I’m not sure why I bothered to read Paul Krugman’s Sunday New York Times piece taking on the tax protest Tea Parties, but I’m glad I did.

Predictably – and without much imagination – Krugman uses the Tea Parties as a way to bash conservative/Republican values such as economic freedom and lower taxes. The tea parties, he charges, “have been the subject of considerable mockery – and rightly so.” Krugman never really explains why it is right to ridicule these demonstrations, opting instead to bash the traditional bogeymen of Rush Limbaugh and Tom DeLay. But a venerated columnist signing his name to Democratic Party talking points and submitting it as his own work isn’t particularly noteworthy.

Krugman shows his self-imposed limits when he makes the claim that the tea parties are “AstroTurf (fake grass roots).” The demonstrations, he claims, are “manufactured” by groups like FreedomWorks and Fox News.

The great thing about being an opinion columnist for the Times is exactly the same as the great thing about being a blogger: apparently, you can just fire off your thoughts without doing any research. If Krugman had, he might have figured out that the people who are conducting Tea Parties aren’t being paid. (Sure, there are organizers and leaders, but show me a political rally – or, for that matter, a riot – that doesn’t have someone calling the shots.) If he knew anything about FreedomWorks, he would know that they have a massive database of people who have signed up to participate in activities like this – on their free time, when they aren’t doing their day jobs. Actually, he probably could have found that out by picking up the phone and talking to someone over there – like a journalist would. If he had bothered to research the tea parties, he might have found the multiple websites that purport to be the “central headquarters” of the movement.

And how much money would it take to “AstroTurf” this much ground?

All of this makes Krugman’s piece less of a thoughtful expression of an opinion in a policy discussion and more partisan hit piece. Giving him the benefit of the doubt and assuming that wasn’t his goal, Krugman betrays his an intellectual sloth: the Republican Party is to be ridiculed because he cannot conceive of rational people agreeing with the philosophy of a smaller, more limited government, or opposing a massive influx of government capital to solve any problem deemed worthy.

In the real world, there are at least two sides to every story. In Krugman’s mind, we the people just don’t think that way – precluding the need for “research” on which so many real journalists spend time.

You might even say that Krugman’s reality is “manufactured.”

Jon Stewart doesn’t think this week’s Tea Party protesters – some of whom are sending tea bags to the White House – know what they are saying:

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Or, maybe they know exactly what they’re saying – and sending a very specific message to Washington:

Over the past few years, there has been no shortage of media stories about the use of the internet – whether it was hailing the Obama campaign’s vaunted online tactics or the role of social media in modern communication.

The dirty little secret of “viral” campaigns is that, often, they are anything but. Massive national campaigns and corporate communications departments rarely produce content or platforms for participation without some kind of backup plan to encourage membership. Obama campaign staffers followed up by phone with people who signed up online to make sure their online support translated into offline action; McDonald’s nearly ubiquitous Filet-o-Fish commercial has passed from email to email largely because it started with a national media buy and had broad exposure during the NCAA tournament telecast.

From the tiny European nation of Moldova this week, however, came a flash mob that started as 20 people and wound up over 10,000.

The success of the protest – measured by the sheer numbers of participants – is a result of using communications avenues to stoke emotions that already existed. A dozen or so young Moldovans, upset with elections that maintained a Communist government, took to the streets.

The failure of the protest – like so many web 2.0 failures – can be found in the question, “Then what?”

Having 10,000 fans on Facebook, or followers on Twitter, or friends on any of hundreds of social networks online is no big trick anymore; with online advertising those numbers can be bought. There must be some action so that those numbers actually mean something.

In Moldova, that lack of forethought turned ugly. The crowd evolved into a mob, and the mob became violent. People were arrested, 43 police officers wound up in the hospital, and the parliament building was looted and destroyed (and is no longer as funkadelic as it was even last week). The demonstration was a display of emotion, but far from an effective campaign for freedom.

Where’s the happy medium between joining and forgetting a Facebook cause and buring down parliament? Phone calls, letters, and votes are a good place to start. Depending on who is behind the strategy, the end goal may be product sales or market share, or testimonials from satisfied customers. Whatever that goal is, though, online strategies must be a way there, or else they are only opportunities for distraction.

Politically speaking, freedom-lovers in America eager to answer Obama’s online campaign would do well to think through their own strategies to determine the most effective path to change. There’s a big crowd out there, and without some form of leadership, they may just start throwing rocks.

The Columbus Blue Jackets have made the playoffs – for the first time in their eight years of existence. ESPN writer E.J. Hradek announced to Columbus hockey faithful that their “long, local nightmare is over.”

Setting aside the idea that there probably should be no major sports events in Ohio that don’t involve the Buckeyes, I was struck that eight years is apparently a long time to wait for a postseason berth in sports. Forty years ago the 1969 Mets set a record for the fastest postseason appearance for an expansion team – in their eight season. (Even that was considered a miracle.)

But things move a lot faster now.

With players moving more easily from team to team, and with more teams spreading out the talent, it’s easier than ever to build a winner using pieces from outside an organization. And expanded playoffs have helped too – multiple rounds mean more invitations, so franchises who don’t build a champion can at least build a team good enough to play a few extra games. (In the NBA, for instance, a losing record doesn’t mean you’re missing the playoffs.)

Add to the fact that there are more media voices (through talk radio and blogs) following teams, and it adds a bit of heat to owners – who have to answer to taxpayers as well as fans, since their venues which are frequently publicly funded.

The Blue Jackets are heading to the postseason after eight seasons – just like the 1969 Miracle Mets in terms of time, but also completely different in terms of impact and significance. I suppose it makes sense: after all, Columbus was a minor league city to New York for years.

It’s baseball season again. One reason I love America’s Pastime is that, of all the professional sports, it’s by far the most affordable. Or, at least, usually the most affordable…

That’s for a regular season game, by the way – and if you’re a Red Sox fan, the other team doesn’t exactly bring back fuzzy memories. But at least it saves me from having to make fun of the Red Sox with a tasteless Ted Kennedy joke.

If you haven’t already filed, there’s only a week left before income tax returns are due. If you’ve already filed, then you might be able to join one of the Tea Party protests of higher taxes going on nationwide.

The Tea Party movement has already spread to several cities – and in checking out their website, I wondered why I hadn’t heard more about it.

Was it overt media bias? Partly – and left wing outlets like the Huffington Post are certainly paying attention. But as I like to mention whenever I talk about media relations, there’s really no vast left-wing media conspiracy. Often, conservatives and libertarians just don’t approach the media with their messages properly framed for a liberal audience (since most reporters are, in fact, liberals). The first sentence on the Tea Party website’s About Us section – “A great evil has come upon this nation, and something has to be done” – probably feeds the media’s groupthink that the movement is more fringe than freedom.

Lost your job? Well, according to the New York Times, that doesn’t mean you should stop going to work. The Times reported yesterday of the recession phenomenon of laid-off workers getting up, getting dressed, and going through the motions of employment. Career counselors quoted in the article say it helps maintain pride and good habits. Acting like everything is ok, or going to be ok, is actually helpful. Norman Vincent Peale was right.

It comes as no surprise, then, that since President Obama changed his rhetoric on the economy – shifting to the more positive, “fundamentals-are-strong” messages that he mocked last October – public optimism has followed – even with bad stories about unemployment numbers.

It would be an oversimplification to tie the eventual fate of Obama’s presidency to the economy. Like Franklin Roosevelt, Obama’s political future is tied to the perceptions of the economy. After all, FDR was re-elected twice while the Great Depression was still going on – and as his policies were extending it.

It looks like I’ll have to go to CVS to get my Obama Chia Pet – Walgreens is pulling the Chia Obama head from its Tampa, Fla.-area stores.

While no official reason is given beyond the product being incompatible with Walgreens’ “corporate image” in local coverage, the Boston Fox affiliate points out that discussions around the product on Amazon and blogs have accused the folks at Chia of racism.

Since that would be ridiculous, I prefer to believe the problem is plagiarism. After all, Saturday Night Live explored the concept of Chia Hair nearly two decades ago. (I’d show you, but apparently Lorne Michaels doesn’t want people illustrating points with SNL sketches.)

Have you ever found yourself wanting to scream in public but not wanting to sound like you had mental problems? Well, now you can store and save those screams for later with the “Screambody”:

This may actually be pretty helpful if, for instance, you’re trying to fake Tourette’s Syndrome – because, you know, if you’re faking it it means you don’t have it.

When Washington talks about regulating business, the rhetoric is usually couched as a way to keep large companies in line and protect consumers. In reality, these regulations tend to bite the businesses that do the most to help people improve their own position in life. Dan Flynn mentioned one such story this week: the ouster of a homeless bookseller Ken O’Brien from Harvard Square.

O’Brien, who sold books from a kiosk, was the subject of rarely-applied, antiquated permit laws that ultimately led the city to force him from his business. The city’s defense is that O’Brien was lax in his permit paperwork; surely the Boston city fathers frowned upon the fact that his kiosk doubled as his sleeping quarters as well.

As the Globe reports, O’Brien had plans to expand his business – a model which could have helped line the tattered pockets of his fellow homeless people. Perhaps, with a steady job, a few might have graduated to non-homeless status, as O’Brien did for a brief time.

On what is, unfortunately, a completely unrelated note, here’s a link to the city office charged with helping the homeless get back on their feet.