatched. Welcome to the 2010 remake of the movie:

Monty Pelerin blogs at www.economicnoise.com