I am pretty sure you are correct there, that is the origination of the term.
To people such as conservatives who value truth, we have a particular distaste for gaslighting even apart from the sadism inherent in the usage of the tactic.
To leftists, it is just another implement in their toolbox, but one that they enjoy greatly due largely to its inherent sadism.
While we take great enjoyment in the deployment of truth to cause pain and discomfort in the Left, it is interesting to directly contrast that with the Left, which deploys lies in order to cause pain and discomfort in Conservatives.
Somehow, I think it relates to that saying:
“If you wish to make a Conservative angry, tell them a Lie. If you wish to make a Leftist angry, tell them the Truth.”
“conservatives ... have a particular distaste for gaslighting even apart from the sadism inherent in the usage of the tactic.”
That is so true. I’m an “I.D. Addict”, and watch that channel quite often. I’m interested in the psyches of the criminals, how cases are solved, etc. When it comes to murder, rape, etc., it’s interesting and informative, but when I know a case is going to involve gaslighting, or someone being wrongly accused, I absolutely cannot watch it.
Astroturfing means pretending that there is a "grass-roots" movement to support a policy, when there isn't really one (astroturf is artificial grass, named after the surface used in the Astrodome in Houston); it's a coordinated ploy by a small group to plant stories in the media to suggest a larger appeal than really exists.
On the one hand, it's a form of gaslighting that tries to get you to deny your own perceptions, and on the other hand it is faking a groundswell of support that isn't really there.
In that sense, astroturfing is a tool that supports gaslighting, because it is fake evidence to the contrary of what you know to be true.
-PJ