My former congressional seat was what Washington pundits call “safe.” It means that the district’s boundaries were drawn to the specifications of a particular political party – and viewpoint.
Such seats typically guarantee re-election in the absence of scandal. Still, local unions unhappy with my votes would from time-to-time picket my office, if just to remind me they were watching. A minor annoyance, yes, but nevertheless one I wanted to repay. And so one day my campaign staff greeted the protest line with notes attached to a brown bag lunch – the greeting read in part that the assembled should eat up – because it was the last free lunch coming their way. The participants were not amused.
I was reminded of this story in the aftermath of my recent appearance on MSNBC wherein I stated numerous anti-Trump protests so heavily covered by the mainstream press were organized efforts by well-heeled progressive groups with paid staffs. The notion of paid protesters set my fellow panelists off. “Not amused” does not do their attitude justice; “indignant” probably best describes the reaction. After all, the left can’t adhere to their favorite adjective (“organic”) if the protests are being funded by organized activists – or can they?
Well, they can certainly try. But anyone who cares to educate themselves on the ways and means of the protester class will quickly uncover a well-financed, comprehensive plan of civil unrest sponsored by some varsity players in the world of community agitating and organizing.
The movement is led by “Organizing for Action” – a progeny of President Barack Obama’s first presidential campaign. Closely aligned with OFA is the recently activated “Indivisible Project,” led by co-founder Angel Padilla, an analyst at the National Immigration Law Center. The Center is a beneficiary of the George Soros-funded Open Society Foundations.
OFA and Indivisible are credited with the recent “spontaneous” protests at (Republican) “Town Hall Meetings” around the country. You have no doubt seen media reports of the disruptive crowds and loud chants. They’re not exactly focused on a substantive give-and-take with the local members of Congress. Rather, they are more like what millennial lefties are trained to do on college campuses – just shout the opposition down. The association with Obama makes these outfits “grievance central,” certain to be in the vanguard of the dissident movement going forward.
“Indivisible” specializes in online training for the protester class – sorta like a “University of Phoenix” for left-wing activists. It was begun by former Democratic congressional staffers especially aggrieved by Hillary Clinton’s defeat. Its “guide” is targeted to equally upset activists who are willing to transform traditional question-and-answer town halls into resistance platforms on behalf of progressive causes.
None of this should be a surprise to those familiar with the ways and means of Capitol Hill politics. One of my earliest memories as a new member of the House Banking Committee was an ACORN-sponsored demonstration at one of our public hearings. At the time, ACORN was all about the business of leveraging subprime loans from local banks – institutions that required a passing CRA (“Community Reinvestment Act”) rating in order to grow. Banks that failed to indulge the subprime agenda would become the target of organized protest. You will recall what eventually happened to all those bad loans that were underwritten and subsequently wrapped into mortgage products sold to the world. Obama called it “the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.” He was correct – but failed to note that political pressure to underwrite questionable loans was a major cause of the crisis. Alas, no politician made the list of those most responsible for our historic mortgage crisis and recession.
Many liberals believed that Washington’s progressive agenda would keep on chugging down the line for another eight years – until the evening of Nov. 8 hit real hard. Suddenly, the party was over. Momentum was lost. The agenda was placed on indefinite hold.
All this has, in turn, led to plenty of angry Americans exercising their right to take it to the streets. No problem there. Protests are as All-American as apple pie and American exceptionalism. But a brief reminder to those engaged in what is a very public exercise of their First Amendment rights: Don’t tell us all of this activity is spontaneous, or that the Soros-sponsored usual suspects aren’t footing the bill. The dots are not that difficult to connect. And besides, we know there is no such thing as a free lunch.
Gov. Robert Ehrlich is a Washington Examiner columnist, partner at King & Spalding and author of three books, including the recently released Turning Point. He was governor of Maryland from 2003 – 2007.
