Talk:Tea Party
Astroturf Origins
Writing for the Hufington Post in 2013, Eric Zuesse reveals that the Tea Party was founded as a "bogus astroturf movement". The brainchild of Citizens for a Sound Economy (an organization founded by Koch Industries interests), a U.S. Tea Party movement was first announced under the heading "Cool Stuff" on the CSE webpage in 2002.[1] It was listed as a "special project" by CSE, and the page featured calls for donations as well as an interactive game where the visitor dumps crates of tea into Boston Harbor while Tom Daschle, at the time Senate Majority Leader, stands on the wharf sporting a red coat, and demanding "all the money". In 2006, a Samuel Adams Alliance was launched as a "premier networking station for citizens ... who want to make real change and put citizens back in government."[1] The CEO was Eric_O'Keefe, a right-wing political operative with deep ties to the Koch brothers. The Sam Adams Alliance would soon spawn numerous tea party organizations.
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Eric Zuesse, "Final Proof The Tea Party Was Founded As A Bogus AstroTurf Party," Huffington Post, October 22, 2013.
