People are divided up into groups and assigned a "task" (Oboma did this, and the Washington idiots actually did what he told them to do!), but the "task" is irrelevant. The "task" is designed to find out who the leaders are and who the followers are within the groups. The "speaker" manipulates the group by pitting the pros against the cons, and supports the side they want to win. It becomes so intense, the "followers" change sides, and the "leaders" apposed to an issue are attacked until they back down or freak out. Their anger is then used against them.
In the end, most people believe they actually had an input in the outcome of the meeting.
The public schools use this on parents all the time.
It really isn’t as sinister as the articles make it sound, it is a common negotiation technique, after all, you don’t go in to tie, you go in to win. It is how it is used that can be troubling, just like NLP, simple cognitive techniques, but in the wrong hands can cause problems.