No Labels = Milquetoast Lite
By: Thaddeus S. Kaczor, Jr.
Now that they have seen the success of the hyper-grassroots Tea Party Movement, political party and self-appointed media elites on both the left and right are trying to 'Astroturf' faux grassroots 'movements' into existence. Witness the stillbirth of the 'No Labels' movement (NY Post 12-02-2010: No Labels = no ideas) In trying to copy the success of the true grassroots Tea Party movement, these wranglers of manufactured outrage and opinion blindly discount the 'Starfish' (Starfish and Spider) decentralized organization of the Tea Party, which not only lacks, but eschews the 'Top-Down' hierarchical structure of most 'Spiderweb' organizations. Witness the spectacular failure of the 'grassroots' Coffee Party (biggovenment.com 'Coffee Party Fraud) organization, which was hyped by the Progressive Kool-Aid drinkers in the MSM as a left-wing alternative to the Tea Party Movement. Despite an intense push by Democratic hacks inside CNN, MSNBC and other DNC co-opted media outlets, no more than a few true believers and party hacks actually participated in these exercises in astroturf politics.
To their detriment, those in the old media and the Party Elites either dismiss the lack of a 'leader' in the Tea Party movement as a weakness (it is actually what makes it so strong!), or else try to impose the 'leader' label on someone like Sarah Palin. Palin, to her credit, realizes the true structural nature of the Tea Parties, and vehemently refuses that mantle whenever som talking-points goober in the MSM attempts to hang the 'Tea Party Queen' moniker on her. The true strength of the bottom-up power structure of the Tea Party has been shown time and again, as attempts to impose an agenda or stifle voices within the movement have backfired, exposing those who attempt such tactics as the anathema to Tea Party ideals that they truly are.
What the old guard in both the Demopublican and Republicrat parties fail to grasp (likewise in the old and broke Media), is that the paradigm in politics and reporting has changed. The days of centralized control over message and strategy has long ago passed by these fossilized politicos and ink-stained wretches. It is now the people who control the message, and drive the issues and strategy. Those in the Media and the Ruling Elite who still fail to grasp this basic fact are being left behind in every passing election and every failing Newspaper, TV Network, dinosaur Website and $1 Newsmagazine. Blogs, Networking, Social Media and independent web-based reporting have replaced the old-guard media for most thinking Americans. Similarly, grassroots members of the Tea Party have successfully integrated themselves into the power structure of the Republican Party. Instead of being co-opted by the elites of the party, it is instead the GOP itself that has yeilded to the grassroots pressure of the Tea Party. That is why the typical propaganda tactics of ad-hominem attacks, the politics of personal destruction and other Saul Alinsky tactics have failed, since they only work on individual targets- not mass movements of people and ideas.
Welcome to the 21st century, where the herd of sheeple is diminishing every day, and will of the people soars on cyber-eagle wings!
