In response to the success of the Tea Party rallies in April 2009, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) accused the nascent movement of being “astroturf”–a political term of art for a faux movement funded by traditional powers to give a cause the appearance of independent grassroots support. Pelosi repeated the “astroturf” slur in August 2009 as Tea Party activists showed up in large numbers at healthcare townhall meetings. Five national tea party-related rallies have been held in our nation’s capital in the past year and half. If there was evidence that thousands of tea party activists were getting free bus...