Just received the viral email below titled, "ABC White House Infomercial Protest Rally" from someone named Eric Odom.  As you know, I'm skeptical when I don't know who pays someone's salary.  (You can check out my article, "Experts and Front Groups" for more information.)  I'm having a hard time figuring out who this Eric J. Odom person is.  He appears to be with taxdayteaparty.com and Don'tGoMovement.com, which seems to be transitioning over into the American Liberty Alliance.  Here's some of what SourceWatch.org says, which I find a little thin:

The "tea party" anti-tax movement is not as spontaneous as its organizers would like you to think. Chris Good writes in The Atlantic, "Here is the organizational landscape of the April 15 tea party movement, in a nutshell: three national-level conservative groups, all with slightly different agendas, are guiding it. All are quick to tell you that the movement is a bottom-up affair and that its grassroots cred is real. They are: FreedomWorks, the conservative action group led by Dick Armey; dontGO, a tech savvy free-market action group that sprang out of last August's oil-drilling debate in the House of Representatives; and Americans for Prosperity, an issue advocacy/activist group based on free market principles. Conservative bloggers, talk show hosts, and other media figures have attached themselves to the movement in peripheral capacities. Armey will appear at a major rally in Atlanta, FreedomWorks said. All three groups vehemently deny that the movement is a product of AstroTurfing -- fake grassroots activism organized from the top down -- as some on the left have claimed."

I'm disappointed in SourceWatch on this one, I admit.  I'd like a little more information and better sourcing.  I noticed Eric Odom wrote a rebuttal to those calling his Don'tGo efforts an "astroturf movement", which I also find a little unpersuasive.

I see Mr. Odom has a couple of websites where he promotes himself as a web strategist (here, here and here).  Here's an update from Eric Odom on some ALA upcoming events.

So, folks--what do you think?  Bear in mind, I don't have a thing against tea parties. You can march for the Flying Spaghetti Monster for all I care, as long as you really believe in the Flying Spaghetti Monster's message and you aren't just a shill for Big Pasta.  Is Eric Odom out on his own doing the people's work, or is he working at the behest of a bunch of shadowy front groups who don't have the people's best interests at heart?  I'd hate to find out this tea party business has been instigated by a bunch of double-dealing opportunists to trick folks out of an honest vote at election time.  I'm not sure what the Flying Spaghetti Monster would have to say about that, but I don't think I'd want to be on the receiving end of his wrath.

UPDATE #1:  Still poking around, Mr. Odom made mention on his website of his employment with the Sam Adams Alliance.  Wikipedia says he was the New Media Coordinator for the Sam Adams Alliance until January 2009, and that the Sam Adams Alliance is a 501 c 3 organization "funded by private donors."  

UPDATE #2:  Why on earth is Eric Odom pitching such a fit about health care reform when he has no health insurance?  He says he is a small business owner and "can't afford" insurance for himself or his "contracted" employees.  You might find it incredible, but he and his staff over at American Liberty Alliance are working overtime sharpening their pitchforks, shutting down health care town halls, and doing everything they can to block health care reform!  Does he not realize that his decision not to purchase health insurance means that I bear an additional financial burden for his health care?  My premiums and out-of-pocket costs are higher than they should be because of folks like Eric Odom who get sick and run up tens of thousands of dollars in health care expenses they cannot possibly pay.  Those losses are all passed on to people like me who DO have health insurance--he's increasing my financial risk and taking money out of my pocket when he forgoes health insurance and leaves himself and his employees exposed to financial catastrophe.  Eric Odom is the poster boy for our health care crisis, yet he's putting his full arsenal into defeating reform.  Does that make sense to you?  Here's a message to all you folks over at American Liberty Alliance who don't have health insurance:  I'm tired of paying higher health care costs on your behalf and assuming your risk.  The pool of folks with health insurance is shrinking every day, and the losses we have to subsidize are growing.  I'd appreciate the opportunity to show up at a health care town hall, listen, and figure out what we can do about folks like you who are a burden on our health care system.  If anyone should be hollering, it is me.            

You can This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it if you have any thoughts and/or more information.  Here's the email from Eric Odom:

From: Tax Day Tea Party < This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it >
Subject: Tax Day Tea Party
To: <redacted>
Date: Sunday, June 21, 2009, 3:04 AM

Tax Day Tea Party
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ABC White House Infomercial Protest-Rally

Posted: 20 Jun 2009 07:23 PM PDT

We’re not exactly sure who is circulating this message, but it has hit several of our accounts in the last few hours. Seems to be deserving of some attention.
—————
Fellow Patriots,
This message is likely the most important message you will receive today. Please take a moment to read it, act on it and please send it to your entire email address book, your Facebook friends, and anyone else you can think of who is a friend of liberty. Also call your local (or even national) conservative talk show host to get the word out as far and wide and fast as possible.
On Wednesday June 24th 2009 ABC will be airing an “informercial” for Obama to sell us his Nationalized Health Care Plan. They have billed this as a “Conversation on Healthcare” and yet they are not allowing the other side of the “conversation” to be heard. Just like the Russian Government run news organization TASS, ABC is becoming a state run news organization for our new socialist government and they are not allowing any alternate points of view to be aired in juxtaposition to their broadcast.
There are two problems with this “infomercial.” The first problem I have already mentioned, where our first Amendment rights are being encroached upon by the creation of a quasi-state-run media (it wouldn’t surprise me if Obama is on the verge of appointing a media Czar in the near future). The second, and more immediate concern is the shameless promotion of a National Health Care Program in an infomercial format without any objective reporting on the issue, or the ability to show any kind of alternate program or point of view. Once again, the government is setting things up to try to ram things down our throat that We The People do not want and cannot afford for us or for our children. We MUST stand up and be heard!
We cannot stand idly by and see our media hijacked and become a state-run media outlet orchestrated by Obama’s administration, nor can we simply let this National Health Care Initiative be foisted upon us without putting up any resistance. It’s time for us to act. The last time we mobilized, the media tried to ignore and marginalize us. We will not be ignored! We invite every able bodied freedom loving American to rally outside of their local ABC affiliate TV station with signs, airhorns, and other noisemaking devices so that we get their attention this time. The slogan “Silent Majority No More” can no longer remain just a slogan, it’s time to show that we are NOT silent anymore. Make it sound like midnight on New Years Eve in front of every ABC affiliate TV station across the country. Make them send their reporters out to cover it live. Continue the rally through their news hour so our fellow Americans can realize how many of us share the same view. We know that this keeps you up a little later than usual however, a little sleep lost now is better than liberties lost later. Unusual times call for unusual measures. To find out where your local affiliate is, please go to this link:
ABC Affiliates
Yours in LIBERTY
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