Free gum isn't free at #NN11

One of items in the "goodie bag" at Netroots Nation was a packet of Dentyne Ice. I went to find out who the folks who gave us that were, and discovered it was a group called "Public Notice." I thought it was kind of weird that their twitter handle was @BankruptingAM rather than Public Notice, but whatever. I tweeted:

Thank you so much, @BankruptingAm, for putting the Dentyne Ice in the #NN11 swag bags. I think they're trying to tell us something, DFH's.

The tweet account for BankruptingAM says they are "an educational project that explores the policies hindering economic opportunity and growth in America."

Call me crazy****, but somehow that didn't sound like a progressive organization to me. Then Friday night DG and I watched Real Time on the hotel's HBO. There was a woman on the panel, smiling open-mouthed between Ross Douthat and Chris Matthews (yeah) in a bright pink golfing dress or something.

She struck me and a couple other P2 women on twitter as, you know, a lower-rent Monica Crowley. We kind of, you know, immediately hated her in a very "why do I feel this way?" sort of way.  And it turns out she's the director of the outfit that put the gum in the goodie bag.

Teh Google is our friend. TPM Muckraker:

A former Bush administration PR specialist has launched a new non-profit designed to raise the alarm about what it sees as "over-spending" in Washington -- but is staying mum on how the group is being funded.

How much you wanna bet the "focus" of the "educational project" is not "tax cuts for billionaires"?

And OF COURSE her funders are secret but not secret, right, David Koch? But whoever funds her gave every hippie at Netroots A PACK OF BREATH FRESHENING GUM and a chance to win an iPad. Winning!

***"Call me crazy" is the standard sentence opener and intellectual property of Katherine Jean Lopez at National Review Online. When she sues me for infringement, my attorneys will be sure to send her a piece of gum.