Misinformation: Anger for Hire

In his article Anger for Hire reprinted in Readers Digest, Michael Crowley says, " You can't always believe what you see -- especially if you're looking at political protests."

"It's hard to know who to trust these days, " he says. "When we see people staging protests we think, Wow! These folks are passionate about their cause -- otherwise, why would they stand in the rain for hours? But sometimes it's a sham: You and even your Congressman may have been set up by manipulative marketers who pay serious money to hire protesters.

"It's a sneaky trick. Let's say you want to stage a political rally, but you just can't find enough people for a good turnout. What you need are folks with lots of time on their hands, who can be persuaded to make a fuss over almost anything. Solution: Head down to a homeless shelter and dole out cash."

Jeff's take on "anger for hire": it generates blatant misinformation. An alert press should interview a random sampling of the protesters, which would quickly reveal that many have no ideas about the issues about which they are "protesting!"