Captain Obvious
02-22-2017, 11:35 PM
http://www.npr.org/2017/02/22/516673558/with-protests-both-obama-and-trump-white-houses-saw-manufactured-anger
When you win an election, opposition can seem kind of, well, manufactured.
Asked about the protests facing members of Congress back home this week, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said, "Some people are clearly upset, but there is a bit of professional protester, manufactured base in there."
It turns out, that's not far off from how the Obama team reacted when protests erupted at town halls in the Summer of 2009.
"Well, I think what you've seen is they have bragged about manufacturing to some degree that anger," then-White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said at the time.
Back then, Democrats pointed to some activist groups funded by the Koch brothers. Now, Republicans point to liberal activist efforts like Indivisible, founded by former Democratic Congressional staffers to help liberals take advantage of Tea Party-style tactics.
It's the question everyone would love to answer as protesters show up at town halls held by members of Congress who are home this week: Is this the liberal version of the Tea Party?
The scenes at Congressional town halls are similar, as are doubts about how organic the demonstrations are.
When you win an election, opposition can seem kind of, well, manufactured.
Asked about the protests facing members of Congress back home this week, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said, "Some people are clearly upset, but there is a bit of professional protester, manufactured base in there."
It turns out, that's not far off from how the Obama team reacted when protests erupted at town halls in the Summer of 2009.
"Well, I think what you've seen is they have bragged about manufacturing to some degree that anger," then-White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said at the time.
Back then, Democrats pointed to some activist groups funded by the Koch brothers. Now, Republicans point to liberal activist efforts like Indivisible, founded by former Democratic Congressional staffers to help liberals take advantage of Tea Party-style tactics.
It's the question everyone would love to answer as protesters show up at town halls held by members of Congress who are home this week: Is this the liberal version of the Tea Party?
The scenes at Congressional town halls are similar, as are doubts about how organic the demonstrations are.