The Irish Times gets Astroturfed

Who amongst us doesn't like a quick read through the Letters to the Editor page of the Irish Times to get a sense of what the ordinary grassroots readers are thinking? But in Saturday's page (subs. req'd) there's a very strange letter that should have caught the Editor's attention, because it makes no specific reference to any IT story, nor to any running issue in the letters or opinion pages. It's a letter from a US soldier from Corvallis, Oregon (are there some Oregon State University fans on D'Olier street?) that sounds way too precious from the opening sentence:

The other day I was enjoying the comfort of my home when I looked out the kitchen window and saw my old friend the cherry tree in the backyard.

A half-century ago, my mother baked a cherry pie and I threw some cherry seeds into a flower garden in the backyard. The cherry tree has grown from a tender shoot into a sturdy tree that has weathered many storms through the years and now graces the backyard with its lofty presence.

While I was admiring the cherry tree, my thoughts returned to my recent tour as a soldier in Baghdad ... Late at night, a sniper fired a bullet that just missed me by inches. My close call with death made me realise that the American mission to plant the seeds of democracy in Iraq is a noble, but dangerous undertaking ... They will trample underfoot the seeds of democracy at every opportunity ... However, with the passage of time, freedom, justice and equality will take root in the hearts and minds of the people. The seeds of democracy will flower and bear fruit when the time is ripe for change.

Sgt. RILEY KING, Corvallis, Oregon, USA.

Cherry tree in backyard = Iraqi Democracy. Geddit? This is instantaneously recognizable as our old friend from the Bush-Cheney campaign, the fake grassroots (hence Astroturf) bombardment of newspapers letters pages with propaganda. Here's a website that was tracking pro-Bush versions last year. And here's a tip to the people at the Irish Times -- when you see a suspiciously generic letter like this, just Google the dude's name and see what happens:

The Oregonian newspaper Letters to the Editor:

Democracy in Iraq will bloom
Saturday, April 30, 2005

The other day I was enjoying the comfort of my home when I looked out of the kitchen window and saw my old friend the cherry tree in the back yard.

A half century ago, my mother baked a cherry pie and I threw some cherry seeds into a flower garden in the back yard ... etc

It's the same letter. And like those cherry seeds from 50 years ago, God knows how many other offshoots from this cut-and-paste operation have sprouted. The Pentagon already has an in-house propaganda operation. They don't need one from newspapers as well.