UPDATED: MARCH 16 OFA GATHERING AT MELISSA BEAN'S OFFICE

UPDATE, March 16, 2010: Cong. Bean hears from both sides on health care Illinois Review Health Care Fight Erupts Outside Melissa Bean's Office NBC Chicago Hundreds hold suburban Chicago health-care protest KWQC 6 Health care demonstrators converge on Bean's office Chicago Daily Herald ------------ Email from Dave Seman, IL at BarackObama.com: This Tuesday, March 16th, OFA supporters will be gathering to show their support for reform outside of Congresswoman Melissa Bean's Schaumburg office. Opponents of reform will be out in force. So we need to show that Illinoisians support the President's proposal and will fight for members of Congress who support reform. Can you join us? Please RSVP now. Here are the details: What: Final March for Reform Office Visit Where: Congresswoman Melissa Bean's Schaumburg Office 1701 East Woodfield Rd. Suite 200 Schaumburg, IL 60173 When: Tuesday, March 16th 11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Please RSVP here: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Thanks, Dave Seman Illinois State Director NOTE: Ah, no, I won't give out the RSVP link. Whose side do you think I'm on?!? Leave a Comment * Conservative T-Shirts * Follow CNB on Twitter * RSS Feed

Baxter Swilley, Astroturf Poster Boy

*** Update, April 3, 2010 - Disgruntled Democrats Join Tea Party (CNN) *** Seems I started a small firestorm with my March 11 post about the astroturfed Coffee Party. In the post "Fake Grassroots, Coffee Party USA National Kickoff Day, March 13" I examined a Coffee Party event in Chicago's ultra-liberal Rogers Park neighborhood and its organizer, Baxter Swilley. Since that post, major bloggers (and friends) John Ruberry of Marathon Pundit, Anne Leary of Backyard Conservative and Warner T. Huston at Publius' Forum, Right Wing News, The Reality Check and StopTheACLU linked to it on March 12. On March 13, Hot Trending Topics picked up on it. On March 14, the Swilley aspect of the story was picked up by these major bloggers: Northern Gleaner, Ed Driscoll, Instapundit, Riehl World, Keyboard Militia and Narbosa.com and Strangeness and Charm. BigJournalism.com also posted about it, even reproducing the Swilley "press release" in full -- I'm the guy who alerted the author of that post to the Swilley Coffee Party and forwarded the Swilley press release to him). Swilley is suddenly a hot topic for national discussion. That's not to say he hasn't gotten a lot of press in the past, but previous mentions were always local or regional for his work with Democrat candidates (such as Scott Lee Cohen) or causes (Citizens for 2016, promoting the Olympics bid). Now, however, Swilley is being written about nationally, and for a dubious reason: Swilley is suddenly a poster boy for astroturfing. He, like many others, sent out a pre-fab form document that was intended to look like a grassroots announcement of a local get-together for people interested in the Coffee Party. The results of the big national Coffee Party caffeine orgy is typified by liberal blog posts such as one from "Yogchick." She professes, in her blog's banner, to be "bipolar + on lots of drugs." What does the drugged out Yogchick say about her Coffee Party experience? Could it be that there is finally a populist backlash against the pseudo-populist Tea Party Movement? I certainly hope so. For the past twelve months, Americans have watched them hijack the country’s collective voice as they marched on Washington with their thinly veiled racist signs and fucked up conspiracy theories. Yogchick also wrote about attending her first Coffee Party, in the tony Lincoln Park neighborhood of Chicago, on March 14. Amusingly, she wrote this: The Tea Party people resent the Republicans bailing out Wall Street and progressive Democrats resent how their party sold out healthcare reform to the insurance companies while abandoning the public option. We have the same frustrations and can work for the same solutions. This begs an important question: If she's in such agreement with the Tea Party, why swig Democrat Kool-Aid at a Coffee Party? The answer is, in part contained within the question: All that Kool-Aid (and those drugs she brags about taking) have made her compliant and susceptible to the Left's message that the Tea Parties are evil. Therefore, even with "the same frustrations and can work for the same solutions," Yogchick and those like her just cannot bring themselves to associate with those whom they have been brainwashed into thinking of as the Enemy. That, and the fact that the Tea Partiers tend to have more of an affinity for heavy metal rock, as opposed to the granola-crunching folksy music preferred by those who gravitate toward the Coffee Party. Perhaps Yogchick would understand that the Tea Party did not "hijack the country's collective voice," but actually represents a huge swath of the American citizenry. In her drug-induced haze, Yogchick and many like her mistakenly think that there is a single, monolithic "Tea Party." There is not, of course, whereas the "Coffee Party" is just that: A central, controlling authority that pulls the strings and calls the shots. Not so with the Tea Party movement, a loosely associated gaggle of hundreds of groups nationwide - often quarreling with each other - and none answering to a national central committee. Indeed, that's part of the appeal to the conservatives and many moderates who participate in Tea Party groups. On the other hand, Coffee Party members tend to be Leftists and liberals (excuse me, "progressives") who actually take comfort in a central committee, which explains their love of Big Government and, for many, an adoration of figures such as Fidel Castro, Hugo Chavez and even Josef Stalin. The Tea Party movement was a spontaneous grassroots phenomenon that caught on like wildfire. The Coffee Party, in contrast, has been highly orchestrated from its inception and continues to be directed in the same way that Organizing for America (OFA) pull the strings of its followers. Central command and control. Emphasis on control. Remember that Yogchick said that she and the Coffee Partiers "have the same frustrations and can work for the same solutions" as the Tea Party? That was a lie on her part, of course. The sad thing about it is that she and her coffee sipping comrades probably do not understand how or why it's a lie. Try this if you're fortunate enough to find yourself engaged in conversation with a coffee gulper: Ask them how they feel about tax cuts. RELATED: Coffee Party Astroturfer Baxter Swilley Has Missouri Roots Keyboard Militia Coffee, Coffee, Coffee... Rogers Park in 1000 words Video: Coffee Party Group Therapy Session at Ironic Surrealism v3.0 Donald Douglas destroys the Coffee Party phonies! The Daley Gator No Blacks Seen Anywhere, Is "Coffee Party" Racist? Politik Ditto National Coffee Party Day flops Western Journalism.com The Right Coast Girl Takes on the Coffee Party USA Left Coast Rebel CoffeePartyUSA's photostream Coffee Party Deconstructed! The Coffee Party: Try Not to Laugh -Part 1 Leave a Comment * Conservative T-Shirts * Follow CNB on Twitter * RSS Feed

OFA's Astroturf Health Care Phone Banks

Oh, looky what Barack Obama - uh, I mean Organizing For America (OFA) - sent me. The same bastards - uh, I mean Democrats - who accuse opponents of government controlled, socialist healthcare of astroturfing continue to lay astroturf across the nation. Here's an email that I received on Monday, which talks about a "Health Care Phone Bank" in Chicago suburb Evanston. Of course, emails will be tailored to tout local phone banks depending on recipients' zip codes. Here's the letter from Barack OFAma. I mean Obama. Uh, I mean OFA. Same thing, really. Why bother with the phone banks, though? Now that thousands of ACORN thugs will not be doing Census work, perhaps Obama/OFA could pay each of them a living wage to pick up the phone and harangue people. From: "Dave Seman, IL.BarackObama.com" Monday, September 14, 2009 Tom -- With Congress back in session, we're now entering the final sprint towards reform, and we need to do everything we can to help pass the President's Plan for Health Reform. So this week and next, Organizing for America volunteers are holding phone banks in Evanston to build local support and get out the facts about health insurance reform. Will you sign up to join a Health Care Phone Bank? We'll be holding phone banks in Evanston asking folks to support President Obama's Plan for Health Reform, and to make their voices heard in this debate. No prior experience is necessary. Organizing for America volunteers will be on hand to provide all the materials and guidance you'll need to be successful. As President Obama wrote recently, "We didn't win last year's election together at a committee hearing in D.C. We won it on the doorsteps and the phone lines, at the softball games and the town meetings, and in every part of this great country where people gather to talk about what matters most." And that's exactly how we'll win this fight for real health reform. RSVP here Hope to see you there, Dave Dave Seman Illinois State Director Organizing for America Here's something Dave left out of his email. "We're not looking for a fight. That will come later, when we have an army." Cool Hats & Shirts for Cool Conservatives Leave a Comment... Chicago News Bench RSS Feed We're on Twitter...

Video - Liberals Wanted Violence at Schakowsky Town Hall

August 31, 2009 - Skokie, IL - Union thugs and Democrat Party operatives did their best to provoke a fight, but the loyal opposition maintained their cool and prevailed. Over 1,000 lined up to attend the much-anticipated town hall meeting hosted by U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) at Niles West High School in the northern Chicago suburb of Skokie. Continued below video... Some of the pro-health care reform people, which included SEIU thugs and Democrat Party operatives, tried to incite a physical confrontation with anti-health care reform protesters after the town hall ended. One goon kept shouting that the "American people are stupid mentally" (is there another kind of stupid?) and "I love Obama," while another goon actually leaned on an anti-reform protester in an attempt to provoke physical confrontation. The encounter is fascinating to watch and proves beyond doubt that the pro-Obamacare forces are crude, thuggish punks. (There were no "YouTube moments" in the town hall itself. Schakowsky repeated what she's already said a thousand times about health care.) ALSO SEE: Health Care Protester Pwns Lefty Cameraman Cool Hats & Shirts for Cool Conservatives Leave a Comment... Chicago News Bench RSS Feed We're on Twitter...

OFA Astroturfing Big Time for Schakowsky

Chicago News Bench was at the townhall at Niles West High School on August 31. We will have photos and video for you on Tuesday, Sept. 1st. Get ready for The Battle of August 31, when opposing forces converge at the Schakowsky healthcare townhall in Skokie, Illinois. Organizing For America (OFA), a thinly veiled Obama operation, is working overtime to get as many pro-socialized healthcare supporters to the event as possible. I received a slick email today (click image to enlarge). This is massive, highly organized, well-funded "astroturfing," the very thing that Obama and Pelosi and Frank and the rest have wrongly assused us of doing. Hey, is Chicago News Bench any more than a gnat compared to OFA? We're organic. They are astroturf. U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-9th District) Town Hall Meeting Monday, August 31-----6:30 - 8:00 pm Niles West High School Auditorium 5701 Oakton Street, Skokie, IL 60077 (click for map) Enter school through the main entrance facing Oakton. Arrive early to get a seat. Cool Hats & Shirts for Cool Conservatives Leave a Comment... Chicago News Bench RSS Feed We're on Twitter...

Astroturfing Jan Schakowsky

Still more stunning evidence of Democrats setting up fake events, organizing "grassroots" rallies in support of Obama's health reform initiatives. Isn't "astroturfing" what they accuse conservatives of doing? Why, yes it is! Read the email below from Organizing For America (OFA), a Democrat tool organization, in which people are encouraged to visit the offices of U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky, wife of convicted felon Robert Creamer. Also See: MoveOn's Outside Agitators Jobs Program and Nancy and the Astroturfers OFA Astroturfing Schakowsky Chicago Are YOU a citizen of the United STRAIGHTS of America? Leave a Comment... Chicago News Bench RSS Feed We're on Twitter...

MoveOn's Outside Agitators Jobs Program

We've recently heard Democrat Party princes and princesses lie through their teeth by falsely claiming that ordinary Americans who voice opposition to Obama's health care programs are "astroturf." Astroturf means faked grassroots supporters (we called them "outside agitators" in the 1960s and 70s). The reality is that Democrats and their thug allies (ACORN, SEIU, etc.) have been astroturfing since decades before the term was coined. Here is an example of recentl astroturfing by thugs in support of Obama comes from MoveOn.org (by way of friend Chris Barkulis at Right Not Wrong):

We've hired skilled grassroots organizers who are working with thousands of local volunteers to show Congress that ordinary Americans continue to support President Obama's agenda for change. And we're building new online tools to track events across the country and make sure MoveOn members turn out at each one.

"Grassroots organizers," they call them, but what they don't say is that they decend like locusts on a town or city from all over the country, ready to whip the locals into a frenzied goosestep. (SEE: Astroturfing Jan Schakowsky) Perhaps most telling is the last sentence in that excerpt: "And we're building new online tools to track events across the country....and make sure MoveOn members turn out at each one." Sure, whether the MoveOn members are actually constituents of that Member of Congress or not. Doesn't matter to MoveOn or to the Democrats. Warm bodies are warm bodies, whether they're astroturf or organic grassroots. Nevertheless, the Dems and their allies cynically lie by falsely accusing conservatives of doing exactly what they have done - and are doing - so well. Hillary Clinton and others on the Left could screech that dissent is patriotic while Bush was president, but now that conservatives are the dissenters.... well, that's quite unacceptable, you know. Hillary Clinton she realizes that MoveOn.org is a thug organization, as she said herself. But she's been hypocritical about that, too. In 2007, when she was seeking MoveOn's endorsment for her presidential run, she praised them. But after MoveOn endorsed Obama and subsequently harassed her, accused them of intimidating her supporters . (CNN video report here.) As Chris Barkulis notes near the end of his post, "Move On just admitted to HIRING people to push their agenda (aka SOCIALISM) wherever they need to peddle their lies. This shows they will go anywhere regardless of what Congressional District they reside in." Moveon.org never really did move on, by way. They're still bitter about the 2000 presidential election to this very day and are rumored to be planning the violent overthrow of the United States government ever since. They might be working on a nuclear device, but we were not able to confirm that at press time. RELATED: MoveOn.org targets Barrow over health care vote Obama perpetuates old politics he vowed to change Editorial: Don't demonize health care protests, listen to them Democratic Thugs Declare War on Conservatives Remember when protest was patriotic? World burns, ObamaCare churns Obama vs. the 'Outside Agitators' The Obama Thug Plan Are YOU a citizen of the United STRAIGHTS of America? Leave a Comment... Chicago News Bench RSS Feed We're on Twitter...