Move America Backwards

We have written a lot of words about the true nature of Move America Forward, the astroturf front organization started by the right wing Republican public relations firm Russo, Marsh and Rogers. Over at Skiing Uphill, Hart Williams has generated a most detailed history of MAF; Russo, Marsh and Rogers; right wing talk radio and Republican heavy weights like Ed Rollins. His opus is called "Swift Boat Moms in Winnebagos or, The Astroturfing of Cindy Sheehan."

Hart delves into the machinery of the "right wing noise machine" and, in great detail, ties the major players together. It is quite a piece of work.

One of the most interesting connections that Hart makes is the close relationship between Sacramento radio talk host, Mark Williams and MAF's "Marine Mom", Deborah Johns. Johns was MAF's figurehead leader of its "Cindy Sheehan Doesn't Speak for Me" junket to Crawford last weekend.

Johns relationship with Williams, who sits in the broadcast chair first warmed by Rush Limbaugh, goes back well before Cindy Sheehan came into the picture. Johns was part of an ugly, lynch mob that descended on a Sacramento house whose owners have the audacity to suggest that the Bush Administration wasn't looking out for the welfare of our troops in Iraq. Read about that here and here.

Johns then went on to join with Williams and his wife in the formation of a cuddly organization called Casey's Kids (honest) that collects money to buy the basics for Iraqi children. Casey is the name of the Williams' dog. Their little charity organization was founded on August 1, 2005, with the help of a Russo, Marsh and Rogers honcho named, Doug Lorenz. Beside his Russo, Marsh and Rogers efforts, Lorenz is also a member of the Republican Liberty Caucus, the self-described "conscience of the Republican Party."

The bottom-line is that Move America Forward is a cog in the Republican Party's well oiled propaganda machine. Anything it does or says is information that is generated from offices in the White House just a few steps away from the Oval Office itself.

Read Hart's work. It is massive, detailed and well researched.