Sock Puppets For Rudy By: Mark W Adams

We've got to come up with a new term, because "astroturf" doesn't begin to describe this outright fraud -- not that the Associated Press didn't perform the usual stenography service for a transparant Republican lie.

The Washington Monthly:

"RUDY-MANIA....If New York City's actual firefighters don't like you -- and they don't -- but you're running for president as the hero of 9/11, what do you do? Answer: tell one of your campaign aides to invent your own group called "Firefighters for Rudy" and then tout it to the media.

Will they fall for it? Is the Pope Catholic? Greg Sargent has the scoop.

UPDATE: Just to give you an idea of how real this group is, check out www.firefightersforrudy.com. They, um, don't seem to have made much progress.

Oddly, though, if you just type "firefightersforrudy" into your browser's address bar, it redirects you to this fine liberal blog. At least, it does in Firefox."