Patterico's Pontifications

1/23/2010

Ellie Light: Obama Astroturfer? Or Very, Very, Very Energetic But Independent Letter Writer? With Houses All Over the Nation?

Filed under: General — Patterico @ 1:52 am



A woman has written the same letter defending Obama to dozens of publications across the country, getting them published in at least 42 newspapers in 18 states, as well as Politico.com, the Washington Times, and USA Today. And the woman, Ellie Light, has claimed residence in many of these states.

Think there might be some phony Astroturfing there?

At the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Sabrina Eaton makes a nice catch:

Ellie Light sure gets around.

In recent weeks, Light has published virtually identical “Letters to the Editor” in support of President Barack Obama in more than a dozen newspapers.Every letter claimed a different residence for Light that happened to be in the newspaper’s circulation area.

“It’s time for Americans to realize that governing is hard work, and that a president can’t just wave a magic wand and fix everything,” said a letter from alleged Philadelphian Ellie Light, that was published in the Jan. 19 edition of The Philadelphia Daily News.

A letter from Light in the Jan. 20 edition of the San Francisco Examiner concluded with an identical sentence, but with an address for Light all the way across the country in Daly City, California.

Variations of Light’s letter ran in Ohio’s Mansfield News Journal on Jan. 13, with Light claiming an address in Mansfield; in New Mexico’s Ruidoso News on Jan. 12, claiming an address in Three Rivers; in South Carolina’s The Sun News on Jan. 18, claiming an address in Myrtle Beach; and in the Daily News Leader of Staunton, Virginia on Jan. 15, claiming an address in Waynesboro. Her publications list includes other papers in Ohio, West Virginia, Maine, Michigan, Iowa, Pennsylvania and California, all claiming separate addresses.

She has more houses than John McCain!

But there are a few more places her little pro-Obama missive appeared, besides those documented.

Like Ben Smith at Politico.

And the Washington Times.

And a blog at USA Today.

And the Sheboygan Press in Wisconsin. And the Stevens Point Journal in Wisconsin — listing an address of Algoma, Wisconsin.

And in addition to the Californian.com link provided in the Plain Dealer story, listing an address in Salinas, CA, there are other California letters with other California addresses.

The letter appears in the Gilroy Dispatch and Morgan Hill Times, both listing an address of San Felipe, CA.

And in Good Times, listing an address in Santa Cruz, CA.

And in TheUnion.com, listing an address of Grass Valley, CA.

And Connecticut’s stamfordadvocate.com.

A letter was sent to a columnist at the local Daily Breeze here in the South Bay area of Los Angeles.

On an unrelated note, recall that recently, Glenn Greenwald flagged the fact that Obama’s pal (and head of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs) Cass Sunstein recently wrote this paper suggesting something sounding a lot like Astroturfing:

Sunstein advocates that the Government’s stealth infiltration should be accomplished by sending covert agents into “chat rooms, online social networks, or even real-space groups.” He also proposes that the Government make secret payments to so-called “independent” credible voices to bolster the Government’s messaging (on the ground that those who don’t believe government sources will be more inclined to listen to those who appear independent while secretly acting on behalf of the Government).

Who is Ellie Light?

I would like to know.

Wouldn’t you?

P.S. If you find other examples, please leave them in comments with a link. Many more updates in the extended entry.

UPDATE: Add the following:

California: The Los Banos Enterprise, listing an address of Gustine, CA.

Maine: In addition to the Maine link above, there is another appearance of the letter in Maine: in the Bangor Daily News, in which Light lists an address of Bangor, Maine.

Maryland: The Baltimore Chronicle.

Massachusetts: The North Adams Transcript, listing an address of Williamstown.

List your additions below.

UPDATE x2: Add these as well:

Connecticut: Another Connecticut paper, in addition to the Stamford listing: the Danbury News-Times. And here’s another: the Greenwich Time a/k/a Ctpost.com. (Address listed is Greenwich.)

Georgia: Gainesville Times. (Her address is listed as Gainesville.)

Massachusetts: In addition to the above, there is The Berkshire Eagle.

New Hampshire: It appeared in the Seacoastonline, which appears to be an online version of several New England papers including the Portsmouth Herald, Exeter News Letter, and others. Light’s address was listed as Portsmouth, NH.

Vermont: Bennington Banner.

Wisconsin: In addition to the above, there is the Oshkosh Northwestern (address listed is Oshkosh).

So far I count 35 publications in 16 states as well as the District of Columbia. Light managed to get herself published in media outlets in California, Connecticut, Georgia, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, D.C., West Virginia, and Wisconsin.

UPDATE x3: redc1c4 adds Spectrum.com in Utah, where Light claims to be from Washington City. That’s 36 publications in 17 states plus D.C.

UPDATE x4: DRJ adds 5 more publications in comments:

Here are a few more:

HudsonHubTimes.com, in which Ellie listed Streetsboro OH as her hometown.

[Duplicate already mentioned in the Plain Dealer article eliminated.]

The Willits News, with Willits CA as the hometown.

CDAPress.com of Coeur d’Alene ID, with Ellie listing a hometown of Post Falls.

From Ohio, the Chillicothe Gazette, with Chillicothe OH as the hometown.

And my current favorite so far, The Bangkok Post — the “World’s Window to Thailand.” No hometown provided.

Idaho is thus included as a new state, bringing the running total to 41 publications in 18 states plus D.C.

UPDATE x4: redc1c4 adds an Annapolis, Maryland publication. Light lists her city of residence as Annapolis. That’s 42 publications in 18 states plus D.C.

355 Responses to “Ellie Light: Obama Astroturfer? Or Very, Very, Very Energetic But Independent Letter Writer? With Houses All Over the Nation?”

  1. this is proof positive that “Great Minds Think Alike”……. maybe she was cloned?

    /tin foil please

    redc1c4 (fb8750)

  2. Well done, Patterico. Here are a few more:

    HudsonHubTimes.com, in which Ellie listed Streetsboro OH as her hometown.

    Midland Daily News, and a Midland MI address.

    The Willits News, with Willits CA as the hometown.

    CDAPress.com of Coeur d’Alene ID, with Ellie listing a hometown of Post Falls.

    From Ohio, the Chillicothe Gazette, with Chillicothe OH as the hometown.

    And my current favorite so far, The Bangkok Post — the “World’s Window to Thailand.” No hometown provided.

    DRJ (84a0c3)

  3. I give up. I have to go to bed.

    Jeez Louise.

    Patterico (c218bd)

  4. you’ll never get rich astroturfing with that attitude Pat!

    redc1c4 (fb8750)

  5. Well, ya know, Madcow is only on the air for an hour each day. There has to be something that occupies the rest of her time!

    Icy Texan (5ad1ee)

  6. The Midland one is a duplicate.

    Patterico (c218bd)

  7. True, my mistake … but I did find the first foreign country newspaper.

    DRJ (84a0c3)

  8. Can anyone link Ellie Light and Sully to the same chat room?

    Just askin’.

    Icy Texan (5ad1ee)

  9. Obvious question: Did she actually mail these letters by snail-mail? And if so, are the papers involved able to disclose the identity of the postmarks on said letters?

    Icy Texan (5ad1ee)

  10. another one from CT?

    the Google link was 404 but the cache is there…

    redc1c4 (fb8750)

  11. Elle gets taken to town one night in Bangkok

    Spendthrift Obama

    I think Ellie Light (Postbag, Jan 17) has been totally taken in by Barack Obama’s smooth talking ways. If she really thinks back she will remember that his campaign promises included putting firm timetables for extracting US troops from the Afghan and Iraqi conflicts.

    But even worse than that, he seems to believe that the solution for a country that has been spending too much money for decades is to spend more money and create more expensive government bureaucracies (health care).

    Over a trillion dollars’ deficit two years in a row and a 2-trillion-dollar estimated deficit for this year. Ellie, if you handled your personal finances that way, what would happen to you?

    Like most Americans, Ellie is in denial. Many Americans just don’t want to accept that the consumerist, credit-card method of financing wasteful habits and the home appreciation game that seemed to make it all permissible, is over. Only President Obama is still hanging on to the old ways and spending and printing money as if there were no tomorrow.

    Sorry, but Barack Obama is no solution for the problems created by George W Bush and decades of extravagance. Talking well is okay, but it seldom solves financial problems.

    JOHN ARNONE
    Yasothon

    redc1c4 (fb8750)

  12. Apparently the name “Ellie” itself means “Light”. It’s odds-on that “Ellie Light” is a pseudonym.

    Craig Mc (ffd889)

  13. Maryland: DelMarva Daily Times, and a hometown of Fruitland.

    Oregon: Source Weekly (cached version). No hometown.

    Oregon: News Review of Douglas County. Hometown — Winston.

    DRJ (84a0c3)

  14. #15: but does she have Bible references cleverly inserted in her posts ala the Jesus rifles?

    @DRJ: Lexis/Nexis is cheating…… %-)

    redc1c4 (fb8750)

  15. Gee, wouldn’t it be funny if this ‘letter’ is a form letter and Ellie Light was in fact 18 different ACORN offices?

    And how is it possible for one person to get so
    many letters published? Most letters to the Editors don’t ever get published, so maybe this
    letter was handed directly to the publishers, if you know what I mean.

    Jack (e383ed)

  16. And how is it possible for one person to get so many letters published? Most letters to the Editors don’t ever get published, so maybe this letter was handed directly to the publishers, if you know what I mean.

    That is a really good point. This definitely seems coordinated with publishers. The odds are too long for just groupthink to be the explanation.

    Craig Mc (ffd889)

  17. Ellie Light made all the big papers, including the Canadian Jewish News.

    KingShamus (fb8597)

  18. What are the chances Ellie Light is Ellyn Ruddick-Sunstein, daughter of the famed proponent of ‘concern troll’ infiltration?

    Dusty (7bba43)

  19. Greg Packer was unavailable for comment…

    j.pickens (8b5ad5)

  20. Ask Nancy Pelosi, she KNOWS astroturfing. Same way she KNOWS all about the (leftwing) violence that comes from WORDS because she SAW it.

    I’m sure “Elli Light” is no one at all. I’m sure the letter was coordinated between the admin and the editors. I’m also sure they are stupid enough to believe that Algore’s little invention would ensure that we would never know about their little project.

    “Light Bringer” indeed.

    Vivian Louise (643333)

  21. Of course, this just shows the flaws in the SSRN piece. These actions are likely to set the conspirators in a tizzy. Not to quiet them down or wake them up.

    But maybe that’s the point.

    imdw (795ee1)

  22. Alabama: Huntsville Times. “Ellie J. Light, Huntsville, 35811.”

    NOTE: Letter to the editor published 1/23/2010.

    DC?: McClatchy apparently republished a letter from the Myrtle Beach Sun in its Commentary Section.

    Georgia: Barrow County News. Hometown: Winder.

    Pennsylvania: Lebanon Daily News. Hometown — Cornwall.

    NOTE: Letter to the editor published 1/23/2010.

    Utah: Park Record of Park City, Utah. Ellie’s hometown — Wanship.

    DRJ (84a0c3)

  23. Shreveporters should be offended that Ellie has not sent her letter to the Shreveport Times.
    I’ll never read her letters again! 😉

    voiceofreason2 (46b4cd)

  24. “She” (no real way of knowing for sure right now, is there?) posted some comment replies to the reporter’s article on the Clevland Dispatch webpage about the article. Always with the proselytizing and dodging (look, shiny issue things!!), never answering the ‘what is your real address’ question.

    Seems the reporter is getting some good, um, press for the story, and has some emails from “Ellie” that may have headers which can be used to search “her” out. One hopes to read a follow-up shortly tying “her” to ACORN or better yet, the WH or Dems directly.

    rtrski (5c372f)

  25. Gives a whole new meaning to “1000 points of light”…

    GeneralMalaise (c840dd)

  26. There’s an interesting bit at the Plain Dealer in which a reporter had an exchange with the alleged letter writer. The comments are good.

    Mike K (2cf494)

  27. Ms. Light is obviously “light” in her mental loafers.

    Mike Myers (3c9845)

  28. Am I the only one to note the rich irony of Mr. Greenwald discusssing this matter? Rick Ellers and Thomas Ellensberg would be disapointed.

    Dmac (539341)

  29. Am I the only one to note the rich irony of Mr. Greenwald discusssing this matter? Rick Ellers and Thomas Ellensberg would be disappointed.

    Dmac (539341)

  30. I say $10 on Soros funded AstroTurf.

    bill-tb (541ea9)

  31. This sounds like a good idea for a Google Maps mashup.

    sierra (4be1ff)

  32. How many times something like this happened, without raising a red flag? 10? 100?

    TimesDisliker (d9413e)

  33. Typical Liberal puke…

    Too lazy to make up fake names like I do when I send Threats, I mean Letters to Politicians I don’t like.
    Heck, thinkin up fake names is 1/2 the fun.
    Maybe 90%

    Frank Patterico, I mean, Drackman

    Frank Drackman (7ee2ca)

  34. FWIW, whitepages.com lists only one Ellie Light in the U.S., and her address is in Medford, NJ.

    Skip (323695)

  35. Pre-internet days I would occasionally get a letter printed in our local rag and they always called me before printing to check my identity. Thoughtful letters were ignored which makes me think Ellie had help in getting her letter published in so many papers.

    MU789 (514c52)

  36. You’ve done a great job of tracking down more Ellie Light sightings; we’ve linked to your post from our original story.

    John Kroll, The Plain Dealer

    John Kroll (1cbec8)

  37. Did Ellie’s letters mention either Chairman Mao, or Mother Teresa?

    ropelight (ddd608)

  38. Ellie Lightworker’s comments over at the Plain Dealer site are hysterical. She claims nobody in the media is on Barcky’s side, just a mere 18 months after his historic election. She then goes on to claim that Brown’s election and the SC upholding the 1st Amendment will destroy democracy.

    JD (d50e30)

  39. […] all of you gamers who love to download cheats to the game, download the cheats at Patterico’s Pontifications for Where’s Waldo 2.0: The Anti-Competitive Version. In the comment thread there, […]

    Where’s Waldo 2.0: The Anti-Competitive Version « Truth Before Dishonor (ea1fd5)

  40. And how is it possible for one person to get so many letters published? Most letters to the Editors don’t ever get published, so maybe this letter was handed directly to the publishers, if you know what I mean. Comment by Jack — 1/23/2010 @ 4:37 am

    Yea, that is a point that raises my eyebrow. Of course, perhaps it’s actually a result of so few pro-Obama letters pouring into various newspapers throughout the country, that editors desparately glom onto any commentary that blows kisses to the current occupant of the Oval Office and also is okay in grammer and syntax. But since there are enough disciples of the left to keep Ellie-Light type of correspondence churning through the system, I don’t really buy into that.

    It’s probably a combination of the ailing, wheezing condition of the newspaper industry, combined with the sloppy liberal philosophy that dominates the biases of most reporters/editors, combined with the ACORN-Jeremiah-Wright-Bill-Ayers type of corruption and flakiness of the current White House that makes a wink-wink, coordinated PR campaign among the various participants to be just as (or no less) reasonable an explanation.

    Mark (411533)

  41. Future astroturfers probably won’t make the mistake of using the same name.

    However, they will likely use the same content. By checking letters to the editor with anti-plagiarism search engines, these could be detected.

    Evil Pundit (42e904)

  42. The Constitution doesn’t require you to use your true name when exercising your right to free speech or free press…the democrats are just more inventive than the republicans

    Andy Levinson (52a337)

  43. @Mu789, I am so pleased to see the papers are doing their usual fact checking and due diligence regarding the “letters to the editor” they publish just as they do for so many of the stories they run—NOT. It’s hard to believe, as others have said, that she didn’t have some sort of help getting these to the attention of the editors/publishers. I have suspicions–acually strongly believe– that this carpet bombing approach to astrotufing has been done many times before without it being noticed. Ellie’s using the same name for all her submissions seems dumb on its face but I suppose her handlers thought it was a good way to be able to see how many actually got published and where. The term “too clever by half” is appropos for Ellie and her peeps.

    Apparently papers need to start a NO FLY list for letter writers.

    elissa (01da2c)

  44. As jack mentioned in #18, i thought it might be ACORN offices.

    Then again, it may just be a network of friends using the same name, ala the “Kilroy was here”, “Frodo Lives!”, or “Jules Archer was here” of earlier years (the last two were common on desk tops at UW Madison, the last one was a local brainchild, not sure how far away Frodo travelled). (If someone else reading this knows Jules Archer, its a smallish world).

    This is the one that peaked my interest:
    “…Sheboygan Press in Wisconsin. And the Stevens Point Journal in Wisconsin listing an address of Algoma, Wisconsin”

    I’m not sure who would be thinking of Algoma, Wisconsin unless they were local, did a lot of fishing in Lake Michigan, or happened to hit it on a map with a dart. (Anyone know of a way to simulate that on line?)

    MD in Philly (d4668b)

  45. “Ellie Light” wasn’t published in my newspaper — whew!

    What pathetic acts the Obamites have been reduced to. Now they’re conjuring up imaginary friends!

    Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C.O.R. (9eb641)

  46. “Pre-internet days I would occasionally get a letter printed in our local rag and they always called me before printing to check my identity. Thoughtful letters were ignored which makes me think Ellie had help in getting her letter published in so many papers.

    Comment by MU789 —”

    This is a thoughtful point. Either this astroturfing relied on some kind of joun-o-list behind the scenes help from the newspapers, or a far vaster number of letters were attempted and never made it into the paper.

    Letters to the editor like this are not exactly 100% likely to be printed, normally.

    Dustin (b54cdc)

  47. That’s hilarious, Teresa.

    There are exponentially more Ellies than members of your group, though. Hopefully that changes!

    Dustin (b54cdc)

  48. The same letter is in the Bangkok Post (yeah, that Bangkok in Thailand!!)
    link – http://www.bangkokpost.com/print/31150/

    Beth Donovan (721123)

  49. I just joined “Who is Ellie Light”? Thanks, teresa!

    Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C.O.R. (9eb641)

  50. Interesting note:
    She or he never has had a published from the state of Arizona. Hum, I wonder about that?

    ajhiker (70a677)

  51. Has anyone considered the possibility that “Ms. Light” knew that the multiple letters would be exposed and figured that the news stories, and e-mail exchanges with reporters, would increase the profile of the underlying message? I note that “Ms. Light” is obviously trying to trickle out information about who he or she is along with more about the editorial point he or she wants to make, essentially keeping the story alive.

    David (6e30e8)

  52. David,

    I’m sure that during the conference call or message board discussion that whenever anyone pointed out that this would have been exposed, someone wise noted, as you did, that it would only boost Ellie’s ‘poor Obama’ message and keep it alive via intrigue.

    Did they actually plan it that way? well… that would explain the memorable name being reused. I bet you’re right.

    Dustin (b54cdc)

  53. David, are you suggesting that in some way the explosive exposure of this creepy hoax will burnish the underlying message with sincerity and credibilty? I sure don’t think so.

    elissa (01da2c)

  54. Dustin,

    Your point is well taken. I should have written “Ms. Light” as a he, she or they.

    David (6e30e8)

  55. I live in Ivins, UT. Our local paper is The Spectrum in St. George. I found the following reference: letters to the editor

    Zoltan (b022a7)

  56. I saw that Drudge had a link up about Ellie Lightworker.

    JD (b09d7d)

  57. Obama and his followers are liars,Cheats, tax-evaders and worst of all, liberals

    Charles Grife (9dcf1f)

  58. This was a top down operation and must have come through either the publisher or the editors, the one’s who have approval authority.

    Or even more intriguing, could it really be that 100’s of newspapers received the letter and many published it? Talk about group-think.

    Either way, it shows what is wrong with the MSM and newspapers in general.

    Jack (e383ed)

  59. A real Ellie Light (who does not look like Obama) is also on Facebook.

    Official Internet Data Office (c93f96)

  60. I think Ellie Light is a pseudonym used as a viral marketing tool in support of the president.

    Viral marketing is defined as using exiting social networks to sell a product or an ideal. I would expand the definition to include the deliberate creation and marketing of a meme (a process clumsily called memering)as a way to introduce an ideal to the public, create a ground swell of “grass root” support and as a proof the president is pursuing a widely held belief in support of a public agenda.

    In short, Manufactured Consent, or covert propaganda (as opposed to overt government missive).

    The unanswered question is whether or not the dailies and periodicals conspire to publish Ellie Light’s letter to the editor.

    One might reasonably notice that few of the volumes of letters written to newspapers are publish. One might even postulate the statistical odds of so many of one individual’s letter being published is so long that either Ellie Light is very lucky or some other mechanism is at work.

    One even might consider such purported behavior as so deeply manipulative that the author of such actions should be considered untrustworthy at any level.

    Dale Smith (78d230)

  61. Mental illness is a hard thing. Most of us just can’t focus that long on a singular issue or just plain have “better things to do”

    Billy Goat (6d39af)

  62. OIDO, and the REAL ellie GOLFS. Which explains how she is familiar with Obama Woods.

    Dustin (b54cdc)

  63. I’m surprised that nobody’s mentioned Obama advisor Cass Sunstein’s advocacy of “cognitive infiltration.” Isn’t the real issue how many other “Ellie Light”s there are?

    lambert strether (063dcc)

  64. Obama Woods

    You mean Barack Obama and Tiger Woods are actually the same person? Well, that would explain a lot.

    Official Internet Data Office (c93f96)

  65. The unanswered question is whether or not the dailies and periodicals conspire to publish Ellie Light’s letter to the editor.

    Carelessness and downsizing are the most parsimonious explanations. Quality control has slipped at newspapers and magazines in recent years. Editors as a rule try to preserve their reporting staffs at all costs. So they are prone to cut copy editing and other positions that might have caught the Astroturfing. (Ask any copy editor, they’ll be happy to talk your ear off about it).

    At my newspaper, we verify each letter’s authenticity before running it. We give preference to letters from our own slice of San Diego and Riverside counties, with which we are intimately familiar. A generic letter from “San Diego” would not cut it; we’d check to see which part of San Diego. A non-local phone number would send up red flags. (Boasting aside, I’m going to make sure my editors know about this, if they haven’t already read about it.)

    I can to some degree excuse national publications like Politico from this debacle, but local newspapers should know their territories better than to allow this happen. That so many newspapers have fallen for this is a really bad sign.

    Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C.O.R. (9eb641)

  66. Posted: 01/14/2010 08:28:16 PM PST
    The daily breeze title President can’t work miracles ellie light

    teresa (07312f)

  67. Take it at face value. Ellie Light is a “private” citizen.

    Only someone with houses scattered across the country and already has their “piece of the pie” would support this administration.

    Steve (f4a7a5)

  68. Letters to the Editor
    Published: 01:05 a.m., Thursday, January 21, 2010
    Title A list of charities for
    those looking to donate
    New Canaan News Ct Ellie light
    http://www.newcanaannewsonline.com/opinion/article/Letters-to-the-Editor-330146.php

    teresa (07312f)

  69. USA TODAY
    title: Obama warned us of hard choices, painful steps.. Ellie light from Long Beach,Calif.
    http://www.usatoday.com/NEWS/usaedition/2010-01-22-letters22_ST_U.htm?csp=34

    teresa (07312f)

  70. “You mean Barack Obama and Tiger Woods are actually the same person? Well, that would explain a lot.

    Comment by Official Internet Data Office ”

    I know you’re joking and I certainly don’t see anything wrong with our joke, but Tiger Woods, douche that he was to his marriage and family and honor, is actually great in some ways. It’s a sign of personal strength to excel that much at golf. He’s a great athelete. I’m disaapointed that he turned out to be a pathetic man.

    On the other hand, he has so much greatness in at least some way that it’s very hard to compare him to a man who is 100% hype like Obama. The only real comparison is that they both golf more often than they eat or read, and their race. It’s probably unwise of me to make the comparison because some people are too dumb to see beyond the race parity and assume that’s why I lump them together.

    Anyway, Ellie Lightworker isn’t the first or last of her kind. That Cass Sunstein was selected to be part of this administration after admitting to wanting the administration to lie to the people and undermine political expression it doesn’t like says everything about this administration’s love for free expression.

    Dustin (b54cdc)

  71. Keep it up, Teresa.

    Dustin (b54cdc)

  72. USA TODAY
    Obama warned us of hard choices, painful steps
    Ellie Jeanne Light – Long Beach, Calif.

    http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2010/01/letters-obama-warned-us-of-hard-choices-painful-steps-.html?csp=34

    teresa (07312f)

  73. I have a hunch who ellie might be.
    First, the meaning of the name ellie is light. That part was easy. An ellie is also a national magazine award. In 2005 a woman by the name of Samantha Power won an Ellie for a piece she did for the The New Yorker magazine entitled Dying in Darfur.

    Ms. Power is a graduate of Harvard University.She worked for then Senator Barack Obama, I believe it was she who first piqued his interest in Darfur.

    She went on to work on the Obama campaign before she was forced to resign for calling Hillary Clinton a monster.

    While working on the campaign she met then later married Cass Sunstein who now works in the Obama administration as the Administrator of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs

    I’ve read a letter she posted to another journalist where she takes a smack at Sarah Palin, that was what gave her identity away in my mind. What O’s going through must have her blood boiling. What do ya’ll think?

    piperbaye (dcd9f6)

  74. Sunstein’s kid has a friend on Facebook named Ellie Teal
    http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=553880012&ref=search&sid=6011629.4230123848..1

    stephen (23d911)

  75. Maybe she works for the Justice Department? as an axelgrease plant!

    lonetown (d7ec3b)

  76. Morgan Hill times. CA.
    Title:President Obama can’t just wave a magic wand give him a break
    http://www.morganhilltimes.com/opinion/262562-letters
    Ellie Light,San Felipe

    teresa (07312f)

  77. Rahm Emmanuel has been noticeably absent lately. Maybe he took up letter writing under a pseudonym. Sounds like something he would do.

    [note: fished from spam filter. –Stashiu]

    rachel (9d1bb3)

  78. In 2008, while at Harvard Law School, Sunstein co-wrote a truly pernicious paper proposing that the U.S. Government employ teams of covert agents and pseudo-“independent” advocates to “cognitively infiltrate” online groups and websites.

    I think we may be on to something.

    piperbaye (dcd9f6)

  79. ELLIE LIGHT is an anagram for HE ILLEGIT!

    This is all too funny . . .

    giorules (7deac7)

  80. I think it’s obvious… Ellie Light is Michelle Obama. Come on guys she’s just trying to stand by her man!

    Chaos (7c068a)

  81. Haitian help- Ellie light
    01:01 a.m., Wednesday, January 20, 2010
    Fairfield Citizen Conn.CT.
    http://www.fairfieldcitizenonline.com/opinion/article/Haitian-help-328747.php

    teresa (07312f)

  82. piperbaye is a smart cookie. I think Samantha Power and Cass Sunstein should be asked if they are aware of who or what wrote this letter.

    I didn’t know that Cass’s wife won an “ellie”. I made the link to Cass completely unaware of that. I didn’t know his wife also likes to write this kind of letter.

    We do know that this is a coordinated message along Cass’s view of what a democrat administration should do to protect itself.

    The only think unlikely about this is that all the dots would be so easy to connect so close to Cass’s ideas being discussed. But for all I know, someone caught wind of this and started leaking details about it. If I were working for a government that was surreptitiously encouraging bullshit Letters to Editors, I wouldn’t like it either. democrat means government of the people. It does not mean people of the government.

    Dustin (b54cdc)

  83. Bennington Banner Vermont
    Permission explicitly granted to publish this letter.
    ELLIE JEANNE LIGHT
    http://www.benningtonbanner.com/opinion/ci_14176242?source=rss

    teresa (07312f)

  84. As far as “her” success in having her letters published, we have no idea how many papers may have received “her” letter and declined to publish it.

    Brother Bradley, for curiosities sake, how easy/difficult would it be to contact a number of papers and ask if they declined to print letters by “Ellie”? I expect they have better things to do than waste time on this, but just wondering.

    MD in Philly (d4668b)

  85. Just more evidence that Obama resembles Nixon at his worst.

    Peter W (6af67d)

  86. I can’t believe all these astroturfer Ellie Lights used the same name. There’s got to be a reason for that, or this adminisitration IS as stupid as it seems. Guessing Ellie Lightworker absentee voted from all these addresses too. LOL

    builderdoug (31f889)

  87. “I expect they have better things to do than waste time on this, but just wondering.

    Comment by MD in Philly”

    I think this what journalists are for. This is a great story. If Obama’s administration is Axelroding, the people would like to know. We need jobs and security. If this is what our president is up to, that’s very newsworthy and whoever breaks the story ought to win the Pulitzer.

    Dustin (b54cdc)

  88. An Ellie Light “Haitian help” letter-to-the editor also in the Connecticut Post here. (She lives in Bridgeport, CT, too.)

    Official Internet Data Office (c93f96)

  89. MD in Philly
    Brother Bradley, for curiosities sake, how easy/difficult would it be to contact a number of papers and ask if they declined to print letters by “Ellie”?

    Not terribly so. Professional organizations like Society of Professional Journalists might help. I’m on the local SPJ board in San Diego. To make it easier, I’d suggest picking one state, such as California. If the SPJ board agrees, we could send the question to sister boards across the state, and they would poll their members.

    Of course, whether or not we get replies is entirely beyond our control. . .

    Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C.O.R. (9eb641)

  90. “I’m surprised that nobody’s mentioned Obama advisor Cass Sunstein’s advocacy of “cognitive infiltration.” Isn’t the real issue how many other “Ellie Light”s there are?”

    I mentioned it in the post.

    People are doing a great job, but some of you are giving links to iterations that are already linked in the post. If you think you have found a new instance of the letter, please check it against the links in the post before posting.

    Patterico (c218bd)

  91. Why Ellie even loves to write to Bangkok! (Thailand)

    http://www.bangkokpost.com/print/31150/

    Bangkok Post
    The World’s Window to Thailand
    POST BAG
    Bangkok
    ________________________________________
    Give Obama a break
    A year ago, if American citizens like myself had read in the newspaper that US employers were hiring again, that healthcare legislation was proceeding without a bump, that Afghanistan had suddenly become a nice place to take your kids, we would’ve known we were being lied to. Back then, we recognised that the problems Mr Obama inherited as president wouldn’t go away overnight.
    During his campaign, Mr Obama clearly said that an economy that took eight years to break couldn’t be fixed in a year, that Afghanistan was a graveyard of empires and would not be an easy venture for us. Candidate Obama didn’t feed us happy talk, which is why we elected him. He never said America could solve our health care, economic and security problems without raising the deficit. Instead, he talked of hard choices, of government taking painful and contentious first steps towards fixing problems that can’t be left for another day.
    Right after Mr Obama’s election, we seemed to grasp this. We understood that companies would be happy to squeeze more work out of frightened employees, and would be slow to hire more. We understood that the banks that had extorted us out of billions of dollars were lying when they said they would share their recovery. We understood that a national consensus on health care would not come easily. Candidate Obama never claimed that his proposed solutions would work flawlessly right out of the box, and we respected him for that.
    But today, the president is being attacked as if he were a salesman who promised us that our problems would wash off in the morning. He never made such a promise. It’s time for Americans to realise that governing is hard work, and that a president can’t just wave a magic wand and fix everything.
    Ellie Light

    H/T to Beth over at Hillbuzz.

    Buttered (fa4709)

  92. They really do think we’re stupid. Someone aspires to endow O with victim status. Poor overworked misunderstood O. Tells us a lot about the mind(s) behind it. Clearly lots of effort expended here.

    I wonder how many people actually think better of victims? I may not be very nice, but in my experience, 80%-90% of victims earn their status with their actions and behavior. Poor O.

    jodetoad (7a7b8a)

  93. Alternatively, we could crowdsource the question to various people who would take responsibility for their region, and send the responses back here.

    As Dustin said, this is what journalists are for. I hope other journos would agree. This would be a great job for the new investigative reporting groups such as California Watch. But that group appears to be operating from the usual shallow lefty perspective, from what I’ve seen of its output. I can’t imagine they’d be interested.

    Big Journalism, anyone?

    Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C.O.R. (9eb641)

  94. I forget, was there an agitprop czar in the list?

    Hadlowe (061332)

  95. I’m on my way out the door, but can someone find a list of the states where Obama won and compare it to the list?

    I find it interesting that I’m seeing the letter in states like Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and New Hampshire. See what I mean?

    Patterico (c218bd)

  96. What are the odds that Gibbs will be asked about this on Monday?

    James (571ca0)

  97. Maybe Ellie Light is married to Greg Packer.

    furious (71af32)

  98. Miss Ellie got her letter printed in our local weekly, The Reflector, published in Battle Ground, Wa. She claims an address in Vancouver, Wa. hmmm…

    David Standal (7091fc)

  99. Sheboygan Press.Wisconsin.
    Ellie Jeanne Light/ Howards Grove
    http://www.sheboyganpress.com/article/20100117/SHE0601/1170302

    teresa (07312f)

  100. I find it interesting that I’m seeing the letter in states like Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and New Hampshire. See what I mean?

    If you mean these are important swing states, I do. But why then send multiple letters to newspapers in California? If Obama is worried about the Golden State, he’s realllly in trouble.

    Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C.O.R. (9eb641)

  101. piperbaye really got some hot pieces there… But, consider if Hannah Giles (or a wannabee) didn’t write the letters and forward them as if they were from the desk of Cass Sunstein and the gullible editors thought they were doing their “patriotic” duty by printing them….?

    Cigarette Smoking Man (179758)

  102. Well, I also think it’s safe to assume that the Ellie, is also an Alinskyite. In his book, Rules for Radicals, Alinsky dedicates his book to Lucifer. Lucifer is a latin word meaning bearer of light.

    piperbaye (dcd9f6)

  103. Dustin (re #90),

    Yes, the story is newsworthy. But spending the time to go through your rejected letters to the editor to give the information to someone else is not the #1 thing on someone’s priority list, is all i am saying.

    Now, if a newspaper already puts all of their letters in a searchable computer file it would be easier, and going through a professional organization of colleagues willing to work together on such a project like Brother Bradley described in #93.

    Having brought up the idea, I leave it to Patterico to decide if he wants to act on it, whether by asking Brother Bradley’s help or that of someone else.

    Question, if a person or group did this but with points that are supported by facts which are included in the letter, would people think that is a reasonable public service or underhanded?

    MD in Philly (d4668b)

  104. MD, no argument here. I agree that the chore of looking through crazy letters to editors does sound petty, but of course, in this context, it’s probably a pretty important story.

    I am probably the worst commenter on the internet at conveying tone. I’m always laughing and joking and being taken as a serious as hell kludge.

    Anyway, my wife wants to fly a kite in the unusually awesome weather, so I’m gone for the day.

    Dustin (b54cdc)

  105. Patterico A similar letter caught my eye over the holidays in my paper. (Richmond Times Dispatch) The online LtoE doesn’t include all letters published, so I’d have to check hard copies or archives of the published paper to confirm.

    I’m going to drop a line to the paper and ask them to check first, though.

    SarahW (692fc6)

  106. If this had been about Bush, the libunatics would have demanded a Congressional investigation and they would have blamed Bush and Cheney personally.

    Terbubble (494d8a)

  107. if Ellie means “light” and her last name is “Light” do the two cancel out and she’s actually dark, or would that be racist to even ask?

    never mind, i’ll just preemptively denounce myself.

    redc1c4 (fb8750)

  108. The next step is to ask each of these newspapers to compare (but not disclose) the IP address or addresses of all the incoming Ellie Light e-mails. If they match, they can probably find the source.

    Official Internet Data Office (c93f96)

  109. is anyone going to consolidate all the discoveries so far into one coherent list, so we can slow down the flow of duplicates?

    /don’t look at me %-)

    redc1c4 (fb8750)

  110. Folliwing up on #91, it seems that Ellie Light lives in Three Rivers too.

    Evil Pundit (42e904)

  111. David Standal,

    Is there an Internet link?

    Patterico (79941d)

  112. Dustin, tell your wife to go fly a kite in the middle of the street off a short pier.

    John Hitchcock (3fd153)

  113. Hummmm, the snarky, self-righteous, in-your-face, occasionally-nearly-hysterical tone of Ellie Light sounds vaguely like that of the now-infamous liberal shill-maven Lisa Jones of Denver.

    Patootie (c03c83)

  114. As Icy Texan mentioned above, I’d like to know if the Letters to the Editor were snail-mailed, and if so what the postmark was.

    FYI, the Ellie Light in Medford, New Jersey (mentioned above by Skip) has middle initial “E” according to Intellius.com, instead of “J” as in these letter to the editor.

    According to http://wiki.name.com/en/Ellie the name “Ellie” is usually short for Eleanor. Intellius.com lists six people named “Eleanor J. Light.” But, as Dusty mentioned above, it could be Ellyn Ruddick-Sunstein.

    I hope the newspapers get together and figure this out. It’s quite an abuse of their kind offices.

    Andrew (4d873d)

  115. Well, I also think it’s safe to assume that the Ellie, is also an Alinskyite. In his book, Rules for Radicals, Alinsky dedicates his book to Lucifer. Lucifer is a latin word meaning bearer of light.

    Since Obama is a “lightworker,” it fits the theme.

    That link is to a mind-numbingly credulous column of New Age babble in the SF Chronicle:

    “Many spiritually advanced people I know (not coweringly religious mind you but deeply spiritual) identify Obama as a Lightworker that rare kind of attuned being who has the ability to lead us not merely to new foreign policies or health care plans or whatnot but who can actually help usher in a new way of being on the planet of relating and connecting and engaging with this bizarre earthly experiment. These kinds of people actually help us evolve. They are philosophers and peacemakers of a very high order and they speak not just to reason or emotion but to the soul. . .”

    As one reader put it to me in a way it’s not even about Obama per se. There’s a vast amount of positive energy swirling about that’s been held back by the armies of BushCo darkness and this energy has now found a conduit a lightning rod is now effortlessly self-organizing around Obama’s candidacy. People and emotions and ideas of high and positive vibration are automatically drawn to him. It’s exactly like how Bush was a magnet for the low vibrational energies of fear and war and oppression and aggression but you know completely reversed. And different. And far far better.

    And the left says the beliefs of conservative Christians are kooky?

    Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C.O.R. (9eb641)

  116. There is a lot of something “swirling about” (#120)

    Dustin, tie a tail onto the kite that reads, “Has anyone seen Ellie Light?”

    On the Biblical theme, wordplay and not meant to be taken seriously, there are references in the New Testament about the devil being able to appear as an “angel of light” in order to deceive”.

    MD in Philly (d4668b)

  117. I believe “Ellie Light” is a woman named Samantha Power. She is a former reporter and graduate of Harvard Law who, in 2005 won the National Magazine Award (the nickname for which is the “Ellie”) for an article entitled “Dying in Darfur”. The feminine name “Ellie” is derived from a greek word which means light.She was on the Obama Campaign team until she was forced to resign for calling HRC a “monster”. Obama recently appointed her to a position on the National Security Council. Oh yeah…She is the current spouse of Mr. “cognitive infiltration” Cass Sunstein which may be relevant.

    BSQ (b875d2)

  118. Light printed in the Huntsville Times today

    Fred O'Connor (cd6c19)

  119. […] Read more at Patterico’s Pontifications […]

    Ellie Light: Obama Astroturfer? | NewsReal Blog (d65a4c)

  120. Thanks to John Kroll of The Plain Dealer for linking this post.

    Be sure to read the Plain Dealer’s article that now includes the reporter’s email correspondence with “Ellie Light.”

    DRJ (84a0c3)

  121. Bangor Daily News Bangor, ME
    Article date:
    January 21, 2010
    Title:Happy talk vs.truth Ellie Light Bangor
    A. “Happy talk vs. truth.” Bangor Daily News Bangor, ME. Bangor Daily News. 2010. HighBeam Research. 23 Jan. 2010 .

    teresa (07312f)

  122. Article from: Capital (Annapolis)Maryland
    title:Why we elected Obama
    ELLIE LIGHT Annapolis
    “Letters to the Editor.” Capital (Annapolis). Annapolis Capital. 2010. HighBeam Research. 23 Jan. 2010 .

    teresa (07312f)

  123. Anyone know how to pull an IP address from Stat Counter? I’m in touch with a blogger where she left a comment, but he doesn’t know how to find the IP address.

    Patterico (c218bd)

  124. Teresa, thanks, but those are already in the post.

    Patterico (c218bd)

  125. vor2,

    Keep checking those Louisiana papers. Some of these letters are just being posted today.

    DRJ (84a0c3)

  126. Great work,Patterico and Pattericettists!

    clarice feldman (60153b)

  127. Try a google search of “Axelrod” “magic wand” – Hee hee!

    http://tiny.cc/N8g8r

    SarahW (692fc6)

  128. Ellie Light just joined Twitter just a few hours ago. She lists herself as a “lifelong Democrat, anti-war, code pink, loving mom and grandma, love to read and cook.” The anti-war bit is my favorite. BAHAHAHAHA!

    http://twitter.com/ellielight

    ldsrsc (95c08d)

  129. Dustin, tell your wife to go fly a kite in the middle of the street off a short pier.

    Comment by John Hitchcock

    Don’t live near any piers, but it got way too windy after a while anyway.

    It’s good to see you back after a few days when I didn’t see you. No hard feelings from my end for our last disagreement about Haiti. I usually find your insights to be valuable, but we can’t all agree on everything.

    Dustin (b54cdc)

  130. Patterico, if you can “edit” her comment, you’ll get the IP address, as far as I know. At least I can. And those internet gurus when I was MUDding could tell my specific region by the first two series of numbers in the IP. Of course, I couldn’t.

    John Hitchcock (3fd153)

  131. I must apologize for my sisters letter writing campaign. She is a seriously ill right winger whom I usually keep locked away in a closet but she managed to escape while we were on a 2 week visit to Disney World. Dissatisfied with our esteemed President Barrack Obama, she took it upon herself to mimic a left wing activist in hopes of creating just such a phenomenon as you are seeing now with the right wing attacking “lefttards” for astroturfing when in fact she is a right wing kook wearing left wing clothing. In any case, we returned home today to find here continuing to post while drinking beer naked on our terrace. We promise to keep her under control in the future. Sorry

    Elmer Light (68ed70)

  132. Heh, Dustin, when I told you to check a different thread, I was talking about (and linked to) the “abortion” thread where I defended myself against your baseless accusations. I only posted once on the “Haiti” thread and then ignored it. But I know what you mean (sorta). I tend to inexplicably rub lots of people raw. Just because I’m right and they’re wrong doesn’t mean they need to hate me over it. And believe me, I’m never wrong. I may not always be right, but I’m never wrong.

    John Hitchcock (3fd153)

  133. Didn’t know we disagreed on Abotion. In fact, I bet we agree on that and I was being sarcastic or otherwise coy about my views. I think abortion is pretty damn bad.

    Oh well, sorry for the baseless accusations, real or misunderstood.

    Dustin (b54cdc)

  134. “And how is it possible for one person to get so many letters published? Most letters to the Editors don’t ever get published, so maybe this letter was handed directly to the publishers, if you know what I mean.”

    All letters to the Editor are equal, but some letters are more equal than others.

    GeneralMalaise (c840dd)

  135. Someone should send a well-written thoughtful rebuttal letter to ALL of the papers in which Ellie Light saw print.

    Let’s see how many of them print the rebuttal.

    I don’t want to sound like a conspiracy theorist, but the sheer number of papers that have printed this person’s missives leads me to suspect some coordination with the papers themselves.

    Icy Texan (88349b)

  136. Icy Texan,

    One reason to suspect Samantha Power is that she was part of a campaign that was active and developed contacts with a lot of blue and swing state newspapers.

    Perhaps they sent these to tons of papers, but the ones Samantha (winner of an Ellie and married to “Totally lie about who you are!” Cass Sunstein) Power sent to papers she had a friendly contact in were more likely to make it to print.

    Indeed, this many things winding up in this many papers at the same time really has to mean some of the papers were doing someone a favor. Why would they use the same name, though? It’s like they want you to know, or like one said, they wanted this to become a story and elevate the message it contained (a pathetic message that undermines Obama’s ability to promise hopenchange, but whatever).

    Dustin (b54cdc)

  137. San Francisco Examiner

    CCC (679517)

  138. I’ve seen that name at Ace’s blog in the comments a couple of times.

    TGSG (27b0be)

  139. Of all the families in all the world, “Ellie Light” went and married into that one?…

    I don’t find the fact that some inveterate letter-writer who aches to see her name in print is doing what inveterate letter-writers who ache to see their names in print have done for the better part of a century all that interesting … or I wouldn’t…

    Acephalous (0436bf)

  140. She says she’s a grandma & member of code pink in San Fran. Any chance that she’s that whacko council member that calls Michael Medved’s radio show every so often?

    Icy Texan (88349b)

  141. http://www.bensoncountynews.com/editorials.htm

    Benson County [North Dakota] Farmers Press

    cboldt (60ea4a)

  142. […] Obama has suspicious number of letter-writing fans named ‘Ellie Light’ Ellie Light sure gets around. In recent weeks, Light has published virtually identical “Letters to the Editor” in support of President Barack Obama in more than a dozen newspapers.Every letter claimed a different residence for Light that happened to be in the newspaper’s circulation area. “It’s time for Americans to realize that governing is hard work, and that a president can’t just wave a magic wand and fix everything,” said a letter from alleged Philadelphian Ellie Light, that was published in the Jan. 19 edition of The Philadelphia Daily News. [I would like to know how this letter managed to make it into so many newspaper "letter to the editor" sections because we all know how difficult it is for anyone to get their missives printed let alone the same "person" in so many different publications. (over 50 so far as near as I can tell) Be sure to read the email exchanges between the reporter and "Ellie" at the conclusion of this very interesting article. More info on this here…ed] […]

    Saturday January 23rd (dbf3d6)

  143. “Ellie Light” appeared today (1/23/2010) in the Huntsville (AL) Times.

    Brett Nix (24b435)

  144. Somerset [Pennsylvania] Daily American News – Jan 12, 2010
    Ellie Light of Somerset

    North Adams [Massachusett(e)s] Transcript – Jan 13, 2010
    Ellie Light of Williamstown

    cboldt (60ea4a)

  145. Icy Texan, also not not accusing exactly, but Ben at Politico’s comments about his publishing of EL’s letters sounds to a SUSPICIOUS ear as if he was trying to get a message out.

    (paraphrasing here) “I so seldom publish letters from readers”
    “this one seems to cyrstallize a message Obama supporters are tyring to get out”.

    A little too perfect, like a green and manicured lawn of astroturf.
    But then, I’m a suspicious sort of person who likes to get to the bottom of a mystery.

    SarahW (692fc6)

  146. When I worked for the government I would sometimes send letters to the editor using my deceased grandfather’s name, partly because it was more ethnic sounding than mne, and partly to hide my identity. It did get quite a few letters published.

    One thing interesting is that most papers require you to include a phone number yet I have never been called for confirmation, though to be truthful I have not mailed in a letter to the editor in a while.

    I do think this sounds as though it was not one person but a coordinated effort. mIt is interesting though that it was published in so many papers.

    Room 237 (ee8266)

  147. I wonder if Ellie Light is a friend of Dickie Flatt? (famous for being mentioned in Phil Gramm speeches…)

    Fred Johnson (3e878d)

  148. As far as I can tell, the first time Ellie Light’s letter appeared was on January 7, and it was not in a newspaper, but on the Politico site. Ben Smith published it.
    But how often does a big-shot blogger read his hundreds of “unsolicited e-mails” (Smith’s term), and then publish one? When it’s a slow news day, or something?

    “. . .a president can’t just wave a magic wand and fix everything.” –Ellie Light

    “. . .the lure of an easy solution, that you can just wave a magic wand and the problem goes away. . .” –Paul Krugman

    Official Internet Data Office (c93f96)

  149. What was the name of that group made up of liberal bloggers that also included MSM heavyweights that would agree in secret about messaging? Is it possible that the Ellie Light letters is part of that. The lefty bloggers are certainly tied into the Obama administration, with Axelrod’s astroturfing background and Sunstein’s reported efforts to affect public opinion in the way the Ellie Light letters attempted to do.

    SAM (f704d5)

  150. Does Ellie have a brother named “Bud”? If so, try St.Louis.

    Hans (4e0dda)

  151. […] the help of my commenters, I have been keeping a running total at my blog of the places where Light’s letter has appeared. At last count, her letter has appeared in at […]

    Hot Air » Blog Archive » Ellie Light: Obama Astroturfer? (e2f069)

  152. “independent press”

    odd how many papers/blogs would post this.
    sounds like collusion to me.

    RICO anyone?

    ew-3 (165bae)

  153. Comment by SAM — 1/23/2010 @ 2:58 pm

    Not that I quite agree with your characterization of the group, but you’re probably thinking of Journolist.

    Dusty (7bba43)

  154. I just looked it up. JournoList is the group and there’s no way it’s defunct. This was a way to coordinate messaging that benefitted Democrats.

    SAM (f704d5)

  155. Does Ellie have a brother named “Bud”? If so, try St.Louis.

    Comment by Hans — 1/23/2010 @ 3:01 pm

    If she has a brother in Milwaukee whose name is Miller, he might take offense with that remark.

    Dusty (7bba43)

  156. Let’s see how long it takes Ben Smith to tackle this.

    Wait …. he did!

    I’d like to know if Smith is going to do some investigating of his own, (which would seem to be up Politico’s alley), and how he’s going to stop from being fooled by future Astroturfing.

    Bradley J. Fikes, C. O.R. (a18ddc)

  157. [Comment by ew-3 — 1/23/2010 @ 3:02 pm]

    I’m less inclined to think it’s collusion, than a good example of the uniformity of the political bent across a very broad range of the newspaper industry. The letter sounded good because it rang all the philosophical bells for the people deciding what letters to publish.

    It’s on a par with birds of a feather flock together, where the media is the coop.

    Dusty (7bba43)

  158. “What was the name of that group made up of liberal bloggers that also included MSM heavyweights that would agree in secret about messaging? Is it possible that the Ellie Light letters is part of that. The lefty bloggers are certainly tied into the Obama administration, with Axelrod’s astroturfing background and Sunstein’s reported efforts to affect public opinion in the way the Ellie Light letters attempted to do.”

    This shows what an astute grasp of the underlying facts can do to conspiracy theorizing.

    imdw (de7003)

  159. JournoList – imdw is just being a disingenuous douchenozzle.

    JD (7a2548)

  160. Here’s a question. Is this an uncovering of the first attempt at astroturfing for Obama or have there been previous ones like this no one noticed?

    Dusty (7bba43)

  161. Ellie has her own Wikipedia entry.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellie_Light

    Neither Patrick Frey nor Patterico have Wikipedia entries.

    Pwn3d!

    TomHynes (2e563b)

  162. Up next someone will find out the source of all of those web posts about the restaurant server with the Obama 08 tie that has his tip redistributed to a homeless person.

    imdw (200e5f)

  163. […] Patterico has a round up, so far he’s counted letters in “42 publications in 18 states plus D.C.” by “Ellie Light”: Think there might be some phony Astroturfing there? […]

    Huntsville Times gets scammed by Obama astroturfer | flashpoint (9c64d0)

  164. Marshfield News Herald, Marshfield Wisconsin

    Steve Kraus (4243d5)

  165. Did you get the Russellville Arkansas Courier in your count?

    Just love how they showed their disdain for Obama with the letter headline: “Magic Wand Missing From Oval Office!”

    Buttered (fa4709)

  166. Thanks for the tip, Steve Kraus. Here’s a link to the Marshfield News Herald letter, and I’ve added it to the list.

    DRJ (84a0c3)

  167. CCC,

    Excellent — I was beginning to think Ellie had forgotten Texas. I’ll add it to the master list.

    DRJ (84a0c3)

  168. Buttered,

    We don’t have anything from Arkansas. Do you have a link?

    DRJ (84a0c3)

  169. Vallejo Times Herald

    Right after Obama’s election, we seemed to grasp this. We understood that companies would be happy to squeeze more work out of frightened employees, and would be slow to hire more. We understood that the banks that had extorted us out of billions of dollars were lying when they said they would share their recovery. We understood that a national consensus on health care would not come easily. Candidate Obama never claimed that his proposed solutions would work flawlessly right out of the box, and we respected him for that.

    Ellie Light

    Vallejo

    Patrick (635396)

  170. Wow, I seem to remember imdw getting all worked up about some things. Seems to me that he is just fine with astroturfing, when it benefits his side*.

    Obviously.

    * And he will claim not to be a partisan hack. Too bad his posting record here and elsewhere suggests otherwise. And imdw, let me borrow a page from your own book: if you think you are fair, please post a total of ALL of your posts to this blog. Rank each “D”, “R”, or “I”. And then do the math.

    What? You don’t want to do the work? Strange, you seem just fine making extreme statements and when questioned about it, try to get the other people to do the work.

    Astroturfer.

    Eric Blair (20b3a8)

  171. Buttered,

    Thanks for the tip — I found the Arkansas link and added it to the list.

    DRJ (84a0c3)

  172. […] A White House hack, perhaps? A woman has written the same letter defending Obama to dozens of publications across the country, getting them published in at least 42 newspapers in 18 states, as well as Politico.com, the Washington Times, and USA Today. And the woman, Ellie Light, has claimed residence in many of these states. […]

    Bloodthirsty Liberal » Who Is Ellie Light? (cb2f3f)

  173. Patrick,

    I found the Vallejo link, too, and added it in. Thanks!

    DRJ (84a0c3)

  174. DRJ – Do you mean the list at the top of this post or someplace else?

    CCC (679517)

  175. Hey, this is so old school. Silence Dogood aka Ben Franklin started it with letters to the editor of the New England Courant. I know this because “National Treasure” is my favorite movie.
    P.S. It’s capitalized because its a name.
    P.P.S. Ellie Light aka (?) who is going to get the scoop?

    Karl Maier (722240)

  176. “Astroturfer.”

    Now that is odd.

    imdw (795ee1)

  177. Actually, CCC, I’m making a master list but it hasn’t been published yet. It’s taking a lot of time to check for duplicates, check links, etc., but hopefully it will be available soon.

    DRJ (84a0c3)

  178. Be fair to the MSM, as far as I know not a single newspaper on Mars has published an Ellie Light letter.

    ken bc (aaa364)

  179. Yet.

    DRJ (84a0c3)

  180. DRJ – Sounds good. Make sure you link to it whenever you post it.

    CCC (679517)

  181. Hi,

    Using the links provided I’ve compiled a master list of the publications and arranged them according to DATE– so the first time we see Ellie Light’s letter is on Jan. 7th over on Politico, and the most recent is the Huntsville Times today (as “Ellie J. Light”).

    There are some interesting patterns when you look at the publications chronologically– for instance, of the 55 times (that we know of) the letter has been published, 26 of those times came within three consecutive days (Jan. 12, 13, 14). That may indicate some sort of snail mail/emailing pattern on behalf of Ellie. Also, Ellie signed her full name of “Ellie Jeanne Light” on five different publications dating January 13th alone– also perhaps indicative of some sort of pattern.

    Another blog covering this mentioned the possibility that “Ellie Light” is really some sort of automative computer program that has been set to email Letters to Editors according to set time periods. Using different names– “Ellie Light” “Ellie Jeanne Light” “Ellie J. Light”– might be an attempt at randomizing.

    Anyway, if anyone wants the chronologically arranged master list, just give a shout out and I’ll email it to you.

    Callie (dc27b3)

  182. Are you denying this is happening imdw?

    JD (7a2548)

  183. I agree the first post seems to be Politico at 12:05pm on January 7th. What is even more interesting is that by 5pm on that day, at least four “Organizing for America” state websites had linked to it.

    CCC (679517)

  184. Notice, JD, that imdw doesn’t engage the accusation, but deflects again (though he was able to use a caps key this time).

    The amusing part is that Axelrod’s people were paying some folks to astroturf.

    This fella does it for free. For the joy of trolling.

    Eric Blair (20b3a8)

  185. “Are you denying this is happening imdw?”

    Denying what? I note even the washington times is in on it.

    “The amusing part is that Axelrod’s people were paying some folks to astroturf.

    This fella does it for free. For the joy of trolling.”

    I’m not sure you understand what the word “astroturf” means if you’re accusing someone of doing it “for free” and “for the joy” of it.

    imdw (11b8ad)

  186. Patterico, Here is the link to The Reflector in Battle Ground, Wa. http://www.thereflector.com/Opinion/letters.php

    David Standal (7091fc)

  187. All leads point to Cass Sunstein’s wife Samantha. It’s not much of a stretch to connect the word ‘Sun’, and the word ‘Light’.

    Hello, Samantha Sunlight. You want to be caught, don’t you…

    Tyrone Cartier (584cf0)

  188. Profile on yahoo where articles have been ‘buzzed up’ as recently as yesterday:

    http://profiles.yahoo.com/ellie.light
    Ellie
    Female – Massachusetts

    ——-
    Ellie buzzed up: Give Obama a break

    “A year ago, if we had read in the paper that employers were hiring again, that health care legislation was proceeding without a bump, that Afghanis…”

    Ellie buzzed up: Letters: Obama warned us of hard choices, painful steps

    “Obama warned us of hard choices, painful steps Ellie Jeanne Light – Long Beach, Calif. A year ago, if we had read in the paper that employers were …”
    ——-

    mudskipper (342d38)

  189. […] Pansy on Shocker: New York Times Magazine Does Profile of Charles Johnson — And Gets It Right!mudskipper on Ellie Light: Obama Astroturfer? Or Very, Very, Very Energetic But Independent Letter Writer? […]

    Patterico's Pontifications » Ellie Light’s Letters (e4ab32)

  190. I’ve added a master list here. If possible, leave links to additional letters in the comments at that post.

    DRJ (84a0c3)

  191. Looks like a long list so far of newspapers that have been punked. Maybe this is someone proving that astroturfing can be done, rather than actually doing it. Discrediting the old media, via new media. It’s a gotcha. That’s my theory. Meanwhile I’m enjoying the mystery!

    Amy (cb7059)

  192. Ellie Light Letter to the Editor in Huntsville Times, Huntsvile, AL 1/23/10 http://blog.al.com/times-views/2010/01/letters_to_the_editor_huntsvil_82.html
    Please keep chasing this story down.

    Evelyn Bane (28b2b5)

  193. Perhaps someone should ask the administration just who is Elusive Ellie.

    Also, did they think about Google/Bing?

    Astroturd Rejectus (75f27a)

  194. I haven’t been up to the Berkshires in a couple years, but last time I was there the Berkshire Eagle published the North Adams Transcript, probably still does, and Ellie made it into both of them with slightly different letters and names.

    RW-(the original) (ff0a35)

  195. […] the work of just one woman: With the help of my commenters, I have been keeping a running total at my blog of the places where Light’s letter has appeared. At last count, her letter has appeared in at […]

    Astroturfing Trying To Make A Comeback « Nice Deb (c5085e)

  196. […] was reading an article at Patterico today (h/t NewsReal Blog and our own Michael van der Galien) on an apparent Astroturfing effort by a […]

    PoliGazette » The Obama Administration’s Propaganda Campaign (9bf351)

  197. The new white house strategy…..Ellie Light……PRICELESS!

    Kathleen (789a8f)

  198. The new white house strategy…..Ellie Light……PRICELESS!

    Kathleen (789a8f)

  199. In case it hasn’t already been mentioned, here’s one in the 1/14/10 Daily Breeze (California LAX to Long Beach)

    Peaches (773593)

  200. I searched my local paper and they showed the letter as an editorial from the The Myrtle Beach Sun. http://www.sacbee.com/847/story/2470774.html
    The link to the editorial is http://www.thesunnews.com/opinion/story/1266236.html which takes to the website for the Sun News Time of Myrtle Beach. The editorial notes that Ellie lives in Myrtle beach.

    Lou (4dd858)

  201. Vallejo, CA Times-Herald. Ellie Light of Vallejo. http://www.timesheraldonline.com/ci_14186762

    San Luis Obispo, CA. The Tribune (click on the 4th letter) Ellie Jeane Light of San Luis Obispo:
    http://www.sanluisobispo.com/letters-to-the-editor/story/995597.html

    Charlottesville, VA. NewsLeader.com. Ellie Jeane Light of Waynesboro, VA:
    http://www.newsleader.com/article/20100115/OPINION03/1150317/Obama-never-said-he-had-a-magic-wand

    Weirton, WV. Daily Times. Ellie Light of Follansbee, WV:
    http://www.weirtondailytimes.com/page/content.detail/id/533581.html?nav=5004

    JstJoanie (95da6a)

  202. You could almost admire the cleverness of the Obama Administration if they weren’t so transparently f*&cking stupid!

    MikeD (c83900)

  203. Thanks, Lou. I didn’t have the Sacramento Bee reprint. Thanks, also, to everyone else who commented up to this point. I’ve added all your letters and links to the master list.

    DRJ (84a0c3)

  204. In Pravda “Give Obama a chance”

    “President Barack Obama does not have a magic wand.”

    http://english.pravda.ru/world/americas/23-01-2010/111799-obama_chance-0

    Mark (448fc2)

  205. Public Radio International

    Barack Obama doesn’t have a magic wand, so said Bernard Kouchner, the French Foreign Minister just a short while before the president’s inauguration.

    http://www.pri.org/politics-society/government/year-of-obama1792.html

    Mark (448fc2)

  206. This comment on 1/10 sounds like ellie

    Baloney. Politics is the art of the possible. Obama has no magic wand to wave to enact his program, but must deal with the recalcitrant Republican opposition and even grudging Democratic support in the Congress. The key is bringing about economic recovery. Given that, widespread support will emerge for his program. The comparison with the Soviet Union is misleading: no major surgery is needed on the body politic.

    http://www.truthout.org/article/avatar-obama-and-united-states-hype#comment-172304

    Gary Kline (448fc2)

  207. Well, if we renamed him “Froggy”, he would have a “magic twanger”?

    AD - RtR/OS! (c0c796)

  208. […] more interesting, the blog Patterico.com is maintaining a listing (very, very nice posting of the full context of this story) of all of the places that this letter […]

    The Right Side of Life » The Curious Case of “Ellie Light” (fa89c7)

  209. […] across the country with the same name. Soon afterward, Patterico’s Pontifications started a tally of all the newspapers that were duped. It looks like 42 publications in 18 states and the District of Columbia printed the same letter, […]

    Manipulating the Media « The Debate Gateway (32c23e)

  210. why doesn’t the plain dealer run an e-mail search?
    they have her e mail address

    teresa (07312f)

  211. why doesn’t the plain dealer run an e-mail search?
    they have her / his e mail address

    teresa (07312f)

  212. This letter was written by “Ellie Light” in our newspaper: http://www.alamogordonews.com/alamogordo-fine_arts/ci_14226499 It has to do with the Haitian earthquake. It appeared on the 19th. In a sister newspaper, the Ruidoso News, the president letter appeared by the same person, same location. http://www.ruidosonews.com/ci_14176241?IADID=Search-www.ruidosonews.com-www.ruidosonews.com was published the 16th. I’m probably way behind the ball on this but got a kick outta the whole thing. Thanks for the heads up.

    P.S. I seem to remember the topic of this letter in the Alamogordo paper, but can’t seem to find it in the search. They may have gotten it but took it offline.

    What’s interesting is, Three Rivers is a VERY small place, and there is no one of that name to be found in any phone book.

    Interesting.

    Mad Monica (59ce41)

  213. Funny how they’re all singing the same song now…

    Daily Kos 1/22 – Progressive Want Obama To Succeed

    “Progressives understand that Obama will not accomplish everything that he sets out to accomplish and that he can’t wave a magic wand and just make things happen.”

    http://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/1/22/134014/664

    Gary Kline (448fc2)

  214. There’s that magic wand again.

    Official Internet Data Office (c93f96)

  215. In Pravda “Give Obama a chance”

    “President Barack Obama does not have a magic wand.” Comment by Mark — 1/23/2010 @ 8:23 pm

    Another Mark inserted a link that goes to commentary that strikes me as sort of a longer, modified version of the “Ellie Light” letter. Coincidence? Or perhaps someone from Pravda, along with apparently dozens of other media outfits, also got wind of the “Ellie Light” missive and was inspired by it?

    It’s time for Americans to realize that governing is hard work and that a president can’t just wave a magic wand and fix everything. — Ellie Light

    I know on a number of occasions through the years I’ve used some word or phrase which is not too commonly used on any given day and find another person using that exact same word or phrase. So “magic wand” could easily be just coincidental. But the thrust of the commentary at Pravda has a tone and slant in general that makes me think of “Ellie Light.” Of course, the mind of liberals, or ultra-liberals, do run parallel, so it could be a case of the left at this moment in time merely parroting one another.

    Still, with Saul-Alinsky-Jeremiah-Wright type of people stationed throughout the current White House administration, the line between what is merely coincidence or reality could be shifting on a constant basis.

    Mark (411533)

  216. I did a Google search for “magic wand” and “obama” and “food chain” and “zeitgeist” and “haters” and “myriad.” That took me to http://www.gregdewar.com. FWIW.

    Andrew (4d873d)

  217. y the way, Dewar boasts about getting his name in the papers.

    Andrew (4d873d)

  218. Some of the terms for the aforementioned Google search come from here. Dewar also is very familiar with (and writes about) Politico. He has “15 years of experience in the political consulting business, conceiving and producing media campaigns for clients all around the country.”

    Andrew (4d873d)

  219. “It’s not much of a stretch to connect the word ‘Sun’, and the word ‘Light’.”

    These are not “all the leads” are they?

    imdw (b75942)

  220. Wow. This paper apparently publish Ellie’s letter three times in the same week. Each time she listed a different city as her home.

    http://www.stevenspointjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=20101130409

    http://www.stevenspointjournal.com/a…ID=20101130409

    http://www.stevenspointjournal.com/a…=2010100120188

    Reace (2f718f)

  221. Thanks, Reace. They really liked that letter, didn’t they? Do you think these were printed in different small papers that share a website for their online presence? These seem to be the same as 3 of the Wisconsin publications listed above.

    DRJ (84a0c3)

  222. […] of Patterico’s Pontifications has a comprehensive list of all the newspapers and other sources in which this letter has appeared. Patterico notes that […]

    Is This The President’s Fake Letter to the Editor &laquo Publius Forum (d65a4c)

  223. I added it to the list. Thanks, Andy.

    DRJ (84a0c3)

  224. […] it was a ham handed effort that looks forced and fake.Patterico of Patterico's Pontifications has a comprehensive list of all the newspapers and other sources in which this letter has appeared. Patterico notes that […]

    Is This The President’s Fake Letter to the Editor | Right Wing News (c8efe7)

  225. […] of Patterico’s Pontifications has a comprehensive list of all the newspapers and other sources in which this letter has appeared. Patterico notes that […]

    Is This The President’s Fake Letter to the Editor : Stop The ACLU (dae8af)

  226. […] of Patterico’s Pontifications has a comprehensive list of all the newspapers and other sources in which this letter has appeared. Patterico notes that […]

    The Reality Check » Blog Archive » Is This The President’s Fake Letter to the Editor (6dda6f)

  227. The last links have different City addresses. I’m starting to think this is a mass mailing campaign that would be very hard to accomplish by one person.

    Reace (2f718f)

  228. Here are excerpts from the cached Greg Dewar web site, with similarities to Ellie Light’s terminology in bold:

    “[T]he lefty types are a bit tiresome, particularly those in liberal bastions, who are screaming and yelling that Obama has not waved his magic wand, changed the country overnight into a liberal utopia, unicorns aren’t jumping over rainbows and all is perfect….A Question for the Pelosi Haters, and the Political Primal Screamers….Most political consultants disdain pop culture and the zeitgeist because the [sic] are so f*cking smart….Short and to the point, the additional coverage of the myriad of pieces hitting the mailbox is great for voters….Nowhere are the fights more bitter, or more vicious, than at the local level. In fact, as you go down the food chain, from the Big Deal At The Convention, on down to the state level, and then on down to the congressional, state legislative, and precinct level, you’d find that the fights, pissing matches, longwinded debates, and endless talk by party ‘activists’ gets more and more irrelevant as you go.”

    Maybe I’ll send him an email to ask if he is “Ellie Light.”

    Andrew (4d873d)

  229. Ellie likes the term “happy talk.” So does Dewar. I sent him an email just now.

    Andrew (4d873d)

  230. Ellie likes the term “happy talk.” So does Dewar.

    Andrew (4d873d)

  231. I don’t know if “Ellie” is a real person.

    If she is, she didn’t have to use different addresses. Many of these papers would have been happy to publish a good letter regardless of what part of the country–or world–it came from.

    However, many newspapers have a rule about sending the same, exact letter to other publications (or posting them in the comments section of blogs or Web sites) at the same time.

    Ms. Light could learn something from Mr. Larry Penner, a Great Neck, Long Island resident who has published hundreds–perhaps thousands–of letters in many newspapers and magazines across the country in the past few decades. See http://www.cityhallnews.com/newyork/article-30-the-penner-behind-the-pen.html

    DAC (683a3a)

  232. Actually, the Stevens Point Journal in Wisconsin was duped three separate times into printing similar stories, from an ‘Ellie Light’ once and an ‘Ellie Jeanne Light’ twice.

    http://www.stevenspointjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=20101130409
    http://www.stevenspointjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=20101170302
    http://www.stevenspointjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2010100120188

    On the 13th, 17th, and 21st they published the letters.

    Erls (9d13ec)

  233. No magic wand
    Published By Times Herald
    Posted: 01/14/2010 01:04:29 AM PST

    http://www.timesheraldonline.com/ci_14186762

    Ellie Light

    Vallejo

    Jugdish Holdsclaw (8f9ab2)

  234. No magic wand for nation’s dilemmas

    POSTED Jan. 13, 2010 11:58 a.m.

    http://www.barrowcountynews.com/news/archive/5599/

    Ellie Light

    Winder

    Jugdish Holdsclaw (8f9ab2)

  235. Remember how hard we knew this would be

    posted Jan 14, 2010 – 2:48:21pm

    Editor, The Beacon:

    Ellie Light
    Barberville

    http://www.beacononlinenews.com/opinions/opinion_letters.php

    Jugdish Holdsclaw (8f9ab2)

  236. Maybe the letter was posted on a liberal web site with suggestion to give it a local address and send to your local newspaper.

    MaxTruth (5581d4)

  237. I concur on the Samantha Power theory especially since she is married to Sunstein and was able to get published in so many papers.

    Dennis D (e0b996)

  238. Michelle (or is that “Ms. Ellie”?) Obama: “My husband does not have a magic wand. Believe me, I’ve seen his wand, and it’s nothing special.”

    Icy Texan (b81ee7)

  239. […] day after Eaton’s story broke, Patterico took to the chase and compiled a more complete list of Light’s appearances. No thanks to the mainstream media, bloggers worked their search […]

    Obama-Loving Spammer ‘Ellie Light’ Dupes 42 Newspapers | TheWorldPolitics (197be1)

  240. […] Patterico has done the big work in gathering all the evidence about “Ellie Light” and her pro-Obama sock puppet campaign […]

    Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup » Pirate's Cove (566531)

  241. “Maybe the letter was posted on a liberal web site with suggestion to give it a local address and send to your local newspaper.”

    A soros funded liberal website run by cass sunstein’s wife that we cant find. And the url was sent out to journolist.

    imdw (795ee1)

  242. […] around the country were found to be duped. Even a paper in Bangkok. Talk about AstroTurf. https://patterico.com/2010/01/23/elli…letter-writer/ __________________ There is only one way to kill capitalism: by taxes, taxes, and more taxes. […]

    Obama has suspicious number of letter-writing fans named 'Ellie Light' - Political Forum (253033)

  243. I haven’t gotten any response from Greg Dewar yet. FYI, he’s been suspected of stroturfing in the past. But maybe that’s just a coincidence.

    Andrew (612128)

  244. […] last count Ellie Light has written the same letter defending Barack Obama to dozens of publications across the […]

    Gateway Pundit (f2568a)

  245. […] 24, 2010 · 0 comments At last count Ellie Light has written the same letter defending Barack Obama to dozens of publications across the […]

    Found: Ellie Light’s Facebook Page (e7ecf5)

  246. Newspapers generally call to confirm authorship of letters don’t they? In light of this obvious astroturf campaign, don’t you think one or two of the editors involved in all these papers might be willing to cough up the contact number for “Ellie Light”?

    Or all they all complicit?

    Molon Labe (640aad)

  247. “Or all they all complicit?”

    All of them.

    imdw (490521)

  248. STFU, you lying disingenuous Massengill heir.

    JD (867246)

  249. In light of this obvious astroturf campaign, don’t you think one or two of the editors involved in all these papers might be willing to cough up the contact number for “Ellie Light”?

    Quite likely.I don’t think journos are under any ethical obligation to keep confidential information about someone who deceived them, especially for an investigation into how the fraud was perpetrated.

    Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C.O.R. (9eb641)

  250. Who is Ellie Light?!

    HoweeCarr (4036de)

  251. […] com reports that the same letter has now appeared in at least 42 papers. A complete list is here (though more are being […]

    “Ellie Light” Letter-to-Editors Appear Nationwide; Obama Propaganda Macine in Full Force « Just Americans Making Ethical Statements Weblog (1c6b20)

  252. Sabrina Eaton at the Cleveland Plain Dealer has all the information needed to get to the bottom of this: the headers in Ellie Light’s email messages.

    Can she be persuaded to reveal them?

    Molon Labe (640aad)

  253. Sounds more like Operation Mockingbird to me. My last comment which mentioned the documentary, ‘Orwell Rolls in his Grave’ seems to have been deleted. The Panopticon Singularity seems to have already arrived and Neo-feudalism is probably coming soon, as Caroll Quigley had warned about in his book, Tragedy and Hope. Also, “Conspiracy Theorist” is really just another throught-terminating cliche which prevents you from analyzing the FACTS by shutting down your process of critical-thinking. Please don’t fall for it.

    A Digital Israel Bissell (708fc2)

  254. I meant to type “thought-terminating cliche” and not “throught-terminating cliche.” My bad.

    A Digital Israel Bissel (708fc2)

  255. Some people have asked why the content of the letter and the signer of the letter are uniform, whereas the addresses given by the signer vary.

    The addresses vary to conform with the location where each local newspaper is located. A local paper is more likely to publish a letter from a local person.

    The reason why the content of the letter does not vary is because the writer is a professional PR person (e.g. Greg Dewar) hired by some other person (e.g. Samantha Power) who pays a fee to the professional PR person, depending upon how many newspapers the letter appears in. Thus, it is convenient for the letter’s content (and the signer) to be uniform, so that the professional PR person can very easily prove authorship to the person who pays the fee.

    Andrew (612128)

  256. If you enter “governing is hard work” in Google you get a lot more hits which are on blogs showing that this was a campaign.

    I am going to do “governing is hard work” + “magic” and I think I will find the original. (though it was George Bush acc. to this search who said governing is hard work first but I don’t think he is Ellie Light.)
    Kathie

    Kathie (2ce01b)

  257. It’s pretty telling of the mood of the country that letters supporting the O are so scarce they apparently have to be manufactured. If Sunstein et al weren’t writing them, I wonder if any would be out there at all? Makes one wonder about the 47% support he so consistently scores…

    George W (e2c045)

  258. […] in the article Spook links, adds a crumb of info to this mess… On an unrelated note, recall that recently, Glenn Greenwald flagged the fact that Obama’s pal […]

    Would the left stoop this low? You betcha (2af0e7)

  259. probably a form letter.
    My friend’s father [and my Realestate agent 🙂 ] sent one in to a local news paper. He’s a proud republican and conservative.

    Everyone does it. I don’t think there was any evidence that my buddy’s dad’s source was the RNC. Of course it was an anti-Obama letter during the election.

    ffakr (f7bce5)

  260. I think Andrew has nailed it. Greg’s profession is in political consulting, apparently all to liberals/progressives, his current employer provides social media professional services to politicians, and he boasts on his blog of “a career (mis)spent in American politics, I debunk politicos, pundits and spinners, usually with a dose of humor to make it fun.”.

    On another post he claims: “Wikipedia. I cannot tell you the number of times in my youth that I purposefully planted incorrect information in Wikipedia that sounded believable. People like me are the reason Wikipedia doesn’t work.”

    He managed an Astroturf site http://www.adamaforpresident.org.

    He got into a verbal food fight with SF progressives over his alleged undisclosed consulting for PG&E.

    Ellie Night’s middle name could be after a relative. It looks like he has a relative aged 61, perhaps his mother, named Jeanne Dewar.

    Ultimately he wants to be found (after maximizing the publicity) because he thinks it will be good for his career.

    eCurious (e1bc78)

  261. You’d think they’d be smart enough to come up with different names …

    And whoever made the point that there has to be some kind of collusion between the papers and the sponsor of this letter has to be right. With the volume of letters to the editor, the odds that this particular one is published all over the country are slim to none.

    Teddy's Mom (8a8459)

  262. Obama Astroturfer? Or Very, Very, Very Energetic But Independent Letter Writer? With Houses All Over the Nation?…

    "Ellie Light sure gets around. In recent weeks, Light has published virtually identical “Letters to the Editor” in support of President Barack Obama in more than a dozen newspapers.Every letter claimed a different residence for Light that happened…

    www.buzzflash.net (9a9419)

  263. Come right over from Raw Story, eh? At least that seems to the the favorite argument over there: Republicans do it so it’s ok.

    AM (a656ea)

  264. For what it’s worth, there’s a restaurant review by Ellie Light of the Athen’s Cafe in NY (from June 25, 2008).

    She (and I’m not making this up) complains about the arugula.

    I can’t get the link to work past that pesky NY user-login wall. But if you google:

    nytimes “ellielight” argula

    It’s the first link…

    Dumbledore (e71ca5)

  265. _______________________________

    At the risk of being a non-partisan spoilsport, but also in the interest of throwing down the chips and seeing where they fall — and not wanting to be snared in do-as-I-say-not-what-I-do phoniness and hypocrisy — and also because I’m curious how the leftist bias of the media will influence, or has influenced, a flipside version of “Ellie Light” — I’m posting the following.

    irregulartimes.com:

    In February of 2003, operatives for the Republican National Committee used their website to plant identical letters to the editor across the country. The carbon-copy letters were each signed by a different person, creating the impression that “plain folks” came up with the pro-Bush sentiments contained therein.

    After good investigative work by the Boston Globe, a bunch of bloggers and the exhaustive documentation of Failure Is Impossible, the truth came out: the Republican Party was actively encouraging its members to cut and paste the pre-written text, add their name, call it theirs, and send it in to the papers to be printed.

    The Republican party called this an “instant grassroots” campaign. But after catching word, the American public came up with another name for the practice: Astroturf, or fake grassroots.

    You’d think that, having been caught in their astroturfing, plagiarizing, cheating scheme, the Republican party would have disavowed the practice and promised never to do it again. After all, George W. Bush promised that his party would be the party of Honor and Integrity, right? Right?

    Wrong. Three months later, now that the furor’s died down and they think nobody is watching, the Republican party is at it again. The following letter appears on their “Team Leader” website:

    Creating jobs and fostering economic growth needs to be our number one national priority. President Bush recognizes this and has delivered a jobs and growth plan that will create 1.4 million new jobs in the next two years. Some in Congress want to reduce or cut President Bush’s plan and in so doing, reduce the number of jobs created…..

    Right below this text is a space for you to write in your name. Right above this text is a menu for you to select a local newspaper to send it to.

    What’s the result? Let’s consult four examples of the impact of Republican Astroturfing on newspapers:

    the San Diego Union-Tribune, the Glasgow, Kentucky Daily Times, the Las Cruces, New Mexico Sun-News and the Gallatin, Tennessee News Examiner.

    On May 8, May 7, May 6 and May 5, respectively, the following letters to the editor appeared on their pages:

    San Diego Union-Tribune, May 8 2003
    Creating jobs and fostering economic growth need to be our number one national priority. President Bush recognizes this and has delivered a jobs and growth plan that will create 1.4 million new jobs in the next two years. Some in Congress want to reduce or cut President Bush’s plan and in so doing, reduce the number of jobs created.

    Twelve Senate Democrats understood the important impact tax relief has on growing our economy when President Bush’s tax relief was passed into law. Why are they now ignoring their previous support for tax relief and its economic impact? They should vote with President Bush and give the economy the boost it needs.

    Steven Zasueta
    Chula Vista

    Glasgow Daily Times, May 7 2003
    Creating jobs and fostering economic growth needs to be our number one national priority. President Bush recognizes this and has delivered a jobs and growth plan that will create 1.4 million new jobs in the next two years. Some in Congress want to reduce or cut President Bush’s plan and in so doing, reduce the number of jobs created. That’s hundreds of thousands of jobs fewer than the 1 million jobs the stimulus package passed by the House of Representatives would create.

    12 Senate Democrats understood the important impact tax relief has on growing our economy when President Bush’s tax relief was passed into law. Why are Senate Democrats ignoring their previous support for tax relief and its economic impact? They should vote with President Bush and give the economy the boost it needs. It’s the right thing to do to grow the economy.

    Gregg Stratton
    Frankfort, KY

    The Gallatin News Examiner, May 5 2003
    Creating jobs and fostering economic growth needs to be our number one national priority. President Bush recognizes this and has delivered jobs and growth plan that will create 1.4 million new jobs in the next two years. Some in Congress want to reduce or cut President Bush’s plan and in so doing, reduce the number of jobs created. That’s hundreds of thousands of jobs fewer than the 1 million jobs the stimulus package passed by the House of Representatives would create.

    Twelve Senate Democrats understood the important impact tax relief has on growing our economy when President Bushs tax relief was passed into law. Why are Senate Democrats ignoring their previous support for tax relief and its economic impact? They should vote with President Bush and give the economy the boost it needs. It’s the right thing to do to grow the economy.

    Sincerely,
    Charley Brandon
    Kingsport, Tenn.

    Las Cruces Sun-News, May 6 2003
    Here in New Mexico we are aware that creating jobs and fostering economic growth needs to be our number one priority, and across our country as well. President Bush recognizes this and has delivered a jobs and growth plan that will create 1.4 million new jobs in the next two years. Some in Congress want to reduce or cut President Bush’s plan and in so doing, reduce the number of jobs created. That’s hundreds of thousands of jobs fewer than the 1 million jobs the stimulus package passed by the House of Representatives would create. Twelve Senate Democrats understood the important impact tax relief has on growing our economy when President Bush’s tax relief was passed into law. Why are Senate Democrats ignoring their previous support for tax relief and its economic impact? They should vote with President Bush and give the economy the boost it needs. It’s the right thing to do to grow the economy.

    G.K. Strawn
    Las Cruces

    Identical letters have appeared in the Anchorage Daily News (May 12, 2003, “written” by Mike Fouts), the San Francisco Chronicle (May 9, 2003, “written” by Joyce Lemmon), USA TODAY (May 7, 2003, “written” by David Johnson), the Huntsville Times (May 12, 2003, “written” by Corey O’Connor), the Kalamazoo Gazette (May 13, 2003, “written” by Norman Root), Time Magazine (the May 26, 2003 issue, “written” by Thomas J. Stokes) and Pakistan Link (May 16, 2003, “written” by Belen Barata).

    So far, I guess the big difference between the Bush version of Astroturfing and what likely is the version emanating from either the current White House or cheerleaders aligned with the Democrat Party is the former was more upfront about the PR stunt.

    Mark (411533)

  266. The phrase “governing is hard work” turns up in a column “A Chat With Columnist (and Now Author) Brian Morton” in City Paper http://www.citypaper.com › News+Features Home › People. Brian Wendell Morton is a serious political commentator in Baltimore. His column is called Political Animal and he has written a book with that title: Political Animal. He has been a White House staffer in another administration and was Kwame Mfusi’s ghost writer for a time.

    He is also a magician – a performer whose website is liesofBrian.com

    Kathie (2ce01b)

  267. Is this Ellie Light?
    see: “A Chat With Columnist (and Now Author) Brian Morton” in City Paper http://www.citypaper.com › News+Features Home › People. Brian Wendell Morton is a serious political commentator in Baltimore. His column is called Political Animal and he has written a book with that title: Political Animal. He has been a White House staffer in another administration and was Kwame Mfusi’s ghost writer for a time.

    He is also a magician – a performer whose website is liesofBrian.com

    Kathie (2ce01b)

  268. […] then there were more.  and more.  and more.  and then I found a new one (and another).  I checked and organized links from the […]

    an Ellie Light list « The Church of the Apocalyptic Kiwi (bd1ac8)

  269. […] All of which makes Ellie Light’s sudden epistolary outburst all the more puzzling.  As Patrick Frey (Patterico) asks: […]

    » ‘Ellie Light’: Indefatigable Letter Writer or Axelrod/Plouffe Sock Puppet? - Big Journalism (d59464)

  270. […] Patterico: A woman has written the same letter defending Obama to dozens of publications across the country, getting them published in at least 42 newspapers in 18 states, as well as Politico.com, the Washington Times, and USA Today. And the woman, Ellie Light, has claimed residence in many of these states. […]

    I’m Beginning To See The Light « Around The Sphere (28701b)

  271. If it’s astroturfing then it’s wrong. I am sure that this blog objects to astroturfing when the right wing does it, too. Right?

    Equal Time (66858c)

  272. Ah … Plouffe/Axelrod, busy at it again.

    THIS time around, though, they don’t have the local troops to beat down every discouraging word on every little mailing list, and the race card has worn exceedingly thin.

    For a reality check, look up “Axelrod” at twitter.com.

    @ct (4c6b24)

  273. Ellie Light Is a LIAR!

    Signed Ellie Light
    (love child of Rahm Emanuel and Monica Lewinsky)

    or is it love child of Monica and Bubba?
    I don’t know. I’ve lost count.
    If Barry S. is anything, it’s an honest man and a PROMISE KEEPER!

    VOMIT!!!!

    Ellie Light (a0a7c5)

  274. Obviously this woman doesn’t live in all these places, but if you want your letter published in a paper, what chance is there of that happening if you don’t live locally? It would take about a day for someone to look up a bunch of local papers and send each of them the same letter using a local address. Those who don’t understand how this works are technologically way back in the dark ages somewhere. But what do you expect from the reactionaries? They’re still huffing about daylight savings.

    Texas Aggie (f5857f)

  275. If you put all of the previous responses into order and delete the ones which have no reverence, you will come close to the truth. Do not give up… you will find the Truth.

    Cigarette Smoking Man (694147)

  276. FWIW, I do occasionally wander around in the conspiracy sites. Every rumor is always based in a small amount of truth.

    I am having an issue finding it at the moment but about 2 years ago I remember an article regarding a campaign within the airfoce encouraging a group to post in reply to anything on the web that could be taken as negative gvt information. There was even a training program to do so. The training included how to provide disinformation, combat facts with almost facts etc.

    This is something that has gone on since the old BBBs. The PsyOps brigade.

    This is just the first time that I think it has become apparent as possible truth to the greater masses.

    This could also be a deliberate smoke screen. Watch and see what else is going on, like the two officers from Minot AFB being permitted to leave the service last week. These were the two charged in 2005 for stealing classified material: ie a detonating device used for nuclear missiles.

    Nikki (34674d)

  277. […] A woman named “Ellie Light” has written letters to the editor supporting Barack Obama. A lot of letters. Well, more like the same letter a bunch of times. Like in 42 different newspapers in 18 states. […]

    Yet another chapter in the reality vs. fakeality story « The Blog That No One Reads (3d8069)

  278. How is it this person was so lucky getting their letter published in all of these newspapers around the same time? Some of the smaller publications yea’, but most of the big ones probably receive hundreds if not thousands of letters to their editorial sections everyday.

    I get that a lot of Editors in the media would be sympathetic to a person such as that, but I find it awfully hard to believe Ellie Light isn’t some sort of code or signal for it to be published.

    She replies in the comments section by the way over at Cleveland Plain Dealer but refuses to answer Samantha Eaton’s questions addressing her integrity and continues to spew talking points and outrage. Really creepy stuff. I have no doubt this is someone being paid by the Obama administration. Hell, its probably Cass Sunstein’s wife or Anita Dunn.

    Blazer (4251ee)

  279. How is it this person was so lucky getting their letter published in all of these newspapers around the same time? Some of the smaller publications yea’, but most of the big ones probably receive hundreds if not thousands of letters to their editorial sections everyday.

    I get that a lot of Editors in the media would be sympathetic to a person such as that, but I find it awfully hard to believe Ellie Light isn’t some sort of code or signal for it to be published.

    She replies in the comments section by the way over at Cleveland Plain Dealer but refuses to answer Samantha Eaton’s questions addressing her integrity and continues to spew talking points and outrage. Really creepy stuff. I have no doubt this is someone being paid by the Obama administration. Hell, its probably Cass Sunstein’s wife or Anita Dunn.

    Blazer (4251ee)

  280. How is it this person was so lucky getting their letter published in all of these newspapers around the same time? Some of the smaller publications yea’, but most of the big ones probably receive hundreds if not thousands of letters to their editorial sections everyday.

    I get that a lot of Editors in the media would be sympathetic to a person such as that, but I find it awfully hard to believe Ellie Light isn’t some sort of code or signal for it to be published.

    She replies in the comments section by the way over at Cleveland Plain Dealer but refuses to answer Samantha Eaton’s questions addressing her integrity and continues to spew talking points and outrage. Really creepy stuff. I have no doubt this is someone being paid by the Obama administration. Hell, its probably Cass Sunstein’s wife or Anita Dunn.

    Blazer (4251ee)

  281. Crap, sorry about the triple posts. Blog was hanging up.

    Blazer (4251ee)

  282. Sorry Mark but you are talking apples and oranges. For years both parties have posted boilerplate letters for people to “cut & paste” and send to a newspaper or their congress person. Democraticunderground would send out daily talking points along with alerts when a website started a poll back during Bush/Kerry trying to get lefties to flood the polls to make it look like “the people” were really behind Kerry. It is different when one person can get published in 42 newspapers while lying about their name and were they live. BTW where is the extensive work and “exhaustive documentation” by any of the newspapers mentioned here? The PD is the only paper that has been even marginally interested.

    Ibhsffo (c4bf24)

  283. […] Ellie Light: Obama Astroturfer? A woman has written the same letter defending Obama to dozens of publications across the country, getting them published in at least 42 newspapers in 18 states, as well as Politico.com, the Washington Times, and USA Today. And the woman, Ellie Light, has claimed residence in many of these states. Link to the research here and here. […]

    Dear Ellie Light… **UPDATED** : NO QUARTER (c8d490)

  284. Curiously enough you actually find the “Magic Wand” reference in a 1/23/10 article called “Give Obama a Chance”.

    The Newspaper is PRAVDA !!

    http://english.pravda.ru/world/americas/23-01-2010/111799-obama_chance-0

    harley (83f950)

  285. I found an Ellie Light in Great Britain, using my search tool in Skype. He/she was not online though. lol.

    Saskatchewan Conservative (9be4eb)

  286. […] Update: The number of Newspapers and online presence of this letter is growing by the minute. Go see Patterico to see the count so far.Update II: The left is going to try to compare this those e-mail letter […]

    Who Is “Ellie Light?” Isn’t The Question We Should Be Asking. | Right Wing News (c8efe7)

  287. Ellie got published in our very small town newspaper- The Sierra Star http://www.sierrastar.com 01.21.10 edition,(owned by McClatchy News);
    Titled “Why We Elected Obama” word for word the same as The Daily Plain letter. now claiming to reside in Ahwahnee,Ca.
    Count 43
    I solved it-_Anita Dunn, with a lap top, in the White House Billiard Room!

    D. Peckinpah (cc9a95)

  288. I have just completed the arduous task of copy/pasting that letter 22 times and sending out 12 letters to pubs not yet hit. Can you find them? I made one tiny change to “sign” them. This could be fun (since the luster was wearing thin on looking for “real” ones.) Good hunting!

    Ezra Yurocy (a61391)

  289. if anything i think this was done by republican operatives with the intent to expose it, blame it on democrats knowing it will make the president look bad.

    just some guy (94e6f2)

  290. My local paper is the Bangor Daily News. I just sent an email to Susan Young, Editorial Page Editor, to be sure she knows about the numerous Ellie Lights. I know that within the last year BDN confirmed emails by phone call to the writer before publishing the letter. Maybe they don’t confirm snail mail letters, or maybe this was orchestrated, as mentioned above.

    R.I.P., Free Press.

    CalifGirlInMaine (21dff5)

  291. found engraved on the monolith, in 2001 A Space Odyssey:

    “Obama is the Bestest!” Ellie Light.

    Californio (2fb32e)

  292. It’s the e-addreesses of the telecoms’ secret wiretapping rooms for the Obama regime, styoopid!

    Vic Anderson (102d6e)

  293. “if anything i think this was done by republican operatives with the intent to expose it, blame it on democrats knowing it will make the president look bad.

    Comment by just some guy”

    HAHAHAHA. yeah right. And the CIA invented AIDS to kill all the blacks, and Bush knowingly lied about all the WMDs, and let 9/11 happen “on purpose” and used his tractor beam on Wellstone’s plane. Oh, and Diebolded Brown’s Senate victory, among others.

    The democrats have to own this lie. And ultimately, if it’s a democrat party or OfA operation, or ‘astroturfer master’ Axelrod is aware of this, Obama personally has to own this lie. The American people deserve honesty in communication with their employee government.

    If you owned a restaurant and your waiters kept filling out customer evaluation cards to tell you how great those waiters were, you’d fire them. This is identical behavior. Of course, when you claim dirty tricks, one of the most default reactions is to claim it’s a double blind super secret dirty trick by the other side. Pretty lame in this case, since Michelle already uncovered the source for one set of lies.

    Dustin (b54cdc)

  294. Ellie is my cousin and we both grew up in Wisconsin. I don’t see what all the fuss is about If she wants to support our President.

    Give her credit for that instead of all the people trash talking our President on national TV and radio.

    bud dingler (624ae7)

  295. […] letter-to-the-editor campaign has links to the White House. And questions about whether this was inspired by Cass Sunstein’s […]

    Instapundit » Blog Archive » AN UPDATE ON THE “ELLIE LIGHT” ASTROTURFING STORY: Patterico notes that we’ve actually seen two typ… (fe8e62)

  296. Make it three times in the Sheboygan Press – this one from “Ellie Jeanne Light of Oshkosh” on 1/21.

    steveegg (1a3d89)

  297. Ellie also published in the San Luis Obispo, CA Tribune (also owned by McClatchy) on January 20th.

    Dave (e1a431)

  298. […] The number of Newspapers and online presence of this letter is growing by the minute. Go see Patterico to see the count so far.Update II: The left is going to try to compare this those e-mail letter […]

    Who is Ellie Light? Is Not The Only Question We Should Be Asking | Right Wing News (c8efe7)

  299. […] The number of Newspapers and online presence of this letter is growing by the minute. Go see Patterico to see the count so far.Update II: The left is going to try to compare this those e-mail letter […]

    Who Is Ellie Light? Isn’t The Only Question We Should Be Asking | Right Wing News (c8efe7)

  300. […] And here’s an article about the ubiquitous Ellie Light. And, here’s a list of some of the Ellie Light sightings. […]

    Astroturf – by Our Government « Popgun's World (50eb32)

  301. Dear Equal Time:

    Show us the conservative Astroturf!

    Chris (ded5f2)

  302. […] has  more on Ellie Light here and even more astroturfers writing under the names of Jan Chen and Gloria Elle here and shows us […]

    The Astroturf Brigade In Action « The Underground Conservative (bd1ac8)

  303. I FOUND THE ANSWER!!!

    Ellie Light, AKA Ellie May Clampit-Light can be found on FaceBook:

    http://www.facebook.com/people/Ellie-Light/582412632#/profile.php?id=1365887925&hiq=ellie%2Clight&ref=search

    Great picture too!

    Kevin Schmidt (de3644)

  304. […] the help of my commenters, I have been keeping a running total at my blog of the places where Light’s letter has appeared. At last count, her letter has appeared in at […]

    How many houses do you own? « MrMillCity.com (dd8464)

  305. Elllie Light leaves a comment to her being the most internet searched name today

    http://www.shnock.com/ellie-light-12350/

    Alexander Lenard (9b85b0)

  306. […] As reported by Patterico, someone named Ellie Light has been on a real writing binge. First reporting discovered Ellie’s handiwork in at least 42 newspapers in 18 states! […]

    All The President’s Astroturfers: The Curious Case of Ellie Light « A Time For Choosing (ea1fd5)

  307. […] As reported by Patterico, someone named Ellie Light has been on a real writing binge. First reporting discovered Ellie’s handiwork in at least 42 newspapers in 18 states! […]

    All The President’s Astroturfers: The Curious Case of Ellie Light « A Time For Choosing (ea1fd5)

  308. […] As reported by Patterico, someone named Ellie Light has been on a real writing binge. First reporting discovered Ellie’s handiwork in at least 42 newspapers in 18 states! […]

    All The President’s Astroturfers: The Curious Case of Ellie Light « Sarah Palin Information Blog (05b5a7)

  309. Will poor students be astroturfed next election cycle with rumors that if they do not vote obama they will not get student loans? It can happen because the media will not pick up on college student opinion making channels of communication. All kinds of possibities will drive students, unknowingly by them to promote Obamamania. Who is watching and listening?

    EagleLands (68caad)

  310. […] was the suspicion. “Sock puppets” was the […]

    IMAO » Blog Archive » Exclusive interview with Ellie Light (935354)

  311. I can’t help but wonder how many other similarly astroturfed ‘letters to the editor’ got through before Ellie’s.

    stevezilla (6ddd2c)

  312. “Who is watching and listening?

    Comment by EagleLands”

    College Papers. Generally these are extremely Republican and exercise great care to verify they aren’t being played by fakes and liars*.

    * not exactly

    Dustin (b54cdc)

  313. […] reports: At last count Ellie Light has written the same letter defending Barack Obama to dozens of publications across the […]

    OBAMA’S OMNIPRESENT FAN: Who is Ellie Light? (images) « FactReal (725c82)

  314. Why God…?…

    Do you just make Conservative women hotter or are they hotter because they’re Conservative?
    While you’re at it: if Obama’s poll numbers fall and there’s nobo ……

    That's Right (f4fcc3)

  315. Are all these newspapers in the same outfit, such as Gannett?

    Marilynn K. Leeds (4e0dda)

  316. […] Patterico’s Pontifications Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)MSNBC the almost offical Obama news networkThe Price of not Listening to People: Obama’s Poll Numbers continue to fall.Congressman Who Yelled “You Lie” to President Obama is AdmonishedDo you know Ellie Light? Where is she and who is she? […]

    Ellie Light: President Obama’s SuperFan « Smart and silly (97155d)

  317. […] Plain Dealer for exposing the astroturfing on steroids of “Ellie Light,” and to Patterico, his commenters. and other bloggers for expanding the list of Light’s let-through letters. […]

    BizzyBlog (47a0ce)

  318. […] maybe they’re all named Ellie Light. Of course! That would explain it. Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)Ben “Dover” […]

    I’d Certainly Sign Up to Host a SOTU Watch Party But I’d Be Signing Up As “Rob Mewhydoncha” « Cripes Suzette (bfba74)

  319. […] Gateway Pundit, Found: Ellie Light’s Facebook Page (Updated): At last count Ellie Light has written the same letter defending Barack Obama to dozens of publications across the […]

    Who Is Ellie Light? Michelle Malkin on Hannity About Fake Pro-Obama Letter Published in Dozens of Newspapers: “Obama Administration Is ‘The Astroturf Presidency’” (video) « Frugal Café Blog Zone (a66042)

  320. The Ellie Light scam was identified as a scam back in October by a single comment left at The Muffled Oar blog:

    http://muffledoar.blogspot.com/2010/01/ellie-light-scam-appeared-first-on.html

    The comment was left on the report at the Muffled Oar about Tracy Russo’s DOJ based blog squad. Whoever left the comment was probably close to whomever is Ellie Light. Suggest people try to track down the poster and find out what they know.

    IM (25da56)

  321. […] of Patterico’s Pontifications has a comprehensive list of all the newspapers and other sources in which this letter has appeared. Patterico notes that […]

    Is This The President’s Fake Letter to the Editor by: wth | American Conservative Daily (914ef3)

  322. Laugh out Loud Funny!
    This is the correction printed by the Bangor Daily News today regarding Ellie Light. Scroll down to read it!

    http://www.bangordailynews.com/detail/135590.html

    Paul Trommer (91cd0d)

  323. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellie_(The_West_Wing)

    Did you ever think what the name “Ellie Light” might mean? I wondered why this person’s name is the same in all these different towns and addresses. Why did they use the same name? It would be far more believeable if the name was different.

    So I googled just “Ellie” and this is what came up in connection with the President. Perhaps this person is making a point about the decriminalization about Marijuana and the difficulties the President is having…….shedding LIGHT on the issue. just an idea.

    lily dagon (2526bf)

  324. Oh come on.

    It’s so obvious.

    Ellie Light.

    L. Elite.

    Liberal Elite. Of course it’s a conspiracy!

    swami (d30cc8)

  325. Two weeks ago, when I started tracking the speculation about me, I avoided the pontificator, because he seemed the most goo-goo-eyed, the first to see spooks under every bed. I’ve since come to realize that he’s a genuine news source. He only sound loopy when he talks about me. Still, the pontificator was the first pen the five words that offered closure: Ellie Light is Winston Steward. Over and done. But he couldn’t quite do it. The hole in his life, the end of the chase, and the results are so unsatisfying. After Ellie, what remained was to find ways to defend Louisiana’s biggest loser, having attempted a Watergate redux and now holed up in mom’s apartment awaiting trial. Not much fun there. So Pontificator starts playing with Winston’s Facebook page, pasting pictures of my friend Jerry, a 70+ gardener who loves nothing more than puttering with his native California plants, but dubbed by pontificator to be the next public enemy number one. So it turns out its not as easy as all that to lay off the conspiratorial sauce. It’s just so much…. fun.

    The first thing I did when I read pontificators almost-conclusion to the Ellie thing, was to go back and a piece I wrote regarding Bush and 9/11, back in 2004. Did I sound as unhinged as these guys do? It’s the opposite of Acom’s Razor. In the mind of a conspiracy-buff, no question is allowed a simple answer. Happily, the 9/11 rabbit hole was before Facebook, so back then, I couldn’t sit behind my laptop and start following the tweets of everyone that gave a shout-out to President Bush on MySpace, and pretend I was doing a public service. What I’ve learned from all this, is that the next time someone brings up a comment critical of Obama, I won’t don my all-knowing tone and say, “You KNOW they’re just mouthing Republican talking points.” No, I won’t say that, because I’ve experienced how hard it is for others to accept that sometimes, you do something just because you want to. Simple as that.

    Ellie Light (4b74c6)

  326. Just wanted to say that you have a really easy-to-navigate website, and thanks for making it easy to past. Kudos.

    Ellie Light (4b74c6)

  327. You’e deleted my comment — It was No. 139….any comments??

    Kay Keenan (1b1e39)

  328. I don’t think I ever saw a comment from you on this thread Kay. You have one other comment here, but I don’t find anything else. Might that be it? I’m sure I didn’t delete anything from you though.

    Stashiu3 (44da70)

  329. […] more here: Patterico's Pontifications » Ellie Light: Obama Astroturfer? Or … […]

    Patterico's Pontifications » Ellie Light: Obama Astroturfer? Or … | Cornwall Web Design and other random articles (cb8c67)


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