Rare News Desk
The newly minted Everytown movement held a rally in Indianapolis while the National Rifle Association held their annual convention last weekend. Upon closer examination, the rally was less a spontanteous outpouring of concerned citizens, and more an example of an “astroturf” movement.
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Everytown is a combination of former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s Mayors Against Illegal Guns and Shannon Watts’ Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense In America. Open to the public, though poorly advertised and sparsely attended, the rally attempted to highlight the need for more background checks and to shame those who oppose their views.
Here are three tell-tale signs that the rally you’re attending has no real grassroots support at all.
1 – There is an empty school bus idling a block away.
People who care about your cause show up in a host of ways. The school bus, however, is the key sign of bringing in people to have a well attended event. We’ve seen countless union events where members are bussed in from all over. Seems Everytown has copied the same astroturf plan
Is it possible that the bus was just passing through? Sure…maybe it was…on a Saturday…at 10am…right next to an Everytown rally. Sure.
2 – Provide everyone a box lunch.
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At tea party events across the nation, you’d be hard pressed to find a rally where organizers bought everyone lunch. Being capitalists by nature, they would have invited food trucks and other vendors to sell their wares. Or, believing that people are capable of taking care of themselves, organizers would have let people bring their own food.
Only at astroturf events do organizers have to bribe attendees with food.
3 – Your “leader” has three armed bodyguards and leaves in a chauffeur driven SUV with New York plates.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQXzGcUSbVY]
Shannon Watts, the face of Moms Demand Action and Everytown, spoke with all the press before the event. She spoke at the event. She stayed for 30 minutes after the event, shaking hands and doing interviews with friendly press agencies.
When syndicated radio host and Blaze TV’s Dana Loesch appeared to ask Watts about false statements she made about Loesch working for the NRA and MagPul, Watts left – quickly. She didn’t walk alone; she was escorted out by a press person (who identified herself before the event as “Stacy,”) and a bodyguard (there were three at the event.)
She moved quickly, ignoring the sidewalks and cutting across the grass to enter her waiting chauffeur driven SUV. The SUV had New York plates, which makes one wonder whether the funder of astroturf Everytown, billionaire Bloomberg, is also providing Watts’ transportation. (Enjoy the .gif, courtesy of Anthropocon.)
Tea party activists wait until every bit of garbage has been picked up off the ground, then leave in their own cars….which they pay for themselves.
Another sign you have an astroturf event is lying about the number of people who attended your event. Everytown claims 300 people were there. They’re only off by half.
One more sign your movement is astroturf? You’re bankrolled by a billionaire who gives you $50 million dollars to do what he couldn’t do in twelve years as Mayor of New York – take the guns from law abiding citizens.
