By Lindsay Beyerstein, Media Consortium Blogger

The Senate Finance Committee is slogging through literally hundreds of proposed amendments to the Baucus health care reform bill. The bill still doesn't have a public option, but there's a good chance that insurance subsidies will be revised upwards, as Steve Benen of the Washington Monthly reports.

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It is amazing how often this primary season has prompted me to haul out a spyglass to peer back into my life. A lot of the memories are soft focus now, a little more so with each passing year; but the time period from the early 60's to the end of the 70's is when I was young. And I hold the recollections of this time to be dear, shared only with intimates. I have never written about them although I am a fierce critic of those who do.

The tale of the 60's and 70's  has never been told to my satisfaction probably because I keep seeking my story, and it is never there.  I was more political than a flower child. Free love and drugs were ok, if that was your thing, and I smoked grass, especially when I went dancing; but to me this aspect of the era was more incidental than substantial. Love-ins, flower power, bell bottoms and tambourines were the trappings. The meat of  the era was Political and no song summed it up better than "Something Happening Here" by  Buffalo Springfield:  

There's something happening here
What it is ain't exactly clear
There's a man with a gun over there
Telling me I got to beware

I think it's time we stop, children, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down

There's battle lines being drawn
Nobody's right if everybody's wrong
Young people speaking their minds
Getting so much resistance from behind

I think it's time we stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down

What a field-day for the heat
A thousand people in the street
Singing songs and carrying signs
Mostly say, hooray for our side

It's time we stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down

Paranoia strikes deep
Into your life it will creep
It starts when you're always afraid
You step out of line, the man come and take you away

We better stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
Stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
Stop, now, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
Stop, children, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down

The song captures an entire gestalt, the mindset of a generation not only committed to ending a war of intervention, but also determined to make the world into a better, safer, more humane place. One fit for children and animals, which was a slogan one often saw on posters.  But we were not self conscious about it. People rarely wrote things down.  No one imagined how this time in our lives would become almost mythological. We all believed the way it was is the way it would always be. I didn't write much either. In those days I was just a face in the crowd. I listened, clapped, carried signs, and cheered others. This was fine with me. I didn't aspire to more of a role. The working class part of me remained a little withheld. It took a lot for me to break the law; so many others were way ahead of me.  And yet it seems to me now, that I was there, at so many of the Big Moments.

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With Chris Bowers and Matt Stoller headed out, I thought now would be a good time to voice some of my own concerns (as a relative newcomer here) about what has happened to MyDD, and why, in my opinion, it has lost a lot of "authenticity" as an online community. I have two specific complaints, both of which have been covered heavily already but which have recently become significantly more degrading to the community. They are: the Hillary astroturfing, and the anti-Obama/ ring-kissing complex embodied in Jerome's assault on Obama.

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Cross-posted from Blue Jersey

New Hampshire beware! Jill Hazelbaker is coming to a blog near you!

Jill Hazelbaker, battle tested in New Jersey this year as Tom Kean Jr.'s Communications Director, is headed to John McCain's presidential campaign. She will serve as Communications Director for McCain's campaign in New Hampshire.

Last September, Hazelbaker spent valuable work time posing as a Democrat on Blue Jersey -- from Junior's office!

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Guest blogger: Paull Young.

Paull is known for creating Australia's first student PR blog, Young PR, and has been heavily involved at Forward -- an online springboard for new and upcoming PR professionals. Paull started the Anti Astroturfing Campaign together with Trevor Cook of Corporate Engagement in July this year.

...to view the articele with links go to Blog Campaigning

What is Astroturfing?

Astroturfing is the practice of creating fake entities that appear to be real grassroots organizations, when in fact they are the work of people or groups with hidden motives and identities.

Astroturfing is a deceptive and deceitful practice - and while it is often blamed on public relations, it is really only carried out by unethical individuals who lack the savvy and intelligence to persuade people with an honest argument.

Leading Australian PR blogger Trevor Cook and I started the anti-astroturfing campaign to tackle the issue. We aimed to lead a debate on the issue amongst PR bloggers and encourage PR practitioners, professional associations and big PR agencies to confront and oppose the practice. If you're new to the topic - visit the anti-astroturfing campaign to view a huge collection of resources focusing on the topic.

How is astroturfing used in politics?

Astroturfing is used for political purposes more than any other. This is because a real grassroots organization is an extremely powerful political entity. If people care enough about an issue to organize around it, it will hold great political power.

It is incredibly difficult to create a real grassroots organization. A large number of people need to passionately care about an issue to organize around it, and even if there are large numbers of people who believe in a certain issue - this does not mean that they will necessarily organize around it.

As a result, unethical operators will (on occasion) try to create an illusion of real grassroots support in order to influence people through deception. It is much easier to create a fake organization and try to make it look real then to help nurture and give voice to real opinions from real people.

So while the building of grassroots support for an issue is a valuable communication tactic - helping give voice to real opinions held by real people. The creation of Astroturf groups - putting forward fake opinions or using fake people to promote a cause with hidden motives - is not.

Astroturfing and online communication

New online tools make astroturfing much easier to carry out, but they also make it much more difficult to get away with.

In an environment where anyone can create an authentic looking website, blog, podcast or vlog; it is extremely easy for astroturfing groups to create a seemingly authentic fake organization. It is easy to hide your identity or put forward your point of view with anonymity; and the ease of creating fake people or putting forward false viewpoints is attractive to unethical operators attempting to promote an unpopular cause.

However, the nature of the blogosphere means that astroturf operations are often gleefully uncovered - much to the chagrin of the scoundrels hiding behind them. Blogs are successful because of their authentic voice and passionate ideas held by real people. Anything that doesn't ring true or appear authentic will be investigated and uncovered. There is an army of bloggers out there who understand that astroturfing undermines everything they believe in - and they won't be backwards in attacking fakes in their neighbourhood.

An Example: The Infamous Al Gore YouTube video

My points above are demonstrated by the well known `March of the Penguin Army' episode.

A video was posted on YouTube (apparently made by a real, concerned individual acting on his own beliefs) that was highly critical of Al Gore's views on climate change. This eventually caught the attention of a Wall Street Journal reporter, who noticed that the video was advertised on Google. Why would a supposedly amateur video have advertisements?

The industrious Post reporter contacted the individual who posted the video. They claimed to be a college student and refused an interview. The reporter then dug a little deeper and found that the `college student's' email address stemmed from Washington PR firm DCI Group. And one of DCI Groups major clients? Exxon - who have a vested interest in opposing climate change.

This led to a blog storm and you can read all the coverage on this page at the anti-astroturfing campaign.

This example shows just how easy it is to kick off an astroturfing campaign online - but it also shows how easy it is to get caught, and the justifiable anger and disgust that results.

For more information on astroturfing, spend some time investigating the many resources available at the anti-astroturfing campaign page.

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